Can Anyone Make Any Sense Out of This Please?

Can anyone make a sense out of this statement:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That's why I say I, like every American I'm speaking with, were ill about this position that we have been put in where it is the taxpayers looking to bail out. But ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health-care reform that is needed to help shore up our economy, helping the—it's got to be all about job creation, too, shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right track. So health-care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans. And trade, we've got to see trade as opportunity, not as a competitive, scary thing. But one in five jobs being created in the trade sector today, we've got to look at that as more opportunity. All those things under the umbrella of job creation. This bailout is a part of that.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you are the one who can make sense out of this, the biggest prize is that you are as qualified as Sarah Palinto be the next Vice President of the United States. That's right folks, this seemingly incoherent passage was spoken by Sarah Palin in response to a question from Katie Couric of CBS News.

Listening to this response seems to have pushed even Fareed Zakaria over the edge. In a column for Newsweek magazine, Fareed writes:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is nonsense—a vapid emptying out of every catchphrase about economics that came into her head. Can we now admit the obvious? Sarah Palin is utterly unqualified to be vice president. She is a feisty, charismatic politician who has done some good things in Alaska. But she has never spent a day thinking about any important national or international issue, and this is a hell of a time to start.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If I were John McCain reading this column by one of the foremost authorities on International relations of our times, I would seriously consider withdrawing Sarah Palin from the ticket, before this coming thursday's Vice Presidential debate, to minimize any further damage. But again the decision depends on which McCain is reading the column at the time, the Maverick McCain or the McCain with political and personal courage who has shown time and again to put country before self.

Law Breakers or Law Protectors

In this day and age of constant terrorist attack treat , if this is how a supposed law protector is conducting himself, then god help the ordinary joe's.

Find the Economist's Challenge

Look and the picture below and try to find these economists: Peter Diamond, Dale Mortensen, Christopher Pissarides,Elhanan Helpman, Robert Barro, and Paul Krugman.




Other mismatch between the article and the pictures can be found by following this link

Paul Newman - RIP

Paul Newman the legendary actor passed away today. Of all the movies that he has acted in, one of my favorite is Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,a classic western, in which he played Butch Cassidy.

Below are some of the scenes from the movie

Memorable Moments in the US Presidential Debate

With the first presidential debate between Sen John McCain and Sen Barack Obama set for today evening its time to look at the some of the most memorable moments in the presidential debates past. Some of these helped turn the election in a candidate's favor.

Time magazine has the list on their website and you can watch them here as well.

Questions on the $700 Billion Bailout

With the $700 Billion bailout being the talk of the town and Congress grilling the Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke with all sort of questions on this bailout, as a taxpayer, I thought this might be the right time for me to chime in with my own set of questions. So here you go....

1. How did the treasury come up with amount $700 Billion for the bailout?
2. What is the guarantee that the $700 Billion will solve the credit problem facing the various financial institutions?
3. If the $700 billions is not enough to rid the markets of all the bad assets? What then?
4. What is the upside for the taxpayers in bailing out the wealthy Wall Street elite?
5. What about all the people whose houses are in foreclosure or are about to go into foreclosure? Is there any help for them in this bailout?
6. Since I hear no talk about a tax increase, how is the government going to pay for the bailout when we already have a $500 Billion tax deficit every year?
7. Assuming the $700 billion is approved by the Congress, is there a process on how the money will be used to buy the toxic assets?
8. How is the treasury going to assign value to these assets so as to avoid overpaying for them?
9. Is there a priority on who gets to sell their assets first?
10. With the government already taking control of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and AIG and helping JP Morgan Chase buy Bear Sterns earlier this year, is there a plan to buy more companies with the $700 Billion?
11. If so how do you explain the irony of government taking control of private enterprises when the policy of this administration has been minimum government intervention in the functioning of free markets?

Picture Worth a Thousand Words

The most recent cover of The Economist magazine aptly captures the feeling of everybody on Wall Street and Main street.

Is Being Elite Such a Bad Thing When it Comes to Politics?

When Sarah Palin, the Republican Vice Presidential nominee, in her acceptance speech fired back at the media and the Washington Elite for having raised questions about her qualifications to be vice president, one wondered if the media was being too aggressive in pursuing information on her background.

