Dear Mike and frieds,

As you can see some Spainish people do not have any shame in telling half-trues to try to prove others wrong when they don’t like his opinions. The sad fact is that some of the responsibles for GAL have been judged, but most of them are out of jail already, some even pardonedby the Spanish goverment. Regarding tortures, there have been cases where the Spanich police has been condemned by justice, sadly again for a democracy, none of them are in jail for their crimes, and some of these police have even recieved promotions afterwards. While people like the former president Felipe Gonzalez said a few weeks ago, that he was aware of GAL’s activiteis during this terrorist last years, and that he even had the last word about carrying out certain actions, with no legal repercusions; Arnaldo Otegi is in jail for taking part in a political rally – trying to present a proposal to achieve political objectives just by political means – where allegedly some other peolpe shouted a pro-ETA slogan. We are in a quite strange situation where on the one hand, at last, the Basque independist left has realized that violence has no place in the 21st Century to achieve political objectives, but on the other the Spanish main political parties are doing all that is on their hands to block this process because they are much more confortable with using the the terrorist problem to distract the Spanish population from other really important issues as the 20% unemployment rate or the many corruption cases of their politicians.

For my own planning, I’ve been slow to realize that the strategy of accumulating equity in a few rental houses -that worked so well for the past generation- is not be a viable retirement strategy for me. What was a comfortable level of accumulated equity earmarked for retirement a few years ago is all but wiped out now and we may not even be at the bottom of the market cycle yet. I have to make the decision of whether to hang on to these liabilities (now with exploding tax and insurance costs) in the hope that values recover within my lifetime or to dump them and start over with a new retirement savings strategy almost from scratch even at this late stage of working career. Right now most of the money that would otherwise be going into a traditional retirement savings account is being used to fund the negative cash flow of the rental houses so it is clearly a high risk decision. The question is whether to walk away from what was potentially (and might be again if values recover) more than a million dollars in real estate equity and put that money into another investment that might accumulate to only a few hundred thousand by the time I retire. Walking away from the liabilities is safer but doing the math tells me that I would not have a reasonable prospect of building an adequate level of assets for retirement within the next decade. On the other hand, keeping them means essentially betting my financial future on the recovery of the housing market. I presume that many others who invested in residential houses in the past are facing similar questions but I haven’t seen much written about this particular decision issue.

John,

I cannot speak for Mr. Bunten, but your assertion is ridiculous. At least for me, I hold the Boy Scouts in high esteem for the many, many worthwhile and good things they teach young men. I personally do not necessarily agree with the way they manifest their position on gays, but (if you will pardon my insensitivity) it is not the most important thing in the everybody’s world. For those to whom it IS the most important thing in the world, they are free to address it as they please.

I happen to be an Episcopalian. I happen to belong to a parish with a substantial number of dear parishioners who happen to be gay and I treasure my association with them as Christian brothers and close friends. For my own very deeply personal reasons (to which I am entitled) I do not happen to agree with the consecration of gay priests and/or bishops. But that in no way interferes with my respect and love for the church.

I do not know you, but I would like to believe that there is no single bright line or litmus test which defines your version of virtuous people and ideas from the non-virtuous. That is most often the defining characteristic of a bigot. I know many fine people and organizations that share views that are not the same as mine. Some of them hold some views which I find to border on repulsive. But those differences do not blind me from being able to recognize their virtues. In my faith, which you are perfectly free to reject, the last person to walk on this planet who was free from flaws was Christ. The rest of us are more or less stuck with each other and our respective imperfections.

It is sad that your apparent feelings on the subject of gays and the Boy Scouts blinds your ability (or willingness) see their virtues. A world populated with people who are unwilling to seek virtues in the people with whom they disagree is a world which cannot improve and progress.

Ronald, thanks for the support! It is difficult to answer your question, like you said, we are a small nation of around 16 mio inhabitants, but still always remain among the top regarding football, although if you look at field hockey, we are among the best nations (men/women). I have to say that it is not only Ajax that has a good youth academy, most top league clubs have a good to outstanding youth academy, even exporting the concept to other countries, Ajax being the main one, setting up academies in Ghana, South Africa, China etc. Important key factor is atracting former players to train the youth; the Dutch football organization has set up a trainer/manager course which is mandatory for everybody who wants to train a professional team. So even Van Basten who is a icon, could not train the Dutch Oranje squad or Ajax, without having the proper curricula. For many sports there is a good infrastructure (organization/funding/interest/youth/trainers) in the Netherlands (even baseball/softball is popular to play, however not to watch that much). And if you are a talented player, the Dutch schoolsystem has the flexibility to set up a different schedule for the talented student, hereby not placing a burden on the student and his/her talents, but also making sure education is key. Johan Cruyff has set up the Cruyff University, especially for youth sporters, combining their talent (sport) with education, making sure they also have an other future after sports. That I find fascinating and the strenght of the approach of sports and talent in The Netherlands. Hup Holland!

