Sunday, September 29, 2013

COMMENTS - 2013/09/29



WEEKLY BLOG COMMENTS
DATES: 2013/09/22 – 2013/09/29
ANALYST: Domingo Trassens
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Dear Friends:


I would like to share with you a series of comments posted by myself in the WSJ Journal Community and PBS through Twitter during the last seven days about the top news of the week.

The comments are organized in the following sections:
- United States
- Europe
- The World (Asia, Africa, Middle East…)
- Latin America
- Education
- Economy, Business, Technology.

DAT
September 29, 2013

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UNITED STATES



My Comment: In this shutdown, the entire country is involved and the subject is Obamacare.
Some Republican lawmakers put on the table the concerns of the People, but the Democrat lawmakers don't want to listen to the People. (2013/09/29) 6 Recommendations



My Comment: You say: “Let ObamaCare Collapse”, but the people have fears because any expensive healthcare program plays with the health and the money of the people. (2013/09/28) 1 Recommendation



My Comment: The press remarks that the 15-minute call between Barack Obama and Hasan Rouhani is "historic".

In the life of countries there are historic events that are good and others that are bad.

Till now it is too early to know if this strange friendship will produce positive results from the American side. Mr. Rouhani refused a handshake with Obama in New York but after that he talked by phone.

Probably he didn’t have the authorization of the Supreme Leader to take a photo with the American President in New York or perhaps he had the order to talk by phone through a censorship system.

Meanwhile, all these actions are a good “propaganda” for Iranian President Hasan Rouhani: “A call with the Great Satan!”

We have to hope that Secretary of State John Kerry will not offer more than we receive from the Iranian side. Good diplomacy is the art to deal exactly what we have to deal.
(2013/09/28)


PBS – ANALYSIS: Sept. 27, 2013: Shields and Ponnuru Discuss Government Spending Showdown

My Comment: You continue considering Ted Cruz as a “devil”, however, we need lawmakers who talk for the people in Congress.

During the last few years we saw that “government” and “real life” are two different “universes”. The politicians only see their problems but they don’t pay attention in the problems of the normal citizens.

At least till now, Ted Cruz looks like a “conservative” with feelings for the people. Of course, he is running against the Establishment and his attitude is shaking the institutions, but what is more important: the government or the people?  (By TWITTER) (2013/09/28) 1 Recommendation



My Comment: I agree that the IRS case demands a deep purge. All the officials in charge of the operation have to go to jail. (2013/09/27) 1 Recommendation


PBS - ANALYSIS: Sept. 26, 2013: Weekend Deadline Looming, What's Going on Behind the Scenes of the Budget Fight?

Subject: Lawmakers on both sides of the budget fight have come out to wage a public war of words and sway opinion, but what's going on behind the scenes?

My Comment: About the shutting down the government, I like the comment of Ron Bonjean when he says: “Republicans want to negotiate with the president over avoiding all of this. They want to talk about reducing spending, they want to talk about delaying Obamacare, and the President is saying he won’t negotiate. And the Republicans, that is very surprising considering that the president is saying he will negotiate with Syria, will negotiate with Putin, Vladimir Putin, and his secretary of state will be talking to Iran.”

It is not the first time that President Obama doesn’t want to negotiate about internal political issues with the Republicans. From the other side, he changed his mind because President Putin took the lead in the case of the Syrian chemical weapons, but before he canceled Moscow’s conference programmed next to the G-20 meeting.

President Obama only negotiates when his public figure is damaged for events that are not under his control. (2013/09/27) 2 Recommendations



My Comment: Also in the case that Ted Cruz cannot stop the ObamaCare, his “push” is the awakening of a new kind of lawmaker who will change the way to make politics in the country.

Definitively, we need politicians who understand the fear of the people and act with resolution… (2013/09/24) 8 Recommendations



My Comment answering to another Journal Community member: XXX: I feel that you don’t like Ted Cruz, but at least he has guts to say that a lot of people have fears to say: “Obamacare is increasing the costs of our medicine.”

Some weeks ago, IBM informed that it will cut the special healthcare plans for the retirees due to the increase of the medical costs.

We need a new kind of politician who goes ahead when the Establishment doesn't move.

The United States was built for men and women with courage. (2013/09/25) 1 Recommendation


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EUROPE



My Comment: Everybody knows that Italy is the “dolce vita” with Silvio Berlusconi as a “master director” behind the scene.
The government of Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta was weak since his first day running the country. (2013/09/29)



My Comment: France continues its campaign against American technology companies. Now it is looking for the way to charge more money as heavy punishment against Google.

They want to build a “Wall” between Europe and America with the pretext they are protecting French industry. (By the way, today the majority of French technology companies are not significant in the world context.) (2013/09/28) 2 Recommendations



My Comment: It looks like the government of France has nothing more important than to fight against the business companies and entrepreneurs who have success.

We saw when Mr. Hollande became French President, all the problems that his government created to people of the media and the business environment with high incomes.

In the moment that the economy doesn’t run well, it is suicidal to interfere in the normal operation of business companies that run well and attract million of customers per year.