But as the dust has settled in over the last couple of week's and the initial hoopla of her nomination has died down, it is time to revisit this issue. Sam Harris in a recent article of the Time Magazine says that being elite and well informed is a essential thing especially when you want to be the most powerful man/women (read president/vice president of the US) in the whole world. Below is an excerpt from the article:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ask yourself: how has "elitism" become a bad word in American politics? There is simply no other walk of life in which extraordinary talent and rigorous training are denigrated. We want elite pilots to fly our planes, elite troops to undertake our most critical missions, elite athletes to represent us in competition and elite scientists to devote the most productive years of their lives to curing our diseases. And yet, when it comes time to vest people with even greater responsibilities, we consider it a virtue to shun any and all standards of excellence. When it comes to choosing the people whose thoughts and actions will decide the fates of millions, then we suddenly want someone just like us, someone fit to have a beer with, someone down-to-earth—in fact, almost anyone, provided that he or she doesn't seem too intelligent or well educated.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Read the complete article When Atheists Attack

My Tax Money Used To Secure Delhi CM's Dustbins

In response to the recent bomb blasts in Delhi, the government wants to secure all of the dustbins in the Delhi Chief Ministers office.

My question to the Delhi government is this: Why does the government want to protect its own kind (read Delhi CM) when its first responsibility is the citizens who elected them? How is securing some dustbins in a high security office going to stop future bomb blasts? What about all the dustbins across all of Delhi? Who is going to secure them? What is there to stop a terrorist from having planting more bombs in dustbins across the city? Wouldn't the money be well spent if it was used for gathering better intelligence and developing an anti terror task force?

Tata Nano and the Singur Controversy

In response to the current land acquisition controversy in Singur for the highly touted Tata Nano project, Amartya Sen the Nobel Laureate for economics, writes a commentary in the Telegraph. Below is an excerpt
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That politics might change over time once the terrible consequences of industrial and economic stagnation are more widely appreciated and understood. But for the moment the political attraction of street activism seems dominant, supplemented intellectually by the old physiocratic illusion of prosperity grounded only on agriculture. The latter piece of romantic thought cannot but fade over time with the influence of realism (no country has ever achieved much prosperity on the basis of agriculture alone). But at this moment realism looks like a distant dream.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What is so Facinating about the US?

Why is the Indian media so fascinated with anything having to do with the United States. According to this article in the Times of India, a special puja was performed in Hyderabad for a girl who lost her job in US due to the current financial turmoil.

My sympathies are with the girl, but is this a news story worthy to be reported in a leading Indian newspaper. Also why report on this one specific girl when there are millions unemployed in India?

Admiring Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Dalai Lama

Danish newspaper Morgenavisen Jyllands Posten recently carried a series of advertisements depicting Mahatma Gandhi, Dalai Lama, and Nelson Mandela in a totally different light. Though the ads may be offensive at first sight, the ads are meant to start a debate and make people think as the ads catch phrase "Life is Easier, if you don't speak up. Debate" suggests.

In response to these ads, Salil Tripathi has an excellent article in Live Mint which hits the mark.

Campaign Commercial from 1952-2008

A nice archive of all the presidential campaign commercials from the year 1952 to 2008 can be found on Living Room Candidate. The website also includes the candidates who contested the elections, the electoral map and the votes received by each candidate in each of those election years.

The best I like



If only he had kept his word, he would not have been the most unpopular president in modern US history.


Link obtained from David Frum's Diary

Can Anyone Run HP?

When asked this week if Sarah Palin could run a major corporation, John McCain's economic advisor Carly Fiorina said she does not have the experience to run a major corporation like HP. And in defending her statement and trying to clarify herself, she said that neither of the four candidates running for the president or vice president can run a major corporation.



This coming from someone who was fired from HP for not meeting expectations is just ironic. I just hope that she does not give John McCain advise on how to run the country if he is elected president.

What, Why and What it Means

If you want to know what happened to Wall Street and Lehman and Merrill Lynch, Why it happened and what it all means for ordinary people like you and me, you might want to check out this excellent post on the Freakonomics Blog

Who's Next to Fall?

