'Home Sweet Home' is a special series on my visit back home to India after 3 years, hoping to document not just macroscopic changes in the world's populous democracy, but my own emotions on being back. While originally intended to be posted as events occurred, I was too busy to go online while in India, and I'm now posting these after my return to the US.
There are changes in India that become evident only when you take a road trip. For one, the choices of quality cars available is phenomenal, and several with good gas mileage to boot. Our choice was my brother's Tata Indica V2 , a homegrown 70 hp compact. While 70 horses seems a bit too few on American roads, Indians seem to do well on Indian roads with lower power. The Indica under real conditions gives about 10 kmpl (23 mpg) under real city conditions, even though under test conditions, it is rated at 14 kmpl (32mpg).
The National Highways are far improved from my days in India, thanks to the phenomenal Golden Quadrilateral project and other big infrastructure investments under the previous government. The GQ is a system of interstates linking the four largest cities in India by top-notch freeways. As we discovered on our drive to Bangalore, much of the freeway is now a toll road, but the Rs 150 ($3.20) spent on using the tolled highway saved us plenty of travel time.
Maybe it's a fiction of my imagination, but it does seem villages along the GQ are less impoverished than I remember. With rural centers now better connected to commercial hubs, I guess it's logical to expect the rural economy close to the distribution system is booming.
We stop at Natrampalli, a village that was my dad's first posting back in 1969, and now a town of just under 10,000 people. Let that number not fool you - in India, where populations are measured in rather large units, a town of just under 10,000 people is still a town in the middle of nowhere. So we were indeed surprised to walk into the bank and see an air-conditioned office, filled with computers. We learn that they will be inaugrating the ATM later that week .... imagine that, an ATM in the middle of nowhere! The branch manager also tells us they are part of the centralized computer banking system, that allows these villagers to access an account located anywhere in India. What change!
But lest we get too euphoric, a touch of reality. We go over to the Ramakrishna Mission premises. The Mission is an order of monks attempting to change the world, but unlike the wealthy religious groups of today, they still maintain an austerity, and still believe in a mission to improve spirituality, to make the Hindu a better Hindu, the Muslim a better Muslim, the Christian a better Christian. Our purpose though is not a religious one. We talk to the gentleman in charge of the Mission office, and he tells us of their efforts in education, with the percentage of children passing up from 8% to 30%. However, getting them to a level where they can go to college is a difficult task. The challenge is finding teachers willing to come for low pay to a remote village like Natrampalli.
After much discussion, the gentleman, in a reference to the previous government's electoral slogan 'India Shining', says, 'India is Shining, but only in the cities and highways'. He points out that when you get away from the highway, there are still myriad problems requiring solution. I still am an optimist, and I leave hopeful that the new successes in the economy will allow tutors from cities to come down for 1-2 weekends a month to help these children.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Jet Airways
My brother insists my experience on Jet Airways was atypical, and the crowds that swell India's airports mean that even a labor-ready country like India has started to incentivize electronic check-in with free frequent-flyer miles and the like. Just how much has travel increased? In 1996, there was one flight a day between Chennai and Bangalore (two cities about a half-hour flight apart) and one train line, both operated at some loss by the federal government. Today, there are no less than 31 flights, 4-5 train lines, countless sleeper and nonsleeper buses, almost all by private operators, and yet it's virtually impossible to get a ticket on any of these modes of transport on short-notice.
Even the flight attendants on my Jet Airways flight reflected a change from the India of past. They were attractive women dressed in skirts rather than the traditional garb of a sari, although at least one of them seemed not to appreciate her natural aesthetics, donning enough makeup to serve as an endorsement for a budding rouge maker.
The meal ... yes, Indian air operators still offer more than peanuts ... was delicious, leaving me tempted to ask if I could buy another serving, and was served on china and with silverware - a welcome fact for a food-loving tree-hugger like myself.
Even the flight attendants on my Jet Airways flight reflected a change from the India of past. They were attractive women dressed in skirts rather than the traditional garb of a sari, although at least one of them seemed not to appreciate her natural aesthetics, donning enough makeup to serve as an endorsement for a budding rouge maker.
