Recent content by neutrino

LOL ... 'skipping school due to religious reasons'?!? 1. Go ahead! The only trouble is that, later in one's own life, he will find it pretty darn difficult to find well-paying jobs. There have been many very successful businessmen who do not have college degrees, but they are pretty rare...

China could show its displeasure by buying less US Treasury securities. Unfortunately, this amounts to downshifting the exchange rate of the Dollar relative to the Yuan. China's export-centric and mercantilistic trade policies would then conflict with changes in its monetary policy. In the...

Organization of all sorts must have laws and customs in dealing out punishments upon their members and subjects, in case of committing acts that are considered as very harmful to the organizations' interests. (Gangs, tribes and businesses also have to deal with 'traitors' somehow!) Therefore...

I think there are some things Americans tend to forget: 1. We are not a democratic country. This country has been a republic since its birth. (We elect representatives, although those who gets voted in may not do things some of us wanted, but we are stuck with this arrangement as long as...

China's playbook on Taiwan: Diplomatically isolate Taiwan as much as possible. Words are cheap, so does making periodic threats and tirades. China has framed the whole thing, so China wins in any case: 1. Only a very small number of countries recognize Taiwan by now and the numbers have...

On everyday basis ... Probably the single biggest turn-off is to have one or more neighbors crank up their stereos. Meanwhile, do I have to tell them to turn down the bass every time they turn on their stereos? I'm cool with X, therefore the same applies to you. No. But somehow, there...

If he is so concerned about poor = breeding, he should be pushing for either one of them: 1. Set up concentration camps, round up the poor, then proceed to execute them en mass. (Just wipe out those you are simply not interested in.) 2. Invest in education and shift state fiscal policy...

It feels like this thread is more about the growing inequality. 1. Perhaps the type of inequality that has the most effect on each individuals: There has been literatures written about this and it is also known as the 'Superstar Effect'. For example, you survey one particular economic...

In this age, the problem is not lack of money, but how the hell can one distribute goods and services and more or less see to it that those in need get them? Might as well spend the donation money on buying another case of booze than throw it into places with mind-boggling administration. From...

Speaking of the implosion of the housing bubble ... 1. We have to go all the way back to 1986. Before then, the interest expenses due to mortgages were not deductible. A new law was passed, which then meant a new set of tax codes, treating such interest expenses as deductibles: You simply...

On paper, it has been written ... freedom of speech. However, in practice, it should have been revised ...... freedom of stupidity. Based on how things have been going on, especially within the last few decades, the masses have not been really interested in freedom of speech in a...

OOps ... I got Egypt and Iraq mixed up. Iraq has been the largest recipient of US aid (both economic and military) since 2003. As for Iraq, it will probably be receiving the largest amount of US foreign aid for a while, especially since it has among the worst credit rating in the world...

It is like there has already been massive amount of thievery going on behind the curtains. The Supreme Court ruling merely makes it officially real. There has been a steady rolling of the wheel of corruption and it has reached the point of becoming accepted as part of social mores. Even...

Insofar as relative influence of pro-Israel lobby in the US, I think a good starting point is to break it down into two periods: Pre-1980, then post-1980. 1. Pre-1980: Israel had more favorable image back then. Several reasons: a) Western sympathy towards the Jews and the establishment...

IMHO ... 1. The question over whether to go to war ultimately belong to the commander-in-chief. This is especially so today, since the legislators have ceased to stick their necks out and declare wars themselves since the end of WW2. 2. The legislators are hypocritical as hell: Since...