BruceVC

What part about 'its tied to GDP' you don't understand? My post was just to put things in perspective for people who are saying that Germany don't contribute in for Nato and general defense for Europe. Because speaking about GDP percentages has bad habit to hide which countries actually pay for things and who are mostly freeloaders. Well, if half of the companies employing people in Czech didn't payed their taxes in Germany maybe our GDP would be better Amount of Czech's monthly exports to Germany is about 108 billion CZK (~4 billion euros) and its monthly imports from Germany is about 67 billion CZK (~2.5 billion euros), so annual trade surplus with Germany for Czech is about 40 billion CZK (1.5 billion euros). So like Trump would say Czech is bad trade partner for Germany. would be, if those companies trading were not hold by german owners. For example Skoda Auto is part of VW concern and it make up almost 20% of our GDP Czech GDP is 189.982 billion dollars, Skoda Auto's revenue is 13.8 billion dollars (7.2% of Czech GDP), but it probably uses other services in Czech so much that it impact may rise close to that 20%. But Czech Auto's operative profit is 1.23 billion dollars before taxes. It also receives tax breaks and other comprehensive income so much that it total comprehensive income for the year is 1.4 billion dollars. It reports amount corporate taxes it pay to be 227 million dollars. For Trump part it does not matter if its is German companies doing all the trade, as we can see from his comments about Mexico. I don't understand why are you trying to pull in Trump, what I am telling you that VW concern pay its taxes from revenues in Germany (probably). Of course there are some taxes from income and from cars sold directly in Czech, but majority of revenue tax is paid in Germany. Whats so complex to grasp it? West Europe sees east as cheap labor. thats it How do you see yourselves? Thats what matters, you shouldnt worry about what people think about you who dont personally know you

Bwahahahaha.... But there were people who gasped....I heard them in the live coverage

Okay but to be fair we should put this in perspective, it was more his normal habit of misspeaking and displaying different degrees of ignorance and lack of empathy He will be gone in 6 months, I guarantee it Because their is an accusation the Trump presidency is anti-Semitic but his son in law is Jared Kushner who is a close confidant of Trump and is Jewish. And his daughter converted when she married Kushner. So I find that hard to believe. Im sure there are other people within the presidency are anti-Semitic but not Trump

Do you have the link for this? I only know about the latest Spicer comments, which he apologized for, and the fact no recognition was given to Holocaust victims from the White House during the Jewish holiday

Well I can guarantee you one thing, I definitely wouldn't spend one red cent on that franchise. And most of my friends would have the same stance. I refuse to knowingly support any business that is involved in that type of discrimination

Yes I am familiar with how the contribution works but my point is the same For example the impact if a street sweeper and a millionaire have to give 10 % of their monthly earning as an additional tax the long term impact will be much harder on the street sweeper as his pool of money is less so this will have a more direct impact on his standard of living So there should be more expectation on Germany paying its 2 %

How Germany is effing up Europe if they don't want spent their money to strengthen their own defense? I understand that Nato countries maybe angry if they think that Germany don't do as what has been agreed on, and they are free to kick Germany out if nothing else helps. What? There is so many reasons I can't force myself to point them all out. But at least the basics - If we have agreenment both sides should honour it. Its manners 101 Yes this is what all NATO members should do yet only 5 NATO members are paying what they should and contributing fairly, this includes the U.S., Greece, the United Kingdom, Estonia and Poland. So its not just Germany that needs to pay more http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/NATO-Member-Countries-Trump/2017/01/25/id/770363/ I know, thats why USA requested recently that all members should pay their agreed share, and as far as I know some states responded positively - even tho they stated taht it will take few years. Some may not do it, but at least they are not shouting it into media ffs Considering that Czech uses less of their GDP to military than Germany, I would say that you should complain to your own politician first how your country don't do what is agreed on. I am, but our government promised to raise our funding, besides we are behinde Germany by 0.1 percentage Also the Czech economy and GDP is much smaller than Germany's so I would expect Germany to contribute there share with much less objection

Not at all, by reducing their economic supply-line this may lead to NK realizing they cannot sustain there aggressive and jingoistic policies China is the only reason there economy isnt in complete collapse so this is a good punitive financial measure

I cannot support this anymore than just saying ....QFT The Russian propaganda and spin doctoring become more and more incredulous as time goes on. Their current strategy doesnt even have a modicum of believability or real effort This is how Russia deals with accusations of war crimes or any accusation of bad behavior Russia was suppose to supervise and ensure that Assad destroyed all chemical weapons after the first " Obama red line " was crossed , the fact that he used them now highlights how they failed dismally in achieving this. What was the Russian response " the USA bombed Syria under false pretext " ....???? Okay that means anything But what really makes me laugh is how badly many people, including Putin, misread the Trump victory. All there interfering in the election and dissemination of fake news was to achieve a Trump victory because Russia wants sanctions dropped or reduced...and guess what ? Russia is in no better economic position than before, ostensibly you can argue the Trump presidency is more "anti-Russian " and has been equally if not more publically critical of Russia and its illegal antics like the annexing of Crimea Putin can reverse the sanctions and restore his country's economy if they simply become a more reasonable and positive contributor in the global arena, first step is they need to stop thinking they can carve up any country they want and recreate their own geographical borders which leads to understandable sanctions ...but hey thats just my opinion