The meal ... yes, Indian air operators still offer more than peanuts ... was delicious, leaving me tempted to ask if I could buy another serving, and was served on china and with silverware - a welcome fact for a food-loving tree-hugger like myself.
The Nation's Capitol
'Home Sweet Home' is a special series on my visit back home to India after 3 years, hoping to document not just macroscopic changes in the world's populous democracy, but my own emotions on being back.
There were claps all around. As the acceleration kicked in our solar plexus, we were all glad to be off the ground. It had been a long 4.5 hours, sitting on the tarmac at Newark International, as rains had prevented us from taking off. Especially rough when you are at the start of a 14-hour flight to Delhi. Some time earlier, we were told that if we didn't make it by 53 minutes past midnight, we would have to call the whole venture off. As the deadline loomed, many of us were praying hard ... a cancellation would have been disastrous for me, with another local flight to catch in India. The takeoff was hence all the more exhilarating! Later, I managed to have a great chat with the head steward of the flight, talking about procedures and donut holes - no, not the food, but the fact that pilots are required by federal law to retire at 60, but can't claim pension benefits till 65! Turns out if we had returned to the gate under inclement weather, federal law would have required a new crew, which could have delayed departure even further. Hmm, a reminder that sometimes things aren't as simple as they seem ... I wish one of those serial complainers ("why can't they just return to the gate and reboard when they are ready to leave") could have heard!
I got into Delhi well past midnight, and was rather excited to catch up with an aunt of mine. She works for a large publishing company and represents an interesting generation of worker caught between a traditional and a new aggressive paradigm. The new model, inspired by the new breed of MBAs, seek short-term explosive growth, often at the expense of a core business of some heritage value, and a lot of social values. What is the purpose of a business, and what are its social commitments? This is an interesting question even in mature economies like the US, but especially in a nascent economy like India where you cannot depend on governments alone to address the problems that plague the country.
The next morning, I headed to Delhi's domestic airport, only to be shocked by the plethora of airlines operating. When I left India for the US, a private competitor had just come on to take on the federally run monolith, Indian Airlines. Now several private players controlled the market, and the effect was obvious. I waited for checking-in less than 10 min (something even operators in the US can't manage) and boarding was a breeze. I waited to board in a hall more reminiscent of a Greyhound bus stop than a plush airport (although a lot cleaner and with none of the seedy characters that dominate the landscape of the bus terminus in the US). The waiting room of the airport is an interesting place to watch people, and I think I got some perspective on Indian life, but none more interesting than that from a kid!
This kid was playing on the ground and periodically engaging strangers including yours truly. If this had been in the US, the mother would have freaked out and held on to the child tight, but here the mother actually seemed to be encouraging the child to interact more ("what's that uncle's name?" and other such nudges). As it turned out, the family sat next to me on my Jet Airways flight, and I pointed out my observation to them. The lady was surprised that any parent would not allow their child interaction with the public phase. We love it when he plays with strangers, she said, it means he's learning important social skills.
The family themselves represented an interesting demographic. He ran an Eicher dealership selling tractors, trucks and buses. Business had been very good recently, thanks to a booming economy, and they said there was no place better to see it than Faridabad, a sprawling industrial town outside of Delhi. I had noted the flood of new cars in Delhi, but they tell me it's peanuts compared to what's happening in the small towns, where industrial small businesses (as opposed to service workers) are truly reaping the benefits, and more importantly, spending money like never before. The change in spending patterns is new, and while at least partly represents a desire for present comforts over defered gratification, in some degree represents a confidence that the present boom isn't a cyclical uptick.
This has become a long post, what with the lack of time to write, and I have a speech to prepare, to give at a local school on environmental issues, so the blogging will have to wait till I'm a little more in control of that.
