StreetScooby

We're a republic that democratically elects representatives, each of whom are sworn to uphold our Constitution. That's how it's supposed to work in theory. We are all engines of karma

By "the market", I take it you're referring to the stock market. In the big picture, the stock market is diddly. It's the bond market the drives the world's markets. Fed policy is killing that right now. Bernanke is very much in Obama's pocket. "The State Of The Obama Stock Market" We are all engines of karma

Good point. They probably wouldn't go against Google, either. We are all engines of karma

Tell that to MetLife, who wasn't allowed to pay a dividend until the Feds allowed them. Instead of tolerating that level of control, they simply dumped the business the Fed wanted to tell them how to run. Can't really blame them. Ask the rest of those evil, saved banks if they're being allowed to practice capitalism. You might be surprised by their answers. We are all engines of karma

Just look at what the Obama administration is doing. They are the most anti-business administration I have ever seen. Capitalism doesn't work, Obama says so himself. He's here to fundamentally change it. His efforts are not going to work. Until he leaves, there's alot of unemployed people who aren't going to work, either. Simple observations made by many. No conspiracy theories needed. We are all engines of karma

This has now become an unending series of taxes... We are all engines of karma

I was wondering why this had fallen off the radar. Apparently, when things start getting serious, there's a ban on information being distributed about the case. Looks like that's happening. Good. Hope Holder gets his due. We are all engines of karma

LOL... That was good. We are all engines of karma

It's pretty clear to me that Obama, et. al., are intent on destroying capitalism. We'll be left with a system where wise people, appointed by Obama, decides what's right. Truly frightening stuff. We are all engines of karma

Obama's boys are completely out of control... http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/205085-dems-propose-reasonable-profits-board-to-regulate-oil-company-profits What are they going to do when they realize just how low the returns actually are? Watch them simply quote absolute numbers "- look they made $20B dollars!!! That's obscene!!!" We are all engines of karma

It's pretty amazing how threads flow in SC. This thread started talking about how alot of economic disparities can be attributed to work ethic, and is now talking about children's genitals (in the context of education, of course). We are all engines of karma

I thought the reverse was supposed to happen wrto votes??? We are all engines of karma

I don't care what anyone says, being able to keep life simple is a skill We are all engines of karma

This happens alot on the street. What people see in an accomplished athlete is someone who is disciplined, and has experience working as a member of a team. That's highly valued. Generally speaking, this sentiment is valid. We are all engines of karma

The parents are the one "constant" here. We are all engines of karma

We're looking at colleges now for my son. The costs are simply ridiculous. "Top" schools are charging $50K to $60K per year(!). Even NY state schools (in state for me) want $25K/year. The formula the federal government uses to calculate what a family can afford to pay is simply absurd. Absolutely no connection to reality what so ever. But, guess what, I can get loans from the federal government for.... 8%. What a scam this has become. We are all engines of karma

Agreed. That's where I learned mine. Plus, every male on both sides of my parents' families worked, and worked hard. We are all engines of karma

Being responsible for your actions is not emphasized enough, IMO. I see that as a major difference between a liberal ethos and a conservative one. We are all engines of karma

My take on the article is that the primary reason for economic disparity in this county is due to work ethic. We are all engines of karma

