Brazil Future Economic Super Power?

Nov 19, 2009 - After decades of political instability, poverty and uncertanty has Brazil finally hit her stride?  We all know that Brazilians know how to party and play (football) but can they roll with the G8 and give them a run for their money?  In 2001 Goldmen Sachs placed Brazil with Russia, India and China as the economies that would come to dominate the world.   Some may find it queer to place a country with a growth rate as skimpy as its swim suits, an economic fragility that consistantly suffered with any financial crisis, chronic political instability and a history of squandering economic potential could have so effectively put those wose behind them to pave the way for such a prosperous future.  China is said to lead the world out of our currant economic down turn with Brazil hot on their heals.  Brazil did not avoid the down turn but was among the last in and the first out.  Their economy is growing at a rate of 5% annualy and will pick up in the short term as new deep sea oil fields come online.  Brazil also enjoys a food and mineral trade with many Asian countries. Sometime after 2014 Brazil is scheduled to become the worlds 5th largest economy saying to Great Britan and France uhm excuse me I beleive that's my seat.  In many ways Brazil is said to outclass the other up and comers (Chine, India and Russia).  Unlike China and Russia it is a democracy.  Unlike India it has no insurgent, ethnic, religious hostility or unfriendly neighbors.  Unlike Russia it exports more than oil and arms and treats it's investors with respect.  Is that code for arss kissing? - 4 Comments

Insurance Company: No arm for 12-year-old Boy

Nov 17, 2009 - Benjamin French was born with his right arm missing below the elbow. In his 12 years, he has been fitted with seven prostheses. His most recent replacement will cost nearly $30,000 and his doctor says he will soon grow out of it. - 224 Comments

The American People Return to Personal Responsibility and Honesty

Nov 18, 2009 - by Newt Gingrich Posted 11/18/2009   As the Senate prepares to take up health reform, senators should take note of the tremendous shift underway in the thinking of the American people.Historians may record that the Obama Administration and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were the wake-up call which led Americans to recommit themselves to the core values of American civilization. The net result of the Obama presidential campaign and a ten month campaign for government control of health care has been a decisive shift away from reliance on government and toward personal responsibility. A Stunning 22-Point Shift Away From Government Responsibilty for Health Care Polling data released last week by Gallup show a startling shift in public opinion:  President Obama and Speaker Pelosi are actually convincing the country to rethink their attitudes and move toward the right and away from government solutions in health care (the same seems to be happening on spending, taxes, and how to create jobs, but that will be a future newsletter). - 3 Comments

Closed Shop (or how Obama plans to get folks back to work)

Nov 12, 2009 - Closed Shop By Kevin Mooney on 11.12.09 @ 6:07AM Non-union construction workers could be locked out of new federal projects thanks to an executive order President Obama signed back in February on the sly as part of a payback to organized labor. The election of Republican governors in Virginia, and especially New Jersey, who are both opposed to union-only favoritism in contracting, could complicate the administration’s efforts, at least on the state level. The loss of New Jersey must be viewed as a particularly acute setback, given how active labor bosses and White House operatives were in their failed effort to secure re-election for a long-time ally. - 5 Comments

Understanding todays Soviet Russia

Nov 11, 2009 - Twenty Years After the Fall By George Friedman We are now at the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the beginning of the collapse of the Soviet empire in Eastern Europe. We are also nearing the 18th anniversary of the fall of the Soviet Union itself. This is more than simply a moment for reflection — it is a moment to consider the current state of the region and of Russia versus that whose passing we are now commemorating. - 0 Comments

Obamanomics' Backlash Stimulus

Nov 10, 2009 - Obamanomics' Backlash Stimulus By Ralph R. Reiland What the Democrats should have learned from their losses last Tuesday is that the advice given by political strategist James Carville to candidate Bill Clinton in the 1992 presidential campaign is still valid -- "It's the economy, stupid." More specifically, what hurt Democrats at the polls is the lack of new jobs and the flood of red ink -- plus the doctor-bashing as a strategy to enact Obamacare, the push to cancel a worker's right to a secret ballot during unionization drives, the promise of skyrocketing utility rates via cap-and-trade mandates, and the prospect of higher taxes, more regulations and less liberty by way of an ever-increasing intrusion by government into every aspect of our lives. - 0 Comments

GOP Has Female Problems

Nov 09, 2009 - Conservatives say they pushed Dede Scozzafava out of the House race in New York’s 23rd District a week ago because of her left-of-Republican social views — and not because she is a woman. But the growing schism between the Republican Party’s ascendant right wing and its shrinking moderate core has clear gender undertones — and Scozzafava’s departure raises fresh questions about the GOP’s ability to recruit, elect and even tolerate the sort of moderate women who used to be part of its ruling mainstream. While Republicans scored a pair of impressive electoral victories in New Jersey and Virginia with solid support among female voters, the events of the last week offer harbingers of serious trouble ahead with the largest swing voter bloc in the country — women. - 0 Comments

Who Killed California?

Oct 15, 2009 - by Troy Senik http://nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/who-killed-california My apologies for having nothing originally in this post.  The text was here but didn't show up. Apparently this article is too long to be printed here, at about 11 pages.  It is nevertheless worth reading, unless, as someone has already done, you have made your  mind up what to believe before reading. - 29 Comments