There were claps all around. As the acceleration kicked in our solar plexus, we were all glad to be off the ground. It had been a long 4.5 hours, sitting on the tarmac at Newark International, as rains had prevented us from taking off. Especially rough when you are at the start of a 14-hour flight to Delhi. Some time earlier, we were told that if we didn't make it by 53 minutes past midnight, we would have to call the whole venture off. As the deadline loomed, many of us were praying hard ... a cancellation would have been disastrous for me, with another local flight to catch in India. The takeoff was hence all the more exhilarating! Later, I managed to have a great chat with the head steward of the flight, talking about procedures and donut holes - no, not the food, but the fact that pilots are required by federal law to retire at 60, but can't claim pension benefits till 65! Turns out if we had returned to the gate under inclement weather, federal law would have required a new crew, which could have delayed departure even further. Hmm, a reminder that sometimes things aren't as simple as they seem ... I wish one of those serial complainers ("why can't they just return to the gate and reboard when they are ready to leave") could have heard!
I got into Delhi well past midnight, and was rather excited to catch up with an aunt of mine. She works for a large publishing company and represents an interesting generation of worker caught between a traditional and a new aggressive paradigm. The new model, inspired by the new breed of MBAs, seek short-term explosive growth, often at the expense of a core business of some heritage value, and a lot of social values. What is the purpose of a business, and what are its social commitments? This is an interesting question even in mature economies like the US, but especially in a nascent economy like India where you cannot depend on governments alone to address the problems that plague the country.
The next morning, I headed to Delhi's domestic airport, only to be shocked by the plethora of airlines operating. When I left India for the US, a private competitor had just come on to take on the federally run monolith, Indian Airlines. Now several private players controlled the market, and the effect was obvious. I waited for checking-in less than 10 min (something even operators in the US can't manage) and boarding was a breeze. I waited to board in a hall more reminiscent of a Greyhound bus stop than a plush airport (although a lot cleaner and with none of the seedy characters that dominate the landscape of the bus terminus in the US). The waiting room of the airport is an interesting place to watch people, and I think I got some perspective on Indian life, but none more interesting than that from a kid!
This kid was playing on the ground and periodically engaging strangers including yours truly. If this had been in the US, the mother would have freaked out and held on to the child tight, but here the mother actually seemed to be encouraging the child to interact more ("what's that uncle's name?" and other such nudges). As it turned out, the family sat next to me on my Jet Airways flight, and I pointed out my observation to them. The lady was surprised that any parent would not allow their child interaction with the public phase. We love it when he plays with strangers, she said, it means he's learning important social skills.
The family themselves represented an interesting demographic. He ran an Eicher dealership selling tractors, trucks and buses. Business had been very good recently, thanks to a booming economy, and they said there was no place better to see it than Faridabad, a sprawling industrial town outside of Delhi. I had noted the flood of new cars in Delhi, but they tell me it's peanuts compared to what's happening in the small towns, where industrial small businesses (as opposed to service workers) are truly reaping the benefits, and more importantly, spending money like never before. The change in spending patterns is new, and while at least partly represents a desire for present comforts over defered gratification, in some degree represents a confidence that the present boom isn't a cyclical uptick.
This has become a long post, what with the lack of time to write, and I have a speech to prepare, to give at a local school on environmental issues, so the blogging will have to wait till I'm a little more in control of that.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Home Sweet Home
I will be blogging a special series titled 'Home Sweet Home', about my current visit to my homeland, India after 3 years. While much of it is couched in nostalgia and may be trivial information unworthy of anyone's attention but my own, my intent is to log my own experiences as sentiments to be able to revisit to get a sense for the nature of change and staticism in this dynamic land.
Sunday, July 16, 2006
The Deficit Does Matter
Mike Norman wrote an article for the Motley Fool website arguing that the trade deficit is not a bad thing. His reasoning was something like this: ordinary people run trade deficits, with your grocer, your barber and what have you, buying goods and services from them, and selling nothing to them, and that's a good thing. Ditto for the country!
Ah, but Mike forgot one little detail: true, we do run deficits with most of our vendors, trading services for IOUs (and cash really is a tradeable IOU). But there is at least one vendor we run a large surplus with, your employer - you export services to your employer, and in return, your employer gives you a large IOU called a paycheck, which you then use to import from your vendors. As long as you export more than you import, you have an excess of IOUs that can be invested and you are increasing your net wealth. However, when you have more imports, you are living on credit (like millions of Americans do).