There's a caveat, if I've ever seen one... We are all engines of karma

I thought this article was spot on. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/01/17/an_ignored_disparity_112791.html An Ignored 'Disparity' By Thomas Sowell With all the talk about "disparities" in innumerable contexts, there is one very important disparity that gets remarkably little attention -- disparities in the ability to create wealth. People who are preoccupied, or even obsessed, with disparities in income are seldom interested much, or at all, in the disparities in the ability to create wealth, which are often the reasons for the disparities in income. In a market economy, people pay us for benefiting them in some way -- whether we are sweeping their floors, selling them diamonds or anything in between. Disparities in our ability to create benefits for which others will pay us are huge, and the skills required can develop early -- or sometimes not at all. A recent national competition among high school students who create their own technological advances turned up an especially high share of such students winning recognition in the San Francisco Bay Area. A closer look showed that the great majority of these Bay Area students had Asian names. Asian Americans are a substantial presence in this region but they are by no means a majority, much less such an overwhelming majority as they are among those winning high tech awards. This pattern of disproportionate representation of particular groups among those with special skills and achievements is not confined to Asian Americans or even to the United States. It is a phenomenon among particular racial, ethnic or other groups in countries around the world -- the Ibos in Nigeria, the Parsees in India, the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Germans in Brazil, Chinese in Malaysia, Lebanese in West Africa, Tamils in Sri Lanka. The list goes on and on. Gross inequalities in skills and achievements have been the rule, not the exception, on every inhabited continent and for centuries on end. Yet our laws and government policies act as if any significant statistical difference between racial or ethnic groups in employment or income can only be a result of their being treated differently by others. Nor is this simply an opinion. Businesses have been sued by the government when the representation of different groups among their employees differs substantially from their proportions in the population at large. But, no matter how the human race is broken down into its components -- whether by race, sex, geographic region or whatever -- glaring disparities in achievements have been the rule, not the exception. Anyone who watches professional basketball games knows that the star players are by no means a representative sample of the population at large. The book "Human Accomplishment" by Charles Murray is a huge compendium of the top achievements around the world in the arts and sciences, as well as in sports and other fields. Nowhere have these achievements been random or representative of the demographic proportions of the population of a country or of the world. Nor have they been the same from one century to the next. China was once far more advanced technologically than any country in Europe, but then it fell behind and more recently is gaining ground. Most professional golfers who participate in PGA tournaments have never won a single tournament, but Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have each won dozens of tournaments. Yet these and numerous other disparities in achievement are resolutely ignored by those whose shrill voices denounce disparities in rewards, as if these disparities are somehow suspicious at best and sinister at worst. Higher achieving groups -- whether classes, races or whatever -- are often blamed for the failure of other groups to achieve. Politicians and intellectuals, especially, tend to conceive of social questions in terms that allow them to take on the role of being on the side of the angels against the forces of evil. This can be a huge disservice to those individuals and groups who are lagging behind, for it leads them to focus on a sense of grievance and victimhood, rather than on how they can lift themselves up instead of trying to pull other people down. Again, this is a worldwide phenomenon -- a sad commentary on the down side of the brotherhood of man. Copyright 2011, Creators Syndicate Inc. We are all engines of karma

That's a good question. Here's the top oil producing countries in the world: # Producing Nation bbl/d (2006) bbl/d (2007) bbl/d (2008) bbl/d (2009) Present Share 1 Saudi Arabia 10,665 10,234 10,782 9,760 11.8% 2 Russia 9,677 9,876 9,789 9,934 12.0% 3 United States 8,331 8,481 8,514 9,141 11.1% I'm guessing they supply alot of western democracies, and are reasonable in doing so. Can't think of another reason. BTW, tried to google buyers of Saudi Arabian oil, and couldn't find anything meaningful in a quick search. We are all engines of karma

YAY +1!!! We are all engines of karma

Saudi Arabia isn't our largest supplier of oil, BTW... From http://www.consumerenergyreport.com/2010/01/25/top-10-sources-for-u-s-oil-for-2009/ Top 10 Sources for U.S. Crude Oil in 2009 1. Canada – 1.94 million bpd 2. Mexico – 1.13 3. Saudi Arabia – 1.09 4. Venezuela – 1.01 5. Nigeria – 0.74 6. Angola – 0.48 7. Iraq – 0.47 8. Brazil – 0.30 9. Algeria – 0.28 10. Colombia – 0.25 FYI We are all engines of karma

As is science. This whole discussion has become an argument in semantics. How we label our observations, in our limited vocabulary, doesn't change the ultimate nature of those observations. We are all engines of karma