Pakistan's New Political Crisis

The assissination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has pushed Pakistan into further political turmoil. And the violence that ensued after here death only points to how volatile the situaion has become in this nuclear armed country. The assisination has also left the Bush administration in a bind as it had been trying to push through the democratic process with Benazir Bhutto being the de-factor US backed candidate. Her assisination presents the administration wih very limited options to try and salvage its efforts to put Pakistan on a democratic process. The current situation also calls into question the safety of the nuclear arsenal which Pakistan possesses.

Ethanol hurting the environment

Another reason why ethanol is not the clean fuel it is made out to be. According to the AP report, increased corn plantation the Midwest are increasing the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico. Nitrogen rich fertilizers used in the corn growth are polluting the Mississippi river and aiding the growth of this dead zone. To read more about this check out Gulf of Mexico-Dead Zone.
Also see my previous posting Ethanol-Is it the fuel it is made out to be to learn more about Ethanol.

Where is my money going?

There is a old saying "the only two inevitable things in this world are death and taxes". I have been thinking about the later for a while. Whenever I work the government takes about 20% to 25% of my income as taxes. That means, I am working three months of every year for free. But this is not the end. Whenever I spend on something, whether is in the supermarket on groceries or electronics, I am taxed on that as well. The government is getting a portion of my money whether I earn the money or spend it. Doesn't that sound unfair to you. It sure as hell sounds unfair to me.
I am ok with paying these taxes as long as the money is spent wisely and not wasted on pet projects and some government subsidy for parties that do not deserve it. But thats hardly the case. Examples of wasteful spending and pet projects abound. It seems like the term "Return on Investment" does not exist in the governments lexicon when it comes to spending. If this was the case with private industry, then every industry would be bankrupt within a couple of years. The reason why ROI does not exist in the governments lexicon is best described by Milton Friedman in Four Ways to Spend Money . What do you think?

Spending Tax-Payers Money Wisely

Amit Varma in his weekly column Thinking it Through for the newspaper Mint brings up a very important point about "How should the tax-payers money be spent?". When we pay our taxes, whether it is through our work or when we buy something, we are contributing to the government coffers in the hope that, our contribution is going to be used wisely for the benefit of us as well as the community that we live in. Roads that we drive on, parks that we go to are all paid for by the taxpayers money. Some of this spending is necessary and some of it is not. Examples of unnecessary spending of taxpayers money abound, including the The Bridge to No-Where , the 6373 pet projects that were attached to the highway transportation bill that was passed in August 2005 by the US Congress (About 10% of the highway transportation bill spending of $286 billion was earmarked for these pet projects. ), or the billions spent on the war in Iraq.
I wonder if these senators or congressmen would have spent even 1% of their hard earned money on projects that were important to others and not themselves. I would have to say the answer will be a resounding no.

Read Amit Varma's blog at India Uncut

Should Governments and Universities attract students irrespective of their nationality

Economist magazine has a new debate on "Should governments and universities attract students irrespective of their nationalities or residence". This debate could not have come at a more opportune time. With increased globalization, the world economy is very much on the doorsteps of a knowledge based economy. Human intellectual capital is in high demand. With this is prespective, it makes total sense for governments and universities across the world to attract the best and the brightest to work or study in their countries or universities respectively.
International students being the best and brightest in their field of study contribute to the intellectual capital of the country that they are being educated. They also contribute to increasing the diversity and culture of that particular country and the communities that they live in. Also the students have a profound impact on the economy of the countries they study in as they tend to work in that country for atleast a couple of years. Once they go back to their home countries, they will apply the knowledge and work experience gained to improve the standards of living in their home countries. In short they act as good ambassadors for the country of study.
Critics would argue that there are grave social, economic and security concerns in letting international students into a particular country. But the fact is when the benefits are weighed against the drawback, the benefits far outweigh the risks.

You can read more about the debate and post your points of view at Economist Debate

Ethanol - Is it the clean fuel its made out to be?

Wherever you go today in the US, when the talk about energy arises, the talk somehow leads to ethanol and how it is such a clean fuel and a renewable energy source?, how it will reduce US dependence on Middle Eastern oil? how it will help reduce global warming? etc etc... To be honest, I also believed it till I saw this video. I never thought about how ethanol is produced, the costs associated with producing it, or where is the corn needed to produce ethanol going to come from.... See the video below to see the so called side effects of ethanol. The speaker is Jerry Taylor of The Cato Institute

Convincing Argument for Global Action on Climate Change

This is the most convincing argument yet,that I have seen, on the need for global action on climate change.