Now, indebtedness is by itself not awful if two conditions are met: the cost of borrowing is cheap, and the credit is used for additional revenue-generating assets. The Chinese have made sure the first is true, but what about the second? Most of their investments have been in government securities, and it is questionable if our governments are investing them in revenue-enhancing activities. (Think of the difference between investing in a rental property versus a car)
And as an individual, you do have to worry about the spigot turning off. That's why you pay your way out of even a mortgage. In the case of the US, the trade deficit keeps increasing. What happens when foreign borrowers are now longer satisfied with their risk-reward profile? After all, a credit card gives you money because that's how it makes money, but at some point, the returns on a risk-adjusted basis are no longer appealing, and the spigot of easy money is turned off. How will the US cope in this event?
Ah, but Mike forgot one little detail: true, we do run deficits with most of our vendors, trading services for IOUs (and cash really is a tradeable IOU). But there is at least one vendor we run a large surplus with, your employer - you export services to your employer, and in return, your employer gives you a large IOU called a paycheck, which you then use to import from your vendors. As long as you export more than you import, you have an excess of IOUs that can be invested and you are increasing your net wealth. However, when you have more imports, you are living on credit (like millions of Americans do).
Now, indebtedness is by itself not awful if two conditions are met: the cost of borrowing is cheap, and the credit is used for additional revenue-generating assets. The Chinese have made sure the first is true, but what about the second? Most of their investments have been in government securities, and it is questionable if our governments are investing them in revenue-enhancing activities. (Think of the difference between investing in a rental property versus a car)
And as an individual, you do have to worry about the spigot turning off. That's why you pay your way out of even a mortgage. In the case of the US, the trade deficit keeps increasing. What happens when foreign borrowers are now longer satisfied with their risk-reward profile? After all, a credit card gives you money because that's how it makes money, but at some point, the returns on a risk-adjusted basis are no longer appealing, and the spigot of easy money is turned off. How will the US cope in this event?
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Perspectives on Terror
The world has seen two very different responses to acts of terror in recent days. While Israel sought to attack Lebanon to recover its kidnapped soldiers, India has thus far maintained a much less aggressive tack after the Mumbai blasts that killed 200, at last count. Till earlier this evening, I wished India would adopt Israel's aggression, striking militant camps in Pakistan rather than waiting for its neighbor to seek them out. Over dinner, watching the Newshour gave me another perspective.
I would encourage you to listen to or read the comments of Hisham Melhem, the Washington bureau chief for the Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar, and host of a weekly program on the Arab satellite channel Al-Arabiya on the Newshour. He made a lot of sense about how retaliation pushes the moderates out of the political space. For example, in the Lebanon case, he argued that the Lebanese government is not in a position to do anything about Hezbollah, not because they don't want to, but because Hezbollah is militarily more powerful than the government itself. The Lebanese government then has to try to coax the militant group to lay down its arms, something the recent offensive makes a lot more difficult.
Postscript Soon after I posted this, I read this column by Saisuresh Sivaswamy arguing for a aggressive response, just as the US had done in the days after 9/11.
I would encourage you to listen to or read the comments of Hisham Melhem, the Washington bureau chief for the Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar, and host of a weekly program on the Arab satellite channel Al-Arabiya on the Newshour. He made a lot of sense about how retaliation pushes the moderates out of the political space. For example, in the Lebanon case, he argued that the Lebanese government is not in a position to do anything about Hezbollah, not because they don't want to, but because Hezbollah is militarily more powerful than the government itself. The Lebanese government then has to try to coax the militant group to lay down its arms, something the recent offensive makes a lot more difficult.
Postscript Soon after I posted this, I read this column by Saisuresh Sivaswamy arguing for a aggressive response, just as the US had done in the days after 9/11.
The US Aint No Unhappy Place!
