tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-144522352024-03-08T10:53:16.560+08:00Live : Positive : ValuesLife should be guided by principles. Develop the strength of an indomitable spirit. Be useful to others.mhilmyhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585975560751390457noreply@blogger.comBlogger1120125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14452235.post-68590279280083001542011-12-04T22:58:00.003+08:002011-12-04T23:39:49.966+08:00How Money Corrupts the US Congress- "Republic Lost"Lawrence Lessig talks about how money corrupts the United States Congress and how big money blocks reform in politics. He deals with this comlpex subject in "Republic Lost" and offers some suggestions.<br /><br /><iframe width="450" height="259" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Ik1AK56FtVc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />Lawrence Lessig on How We Lost Our Democracy. <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/national-affairs/lawrence-lessig-on-how-we-lost-our-democracy-20111005">Read More</a>mhilmyhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585975560751390457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14452235.post-87850418925400250112011-09-10T22:16:00.003+08:002011-09-10T22:39:20.042+08:00Is US Social Security a Ponzi Scheme?Republican presidential hopeful Texas Governor Rick Perry who was taking part in a Republican primary debate says, Yes, it is..<br /><br />Rick Perry said: “It is a <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Ponzi</span> scheme to tell our kids that are 25 or 30 years old today, you’re paying into a program that’s going to be there,” Perry said during a Sept. 7 debate of the Republican presidential candidates, reprising a theme from his 2010 book “Fed Up.”<br /><br />Experts on both <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Ponzi</span> schemes and Social Security say Perry is wrong. “<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">Ponzi</span> schemes are, by definition, fraud,” said Mitchell <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">Zuckoff</span>, author of “<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">Ponzi</span>’s Scheme: The True Story of a Financial Legend.”<br /><br />“Social Security is above board,” he added. “We can argue about whether it’s a good system. But you can’t call it a fraud.”<br /><br />More of this <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-09/perry-s-ponzi-talk-implies-fraud-in-long-popular-social-security.html">article on <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">Bloomberg</span><br /></a>mhilmyhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585975560751390457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14452235.post-45030138821953204232011-08-06T15:54:00.003+08:002011-08-06T22:28:53.909+08:00Fears of Another Financial MeltdownFinancial markets across the globe have taken a battering this week with a 500-point plunge on Wall Street overnight- its worst drop since 2008. The markets took a similar panic <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">sell off</span> when the US investment bank <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bankruptcy_of_Lehman_Brothers"><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">Lehman</span> Brothers</a> filed for the largest <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">bankruptcy</span> in Sept. 2008. <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">Lehman</span> went under when the US housing bubble burst due to the sub-prime mortgage crisis. It was reported to be the onset of the Great recession very much compared to the 1932 depression. A repeat of that <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">scenario</span> is being played out by the mayhem in the financial markets again. Fear and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">uncertainty</span> are the prevailing market sentiments.<br /><br />Nobel prize winning US economist <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/05/opinion/the-wrong-worries.html?_r=2&ref=opinion">Paul <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">Krugman</span></a> writing on New York Times:<br /><br />"In case you had any doubts, Thursday’s more than 500-point plunge in the Dow Jones industrial average and the drop in interest rates to near-record lows confirmed it: The economy <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">isn</span>’t recovering, and Washington has been worrying about the wrong things.<br /><br />It’s not just that the threat of a double-dip recession has become very real. It’s now impossible to deny the obvious, which is that we are not now and have never been on the road to recovery."<br /><br />The gridlock between the two main political parties in Washington that we saw on the extension of the US debt limit demonstrates the difficulty in achieving any meaningful reform to deal with very complex problems.<br /><br />Standard and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">Poors</span> (S&P) one of the three rating agencies has down graded the US from the AAA status to AA+. S&P is not satisfied with the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">US</span> debt reduction plan.<br /><br />The fallout of this downgrade will be known next week. This could well lead to the perfect financial storm unless <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">politicians</span> rise <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_11" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">up to</span> the challenge.mhilmyhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585975560751390457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14452235.post-29767564043159058312010-12-31T22:59:00.004+08:002010-12-31T23:05:41.004+08:00FT's Outlook for 2011<object width="420" height="261"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BQ6o9_QumDM?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BQ6o9_QumDM?