BruceVC

Clinton will win, obnoxious liberals will praise this as a victory for progressivism, the right will be emboldened to support even stupider and more destructive economic policies, and the moderate to far left will continue to be completely irrelevant all the while being blamed for everything. Correct and a Clinton victory is a victory for a progressive future This is a good thing young grasshopper, lets not be negative

Sorry to hear that, yeah I hope that will be the last one. Maybe your dad could see it as wake up call to change his lifestyle? I don't understand why you see this as "radical " change? You should have been a personal trainer years ago, you seem passionate about it and I think you would be very good because you are sincere and committed I know lots of personal trainers, its a very good career to have on many levels and can be very financially rewarding.

Also the entire ME is full of politically grey areas, I understand exactly what Western ideology means and what defines it but I have come to realize in respects to the various governments in the ME and there policy decisions that you need to look at things in a certain lens, terms like " anti-Western " , " pro-Western", " evil" , " good " ...cannot always be applied and interpreted in the normal way so we need to look at the ME in a less critical and perhaps more objective manner

No TN..you must NEVER try short-circuit the important culinary ritual of cooking eggs. You just do it, you stand over the stove and just cook those eggs

Bruce - your constant mania about strippers looks... non-normal. How old you are? Maybe you must find a love and marry to this woman. Family, Bruce, it's much better than any your purchased "love" of cheap migrants. You so similar to Murika, you crying about how stronk you are, but IRL your behavior looks just pathetic. Oh I finally got a reasonable response from you, interesting. So there are times when you engage in normal debate You know you must have reached a new low in forum etiquette when Oby lectures you on what is acceptable and what is normal

Is ISIS controlled oil factored into world oil prices though, since it isn't traded legally? It effects how much there is demand for legally produced oil. And oil price is determined by how much demand there are compared to amount oil that is produced. But I would guess that ISIS controlled oil has quite marginal impact on oil prices. ISIS oil production (in Syria and Iraq combined) accounts for ~ 0.5 to 1% of global production (~96 mbpd) and has a negligible impact on global markets. It's beyond laughable to think that cutting off ISIS production would result in a catastrophic price increase when there is a current over-supply of roughly 1.9 mbpd and oil stockpiles increased by nearly 2 billion barrels in 2015. Iran will have a far bigger impact on global markets if/when it increases it production by nearly 800,000 bpd after production limiting sanctions are removed. I agree demand and supply are linked but at the moment there is a deliberate oversupply from OPEC which is why the Oil price is so low, its not about demand Iran is just going to add to this oversupply and the oil will stay low if not get lower

Leferd there is something I need to clarify, Trump has based many of his foreign policy decisions on anti-Obama sentiment. In other words " Obama has made the USA weak " Its normal in politics and this is especially prevalent in the USA at the moment with the various social changes Obama has made and wants to make and there seems to me to be an almost unprecedented dislike of him from the Republicans . So Trump thinks as far as ISIS is concerned " bombing the oilfields " is something Obama is scared to do or just lacks the political will to do. So what I am really saying is " bombing the oilfields " is not something the USA has historically done because Obama is weak or stupid. Its because that strategy is not going to fundamentally defeat ISIS. As mentioned ground troops will be needed So what, we've lost millions of jobs while building up enemies like China. He said he'd abide by the agreement, of course it depends on Iran's compliance. Even Obola finally saw the wisdom of that strategy, only ISIS controlled oil fields would be bombed. It's a security issue, our government obviously has no idea of who's getting into the country. The wall is absolutely necessary if we're going to have a country left. He won't actually be able to deport most illegals but at least he can start enforcing the law. WOD as mentioned by others the Wall is a bad idea and makes no practical sense I will disagree slightly with the view that the Wall will make " no difference ". A real patrolled and maintained wall with stop an element of Mexicans and others, people just trying to enter the USA to work illegally. But there is no doubt it will only slowdown the Drug Cartels efforts to get drugs into the USA, these cartels are very industrious and well resourced so I can almost guarantee you the Wall won't stop the criminals it intends to stop. The Israelis have had success with there Wall but there threat and security requirement is much more severe that what the USA faces So then you should ask " is the solution that the mightiest country in the world has to prevent illegal immigrants really the building of a wall between Mexico and the USA ". Is that really the threat to the USA that is so severe a Wall is needed to be built, its like the USA has to cut itself from those " troublemakers down South " ? As Hurlshot mentioned Mexico is not an enemy of the USA but building a wall will create an impression that it is and that is not necessary