First, to all you carbon carpers (going back over a month); thankfully a 69 year old man still has the ability ,the wherewithal and the freedom to design and construct a dynamic living space to his own idiosyncratic vision. There is something to be said for the way the structure cleaves through the bucolic Massachusetts’s firmament and tortures gravity; a peu pres structural tour d’force.

That said, (and with great respect) it is this self-same programmatic structural requisite that leads to the building’s architectural weakness. The massiveness and ubiquitous character of the truss web members impose themselves on the relatively small living spaces; to the point of intruding on that intimate scale along with the building’s raison d’etre—the sense of the occupant feeling one with nature. The diagonal axial-loaded webs tend to be visually jarring from inside vantage points and bear no complimentary relationship to anything happening throughout the exterior panoramic vistas.

When the architect realizes that the catilevered span requires such overwhelming (again, relative to scale) structure (modified Pratt trusses) it seems to me incumbent on him to consider a shorter span such that the individual truss members can be smaller and more in keeping with the scale and proportions of the building. In spite of all of the above unsolicited rambling critique, I am still compelled to throw in my lot with Mr.Schwartz and to compliment him on constructing his architectural statement of counterbalanced drama.

Mr.Zuckerman’s opinion is grossly unfair and biased. Not a single word about the idiocy and obstructionism of the GOP, who wanted president Obama to fail from the very first day! Yes, Obama is too thoughtful and temperate to challenge the loud and untruthful GOP talking points. Yes, Obama tried and was expected to make compromise and to lead all Americans from the center. It is more accurate to say that GOP succeeded than Obama failed. So America failed too. It is also a failure of the media, including Mr. Zuckerman, to bring the facts to the American public, as well exemplified in this opinion piece. President Obama’s failure is his unwavering belief on the goodness of people, including his own enemies who just want to destroy him even at the expense of most Americans and the Earth. President Obama cares about America and has a long view on the future of America. Healthcare reform is a good example.It is a shame and a disaster that the mighty America still allow her own citizens to die and to be plundered by the private healthcare industries. Obama was right to use his political capital to resolve this critical issue at the very beginning of his term, which has been unsuccessful in previous presidencies, including Nixon and Truman. Americans and American public, including Mr. Zuckerman himself, have not had a kind word for Obama’s effort and his unbelievable obstruction from the GOP, industries, and even Democratic leaders, e’g', Nelson, Baucus and Liebermann. Obam fails not because of his incompetency, but because the competency of so many naysayers and obstructionists, including Mr. Zuckerman

Of the entire cost of the health care, the hospital cost is probably over 50% of the entire budget. Out of approximately 7,000 hospital majority(70-80%) are tax exempt group. If one goes to these hospital they spent exuberant amount of money expanding but they have no obligation of paying tax, If we just take 5,000 hospitals as tax exempt group and calculate the amount of tax we could collect, We will be able to solve the funding problem for medicare and medicaid easily, and all the health care problem with it. One of the reason the hospital cost is so high is the unionization of the employees. Many nurses are being paid more that the physicians, specially in the teaching hospitals. Hospitals are becoming just like auto industry and we know what happened to auto industry. The government had to bail them out to survive. We are heading toward that direction. To have health industry reform without the containing the hospital cost(Tax and union) , it will be useless. Obama made a deal with hospitals, doctors, drug companies, equipment companies but did not truly beat on the dead horse which is the consumers. Basically, the health care system is broken and the way they are approaching it, it will not solve the problem. To many porks involved. Tis problem is not limited to health care only. The governmnets, federal,state,county,cities,are all in trouble with their budgets. Unless we address the salaries and benefits of these government workers and be able to fire them if they violate their jobs, we will not be able to solve this expense problem. State of Michigan is broke due to the above mentioned problem and California is following it rapidly. LA mayor wanted to fire 1,000 employees but attorney general came out and said he did not have the authority to fire these people. They do not have the funding and how are they going to keep the city going? The entire system has broken down. There is no concept of physical responsibility anymore due to liberal attitude. no one can be fired anymore. no one can call black is black and white is white anymore due to politically correctness. We teach our children to be noncompetitive so they will not be stressed out. We allow them to watch TV and internet from young age and people do not realize that that could put lot of stress on the children but that is ok. Where is this country going?. Where is the human race going? As all the other species in the animal kingdom did, when a species are over populated it will destroy itself eventually, just like the dinosaurs and so many other species that existed before we did. We think we are intelligent but ,we all the political,financial, health care experts put together , we came up with a bill that look like the description given by three blind men trying to figure out what elephant looked like. We need to reform our minds and attitude and go back to the basic of our founding fathers with dedication, sacrifice and love for one another.