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="420" height="261"></embed></object>mhilmyhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585975560751390457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14452235.post-1279199892680626562010-12-11T17:15:00.004+08:002010-12-11T23:29:33.999+08:00What can failure teach?FAILURE SEEMS TO BE NATURES’S PLAN FOR PREPARING US FOR GREAT RESPONSIBILITIES.<br /><br />If everything we attempted in life were achieved with a minimum of effort and came out exactly as planned, how little we would learn-and how boring life would be! And how arrogant we would become if we succeeded at everything we attempted. Failure allows us to develop the essential quality of humility. It is not easy-when you are the person experiencing failure-to accept it philosophically, serene in the knowledge that this is one of life’s great learning experiences. But it is. Nature’s ways are not always easily understood, but they are repetitive and therefore predictable. You can be absolutely certain that when you feel you are being most unfairly tested, you are being prepared for great achievement.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.naphill.org/">Napoleon Hill's thought of the day Dec 7, 2010</a>mhilmyhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585975560751390457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14452235.post-30697525232918568872010-07-17T10:30:00.006+08:002010-07-17T10:50:50.324+08:00Osteoporosis Exercises for Hips<object width="470" height="298"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9iL9_PQCnJw&hl=en_US&fs=1?border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9iL9_PQCnJw&hl=en_US&fs=1?border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="470" height="298"></embed></object>mhilmyhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585975560751390457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14452235.post-11455206409629248832010-05-31T15:00:00.002+08:002010-05-31T15:06:28.590+08:00Silent Meditation<span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>A MOST BENEFICIAL USE OF TIME IS SILENT MEDITATION, WHILE SEARCHING FOR GUIDANCE FROM WITHIN.</strong><br /></span><br /><br />We all experience rare moments when a blinding revelation comes to us, when we suddenly see things differently than ever before. Usually, however, we learn the truth about ourselves gradually, over long periods of time, from quiet introspection. We are all spiritual, but some of us have learned to tap more effectively into the great strength that resides in the spiritual portion of ourselves. The spirit is not boisterous and noisy. Getting in touch with your spiritual self demands tranquillity and solitude. Make sure you dedicate a portion of every day to thought and study, to think and reflect upon your life. Choose a time and place that best allow you to relax your mind and devote your thoughts to reflection.<br /><br />Thought for the day- 30 May 2010 by the Napoleon Hill Foundation. <a href="http://www.naphill.org/">http://www.naphill.org</a>.mhilmyhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585975560751390457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14452235.post-32739739894362653352010-05-04T16:38:00.003+08:002010-05-04T16:47:09.983+08:00Shoes: A treatment for osteoarthritis in the knees?Flip-flops and sneakers with flexible soles are easier on the knees than clogs or even special walking shoes, a study by Rush University Medical Center has found. And that's important, because loading on the knee joints is a key factor in the development of osteoarthritis.<br /><br />The study has been published online in the journal Arthritis Care & Research.<br /><br />"Traditionally, footwear has been engineered to provide maximum support and comfort for the foot, with little attention paid to the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">biomechanical</span> effects on the rest of the leg," said Dr. <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Najia</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">Shakoor</span>, a <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">rheumatologist</span> at Rush and the primary author of the study. "But the shoes we wear have a substantial impact on the load on the knee joints, particularly when we walk."<br /><br />"Our study demonstrated that flat, flexible footwear significantly reduces the load on the knee joints compared with supportive, stable shoes with less flexible soles."<br /><br />Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis and a significant source of disability and impaired quality of life. A higher-than-normal load on the knees during walking is a hallmark of the disease, associated with both the severity of osteoarthritis and its progression.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/shoes-treatment-osteoarthritis-knees.html">More on the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">ScienceBlog</span></a>mhilmyhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585975560751390457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14452235.post-26615731072847958682010-04-11T15:02:00.007+08:002010-04-11T19:58:06.592+08:00Thatcher's Think Tank Calls for Total Financial OverhaulThe UK politics has risen up to fever pitch, after Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced Wednesday that he is calling the election on May 06.<br /><br />While politicians contesting for the parliament are promising hope and change, former conservative prime minister Mrs. Thatcher's think tank, Institue for Economic Affairs(IEA) says<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/7575474/IEA-warns-that-both-Labour-and-Tories-underestimate-spending-cuts.html"> a total financial overhaul is required </a>and that the deficit can be slashed without raising tax burden.<br /><br />Keynesian economists in UK want to return to the principles of John Maynard Keynes, the guru of government intervention. They are urging the UK government to spend its way out of the recession. A commentary on <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">Business Week</span> by <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Mattew</span> Lyn <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-02-22/deathbed-of-keynesian-economics-will-be-in-u-k-matthew-lynn.html">"Deathbed of Keynesian Economics Will Be in U.K"</a> gives both sides of the economic argument.