False. The current strategy is beating back ISIS. Realizing they're losing in Iraq and the Levant, they're advocating more terrorist type attacks. ISIS has lost 40% of their territory in Iraq and 20% in Syria. Ever since coalition air strikes have begun en masse, ISIS has not gained any new territory. http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/isis-lost-40-percent-territory-iraq-20-percent-syria-coalition-n490426 However, because of the effectiveness of the airstrikes, ISIS is pivoting their strategy in Syria which may complicate coalition strategy. Atleast according to a hawkish think-tank. http://www.npr.org/2015/01/15/377527015/is-u-s-gaining-or-losing-ground-against-isis http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2015/11/19/456600398/hitting-isis-where-it-hurts-by-striking-oil-trucks Cutting off ISIS financing is an important element of strategy against the group. The U.S. has targeted ISIS oil infrastructure — wells, pipelines and the like — for more than a year, but these are often quickly repaired by militants. The U.S. bombed ISIS oil facilities last year, but waited until now to make its first attack on the trucks that actually move the crude. It's a war of attrition at this point. 1) Militarily, airstrikes are greatly impacting ISIS' ability to wage war. They're not going to gain any new territory. Meanwhile the Iraqi army is building up and training for a more sustained and overwhelming offensive on the ground. 2) Hitting their ability to raise money. Oilfields have been discussed. Their next big moneymaker is in the dealing of black market antiquities. Various U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies are specifically targeting this market in conjunction with allied intelligence agencies and international police. Lots of behind the scenes work. Wahhabism and general terrorism is going to continue to be an international security issue for the next several decades as the Muslim world is in a period of significant transition, but ISIS as a major threat to U.S. or western security is overstated. You cannot defeat ISIS relying just on airstrikes, you will need ground troops ISIS is still very effective http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3403413/ISIS-kidnapped-400-civilians-Syria-including-women-children-attack-government-held-city.html Its interesting to read your links but I am talking about the reality of the group war and things like destroying the oilfields dont have the impact we think on therere fighting capacity

Why is this concerning? Cut off their money supply, cripple them. Seems like sound strategy. Probably why Russia did it in the first week they started attacking ISIS. Most of the oilfields don't belong to ISIS and all you do is add to the overall financial cost of rebuilding Syria.... but also I have seen no evidence of ISIS slowing down, in fact since Russia correctly intervened I would say ISIS global activity has increased ?

Can I ask you a question, aren't you concerned about the numerous concerning comments Trump has made about USA foreign policy and he would do things? When all the choices are bad what does that matter? Bluster and arrogance on one hand vs. cowardice and obeisance to enemies on the other. There's a debate whether natural born citizen just means citizen by birth or whether the original constitutional meaning was from English common law, which supposedly meant you were born in the country with some exceptions: http://www.anncoulter.com/columns/2016-01-13.html Hmmmm.... wouldn't Bernie be more likely to be the Sith Lord? He's the one whose for authoritarian government that takes everything away from everyone. Or... maybe I'M the sith lord? Maybe from my point of view the Jedi are evil. Jedi are obviously commies. There's even a story about the rebel alliance being based on Viet Cong. Can I ask you a question, aren't you concerned about the numerous concerning comments Trump has made about USA foreign policy and he would do things? You should be more specific and state a few examples. Sure, he has said several that concern me He wants to restructure the economic relationship between the USA and countries like China, Japan and ...Mexico He wants to relook at the Iran negotiation He thinks the USA should really target ISIS using strategies like " bombing oilfields His views towards Muslims have annoyed many Muslim countries in the ME who should be on better terms with the USA The Mexican wall and his intent to deport millions of illegal Mexicans ... Sure it may just his strategy but these comments concern me