I love how some crazy organization will periodically perform a study on happiness, and eventually tell us how unhappy people in the US and other rich countries are. And news organizations will report it as the holy word, so that you and I can sit and either feel miserable about our affluence, or pleased with our lack of it. Well, hooey! MSNBC reported that Vanuatu was rated as the happiest place in the world while the US, Russia and the UK came in at 150, 172 and 108 off the 178 places in the world. The conclusion - happiness is not correlated with economic success.
Now, I live the US, and I know it certainly couldn't be the happiest place in the world, but come on ... 150! Something fishy ... Turns out the (Un)Happy Planet Index is an "innovative measure" (quotes from website) of true happiness. Except that they rigged the index to make industrial nations do poorly. The HPI is defined as:
HPI = Life satisfaction x Life expectancy/Ecological Footprint
Look at that for a moment. Assume life satisfaction surveys indicate that about the twice the percentage of people in the US are satisfied with their lives, as compared to oh say Malawi (a random African nation), but the US consumes 10 times as much. To achieve the same HPI, the US would have to have life expectancies 5 times as high as the Malawians, which means the average Malawian would have to live to less than 20 years of age.
Listen, I don't believe affluence alone brings happiness. I think there are far more important factors, including social structures and a rich faith tradition. But to create "innovative measures" to justify poverty the world over makes me sick (which is what most leftist groups try to do)! The reality is that the average farmer in each of those purportedly happier countries would gladly accept higher incomes, better healthcare, and not having to commit suicide because the monsoon failed!
Now, I live the US, and I know it certainly couldn't be the happiest place in the world, but come on ... 150! Something fishy ... Turns out the (Un)Happy Planet Index is an "innovative measure" (quotes from website) of true happiness. Except that they rigged the index to make industrial nations do poorly. The HPI is defined as:
HPI = Life satisfaction x Life expectancy/Ecological Footprint
Look at that for a moment. Assume life satisfaction surveys indicate that about the twice the percentage of people in the US are satisfied with their lives, as compared to oh say Malawi (a random African nation), but the US consumes 10 times as much. To achieve the same HPI, the US would have to have life expectancies 5 times as high as the Malawians, which means the average Malawian would have to live to less than 20 years of age.
Listen, I don't believe affluence alone brings happiness. I think there are far more important factors, including social structures and a rich faith tradition. But to create "innovative measures" to justify poverty the world over makes me sick (which is what most leftist groups try to do)! The reality is that the average farmer in each of those purportedly happier countries would gladly accept higher incomes, better healthcare, and not having to commit suicide because the monsoon failed!
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Time for Action
The recent blasts in Mumbai, India are a grim reminder that the barbarian threat of terror still looms large. In the days to come, there will be much print dedicted to individual horror stories, and much condemnation of the gruesome acts. None of this is new. And yet, if every country condemning the acts were sincere, we have to ask if groups such as LeT and JeM would exist. And what of that most-wanted Dawood Ibrahim, terrorist financier, sought by India for well over a decade and a half now? And it is time the Indian political class go beyond photo-ops after rushing to the scene of the terror, and put the weight of the nation's largest democracy and second-most populous nation to exert pressure on the countries that allow these thugs to exist (read Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and a handful of Gulf nations).
The retarded Home minister, Shivraj Patil was on record as stating that an attack was expected, but no specifics were available as to location and timing. Why then were public places not put on high alert? Could it be that the pols were more busy with populism, be it quotas or bureaucratic battles, to bother about the issues that truly affect people?
The retarded Home minister, Shivraj Patil was on record as stating that an attack was expected, but no specifics were available as to location and timing. Why then were public places not put on high alert? Could it be that the pols were more busy with populism, be it quotas or bureaucratic battles, to bother about the issues that truly affect people?
Customer Nonservice
That's it - I'm officially sick and tired about the nincompoops who work at customer nonservice centers. My latest run-in was with a nitwit at Capital One. I applied for a credit card that promised me 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers, but when I activated, I was told I was getting 0% on purchases only. I tried to explain to the genius that that's not my offer stated, that I had my offer right in front of me, and yet he kept parroted like a broken record that the APR was for purchases only, and that I must be looking at the wrong offer (even after I pointed out that I had notated the offer for my records). After a tiring exchange that had me feel like I was talking to a wall, I asked for his supervisor, only to be put on hold for 15 minutes before I gave up and hung up!