<br /><br />"So who is right, and who is wrong? It’s a debate that matters to the rest of the world. After all, if demand management <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">doesn</span>’t work here, it won’t work anywhere.<br /><br />The U.K. has some experience of mass letter writing from Keynes’s devotees. In 1981, a group of 364 economists wrote an open letter ripping into the policies of then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. They turned out to be totally wrong, of course. With hindsight, no one can now dispute that her policies led to a long and durable economic revival."mhilmyhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585975560751390457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14452235.post-25633249060745426922010-02-16T16:13:00.000+08:002010-02-16T16:17:23.145+08:00The End of the Free Market: Who Wins the War Between States and Corporations?Amazon.com's editorial of this book by Ian Bremmer, President of Eurasia Group <a href="http://www.amazon.com/End-Free-Market-Between-Corporations/dp/1591843014">reads</a>:<br /><br />"Understanding the rise of state capitalism and its threat to global free markets<br /><br />The End of the Free Market details the growing phenomenon of state capitalism, a system in which governments drive local economies through ownership of market-dominant companies and large pools of excess capital, using them for political gain. This trend threatens America's competitive edge and the conduct of free markets everywhere.<br /><br />An expert on the intersection of economics and politics, Ian Bremmer has followed the rise of state-owned firms in China, Russia, the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Iran, Venezuela, and elsewhere. He demonstrates the growing challenge that state capitalism will pose for the entire global economy.<br /><br />Among the questions addressed: Are we on the brink of a new kind of Cold War, one that pits competing economic systems in a battle for dominance? Can free market countries compete with state capitalist powerhouses over relations with countries that have elements of both systems-like India, Brazil, and Mexico? Does state capitalism have staying power?<br /><br />This guide to the next big global economic trend includes useful insights for investors, business leaders, policymakers, and anyone who wants to understand important emerging changes in international politics and the global economy. "mhilmyhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585975560751390457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14452235.post-39242202925381117862010-02-14T18:59:00.007+08:002010-02-15T09:00:49.053+08:00Another global meltdown!The unfolding debt drama of Greece could be the script for another <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">Greek</span> tragedy. As <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703525704575061172926967984.html">written in the Wall Street Journal</a>, it begins, "The Greek Tragedy That Changed <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Europe"- Plutus</span>, the Greek god of wealth, did not have an easy life. As the myth goes, <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">Plutus</span> wanted to grant riches only to the "the just, the wise, the men of ordered life." Zeus blinded him out of jealousy of mankind (and envy of the good), leaving <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">Plutus</span> to indiscriminately distribute his favors.<br /><br />Modern-day Greece may be just and wise, but it certainly has not had an ordered life. As a result, the great opportunity and wealth bestowed by European integration has been largely squandered. And lower interest rates over the past decade—brought down to German levels through Greece being allowed, rather generously, into the euro zone—led to little more than further deficits and a dangerous buildup of government debt.<br /><br />Now <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">Plutus</span> wants his money back. Europe is entering unprepared into a serious economic crisis—and the nascent global recovery could easily collapse due to the unsustainable and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">Ponzi</span>-like buildup of government debt in weaker countries."<br /><br />Now Greece is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. The European Union has formally announced that a bailout for Greece will be available if needed. EU economic leaders Germany and France and the European Central Bank have backed the bailout plan. Portugal, Spain and Italy have their problems of national debt and the Greece bailout could give the template they need to queue at EU headquarters in Brussels. Herman Van <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">Rompuy</span>, the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">EU's</span> new president, has already called for the creation of an "economic government" that shifts responsibility for economic planning from national authorities to the "EU level".<br /><br />In a parallel move, European Commission chief Jose <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">Barroso</span> said Brussels has treaty powers allowing it to take the reins of economic management. "This is a time for boldness. I believe that our economic and social situation demands a radical shift from the status <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-error">quo</span>. And the new Lisbon Treaty allows this," he said. "Economic policy isn't a national, but a European matter. No modern economy is an island. When a member state doesn't make reforms, others suffer because of that."<br /><br />The headline of an article in the British paper The Telegraph <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/4623525/Failure-to-save-East-Europe-will-lead-to-worldwide-meltdown.html">reads</a>, "Failure to save East Europe will lead to worldwide meltdown- The unfolding debt drama in Russia, Ukraine, and the EU states of Eastern Europe has reached acute danger point."