Seriously, stop. At this point it's abundantly clear you aren't even remotely interested in facts, not even those from the sources you provide yourself: IBTimes: The Newsweek piece: The article also discusses harsher measures by Canada and Australia but that doesn't matter because they aren't Yurop. It also mentions the cluster**** that is the EU due to having a million different laws, security services and watchlists. Nothing new here. The only fact-based argument remotely resembling the picture you've been painting is with the "Aarhus approach", but that's a) in Denmark, not Netherlands and b) only for people who haven't committed crimes, as per the IBTimes link which you obviously didn't bother reading completely. Yeah, enforcing laws is usually a priority of governments. At least with the small fish and blue-collar criminals. Besides, the guy in Netherlands has been released, even though he has to report to the judge weekly and cannot leave the country. You blew this out of proportion to make it a sort of cultural priority across all of Europe, which is ridiculous. The key-words in those articles is that there's a lot "will, should've, could've"-s, but when it is someone fighting against ISIS there's suddenly the time and resources available for an investigation. Sorry, but my point still stands, when someone is fighting against these people compared to the security threat of ISIS-fighters possibly returning through legal or illegal means to your country, you better have your priorities straight. Instead we all the same kind of people falling over themselves (hellooo media) on how to forgive and integrate when it is the different kind fighters. "But hey, at least you've made me waste a good 30 minutes on your links (bonus points for including some behind a paywall) and writing the reply, and it's not the first time. That was the goal, wasn't it?" You know better than to lie about such matters, it's never wasted time to try argue about someone else being wrong on the Internet @ 2133 Meshugger isn't trying to waste your time, I know sometimes it may seem like he is debating a view very different to yours but I don't think he is trolling ( well thats how I see you Meshugger...I would be shocked if you were trolling about this topic ) I dont people who chose to leave a country and go to fight for ISIS should be allowed back ?

Can I ask you a question, aren't you concerned about the numerous concerning comments Trump has made about USA foreign policy and he would do things?

That's not how it works around here my friend. You have to tell us what YOU think of Donald Trump...... Then we flame you! and we do enjoy a good flaming

He is a demagogue and even though I can recognize his skill in industry and business acumen he also represents the worst aspects of Capitalism He is arrogant, dismissive. bombastic and has very little regard for the consequences of his words or views. He will be a terrible president for the USA because he will drag the USA back to an era of the " you either with us or against us " Most of the problems the global community grapples can be resolved through dialogue and following tried and tested examples of Western ideology....this means free markets, democracies and a respect for human rights The USA has a very important role as one of the foundations of Western ideology and Trump will just take the West backwards if he becomes president for 4 years So I support the Democrat view on the way the USA should influence global events...not Trumps " lets just build a wall " comments

Are we talking about Finland or Netherlands now? Are you aware that different countries have different laws? You tell me how many native European IS fighters have returned to their respective countries and are living the high life off the teat of the gov't instead of facing prosecution, since it's you making that claim. Perhaps if you have concrete evidence that Finns have been indeed fighting with IS you should contact the Finnish police. Evidence, mate. Not "speculation". edit: "contintents", lol Nobody knows for sure how many have returned. There's only estimates by various national security agencies on how many have left, which is about 7500 at the moment. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-32026985 http://uk.businessinsider.com/700-germans-are-fighting-for-isis-and-the-number-of-women-joining-keeps-growing-2015-6?r=US&IR=T The finnish authorities estimate that 100 have left and a handful has returned and are monitored for the time being. Anyhow, that wasn't the point that is was making, it was about the leniency people in politics and media have about these people, and choosing what values to endorse and to prioritize: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/denmark-isis-fighters-warmly-welcome-home-by-psychiatrists-1470546 http://speisa.com/modules/articles/index.php/item.676/sweden-to-reward-returning-isis-jihadists.html http://europe.newsweek.com/returning-isis-fighters-forgiveness-or-punishment-294497?rm=eu A sane human being wouldn't opening cases on people fighting against ISIS as a top priority. Your links only mention about 1400 people from Germany and the UK had possibly joined ISIS The 7500 number is for the number of German people who sympathize with ISIS, yes people joining ISIS is an issue and that is something we need to be concerned about but we need to keep this in perspective