Sorry WOD the world of global politics and national interests doesnt work like that especially when you consider the reality that the USA is aligned to an EU that is not eroded by the likes of Russia So its in the best interests of the USA that NATO is real and sustainable for a number of reasons The USA always will spend large amounts of money on its defense budget, to quote " The U.S. spends the most on defense of any NATO nation at $650 billion in 2016, more than double what the other 27 states spent ".....so consider the NATO payment just a part of your important contribution your taxes pays for to ensure your overall security as a US citizen and we also want a world where Western values and principles are admired and emulated globally This will lead to a more a prosperous and overall content world, remember Democracy works in most cases but it needs to be defended and supported

How Germany is effing up Europe if they don't want spent their money to strengthen their own defense? I understand that Nato countries maybe angry if they think that Germany don't do as what has been agreed on, and they are free to kick Germany out if nothing else helps. What? There is so many reasons I can't force myself to point them all out. But at least the basics - If we have agreenment both sides should honour it. Its manners 101 Yes this is what all NATO members should do yet only 5 NATO members are paying what they should and contributing fairly, this includes the U.S., Greece, the United Kingdom, Estonia and Poland. So its not just Germany that needs to pay more http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/NATO-Member-Countries-Trump/2017/01/25/id/770363/ I know, thats why USA requested recently that all members should pay their agreed share, and as far as I know some states responded positively - even tho they stated taht it will take few years. Some may not do it, but at least they are not shouting it into media ffs Yes this is also true, many NATO members have agreed to increase their contribution so its 2 % of GDP per country

How Germany is effing up Europe if they don't want spent their money to strengthen their own defense? I understand that Nato countries maybe angry if they think that Germany don't do as what has been agreed on, and they are free to kick Germany out if nothing else helps. What? There is so many reasons I can't force myself to point them all out. But at least the basics - If we have agreenment both sides should honour it. Its manners 101 Yes this is what all NATO members should do yet only 5 NATO members are paying what they should and contributing fairly, this includes the U.S., Greece, the United Kingdom, Estonia and Poland. So its not just Germany that needs to pay more http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/NATO-Member-Countries-Trump/2017/01/25/id/770363/

How Germany is effing up Europe if they don't want spent their money to strengthen their own defense? I understand that Nato countries maybe angry if they think that Germany don't do as what has been agreed on, and they are free to kick Germany out if nothing else helps. I agree, I think the decision by Germany is imprudent and lacks a degree of military foresight around the overall security of the EU but its not the end of the EU as the USA will continue to support NATO as its in the best global interests of the USA due to aggression by countries like Russia which ostensibly threaten the USA around Putins misplaced and unnecessary grand plan of creating a geographical barrier between the NATO aligned countries and Russia " Mother Russia will regain its place in the global arena by ......recreating the USSR " ?

He always has to undermine me

Guys check out the new IT trailer, it looks awesome !!!

GD do you believe Trump will "drain the swamp of Washington " ?

I wouldn't see it as the USA losing its mind, I would see the Trump election victory due to a number of factors that existed at the time. It was a perfect storm to be honest for the Trump faction and Trump ideology to win the election. But populism played a big part. I am still surprised by some of the rhetoric from both sides like Sanders claiming he would " break-up the banks " .....Im sorry but that's classic "anti-banking sentiment 101 " and could never be realistically implemented But GD his presidency hasnt been all bad, like certain foreign policy decisions, so far and that's reassuring at least

Nice, so you feel goooooooooooooood

http://www.ibtimes.com/where-kellyanne-conway-top-trump-adviser-has-been-missing-action-2521192 https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/02/22/where-is-kellyanne-conway-trump-adviser-reportedly-banned-from-television/21719668/ Where has Kellyanne Conway been lately? Her absence or apparent lack of public comments lately is a very good thing IMO as she embarrassed the Trump presidency on numerous levels ...but I am still interested in her current political status in the Trump presidency Also as raised by others is the appreciated fall from power of Bannon and the reasons for this https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/06/us/politics/stephen-bannon-white-house.html?_r=0

There is lots of anti-Western propaganda and anti-Western sentiment on this thread, its okay and its normal and to be expected. Its a Zora thread after all . A few general comments I know the historical precedence is inconvenient for some but we have to try to focus on the sequence of accurate events around the reasons the ME is currently so destabilized, the Arab Spring is the primary reason for the worst conflicts in the region. The reasons for the Arab Spring has got nothing to do with the West, I repeat that The Arab Spring has got NOTHING to do with the West, for those interested in the reasons for the Arab Spring this link summarizes it. Spend 20 minutes going through it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Spring It started in Tunisia and spread throughout the ME and various countries and the various protests and outcomes had different results in different countries But the fundamental reason for the Arab Spring was the actual citizens of numerous countries in the ME wanted more civil rights and they wanted to be part of the economy of their countries. It is perfectly understandable for the reasons why the Arab Spring happened ...people wanting a better life for themselves Countries like Libya, Yemen and Syria refused to give rights to citizens and decided to use their security forces to crush and annihilate any opposition, this is on those leaders and it is there fault for not negotiating or looking for a reasonable political outcome. You also have the interminable Shia and Sunni historical conflict which is a huge factor for the Syria and Yemen civil wars Libya was never this perfect country of peace and political stability, Gaddafi came to power through a military coup and never had a Democratic election in over 40 years, he brutally suppressed any opposition and ensured that his tribe and followers were the only ones that really benefitted from the oil and other resources Here is a good link around Gaddafi, he was a brutal and intransigent ruler and he deserved the outcome he created. He was killed by his own people http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-12688033 So in summary, the West is not primarily responsible for the terrible conflicts in places like Syria or Libya. These were created by the results of the Arab Spring