What the hell is wrong with companies these days? Why do they think they can treat us like worthless pieces of crap, and that we will put up with it. I for one would never use Capital One, unless my letter to the complaints department yields an apology and more. Shame on you, Capital One, for forgetting that old adage in business - customer is king!
What the hell is wrong with companies these days? Why do they think they can treat us like worthless pieces of crap, and that we will put up with it. I for one would never use Capital One, unless my letter to the complaints department yields an apology and more. Shame on you, Capital One, for forgetting that old adage in business - customer is king!
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Quote of the Day
Former House Speaker and architect of the GOP's Contract with America, Newt Gingrich on Democrats and their bloggers:
This is a core problem [the Democrats] have. ... I don't think you can write a Contract with Vermont and San Francisco. ... Al Gore has refused to endorse his vice presidential running mate [Lieberman]. A party which is so driven by its left that—I don't know if you saw the blogger meeting in Las Vegas? From the standpoint of an average American, some of that stuff was weird. Candidates out there run a risk of resembling the people they're trying to appeal to. Normal people I think become distanced by that stuff. I think the Republican Party has few allies more effective than the Daily Kos. It puts them into an echo chamber of listening to each other. There was a reason [2004 Democratic presidential nominee John] Kerry looked normal—because Howard Dean looked so strange. So you have Dean as national chair, you have Gore coming back as a true left winger to Hillary's left, you have Lieberman unacceptably pro-national security, you have Nancy Pelosi from San Francisco... Let's drop Nancy Pelosi into a typical exurban swing district and see how she does. You listen to her talk and it's all about the counterculture, unilateral disarmament type of babble.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
History Repeats Itself?
You've been hearing it all the time recently - the rise of India and China, how the US is losing out to the competition, how the Asian Tigers are where all the action, and profits, are. Oh, and China is manipulating it's currency, and if we just impose anti-dumping tarrifs on Chinese imports, American manufacturing will be A-OK. Well, in line with my recent obsession to learn from history's lessons, I have been reading (ok, only a few pages at a time) Bill Emmott's historic book, 'The Sun Also Sets'. Why historic? Because writing at the height of the Japanese boom, he called for a collapse in the Japanese economy. OK, I haven't gotten to that part, but it amazes me how much alike the Japan story of those days is to India and China today - booming economies, increased consumer spending and the wealth effect, speculative asset bubbles in stocks and real estate ... Oh, and let's not forget Washington politicians accusing the Japanese of manipulating the yen rather than tackling America's self-made problem with trade deficits.
To be sure, there are several differences between the Japan of past and India and China today, not least of which are size and demographics. Nevertheless, the next time you come across a story suggesting you learn Chinese, you may just want to pass.
To be sure, there are several differences between the Japan of past and India and China today, not least of which are size and demographics. Nevertheless, the next time you come across a story suggesting you learn Chinese, you may just want to pass.
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Alter on Flag Burning
My brother sent me this wonderful piece by Jonathan Alter on the recent efforts by the Senate to pass a flag-burning amendment. I thought John Glenn put it best, as quoted by Alter:
Those 10 amendments we call the Bill of Rights have never been changed or altered by one iota, not by one word, not a single time in all of American history. There was not a single change during any of our foreign wars, and not during recessions or depressions or panics. Not a single change when we were going through times of great emotion and anger like the Vietnam era, when flag after flag was burned or desecrated. There is only one way to weaken our nation. The way to weaken our nation would be to erode the freedom that we all share.”