<br /><br />Greece is one of 16 countries that have so far adopted the 10-year-old euro currency, and these are nervous times for the EU Commission and the financial markets.mhilmyhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585975560751390457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14452235.post-76545238417542536732009-12-06T15:42:00.005+08:002009-12-06T16:03:47.511+08:00The Future of the Global Financial System 2009<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/stmnJVlctt8&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/stmnJVlctt8&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>mhilmyhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585975560751390457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14452235.post-23794935494259930402009-11-26T18:00:00.001+08:002009-11-26T20:36:50.377+08:00A Pro-Free-Market Program for Economic Recovery<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pb5z1pM6q7c&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pb5z1pM6q7c&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>mhilmyhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585975560751390457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14452235.post-81942042102988632822009-11-17T22:37:00.003+08:002009-11-17T23:02:15.454+08:00Nervous Nations on a Gold Buying SpreeIt is a trend that is catching on. First China bought gold from the International Monetary Fund, then it was the turn of India. Now, Sri Lanka has jumped onto the bandwagon.<br /><br />Countries are buying gold like there is no tomorrow.<br /><br />Sri Lanka’s central bank said it had been buying gold to diversify its reserves amid volatile currency markets, days after India announced it had purchased 200 tonnes of the precious metal, by doling out hard cash. <a href="http://www.goldinvestingnews.com/2698/time-to-bail-out-on-gold.html">(Link)</a><br /><br /><br />Dennis Gartman, founder of The Gartman Letter, <a href="http://wallstreetpit.com/12150-dennis-gartman-there-is-a-gold-bubble">told CNBC Monday</a> that the price of gold will “continue to go up until it stops.”<br /><br />“It is a gold bubble and to say otherwise it’d be naive,” Gartman said. He called the trade on the precious metal: “mind boggling and unbelievably crowded,” but also said he is currently long — or betting gold will go higher.<br /><br />According to Gartman, gold’s Friday low of $1,102/oz is the floor. If it breaks that support, he suggests investors should “head to the sidelines.”<br /><br />When asked for a proper place where to put money as a hedge against inflation if it’s not gold, Gartman tipped Canadian and Australian currencies.<br /><br />“If you’re going to be any place, be there,” Gartman said.<br /><br />Australia’s central bank has already raised interest rates twice in the last couple of months and Canada is preparing to hike its key lending rate, he said.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><embed height="380" name="cnbcplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" width="400" src="http://plus.cnbc.com/rssvideosearch/action/player/id/1332463374/code/cnbcplayershare" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" bgcolor="#000000" quality="best" wmode="transparent" scale="noscale" salign="lt"></embed>mhilmyhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585975560751390457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14452235.post-76254174457614781662009-10-17T23:01:00.001+08:002009-10-17T23:04:41.296+08:00Noam Chomsky on What is Wrong with the Right in America<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6MHEuudJ-o0&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6MHEuudJ-o0&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>mhilmyhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585975560751390457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14452235.post-37347663961190882002009-10-07T13:46:00.002+08:002009-10-07T19:46:00.544+08:00The Great Depression AheadHarry Dent- the longtime investor and author predicted a severe downturn in Japan and a great boom in the United States in the 1990s and has made quite a name for himself. He was right on those two counts and since then he has been churning out an endless stream of books filled with predictions.<br /><br />His current bestseller "The Great Depression Ahead," predicts a new Great Depression right around the corner.<br /><br />According to the <a href="http://books.simonandschuster.com/9781416588986">description</a> on Simon and Schuster:<br /><br />"The first and last economic depression that you will experience in your lifetime is just ahead. The year 2009 will be the beginning of the next long-term winter season and the initial end of prosperity in almost every market, ushering in a downturn like most of us have not experienced before. Are you aware that we have seen long-term peaks in our stock market and economy very close to every 40 years due to generational spending trends: as in 1929, 1968, and next around 2009? Are you aware that oil and commodity prices have peaked nearly every 30 years, as in 1920, 1951, 1980 -- and next likely around late 2009 to mid-2010? The three massive bubbles that have been booming for the last few decades -- stocks, real estate, and commodities --have all reached their peak and are deflating simultaneously."<br /><br />Among Dent's predictions are the following:<br /><br />• The economy appears to recover from the subprime crisis and minor recession by mid-2009 -- "the calm before the real storm."<br /><br />• Stock prices start to crash again between mid- and late 2009 into late 2010, and likely finally bottom around mid-2012 -- between Dow 3,800 and 7,200.<br /><br />Although it may be possible to identify demographic and economic trends through long term cycle analysis, to forecast the stock market is too far fetched. Nevertheless, the book makes for an iteresting read at a time when the world is teetering on economic meltdown.mhilmyhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585975560751390457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14452235.post-16923715176813888082009-10-02T19:25:00.008+08:002009-10-03T16:40:41.065+08:00Freedom vs. Greater Good of SocietyIn the United States, everyone is debating on how to reform the healthcare and it seems there are as many ways of reforming the broken healthcare system (that everyone agrees) as there are special interests and lobby groups such as the insurance companies and drug companies who are spending millions of dollars to win their side of the argument with the lawmakers.