Do we really live in that type of division, what would be an example of this? Before you consider answering this remember you have to ask yourself what the person who lives in obscene wealth does for a living and how they achieved this They are probably bankers. I'm on to you Bruce!Its not quite what you thinking but its not far off You see I have this particular debate probably every 2 weeks with different people all over the world and even though the question or the criticism may appear completely different to your question the expected answer is often similar People ask questions like [*]why do we have such an unequal economic society This is inherent to capitalism. It is also inherent that inequality will grow and grow and grow... r>g and so on. Within capitalism? We don't. The creation of mono/oligopolies is another mechanism inherent to any form of capitalism after the industrial revolution. Changing this requires fundamental changes that would shift the economy considerably to the way of public ownership/common property. Because capitalist systems have to expand to gain new profits. Taking control over your economy means profit for the capitalists, thus this justifies almost every measure to do so. Many probably because of corruption; but in the long run, it can not really be stopped without fundamental changes. The profit incentive is huge, and it allows and requires capitalism to expand over the world. And since very few countries posses the means and the will to resist this, there's nothing to stop it. Unless of course you finally get fed up with being dictated by a small elite that is driven by nothing but profit and sees you as nothing but an exploitable recourse. Maybe you will feel the need to change something. Do call me when that happens. Well... yes Yes I am well aware and expected you to comment on these questions because I have these debates all the time with analysts who share your view on Capitalism and also misunderstand and generalize about what is good about the banks and or financial sector. I am glad you responded so please dont think I am dismissing your post or the effort you made to comment To be honest all your responses are cliches and common examples of how some people still dont understand how Capitalism has changed and how we now have sustainable systems like responsible or regulated Capitalism

Do we really live in that type of division, what would be an example of this? Before you consider answering this remember you have to ask yourself what the person who lives in obscene wealth does for a living and how they achieved this The real question is wether most wealthy people actually worked so much more and harder than a common worker to justify this huge gap. And let's be honest, no. In fact, I'd argue their wealth is based either on exploitation (I'm not gonna repeat the full argument again) or on gambling (and it is nothing more than that) on Wall Street. Most likely both. But to pretend that the rich are rich because they deserve it is, indeed, moronic. You raise a common strawman argument that is inconsistent and impossible to substantiate. Firstly you are creating the actual false narrative when you say " The real question is wether most wealthy people actually worked so much more and harder than a common worker to justify this huge gap " When did that point ever translate to something that is relevant? You have no idea how hard so called " rich " people work or how we should or shouldn't define there wealth and is it justified. So ironically the word " moronic " is your word and has no significance to the debate except being applicable to your assessment

Do we really live in that type of division, what would be an example of this? Before you consider answering this remember you have to ask yourself what the person who lives in obscene wealth does for a living and how they achieved this They are probably bankers. I'm on to you Bruce! Its not quite what you thinking but its not far off You see I have this particular debate probably every 2 weeks with different people all over the world and even though the question or the criticism may appear completely different to your question the expected answer is often similar People ask questions like why do we have such an unequal economic society how do we end the monopoly and collusion of the banks why is the West trying to control our economy why does our government pander to the financial sector or allow foreign countries to dictate to us And the expected answer or outcome is suppose to be something like the banks control the economies of the world and surreptitiously manipulate events to control a certain narrative the banks are products of the West and should never be trusted

Do we really live in that type of division, what would be an example of this? Before you consider answering this remember you have to ask yourself what the person who lives in obscene wealth does for a living and how they achieved this

I do, I believe in human rights but we have to balance that with security....the interesting thing about this digital surveillance is that because you are not aware of it I am honestly surprised anyone can feel aggrieved and feel there privacy is being undermined So its like those riddles we see " can we say our privacy has been undermined if we dont know about it and there is no negative impact to us " ? Its paradoxical in nature but I hope everyone comes to the obvious conclusion....no we cant ? "Bennie you're not under surveillance, it doesn't work like that" "It works like this; They spy on everyone to find something" You don't read or think about what you are saying much, do you? I cant keep explaining the same point guys ....last time for me The surveillance systems that exist in places like the USA don't monitor US citizens 24/7 In places like China, North Korea or Russia they have overt and covert monitoring all the time. But what happens in the USA is the systems that monitor data get activated when needed and they look for specific data like the phone number This is very different to countries that monitor 24/7 where they will address automatically certain words or ideological debates all the time