That cartoon made me laugh

http://news.yahoo.com/iran-comes-cold-nuclear-deal-applied-062746897.html;_ylt=AwrBT7uPS5tWyWwAG4VXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTByMjB0aG5zBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw-- So the punishing sanctions against Iran have been lifted, I think this is a victory for the power of negotiations. It allows Iran to become part of the economic global community. I feel that the last decade has proved that economic sanctions can have real and meaningful impact...so in most cases we don't need to threaten countries with military force just let sanctions follow there natural course This is my view that will get Russia to change course in Ukraine, let the sanctions continue. Putin will hopefully realize a broken economy is not worth the effort for interference in places like Ukraine Also with the Iranians coming back to the global economy they will be pumping even more oil to the international market so those like me who prefer cheaper oil support this as this will only add to the oversupply and keep oil prices low. I also think an inclusive Iran will make the ME more stable as the Iranians will take there Shia influence more seriously as they now are back in the global world ...and no one likes criticism of policy from members of the UN...if you claim you want to be part of that global world You should also have seen that we have had a landmark exchange of USA prisoners for Iranian prisoners ...would this ever have happened if the sanctions hadn't been lifted? http://edition.cnn.com/2016/01/16/middleeast/iran-jason-rezaian-prisoners-freed/index.html Netanyahu seems to be really upset but this is to be expected. Also its a good thing to have the Israeli's also monitoring if the Iranians are adhering to the agreements that the likes of the IAEA insisted need to be part of the overall negotiations I think the likes of John Kerry and Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister, need to be congratulated for there hard work and diligence

Barti when you do get your wisdom teeth removed you will almost immediately feel more stupid, start reading something like the Encyclopedia Britannica or maybe watch something like CNN for days to help with the recovery of what you lost

Do you cheat on your tax? Is the USA strict on checking taxes are legitimate

Hi Gromnir "waves " I'm glad you are back, I have missed your insight. Why would you feel tired after a holiday? why indeed. jet lag? old age? HA! Good Fun! Yes, jet lag sux When I fly to the USA from SA it can take 20 hours ....its a loooooooooooong time in a plane

Hi Gromnir "waves " I'm glad you are back, I have missed your insight. Why would you feel tired after a holiday?

I really don't like the usage of the word rich...nowadays its not cool to be seen as " rich" in a country where there is such poverty But I cannot deny certain things, yes my family come from generations of bankers. My great grandfather came back from WW1 where his twin brother died in the Somme, we take WW1 very seriously But he then started a financial company and he created the initial investment firms. And yes my family have always been involved in banking, trading and similar industries. But we were always taught not to be ostentatious, you never flaunt your money and most money is invested in property and trust funds I am telling you this because I feel I cannot have a discussion about Capitalism if I'm not being honest about my own reality. I am not trying to boast. All of my family including me studied and worked hard to get to where we are, its not like we were given anything for free which is why I don't like generalizations about bankers and traders being corrupt or having no morals. My Dads cousin was even jailed in the USA for being part of the whole 2005-2008 financial crisis And yes I feel a sense of guilt which I can't help living in South Africa...but what can I do more than I already do? Anyway I won't bring this up again, I just wanted to explain my view to you Updated my Bruce.txt //Edit: Not many bankers were jailed for their involvement in the 2008 crisis, just saying. Yes it wasn't because of 2008 specifically, it was things that went on before that but 2008 was a build-up of events that probably took about 5-6 years of bad banking decisions by many people in the industry

But Woldan no one likes casualties especially if the war is not absolutely justified