Well gee Jon, you are assuming (a) that my ideas require central planning and (b) that my ideas are not free market. Your wrong on both accounts. Relative to increasing primary care access, regulations need to be modified to be clearer and simple (like you said). For example, the free market is having a difficult time expanding primary care access because that is, for all practical purposes, controlled by the cabal of physicians. Do you really think they want nurse practitioners competing with them for patients? the other cabal of obstructionists are the medical education industry. they alone, in coordination with physician associations, control how many medical students get enrolled. If they were truely responding to market forces, we wouldn’t have a primary care access problem.

I am tired of free market ideology which doesn’t take into account current reality. As one example, many more people than you realize live day to day (hand to mouth) and without very low cost access to primary care and prescriptions, most can’t afford health care. God forbid they should need continuing care rather than one off care.

I am very much a free marketer, but having been in the group health insurance area for over 20 years, I see the shortcomings of insurance, some of which is because of regulation, some of which is because of the profit motive, some of which is the result of the progressive inclinations that have resulted in over insurance (non-catestrophic coverage). For you an me, who are responsible, educated, financially secure and clever and who can handle catastrophic coverage, its all good. But there is a huge MAJORITY that begs to differ. I see them every day in my work and understand their daily struggle with health care and health insurance.

I go back to my original premise, establish the goal, study the issues, and whatever comes out, can be a solution. One needs to be very practical, and less ideological and logical solutions will be available.

We have all the pieces of the puzzle. They just need to be reorganized to be more effective and efficient. Lets study that, and THEN put the rules in place that will help the free market reorganize.

Dear parasite putin,

let’s join together and accomplish something useful

Please contact the first named author of The Lancet p.106 Jan. 14, 1978 who did treat the wife of the United States Chief Spy in the Pacific during the administration of Jimmny Carter at Wlater Reed. The ability to treat the cause of idiopathic pain is worth alot of money. Show us some of your dojo mettle and take the work that was done at Fort Hamilton during the Carter administration and see that it is applied, preserved, disseminated and explicated. The first named author of The Lancet supra was offered a laboratory by East Germany. You remember them? The best thing about old people and communists is that they have no interest in money. If you are one who is able to discern the value of good work, you will immediately make contact and see what can be done. The first named author of The Lancet supra also believes that he has discovered a previously unknown pathology in cases of ALS. Perhaps with your assistance we can see that it is renamed Putin Parasite disease?

I hope that after we talk you might arrange Fedor Emelianenko or like persons to visit and teach at a dojo in Manahattan.

William T Beyha, dear parasite Putin. The trick to character is to be able to support, copy and advance good work. There has been no better work done in this century than that of the first named author of the Lanet supra. Perhaps you might be able to determine with Brezhnev did have trigeminal neuralgia and how it was treated.

Parasites, parasites, everywhere. and politicians not as bright or adapative or discerning or useful as the simple leech?

Show us some character parasite Putin and not just yap, yap, yap…?

Back in the USSR ah those were the days when your scientists produced useful thins?

Actually, it was the Un force that drove the commies back in Korea. It was the UN force that defeated the Serbs and brought peace to the Balkans. It is very, very difficult to get the security council of the UN to agree on anything and for Obama to have gotten them to support the Libyan intervention is unprecedented in our time.

As for NATO, they are our allies in Afghanistan as well as Libya. I can agree with you that they need to do more to stand on their own. Paul has it right that we need to bring our troops home and that Nato needs to provide its own troops. Russia is no longer the threat that the USSR was.

As for the LIbyans, we have for the first time helped the Arab people. The way the Republicans here are talking, we should consider them our enemies for all time and have a neverending expensive in $$ and lives war with Islam. However, we now have the gratitude of an Arab people and are behind the freedom movement there with a heavy shoulder. This will hopefully bode well for us in the future and should cause Al Quida’s influence to diminish even further.

If you are honest, you will find a common thread between Bush’s intent in Iraq to bring an example of democracy to the Arab world and Obama’s support of the Arab democratic spring. Both are laudable goals and will be supported by Americans as in its best interests–but this will probably not happen as loads of the current crop of Republicans let their blind ideology lead rather than the facts or the best interests of America.

As for China, they have historically (say 4500 years) been a non-expansionist nation (Genghis and Kubla were Mongols not Chinese) and are heavily invested in our success and show every sign of coming into a more pluralistic capitalistic society. Granted we must remain on guard and keep sufficient armed forces just in case some crazy man gets in control over there, but we do not need to defend against the Soviet Union–it no longer exists.