Tackling the Sub-Prime Mortgage Crisis

The Bush administration this week announced a plan for tackling the growing mess in the financial industry and the US housing market in particular. The foreclosure relief plan claims to bring relief to about 1.2 million troubled home owners by putting a freeze on their interest rate for five years.
On the surface this seems like a good idea and the right thing to do. But this plan comes with a lot of caveats attached. The plan applies only to loans taken out between 2005 and July 31, 2007, and are scheduled for rate boosts between January 1, 2008 and July 31, 2010. Also the home owners must be current on their payments. But the most important caveat is that participation from the lenders is voluntary and not mandatory. Also according to analysis by The Center for Responsible Lending, a group that promotes homeownership and works to curb predatory lending, estimates that only 145,000 households will qualify for the rate freeze. In addition there is the issue of investors. Since these mortgages were repackaged and sold to investors, getting the investors to accept a lower return on their investment would be a challenge.
These are some of the issues and concerns that this plan raises. As we move forward, other issues will crop up and will need to addressed. Though the plan could have been stronger, it is definitely a start at providing relief to some if not all the affected people. And that is a good thing.

Ten Ways to Cut CO2 Emissions

National Geographic has 10 easy ways to cut CO2 emissions. If they are followed by each of us, we can cut CO2 emissions by as much as 22tons per annum. Read more about them at Cut CO2 Emissions

Twelve Days of Christmas

This is just too funny...

A Clean Energy Revolution

Global Warming is one of the most urgent issue facing the entire world. The UN appointed Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change in its recently released report concluded that "most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations via the greenhouse effect. Therefore efforts on a global scale much being immediately to reverse the increase of these greenhouse gases."
Though governments across the world are slowly coming on board to the science behind global warming, there is a Clean Energy Revolution that is being powered by private industries and educational institutions.
This past week Google launched its new strategic initiative RE "Less Then" C which stands for Renewable Energy Cheaper then Coal. The focus on this initiative will initially be to develop electricity from advanced solar thermal power, wind power technologies, enhanced geothermal systems and other potential breakthrough technologies. The goal of this initiative according to Google is to develop one gigawatt of renewable energy capacity that is cheaper then coal.(One gigawatt can power the city of the size of San Francisco).
Then there is this initiative called as Vehicle Design Summit, which is a global collaboration between the esteemed educational institutions on six of the seven continents. The goal of this project is to bring to market a super efficient hybrid plug-in vehicle which averages about 200 MPG with minimal life cycle costs and widely accepted in developing and developed countries. The vehicle is called VDS Vision 200 and the groups plans to unvile it by August of 2008. Each of the universities involved is responsible for developing a part/parts of this visionary vehicle.
Though these are some of the examples of the Clean Energy Revolution that is beginning to take shape, more needs to be done on a global scale to reverse the trend of global warming before it is too late. Each of us can contribute to this cause by being more energy efficent in our daily lives. Whether it is switching to energy efficient light bulbs or driving less, every bit matters.

To read more about Google's RE "Less Then" C initiative check out the link Google Goes Green
To read more about the Vehicle Design Summit project check out the link VDS

World AIDS Day

Dec 1st every year is celebrated as World AIDS Day. In anticipation of this day the UNAIDS (The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS) released its latest report on the number of cases of AIDS across the world last week. According to this report the number of AIDS cases decreased from 39.5 million to 33.2 million. On the surface this may sound like the world is making progress against the most dreaded disease of our times. But this decrease in cases is just due to the perceived better accounting of victims in India and Africa, the two major battle-fronts in the fight against AIDS.
This drop in numbers is already generating debate about whether the UNAIDS inflated the numbers in the first place to raise funds for the fight against the disease. It may also lure the world into a false sense of complacency and decrease the momentum against the fight for a cure. This should not happen.
The 33 million people infected are not the only victims of this deadly disease. If the families of the victims are taken into considerations, as AIDS does take a very heavy toll on the family, the real number of victims would be more then 100 million. In addition fighting the disease is not about just finding a cure for the HIV virus. It also involves erasing the social stigma associated with the disease. Unless investments are made in better education of the disease, and improving the lives of the poor, this disease will remain a disease of the shadow, very hard to fight and even harder to control.