The Lankan Destroyers
Wow, this is only my third-ever sports post. And this time it's on a sport only a small subset of my blog readers understand, let alone follow. But the Lankan destroyers merit attention ... a lot of it! If you haven't been following cricket recently, the Sri Lankan visitors (ranked #6) just massacred England (ranked #2) 5-0 in the recent one-day (ODI) series. The Lankans were far superior in all aspects, but what really caught my eye was the top 3 batsman for Lanka. Here's how they did:
Game 1 2 3 4 5
Tharanga 120 17 41 60 109
Jayasuriya 11 122 23 14 152
Jayawardane 24 66 126 100 12
Between them, they had six 100's and two 50s - I don't think I've ever seen a similar domination by the top 3 of any side! Just for a contrast, compare the figures of England's top 3:
Game 1 2 3 4 5
Trescothick 67 9 36 44 121
Strauss 12 18 32 39 41
Bell 7 40 77 30 18
That's one 100 and one 50 for you. Incredible! Beating England at home isn't easy ... making them look like a second-rate team no mean achievement.
Game 1 2 3 4 5
Tharanga 120 17 41 60 109
Jayasuriya 11 122 23 14 152
Jayawardane 24 66 126 100 12
Between them, they had six 100's and two 50s - I don't think I've ever seen a similar domination by the top 3 of any side! Just for a contrast, compare the figures of England's top 3:
Game 1 2 3 4 5
Trescothick 67 9 36 44 121
Strauss 12 18 32 39 41
Bell 7 40 77 30 18
That's one 100 and one 50 for you. Incredible! Beating England at home isn't easy ... making them look like a second-rate team no mean achievement.
Free and Clear
Money magazine has some great specials about individuals who paid off debt or saved and invested their way to wealth. One such story is that of Doug and Tina Koch who paid off $30,000 of debt acquired by the marriage ceremony within 11 months! It truly is revealing, and as Tina points out, if we could save even a fraction of that every month, we'll all be in good shape!
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Quote of the Day
Syndicated columnist Mark Shields duscussing his reaction to the flag burning amendment, which failed in the US Senate, on the Newshour with Jim Lehrer:
It made me angry, because I listened to those speeches. I listened to the people advocating it, and they talked about our fighting men and women. If they really were remotely authentic or sincere about our fighting men and women and honoring them, how about body armor? How about armoring Humvees? How about not cutting veterans' benefits? How about not putting our troops in a position where they're ordered to perform torturous acts? How about sending enough troops into battle? I mean, I just -- I mean, this was hypocrisy at its worst.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Is This Guy for Real?
Every now and then, I like to light up. Not often, but about once in a while or so, sometimes when I am super-stressed and haven't been able to make it to the gym, a cigarette really calms me down. A cigarette a month aint that bad, right? But the new Surgeon General begs to differ. I was shocked by just how toxic he suggested cigarette smoke, even second hand smoke, was, pointing to research that suggested cellular and arterial changes within seconds of exposure! You can watch his interview with Jim Lehrer here. I confess I find it a little hard to believe that exposure to such minor amounts of smoke can affect you if it's not on a consistent basis (I know I'm not a doctor, just a biased consumer!)
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Protect Our Cyberspace
I was very disappointed to read of that the director of the National Cyber Security Division of the Homeland Security Department just quit, because (according to the pervasive anonymous sources) of his frustrations with the lack of attention and money allotted to the issue. Looks like another case of poor functioning by Homeland Security. While no one is equating a physical terrorist attack with an electronic one, we should realize we live in a time where the latter could cripple our economy. Viruses written by high-school hackers manage to inflict millions of dollars of damage; the day may not be far when highly-sophisticated terrorist groups do just the same. But in Washington, the philosophy is to wait till it actually happens, so I don't expect any movement until the first major attack. Call it the Windows syndrome - don't fix security flaws until after they have been exploited by hackers!
Talking of which, who is in charge of information security? Who takes care of the fact that everything from our social security numbers to our banking details and cell phone records are routinely stolen and sold on a thriving market. The fact that a news-aware person doesn't know this is a sign Washington hasn't made it a big issue. But to be fair, they had more pressing issues ... like casting symbolic votes on gay marriage, flag burning, troop withdrawal, even if they knew none of these measures would ever pass!
Talking of which, who is in charge of information security? Who takes care of the fact that everything from our social security numbers to our banking details and cell phone records are routinely stolen and sold on a thriving market. The fact that a news-aware person doesn't know this is a sign Washington hasn't made it a big issue. But to be fair, they had more pressing issues ... like casting symbolic votes on gay marriage, flag burning, troop withdrawal, even if they knew none of these measures would ever pass!