<br /><br />Joining the debate bandwagon, an alliance made up of major health agencies, including the American Diabetes Association, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and two former surgeon generals, wants to reverse the obesity epidemic by investing more in health promotion and disease prevention, especially to kids. The alliance has urged the lawmakers to pass legislation and deal with this alarming health problem which is not only dangerous by enormously expensive.<br /><br />The group says the American children are getting addicted to poor diets--loaded with salt, sugar and fat--and sedentary lifestyles, which leads to cancer, heart disease and diabetes later on, costing billions of dollars to the taxpayer. Obesity-related spending contributes $150 billion to healthcare spending each year. <a href="http://www.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=630849">(Link. HealthDay)</a><br /><br />Amid the media coverage of the often rowdy and sometimes abusive language against any form of national healthcare heard in the townhall meetings, it is stunning to read that America- the world's only superpower and the world's largest economy, is expanding a free health service meant to take modern medicine to the third world <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/08/13/eveningnews/main5240824.shtml">as reported on CBS.</a><br /><br />"People from all around Los Angeles have been lining up around the clock since Monday - waiting, hoping to get free medical care.<br /><br />Some 1,500 people a day - many working poor, almost all with little or no health insurance - file into L.A.'s cavernous Forum to see hundreds of doctors, dentists, and optometrists. All of these medical professionals are volunteers. All of these people are in need.<br /><br />Larry Durst's disability check won't cover the glasses he needs. He says without this clinic he would suffer and go without.<br /><br />Kenya Smith needs a checkup for two-week-old Zoe. Her insurance doesn't cover it.<br /><br />"They wanted $1,500 for just to be seen by the doctor plus co-payments. That was a lot of money I thought," she said.<br /><br />Anna Garcia got in line Tuesday for dental work. She works for Orange County, has five children, and her husband is out of work. The co-pay for three year old Aizza's root canal: $1,000.<br /><br />"I couldn’t afford it and I didn’t want her to lose her teeth. So I once read about this program, and I had to take advantage of it, even if it meant missing a couple of days of work," she said.<br /><br />The program is run by Remote Area Medical, a non-profit group established 24 years ago to take modern medicine to the third world. Today they do some 40 multi-day free clinics a year - 65 percent of them now in the U.S.<br /><br />"There are about 49 million people who don’t have access to the care they need. They simply can’t afford it," says Stan Brock, founder of Remote Area Medical."<br /><br />The debate over healthcare reform in the United States centers around questions of a person's right to health care, access, fairness, sustainability, and quality purchased by the high sums spent by the taxpayers. The mixed public-private health care system in the United States is the most expensive in the world, with health care costing more per person than in any other industrialised nation. The U.S. is the only wealthy, industrialized nation that does not have a universal health care system.<br /><br />Just like the American tobacco industry and their lobbysts who spend vast sums of money to influence lawmakers and persuade people, particularly younger people, that smoking is an assertion of freedom and liberty- so too does the drug and insurance companies and the lobbysts of the private healthcare industry spend vast sums of money to kill off any legislation that will bring in a public option which can compete with the private healthcare.<br /><br />The present healthcare debate has pitted two opposing ideologies against each other, and a proper balance between them needs to be found to satisfy the majority of the people.<br /><br />President Obama, the democratic president considers health care a freedom issue: everyone should walk as equals under the same insurance umbrella. That people are left out in the rain is contrary to the American ethos.<br /><br />Conversely, Republicans see it as a liberty issue. Obama's reform plan leads to some with the individual's power of choice. In large part, this choice is the choice of how to spend one's money, but there is no small amount of philosophical objection to government telling you what to do -- that's also contrary to the American ethos.<br /><br />Read about <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/24/news/economy/health_care_reform_obama.fortune/">the five freedoms Americans</a> will likely loose if the public option of the healthcare reform bill intended to provide affordable healthcare to the poor and compete against the private insurance is enacted into law.<br /><br />United States of America- the world's great bastion of freedom- is deeply skepical of any program such as the universal healthcare that gives power to their government to control any aspect of their lives.mhilmyhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585975560751390457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14452235.post-70488568883763089612009-10-02T10:14:00.011+08:002009-10-02T15:49:48.517+08:00China rises to a Global Power with Market SocialismChina Thursday celebrated the 60<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">th</span> anniversary of the Communist Party's rise to power with a spectacular military parade that is billed as the largest ever in Chinese history. It also underlines China's new status as a global power, and throughout the gala <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">celebration</span> "Socialism with Chinese characteristics," a concept developed by the late Deng Xiaoping in 1984, was the phrase heard most often in the official commentary.