Ben Simonton's Comments

Learning From The Past by Ben Simonton

May 26, 2007 | comments: 20

Ben Simonton May 31, 2007, 9:06am EDT

I agree about pride, Richard, and have fought against developing such a characteristic for most of my adult life, not always successfully.

I was not bragging about being a Christian. I mentionned it because the Christian upbringing given me by my father requires me to understand the poor so that I can help them. Without that influence, I am sure that I would agree with you that I need not understand them.

Best regards, Ben

Learning From The Past by Ben Simonton

May 26, 2007 | comments: 20

Ben Simonton May 30, 2007, 7:00pm EDT

I must be, Richard, a kind of Christian you haven't come across before.

Best regards, Ben

Learning From The Past by Ben Simonton

May 26, 2007 | comments: 20

Ben Simonton May 30, 2007, 2:09pm EDT

Being Christian, it is an imperative for me, Richard.

Best regards, Ben

Learning From The Past by Ben Simonton

May 26, 2007 | comments: 20

Ben Simonton May 30, 2007, 12:28pm EDT

On the contrary, Richard, the poor do not pay in the ways you indicate.

The rich have many reasons to share with the poor. Why do you think the Bill and Melinda Gates (co-founder of Microsoft Corp) Foundation is so involved in education and health ? Why did billionaire Warren Buffet commit $20 Billion to the Gates Foundation to support their work? Why do companies spend millions to train their workforce members?

Being poor in the U.S. is not a hazard if one is willing to work. In New York City, I hired many very poor people. They were costly to train but being willing to work they turned out to be extremely valuable employees who were very much worth the cost of training. My group had only 1300 employees so that is a small number compared to the total numbers of poor, but there were many other companies who were doing exactly the same thing. There was no shortage of jobs for those willing to work and in a very short time these people exited the ranks of the "poor". A brief look at the national statistics show that very few people remain poor, almost no one who wants to leave poverty behind.

The enemy of the poor is the government with its bureaucrats and politicians. They are the ones who are preventing the disadvantaged from gaining a good education in our public schools. These create graduates who can't read and have as much as 40% dropouts in the big cities. I admit that the teacher unions have also been a major force against improving K-12 education.

In addition, the government has through regulations caused greatly increased healthcare costs such that we have by far the most expensive system in the world. But the poor in the U.S. still have better healthcare through emergency rooms than the middle class has in most European countries.

Best regards, Ben

Learning From The Past by Ben Simonton

May 26, 2007 | comments: 20

Ben Simonton May 30, 2007, 8:54am EDT

Haven't the slightest idea, Richard, what you mean by the poor will pay. For what will they pay? I agree that the poor today are almost rich by previous standards, but do not believe they have much extra cash.

Please explain. It is hard to discuss when you provide only rhetoric and no logical sequence of facts.

Best regards, Ben

Learning From The Past by Ben Simonton

May 26, 2007 | comments: 20

Ben Simonton May 29, 2007, 3:44pm EDT

I assume, Richard, that you meant to be humorous in order to escape from providing a serious answer to my questions. Much like rhetoric, but not useful.

I do remember. In fact I remember gasoline at 27c/gal back in 1949 which adjusted for inflation turns out to be $1.90 today. But if one adjusts also for changes in disposable income, the price would be $6.68/gal. So gasoline is a real bargain today and takes far less of our income than it did 60 years ago. That's why when the price of gas goes up by a dollar, consumption just keeps rising.

You contend that we are devaluing the dollar to pay for the war. Please explain. Inflation (otherwise known as devaluing the dollar) is very, very low. You probably yearn for the years of Carter when interest rates were 21% and inflation got very close to 14%.

Yes, I remember and thank my lucky stars that we have so much buying power today and can afford so much more than we could 60 years ago.

Best regards, Ben

Learning From The Past by Ben Simonton

May 26, 2007 | comments: 20

Ben Simonton May 27, 2007, 4:29pm EDT

Richard,

Glad to hear that you have learned from the past.

What actions would you take to send our present economy into recession?

If we were in a recession, how would you turn that around?

Best regards, Ben

Learning From The Past by Ben Simonton

May 26, 2007 | comments: 20

Ben Simonton May 27, 2007, 4:23pm EDT

Jack,

You say that the radical Islamists don't want us dead or to convert.