The socialist governments and unions have to care for the social issues without suffocating the genuine sources of income of the countries. (2013/09/24) 1 Recommendation


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THE WORLD (Asia, Africa, Middle East…)



My Comment: The Pakistanis can do what they want, but we have to delete this country from the list of “partner” and stop any financial assistance... Often we help the wrong people. (2013/09/26) 



My Comment: The majority of the news that comes from Syria reflects the strong influence of Islamist extremists on the side of the rebels.

If the Western countries continue helping these people, we are “feeding” the enemy.

At the end of this tragedy, they will behead us like cows in the slaughterhouse. (2013/09/25) 1 Recommendation



My Comment: Perhaps this earthquake destroys some of the “caves” of the Taliban militants. (2013/09/24) 3 Recommendations



My Comment: The reports from Nairobi are really bad. 62 people were killed in 4 days, but according to the news, till now the security forces continue battling against militants with hostages.

Today all the countries must have to form command groups of police forces able to confront terrorists or criminals with hostages in efficient and fast operations. (2013/09/24) 3 Recommendations



My Comment: Nairobi became the new bloody spot on the road map of the Muslim extremists.

According to the story, the attackers to the Nairobi mall asked about the religion of the hostages: “…If you are Muslim you are on the safe side, but if you are Hindu or Christian you will be killed.”

The Muslims continue pointing against Christians as the target of their hatred and religious fanaticism.

From the other side, like in Algeria last January and Mumbai in 2011, the Kenyan security forces didn’t show capacity to fight efficiently against terrorist groups. (Till now three days of panic and death for the hostages...) (2013/09/23) 2 Recommendations



My Comment: Warning! The “Holy War” of Muslims against Christians is spreading across the world with some resemblance to the religious wars of the Middle Ages.

During decades, in Sudan and other African countries the Christian minorities suffered frequent attacks.

Several years ago, a sectarian group of Muslims burned Catholic churches in Iraq and a lot of Christians left the country.

In Egypt, since Mubarak’s fall, the persecution against Christians became something normal. According to different sources, members of the Muslim Brotherhood were involved in the recent attacks to churches in Cairo and other cities.

Now, the news from Pakistan shows how sectarian groups of Muslims are spilling the blood of Christians in another country of South Asia.

The religious fanaticism and intolerance are signs of social decadence and determinant factors of economic stagnation.


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LATIN AMERICA



My Comment: The speech of Ms. Dilma Rousseff shows a level of arrogance that doesn’t plug in the current circumstances.

Is she a politician with impeccable background? Probably, she forgot when she went to jail (1970-1972) for terrorist activities as part of Marxist urban guerrilla groups.

From the other side, nearly every month since Ms. Rousseff is the Brazilian leader we read news about corruption and other non-clean political behaviors.

If Brazil have problems with the United States, the correct way is to discuss these problems directly, but never to use the UN forum as the “barricade” by a leftist combatant. (2013/09/25) 2 Recommendations


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EDUCATION



My Comment: We don’t need to go to the zoo or the jungle to learn about altruism looking for monkey behavior.

We find a lot of cases of altruism across the human world, but normally we don’t pay attention to the good actions of our neighbor. (2013/09/29) 1 Recommendation



My Comment: The author of this story begins with this statement: “I had a teacher once who called his students “idiots” when they screwed up.”
Personally, I think we have to differentiate between tough attitude and insult. The term “idiots” is not a good word to use in a classroom when somebody makes mistakes. Frequently it is used as an insult.

A tough teacher can get good results without insulting his/her students. During my studies from the primary school to the university I had tough teachers who helped me a lot in my education with their hard attitude but nobody insulted me. (2013/09/29) 0 Recommendations


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ECONOMY, BUSINESS, TECHNOLOGY



My Comment: Since last year, BlackBerry is a ship navigating without direction through a sea of uncertainty.

The new CEO made a series of mistakes in a short time. With this mismanagement, it is obvious that BlackBerry has losses. (2013/09/27) 0 Recommendations



My Comment: I met John Thompson personally in a press conference when Symantec started its international campaign to extend its business everywhere long time ago. The short dialogue with him gave me a very good feeling
I think Mr. Thompson can help a lot to change the Microsoft’s image due to his strong experience in the technology industry and its independent way of thinking. But I don’t believe that he will want to take an executive position in this software company because the Microsoft CEO position is a very hot seat in this moment.

However, if John Thompson accepts the challenge, he could be a top independent leader like Lou Gerstner, when this external executive assumed as IBM CEO in 1993. (2013/09/27) 1 Recommendation



My Comment: Till now Apple is lucky because it continues selling millions of new phones, but if it doesn’t change its strategy, one day the “fat cows” will end.

The iPhone’s father has to use all its experience to develop cheaper devices for the popular markets, like the car makers that have vehicles for all economic levels of customers. (2013/09/23)


My Comment: BlackBerry has not a lot to offer to investors who dream of future gold mines. (2013/09/23)


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SOURCES:

1) External Sources: Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and PBS NewsHour

2) Own Sources: My own research for previous publishing projects: TTT of Comlab Corp, Spanish English Club online.



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