I really don't like the usage of the word rich...nowadays its not cool to be seen as " rich" in a country where there is such poverty But I cannot deny certain things, yes my family come from generations of bankers. My great grandfather came back from WW1 where his twin brother died in the Somme, we take WW1 very seriously But he then started a financial company and he created the initial investment firms. And yes my family have always been involved in banking, trading and similar industries. But we were always taught not to be ostentatious, you never flaunt your money and most money is invested in property and trust funds I am telling you this because I feel I cannot have a discussion about Capitalism if I'm not being honest about my own reality. I am not trying to boast. All of my family including me studied and worked hard to get to where we are, its not like we were given anything for free which is why I don't like generalizations about bankers and traders being corrupt or having no morals. My Dads cousin was even jailed in the USA for being part of the whole 2005-2008 financial crisis And yes I feel a sense of guilt which I can't help living in South Africa...but what can I do more than I already do? Anyway I won't bring this up again, I just wanted to explain my view to you Updated my Bruce.txt We feel as a family that inside trading and irregular trading is a choice ...you can be a banker without breaking the law.In fact its a moral imperative that we distance ourselves from it because of all the bad decisions bankers have made since 1995 and the collapse of Barings Bank My grandfather, not the original founder, is old school like that ...he set a very important value system. He is now 92 and still alive but he has Alzheimers. He was with us at Xmas ..he has moments of clarity and he tells me things about shares and investment avenues, he remembers WW2 and he really has had a great life Anyway in summary my Dads cousin, who is also called Bruce, use to really annoy me when he lived in SA He was one of those typical traders who constantly felt the need to be overly generous...he would tip 1000 % in a restaurant and insisted on always paying. He drove a Ferrari and would always tease me when he saw me about " how could I not get into finance ( I work with financial software ) and I would never make the money he could make for me ". The guy wasn't malicious but just very, very brilliant at his job..but also arrogant Anyway when he was arrested in the USA my grandfather was unequivocal...we don't support what he did, we love him but he is on his own

Drowsy despite what you may think about what motivates me I don't think Serbia or Serbs are criminals or are the only guilty party in the whole Bosnia and Kosvo conflict. Until Sarex said one day that he thinks most of the world has a negative view of Serbs I never had any negative view of Serbia and I still don't. I don't understand the history of the whole Yugoslavia animosity and I still dont understand why it appears the various ex-Yugoslav countries resent each other You should know that what white people did, and I am a part of that indirectly, in South African during Apartheid was much worse than any perceived human rights abuses Serbia may or may not have committed so I am not trying to embarrass you and I definitely dont think I am better than you so sorry for any misunderstandings about this But I don't want to fight with you about this, I just want to ask you one question. You said you are 28 so how would you have remembered details about the war in 1992 if you were 5? The reason I raise this is dont you think its possible what people told you about the conflict may not be necessarily true or perhaps a little biased? Naturally I don't remember much of it. But since it colored everything that happened so many years later its inevitable that one learns about it. Besides, I have an interest in history and politics so I read up on it. People can be biased either way, I don't really put much stock in anecdotal evidence. But saying that there was an ethnic cleansing in Croatia in not anecdotal. That's not based on hearsay, just on the fact that 150 to 200 thousand people were displaced by force (or fled fearing death). Those people were later registered in Serbia and, naturally, records of the places where they were born and lived (Croatia) exist. Those are the sort of indisputable facts that are worth using in a discussion. As for the refugees, many did emigrate across Europe, if they had a way to get past the administrative hoops, but there was nothing like the current media and political support for them - just like there wasn't much mention of the Ukrainian refugees recently (which are quite numerous). Okay well I'm glad we had this chat because when you and Sarex both felt I was trolling you guys of course it bothered me because all I really was trying to say was " its okay to admit we have had histories around our countries " And yet I clearly never made my point in that way....and you have to understand for me I see what Apartheid has done and how as a white person I am basically unaffected. But my intention was never to sound like I was judging your country, I respect the fact you are proud of Serbia. I think its important to be patriotic and we may disagree on topics like NATO and the West but thats not a personal attack on you. End of day you and I have more in common than you realize...I want an EU that incorporates Serbia and is an example of economic success and political stability and is on very good terms with Russia which will always be its own empire, I just feel Serbia should align with the EU You see the real potential enemy to my vision is not USA\Russian tension or Capitalism its groups like ISIS which really would happily destroy everything ...and I mean that...that we consider sacred. You cannot reason or negotiate with that type of extremism. It really seems silly for us to debate over Ukraine when we have much more pressing concerns