Do you have any evidence that what you say is true?

The radical Islamists have said countless times that they want us dead or converted which is why I said that. If what you say is true, why were we attacked so often by Al Qaeda, especially on 9/11.

From what you say, you do not consider the radical Islamists to be a threat. Correct?

Best regards, Ben

Can We Talk About This? Iran by Marty S.

May 25, 2007 | comments: 7

Ben Simonton May 26, 2007, 11:38am EDT

Bob,

You said "Irrevelant of what you have heard, we still have an excellent intelligence community therefore it is highly unlikely that a bomb or missle will ever reach the shores of our country."

I must disagree. I was in the Navy back when we had human intelligence and also when we dismantled it. Prior to 9/11 we had almost no human intelligence, the only kind that can truly know what is going on inside another country. Besides, intel does not stop missiles from being launched. Intel can only let you know that they may be launched. Satellites tell us that they have been launched. Preventing a launch is an entirely different matter. But more on our intel capability.

Since 9/11 we have attempted to rebuild our human intelligence capabilities. This is a 20 plus year project and not one we are doing well. To get agents into foreign countries, to have those agents develop relationships with people who are friendly to us and to start the flow of information from those agents takes a tremendous sustained effort of many years. It also takes secrecy. The CIA is presently a sieve which can't keep any secrets, big or small.

Example: we all knew that Saddam had WMD because he used them to kill Kurds, Iranians and others. Everybody said that he had them right up to our invasion of Iraq. Now we seem to be saying that he never had them. If we had a good human intelligence capability we would know what he did with them. We would know as the Israelis know (they have an excellent human intel capability) that the Russians helped Saddam get them all out of Iraq and into Syria. We would know where they are in Syria.

The Jordanians captured a truck load of them as they were being transported from Syria into Jordan for an attack. The Syrians don't want to be caught again with them, so I doubt we will hear about them for a while yet. But they are still in existence.

It will be years before we once again have rebuilt an effective human intel capability, and then only if we persevere mightily.

Best regards, Ben
Author "Leading People to be Highly Motivated and Committed"
http:www.bensimonton.com

Global Warming, understanding the science and the history by Ben Simonton

Mar 19, 2007 | comments: 3

Ben Simonton Apr 2, 2007, 5:48am EDT

Thanks, Gene. Not in hiding, but I decided to spend time elsewhere.

Given that, I could not resist posting this film. But Gather seems to have changed. So few people commenting. What happened to them all? Or does it have something to do with Gather changes.

Thanks again, Ben

Israel, Palestinians OK Gaza cease-fire by troublemkr s.

Nov 25, 2006 | comments: 9

Ben Simonton Nov 25, 2006, 7:56pm EST

It may hold for long enough for the EU and US to once again allow money to flow to the Palestinians. They will not observe a truce unless they are desperate for funds.

Best regards, Ben
Author "Leading People to be Highly Motivated and Committed"

Election problems in Florida, Why Am I Not Surprised by Ron (in complete sheeple overload) W.

Nov 22, 2006 | comments: 13

Ben Simonton Nov 25, 2006, 4:51pm EST

Ron,

Salon trumpeted missing votes. But that was not true. There were 18,000 voters who did not vote in the Congressional race and there were warnings ahead of time that there could be confusion because of how the ballot was arranged. Of course, it makes one wonder if all voters were made aware of the possible confusion before they voted.

This is a lot different than "missing votes" which implies that the votes of 18,000 people could not be found. Makes one wonder whether Salon has a dog in this hunt.

Best regards, Ben
Author "Leading People to be Highly Motivated and Committed"

socrates by shauna a.

Nov 25, 2006 | comments: 4

Ben Simonton Nov 25, 2006, 3:51pm EST

What do you think it means, Shauna?

Best regards, Ben
Author "Leading People to be Highly Motivated and Committed"

Military A New Experience by George McNaughton

Nov 24, 2006 | comments: 8

Ben Simonton Nov 24, 2006, 8:21am EST

Promises not kept by the military have little or nothing to do with the military, only with Congress. Congress controls what the military does do or does not do. Back in the fifties, we were "promised" healthcare for life. That disappeared when Congress took away the money for it. We were promised a lot of things, most of which went away as Congress refused to continue to fund them.