With every passing day bringing more bad news for the financial markets, you have to wonder if we will ever reach the bottom of this mess. What started out as a housing crisis in the US last year has snowballed into a full blown financial crisis across the global financial system.

Every day brings in bad news about some financial gaint buckling. Monday it was Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch, Tuesday it was AIG which was bailed out by the federal government with a cash infusion of $85 billion and today there is talk about Washington Mutual. New York Times reports that Washington Mutual has put itself up for auction. The question is will there be any potential takers.

So who is next in line to fall...... Lets wait and watch

Shivraj Patil has Blessings of Sonia Gandhi to Continue as Home Minister

Recent incidents of bomb blasts in three different major cities in India within a span of few weeks have exposed the ineffectiveness of the Indian government in tackling terrorism. Add to the fact the sheer cluelessness of the current home minister, Shivraj Patil, who is responsible for the internal security of the country.

In a latest gaffe after the most recent blasts in the Indian capital New Delhi, Shivraj Patil claimed that he has the "Blessings of his leader Sonia Gandhi to continue in office".

Here is something that I dont understand. The last couple of weeks have seen some of the worst organized terrorist attacks in this country since the 1993 Mumbai Blasts and instead of spending his time coordinating efforts to see these things does not happen again, he uses it to seek blessing from the Goddess at 10 Janpath Road. Doesn't he have a responsibility to the people who elected him to the office.

Oooh I forgot, he is not a elected representative. He was appointed to the Upper House of parliament i.e. Rajya Sabha by the Goddess herself. That explains the seeking of blessings and paying respects to the Goddess on 10 Janpath. Because if he were to contest any more parliamentary elections, the people would never elect him. So he is probably currying favor so that if by any chance the UPA government comes to power in the coming parliamentary election, he might still sneek in a cabinet ministers post.

Well played Mr Shivraj Patil.

Also see additional questions that you can ask Shivraj Patil by clicking churmuri

What Next for the Financial Markets?

With the US financial markets suffering a seismic shock to the tune of the 2004 Tsunami over the weekend, one wonder what's next for the US financial markets or for that matter the world financial markets and world economy.

For those of who are not familiar with what happened on the weekend, Lehman Brothers, one of the oldest Wall Street investment banks, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Merrill Lynch the other investment giant on Wall Street agreed to be taken over by Bank of America. Also with Bear Stearns takeover by JP Morgan Chase earlier this year, most of Wall Street as we knew it for the last few decades is gone.

With the Sub Prime Crisis showing no sign of abatement, there is not clear sense as to what the next day is going to bring. Also some are comparing it to the Great Depression revisited. So for ordinary Joe's like me, wait and watch is the best approach right now. And while we are waiting and watching as things unfold, I thought may be we can take a look at the storied history of the Lehman Brothers.


Image source NY Times

Free Markets and Economics

If you are interested in Free Markets and Economics, then this blog may be a good start for you.

Enjoy.....

Is Sarah Palin Ready to be President?

With the current set of challenges that the United States faces on the domestic and international front, the obvious question in the minds of the voters would be "Is the next president ready to tackle these challenges?".

With John McCain selecting Sarah Palin, the 20 month governor of Alaska and a former mayor of a town of 6000 people, as his running mate, the question becomes does she have the enough grasp of the domestic and international issues to be able to take over for John McCain if "God Forbid" something were to happen to him were he elected president.

Based on her first major interview with a nationally recognized journalist Charles Gibson it does not seem like she is ready.

The NY Times blasts John McCain in its most recent editorial by saying and I quote "If he seriously thought this first-term governor — with less than two years in office — was qualified to be president, if necessary, at such a dangerous time, it raises profound questions about his judgment. If the choice was, as we suspect, a tactical move, then it was shockingly irresponsible."

In an op-ed column for the NY times, columnist Bob Herbert also thinks She is Not Ready to be Commander in Chief of the United States

All Things Politics including Lipsticks, Pigs and Pork

Barack Obama's recent comments about "lipstick on a pig" during the presidential campaign have created another flash-point in the already heated race for the White House.