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
No Raise For You!
The Democrats' move to block pay raises for Congress was a brilliant one politically. How can Congress argue that wage increases at the low end of the scale would affect business climate, and yet fatten their hourly allowances by $15, on average? And for what? To sit in Washington and debate stupid non-issues like flag burning? Tell me one solid bill that has actually passed recently from Washington? Zilch! Nada! If our democracy is about being hostage to electoral concerns every two years, then God save us all!
About the hourly wage, I confess I don't like a fixed wage number. It will lead to retrenchment of low-skilled work, as automation and reallocation will ensure the total cost to business is unchanged. Some Republicans did propose an alternative, linked to tax initiatives, but they never showed any leadership on the issue. This is like Kyoto, where the Bush administration pulled out unilaterally (it did have some valid reasons) but failed to show leadership towards an alternative. But that is a topic for another day!
About the hourly wage, I confess I don't like a fixed wage number. It will lead to retrenchment of low-skilled work, as automation and reallocation will ensure the total cost to business is unchanged. Some Republicans did propose an alternative, linked to tax initiatives, but they never showed any leadership on the issue. This is like Kyoto, where the Bush administration pulled out unilaterally (it did have some valid reasons) but failed to show leadership towards an alternative. But that is a topic for another day!
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Give It Away!
The world of philanthropy just have a second tremor - days after the world's richest man, Bill Gates announced that he would be taking up philanthropy full-time, the second-richest man, Warren Buffet announced he would be giving away his share of Berkshire stock to charities (especially the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) starting now. In doing so, he has reversed a long-standing disagreement with his now-late wife Susan, arguing that it was best for him to allow his money to compound at a high rate before giving to charity posthumously. I hope this is a start of more private giving to eliminate the ills that plague our world.
Interestingly both Gates and Buffet talk about how giving money is not only for others, it's actually also for the benefit of their kids. Here's Buffet in the Fortune article:
May this be a phenomenon restricted to the super-wealthy, or will their example stir more of us to give to the needy around the world, rather than focusing on a consumption-driven lifestyle?
Interestingly both Gates and Buffet talk about how giving money is not only for others, it's actually also for the benefit of their kids. Here's Buffet in the Fortune article:
I still believe in the philosophy ... that a very rich person should leave his kids enough to do anything but not enough to do nothing.
May this be a phenomenon restricted to the super-wealthy, or will their example stir more of us to give to the needy around the world, rather than focusing on a consumption-driven lifestyle?
Monday, June 19, 2006
New AHA Guidelines
The American Heart Association issued new guidelines on trans fat, as well as many other recommendations. They recommend trans fats constitute less than 1% of the total calories consumed. The story has more of their recommendations, but I have reproduced some of them below with additional information from other sources:
Limiting trans fat: these are formed by combining liquid vegetable oil with hydrogen (hence partially hydrogenated oils) to form a solid. The problem? The solid oils clog up your arteries. (source)
Limiting saturated fats to no more than 7 percent of daily calories, down from the 10 percent formerly recommended and the 11 percent most Americans consume. The body in a strategy evolved from centuries of food scarcity stores saturated fat in your belly when the need should arise. Problem is, unless you plan to participate in some twisted new reality show, that need will probably arise, and instead the excess ab fat can kill you! (source) For more information on how fat works in the body, read this".
A half-hour of exercise a day. I can evangelize about this, having been a frequent victim to illness, until a daily exercize program has added a spring in my step. The founder of my university and a co-founder to the idea of America, Thomas Jefferson exhorted his students to spend two hours a day on the body to exercise the mind.
Adding little or no salt to food. Blood pressure causes an estimated two-thirds of all strokes in America, and about half of all heart attacks around the world. About 60 million Americans suffer from high BP. Most agencies studying the issue have recommended a maximum consumption of between 1100-2300 mg of sodium - the average American consumes 4,000 mg! (source)
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