Sorry to hear that your family is so against the military, George. We don't have anyone else to keep the wolves from the door. My family also came from Scotland in 1706 and 10 of my ancestors fought in the American Revolution, on the right side.

I was proud to serve for 25 years and always wanted to payback for the many freedoms I enjoy. I must admit that the civilians were giving away our freedoms to the government/Congress at the same time as I was trying to protect them from outsiders.

Best regards, Ben
Author "Leading People to be Highly Motivated and Committed"

Election problems in Florida, Why Am I Not Surprised by Ron (in complete sheeple overload) W.

Nov 22, 2006 | comments: 13

Ben Simonton Nov 23, 2006, 6:40am EST

The article on Salon is quite misleading. There were not 18,000 lost votes. The Herald Tribune does a much better job.

CLICK HERE

If you don't want to register with the Tribune, google "Sarasota congressional district vote" and click on the first site returned which should be "Dist. 13 voting analysis shows broad problem" --- that will get you to the full article without having to register.

Best regards, Ben
Author "Leading People to be Highly Motivated and Committed"

The Morality of War by Christina R.

Nov 20, 2006 | comments: 5

Ben Simonton Nov 20, 2006, 7:50am EST

Christina,

So what is your point or conclusion?

Best regards, Ben
Author "Leading People to be Highly Motivated and Committed"

GATHER MEMBERS' OPINION POLL ON THE 911 CONSPIRACY by 0000-aseba-0000

Nov 19, 2006 | comments: 16

Ben Simonton Nov 19, 2006, 8:33am EST

The answer is too obvious, but because "they had nothing better to do"??

Spreading Islam by the sword to gain a worldwide caliphate is a goal that has withstood the test of time for centuries. Without radical change within Islam, that goal won't change.

Best regards, Ben
Author "Leading People to be Highly Motivated and Committed"

China's growth by Marty S.

Nov 18, 2006 | comments: 7

Ben Simonton Nov 19, 2006, 5:41am EST

Too fast? What a joke!

Since the Bush tax cuts in 2003, the U.S. economy has grown over 20% and that growth happens to be an amount slightly larger than the entire Chinese economy.

The Chinese have come from almost nothing to better than nothing. They still have a long way to go, but let's hope that they keep progressing. If they become relatively well off, they will not want to grab what we have and will become a peaceful nation.

As for correcting pollution, clean water and the like, they will eventually be able to afford to get those as they become more affluent. Only the affluent can afford these things. We still have a lot of problems because our government has supported pollution rather than being neutral and allowing consumers to force it. Let's hope they don't go that way.

Best regards, Ben
Author "Leading People to be Highly Motivated and Committed"

Crude oil at 56.10? by Marty S.

Nov 16, 2006 | comments: 6

Ben Simonton Nov 17, 2006, 8:23am EST

Just a couple of comments.

Refiner's costs have little or nothing to do with the price of gasoline. They can't control the price of their products, only the amount they produce. The "crack", the difference between what they pay for a barrel of input versus what they are paid for a barrel of output has gone negative in the past. There only recourse is to cut production to decrease losses and hope that the reduced product volumes will cause the traders in the pits around the world to bid up prices.

"Prices at the pumps will go up now that the election is over" is just another of those great right wing conspiracy theories that the left loves to spout. No truth to it and the proof is upon us now. Even Opec can't seem to stop the decrease, down again this morning to just above $55 per barrel.

I was pleasantly surprised that the economy's reaction to the high price of oil was as small as it was. Stock market has been on a tear, but we are overdue for a correction. The last 2 months have done wonders for my stock portfolio. The economy's slowdown has been caused more by the Fed raising interest rates 17 times in a row than by the price of oil.

Best regards, Ben
Author "Leading People to be Highly Motivated and Committed"

Best regards, Ben

The Wisdom Of The American Voter Becomes Apparent Again by Ben Simonton

Oct 10, 2006 | comments: 31

Ben Simonton Nov 10, 2006, 8:44pm EST

Let's hope that you are right, Gene. For me, I fear that they are going to get what they deserve.

Best regards, Ben
Author "Leading People to be Highly Motivated and Committed"