<br /><br />“The 60 years of new China have proved that only socialism can save China,” <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">Hu</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">Jintao</span>, the president of China said in his key note address.<br /><br />“We will unswervingly follow socialism with Chinese characteristics and comprehensively implement the ruling party’s basic theory, basic line and basic programme.”<br /><br />Economic reforms under a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_socialism">market socialist</a> model began in China in 1979, which has allowed for astonishing economic growth of more than 8 per cent for over two decades. This has induced profound social migration from rural to urban cities and caused major environmental challenges.<br /><br />Despite the global economic downturn that started in early 2008, the Chinese economy has come out earlier than most of the western economies.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE58S1SJ20090929">Link.</a>mhilmyhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585975560751390457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14452235.post-75444504581775509792009-09-26T22:55:00.002+08:002009-09-26T23:11:01.979+08:00MeditationFrom the Excerpt of 'Broken Open' by Elizabeth Lesser.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Meditation </span><br /><br />I have been a student and practitioner of meditation for thirty years. I still find it difficult—at times boring and at other times confrontational. And I still find it valuable—nourishing, expansive, and illuminating. Sometimes I meditate every day; sometimes I go months without ever sitting on my meditation cushion. I have taken short meditation courses and spent most of my time waiting for the evening or weekend to be over. And I have gone on long, solitary retreats and surrendered to the practice, emptying myself of worry, falseness, restlessness, and complaints. Without hesitation, I can say that meditation practice has made a remarkable difference in my life.<br /><br />People are attracted to meditation for a variety reasons, including these:<br /><br />•to relax, physically and mentally;<br /><br />•to keep the heart open and soft;<br /><br />•to accept life on its own terms;<br /><br />•to feel more alive, connected, and content;<br /><br />•to find inner peace; and<br /><br />•to make contact with other realms of consciousness, what some call the divine or God.<br /><br />Meditation can help us achieve any of these—but only over time, and with dedication and work. We come to meditation feeling that parts of our life are difficult and that perhaps a meditation practice will make them less so. We want relief now. But that is not how meditation works. The desire for peace and happiness is noble; the expectation of instant results is unreasonable.<br /><br />Meditation is a matter of slow and steady experience. It is not a cure. It is not a set of moral values. It is not a religion. It is a way—a way to be fully present, a way to be genuinely who we are, a way to look deeply at the nature of things, a way to rediscover the peace we already possess. It does not aim to get rid of anything bad, or to create anything good. It is an attitude of openness. The term for this attitude is mindfulness.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20081030_tows_lesserexcerpt/2">Full Excerpt on Oprah </a>mhilmyhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585975560751390457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14452235.post-41248000755803998482009-09-24T18:59:00.007+08:002009-09-25T08:46:24.403+08:00Looming 'Age of Austerity'Global leaders may be saddled with the weakest recovery since World War II if they are to pay off the $9 trillion tab they ran up rescuing the world economy from the deepest financial slump in seven decades.<br /><br />U.S. President Barack Obama and his counterparts from the Group of 20 nations meet in Pittsburgh today warning that the recovery is still too weak to start reversing lifelines to banks and the broader economy. Their next challenge will be to reduce the resulting debt before it sparks higher bond yields and erodes their governments’ creditworthiness.<br /><br />“There’s no question that the most significant vulnerability as we emerge from recession is the soaring government debt,” said Harvard University Professor Kenneth <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Rogoff</span> who is a co-author of a new history on financial crises. “It’s very likely that will trigger the next crisis as governments have been stretched so wide.”<br /><br />Unwinding the borrowing will probably require leaders to raise taxes and cut spending, ushering in what <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">HSBC</span> Holdings <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">Plc</span> Chief Economist Stephen King calls an “age of austerity” that saps growth prospects for years to come even amid recovery.<br /><br />The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development predicts the world economy’s potential growth rate will fall to 1.1 percent next year, compared with 2.4 percent in the decade before the crisis. The International Monetary Fund says G-20 debt will reach 82.1 percent of gross domestic product in 2010, almost 20 percentage points more than two years ago and the equivalent of about $37 trillion. <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a7iNoV1su49k">(Link <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">Bloomberg</span>)</a><br /><br /><br />Carmen <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">Reinhart</span>, Professor of Economics at University of Maryland has provided a synopsis of the paper she did with Professor Kenneth <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">Rogoff</span> titled "Eight hundred years of financial folly" that is referred to in the above article. This paper which predicts the next likely financial crisis is available on <a