countrybama24
Joined 13 years ago
Karma
107
Submissions
52
Member since
Aug 19
Recent submissions
Comment · 8 years ago
I think the argument is that those countries prove the policies work and are affordable and cost-effective. Whether or not Americans can support those policies in light of their skepticism towards government, individualism, and a particular political strategy used historically to court southern voters is a good question - but one that doesnt necessarily disprove the benefits of greater spending on social programs in the United States per se.
Comment · 9 years ago
These people have sacrificed more for our country than most Americans. They are some of the most patriotic people you'll ever meet, because they know how horrible other governments can be and they have worked incredibly hard to get to America, unlike native born Americans. Calling them cheaters for helping us kill terrorists is comical. They are heroes.
Comment · 10 years ago
https://fr24.com/THY8456/a5a3952
That looks like Erdogan's jet. Was in a holding pattern for the last hour. Now heading to Istanbul. Seems like the coup has failed?
Comment · 10 years ago
I'm surprised the article did not mention the theory that they have not defaulted because of the numerous state-owned assets they possess abroad which could be seized by creditors.
"Caracas fears a default could open up claims to PdVSA assets, such as rigs, refineries and oil shipments. One target by creditors could be the company’s Houston-based subsidiary, Citgo Petroleum Corp., which has three U.S. refineries that receive hundreds of thousands of barrels of Venezuelan oil a day."
http://www.wsj.com/articles/in-decaying-venezuela-debts-get-...
Comment · 10 years ago
Sure. But to be fair, wikipedia shows there have been 33 Israeli deaths from rocket attacks since 2001 [1] and the last two major flareups between the two have had extremely lopsided death tolls [2]. During the last 2014 conflict, that article states there were ~100 Palestinian deaths and zero Israeli deaths (at the time). During the 2012 conflict, there were 167 Palestinian deaths, >50% being civilians, compared to 6 Israeli deaths (four being civilian). I would be happy to look at alternative sources if you have any on death tolls, since objective figures are certainly hard to come across.
That same article describes the rockets you reference, but with the added context of relative quantities:
"According to the IDF, around six rockets are being fired at Israelis every hour. However, many of these rockets are not sophisticated, and they either fail to land in populated areas or lack the firepower to cause casualties when they do: Sometimes, the payloads are removed from missiles in a bid to increase their range."
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_rocket_attacks_on_... [2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/07/11...
Comment · 10 years ago
Well they are good at different activities. Charities are good at things that can be done on a small, decentralized scale, like giving away food. Regulating massive industries, correcting the issues in our healthcare system, setting up a program of cash transfers, on the other hand, are all things that often require the scale of the government.
Comment · 10 years ago
They don't because it's not considered cool.
Comment · 11 years ago
Or the fact that they close at 3:30PM everyday.
Comment · 11 years ago
Sure, I just wanted to clarify that "mildly impressive" in this context referred to "the relative prestige of that job within the spectrum of potential positions available to high performers and the sons and daughters of the ruling class at a small handful of the most elite universities worldwide." This is quite a bit different than what one would normally associate that phrase with.
Comment · 11 years ago
SSG is only "mildly impressive"? By what metric? Those positions put you squarely in line for mega fund private equity jobs. If thats par for your course, you must be in some pretty rarified air I guess.
The merits of those candidates is debatable, but the prestige of those positions really isn't.
Comment · 11 years ago
Considering their track record, I wouldn't be surprised if they have no intention whatsoever of going public. Uber has to convince investors they will be able to exit their investment and the total pool of investors willing to try their luck in the secondary market is likely much smaller than those looking for traditional IPO or trade sale liquidity events. Not that they would have difficulty raising money, but they are certainly pushing the limits of the terms they can receive. Someone else pointed out this would also be a useful tactic in recruiting pitches.
Is it really worth it to go public? The reporting burdens for public companies are well documented. But also this management team has used some pretty shady tactics in the past. I can't imagine they love the idea of the scrutiny that comes with being public. You can always sell your share of the company in one of these financing rounds if you wanted to diversify your wealth.