href="http://www.voxeu.org/index.php?q=node/1067"><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">VoxEU</span></a>. The two professors have also written another sobering paper, <a href="http://www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/rogoff/files/Is_The_US_Subprime_Crisis_So_Different.pdf">"Is the 2007 US Sub-Prime Financial Crisis so Different? An International Historical Comparison." </a><br /><br />Most of the major governments around the world have cast a vast safety net by propping their economies with millions of taxpayer dollars and in the process are running massive deficits. Now the world waits for the next financial crisis as has happened for the last eight hundred years and more.mhilmyhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585975560751390457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14452235.post-12504134213944691132009-09-22T21:05:00.006+08:002009-09-23T10:33:32.352+08:00Edward Kennedy's lifelong passion: Public ServiceEdward Moore "Ted" Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. First elected in November 1962, he was elected nine times and served for 46 years in the U.S. Senate. At the time of his death, he was the second most senior member of the Senate, and the third-longest-serving senator in U.S. history. For many years the most prominent living member of the Kennedy family, he was the son of Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., the youngest brother of President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert F. Kennedy, both victims of assassinations, and the father of Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kennedy">.(Link <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Wikipedia</span>)</a><br /><br />The revelation in May 2008 that Senator Kennedy had a serious form of brain cancer sent tears and a stunned silence across the US Congress, where he is known as the 'liberal lion' for his unrelenting work of the liberal causes.<br /><br />US President Barack Obama, the country's first president who received a strong, early endorsement from Kennedy, said after learning of his illness in 2008 that he "would not be sitting here as a presidential candidate had it not been for the battles Ted Kennedy has fought."<br /><br />"I stand on his shoulders," Obama said.<br /><br />Sen. Kennedy was responsible for more than 300 major bills of legislation that has been enacted into law. Kennedy opposed the Vietnam War, led the congressional fight to impose sanctions against South Africa over apartheid and succeeded in banning arms sales to Chile’s dictator Augusto Pinochet. He helped greatly in the long effort to bring peace to Northern Ireland. He also worked tirelessly on behalf of the poor on issues of social and economic justice, which his Meals on Wheels program for senior citizens dramatically underscores. But in all of those years, in all the causes he embraced, he called his vote against the resolution to sanction the Iraq war the “best vote” he ever cast.<br /><br />Britain's prime minister Gordon Brown paid a generous tribute to Edward Kennedy, claiming that his record of public service “surpasses those of many presidents”.<br /><br />He said, "Northern Ireland is today at peace; South Africa is free of apartheid; more children not only in his nation, but in the poorest nations, are going to school and have health care. We owe a great debt to the vision and courage of Ted Kennedy.”<br /><br />With the US engaged in a major debate about the provision of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">health care</span>, the Prime Minister said that to Mr Kennedy this was “the cause of his life”. Mr Brown said: “He never ceased fighting for universal health care. As he said only last month, we're almost there'. He did this not only for America but for the world. He knew that if a system of universal health care as a right and not a privilege could be achieved in the United States, others everywhere would be encouraged to take it up.”<br /><br />Recalling his memories of meeting Kennedy, Mr Brown said he would remember him as the man who said: “The pursuit of the presidency is not my life; public service is.” He wrote: “His work teaches timeless lessons about serving the public — the need to reach out beyond ancient loyalties and old enmities, the need to unite rather than divide, our capacity to master the great issues.”<br /><br />Kennedy died without achieving what he called 'the cause of his life'- the health care reform bill that he worked on four decades. Newsweek carries an article on <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/id/207406">Kennedy's fight for health care</a>.mhilmyhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585975560751390457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14452235.post-41988584138846819592009-09-19T15:43:00.001+08:002009-09-19T15:45:57.390+08:00Income Inequality and Middle Class by Paul Krugman<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5kwA-CwFK5A&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5kwA-CwFK5A&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>mhilmyhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585975560751390457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14452235.post-15290175705579846332009-08-15T18:52:00.008+08:002009-08-18T11:22:03.959+08:00Battle of US Healthcare. It is US's excessive capitalism vs. UK's socialismAs the debate on healthcare reform gets heated up in the Capitol Hill of the United States, President Obama has urged leading Senate Democrats involved in drafting a healthcare bill, to include a public health plan which will create a government-run health insurance plan to compete with the private insurance companies of the healthcare system. President Obama believes that such a plan would help consumers and keep costs down.<br /><br />Most republicans and critics of the public plan argue that such a plan will drive out private insurers and lower the quality of healthcare.<br /><br />As the debate gets nasty across town hall meetings and rallies in the congressional districts, the universal healthcare system of the UK National Health Care(NHS) has come under attack from the radical right wing and conservate activists. Conservatives and Republican politicians believe that the free market can fix the healthcare and all other social problems and that the government should not get involved.<br /><br />Professor Stephen Hawking who was in Washington to receive America's highest civilian honour, the Presidential Medal of Freedom <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1205953/NHS-branded-evil-Orwellian-high-level-US-politicians.html">has defended UK's NHS</a> after its severe criticism during the American political debate over health care reforms.<br /><br />"The physicist spoke up for the NHS after the Republican Right claimed it was 'evil' and 'Orwellian' in a direct attack on Barack Obama's plans to overhaul health care in the U.S.<br /><br />Critics of the president have said his plans would introduce a 'socialist' system like Britain's.<br /><br />Prof Hawkin, who suffers from Lou Gehrig's disease, said: 'I wouldn't be here today if it were not for the NHS.<br /><br />'I have received a large amount of high quality treatment without which I would not have survived.'<br /><br /><a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article6795429.ece">Even UK's prime minister Gordon Brown</a> who normally avoids American party politics has defended the NHS against what his ministers described as inaccurate slurs by opponents of president Obama's plan. Mr Brown and his wife posted messages on the social networking site Twitter.<br /><br />On the No 10 Twitter site, Mr Brown said: “NHS often makes the difference between pain and comfort, despair and hope, life and death. Thanks for always being there.”<br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/aug/14/john-david-lewis-healthcare">Writing in the Guardian Sahil Kapur states</a> that a study by the "Health Affairs found last year that more than 100,000 Americans die every year from preventable illnesses – the highest of any industrialised country. The study also said they would probably be alive if they were living in France, where they wouldn't have been denied care. The US can prevent these deaths, and as other industrialised countries demonstrate, it is easily doable.<br /><br />Embracing a system in which people die from neglect is morally indefensible, particularly in a country that guarantees the right to life and has the resources to carry out this promise."<br /><br /><br />The United States spends far more per capita (and as a percentage of GDP) on healthcare than the rest of the developed world, while every other industrialised country has much stronger government presence in healthcare. Along with lower costs, they also achieve universal coverage, and tend to enjoy higher satisfaction rates.mhilmyhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585975560751390457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14452235.post-69392996511973154622009-08-08T12:17:00.001+08:002009-08-08T15:20:37.562+08:00A Glimpse into the Future City State"The Global Fair and Festival 2009" has opened in Songdo International City in South Korea's Incheon Free Economic Zone.<br /><br />Speaking at the opening ceremony of the country's largest festival President Lee Myung-bak said:<br /><br />"The past century was dominated by a competition among nations, but we will see fierce competition among cities in the years ahead. More than half of the global population is concentrated in urban areas and the figure is expected to surge up to 80 to 90 percent," Lee said.<br /><br /><br />During the 80-day festival, 68 exhibitions, conferences and concerts will be held.<br /><br />About 20 international conferences will be held at the fair, including the Global Environment Forum 2009, which U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and many other scholars plan to attend.<br /><br />The Fair will introduce "Smart City," a knowledge-based industrial city equipped with state-of-the-art information and communication infrastructure, to the participants of the Asian-Pacific City Summit (APCS) to be held in September<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/08/281_49783.html">Link. </a>mhilmyhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585975560751390457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14452235.post-21636801681458153762009-07-23T19:42:00.005+08:002009-07-26T09:08:47.327+08:00Jobless economic recovery in the USThe Federal Reserve Board's Chairman has to go to Congress and report about the nation's economic health every six months.<br /><br />As usual, the Fed chairman Ben <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Bernanke</span> presented the same testimony to both the House Financial Service Committee and the Senate Banking Committee on July 18-19<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">th</span>, a ritual required in legislation written by the late lawmakers Hubert Humphrey and Augustus Hawkins, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humphrey-Hawkins_Full_Employment_Act">the Humphrey-<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">hawkins</span> Act (27<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">th</span> October 1977).</a><br /><br />The Humphrey Hawkins Law intended to implement the Employment Act's (1946) assumption of Federal responsibility for achieving full employment and price stability.<br /><br /><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">Bernanke</span> who has extensively studied the Great Depression knows the risk of braking too soon. That's what happened in 1937, which fiscal and monetary policies both tightened, in part of misplaced fear of inflation. That set the stage of the second leg of the Great Depression that followed growth from 1933 to 1936 that averaged over 9%, but still left unemployment well in double digits.<br /><br />With the US unemployment expected to range between 9.8% and 10.1% in 2010, up from the current 9.5% jobless rate, the world's largest economy appears to have turned the corner but only to a path of tepid recovery.<br /><br /><a href="http://online.barrons.com/article/SB124809962739865233.html">Link.<br /></a>mhilmyhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585975560751390457noreply@blogger.com0