The Republican candidate John McCain has taken serious offense to these comments even though he had sued these same words against Hillary Clinton during the primary process.

Also this "lipstick on a pig" phrase has been used liberally both by Democrats and Republicans before today. So why express the outrage now? Why are the Republicans trying to create a mountain out of a mole-hill, when there are other important issues like health-care, immigration, economy and foreign policy etc to be discussed?

May be the Republicans have come to a realization that they cannot win the election by talking about these issues because of how badly the current administration has managed them and so they are trying to divert the discussion from these central topics.

Enough of the Bachchan's and the Thackerys

I think we have had enough of the feud between the Bachchan's and the Thackery's. Lets move on. Why is the media so obsessed with providing coverage to these juvenile off the cuff remarks when there are other more important things like the Bihar Floods to cover.

Is the Media Being Too Etilist when it comes to Sarah Palin?

Is the Media being too elitist when it comes to Sarah Palin, the Vice Presidential nominee of the Republican party? Was the media wrong in doing some background check on the nominee, as so little is known about her before today, so that American voters can make a informed choice in the coming election.

Listen to this and find out.

How Would a iPod Designed by Microsoft be?

Watch the video and find out



Link obtained from Churmuri

Happy Teachers Day

Today being September 5th the birthday of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the second president of India, its time to remember our teachers who are vital in the development of us as individuals.

Teacher is not just somebody who you learn from in school or college or a university. Anybody who makes you a better individual then you currently are , be it your parents, friends, or family can be a teacher. So lets celebrate this day in honor of all those individuals who help us be what we are and hope that we can pass on these learning to other individuals so that we can make the world a better place for one and all.

Citizen Journalism

In today's world of 24/7 news, a new trend is emerging in how breaking news is covered and by whom. Whether its the Asian Tsunami of Dec 2004 or the brutal crackdown of the Burmese Monks by the Junta, the iconic images of these news stories were brought to the world by ordinary Joe's who happened to be in the right place at the right time.

With the proliferation of the World Wide Web, improvement in technology to the point that almost any electronic device now comes with a camera and outlets like Blogs and iReport providing avenues for reporting breaking news stories, it has become increasingly easier for ordinary Joe's to break news stories that mainstream news media may have missed.

A recent Listening Post on Al Jazeera TV covers this growing trend of citizen journalism.

Are the Political Conventions Shallow?

Are the Political Conventions of both the Republican and Democratic parties in the US are politically and intellectually shallow? Is most of the time in the conventions spent in pandering to the party faithful? Dick Armey, former majority leader of the house seems to agree. In an interview with Claire Bolderson of BBC's Newshour, Dick Armey says
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"We spend too much time in my estimation for candidates talking to their own parties and political discourse, which is always politically and intellectually shallow".
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This in response to Claire Bolderson's question about when in the Current Republican Convention will they talk about substantive issues that are facing the US today.

Listen to the complete interview Dick Armey's Interview. You have to go to 22nd minute of the audio clip.

The Last Lecture

Many of you may have already heard about Randy Pausch and the last lecture that he gave at Carnegie Mellon University. for those of you who do not know or have heard about Randy Pausch, he was a Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon who passed away in July because of pancreatic cancer. He earned worldwide fame because of the inspirational lecture he gave titled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" to audiences at Carnegie Mellon. You can watch the lecture below. Though it is supposed to be his farewell speech to students, friends and family, be prepared for laughs as you watch the video.

Bihar Floods Vs. Hurrican Gustav

Consider the contrasting responses of the government and the official machinery for two of the worst natural disasters this week.

The Federal, State and Local governments did a tremendous job in coordinating the evacuation of 1.9 million people from the Gulf coastal regions of the United States in response to Hurricane Gustav. I guess the three governmental entities seemed to have learned a lesson on two from the disaster that was Hurricane Katrina

Consider this with the response of the State and Central Government in India to the Bihar floods. Lalu Yadav, Railway Minister did not shy away from playing politics during this dire situation. Also a recent report in the Time of India states that there is no such thing as a disatser management strategy in place.

When will India and its politicians learn from their mistakes.

Spain's Tomato Festivel

Each year tens of thousands of people hurl truckloads of tomatoes at each other, sending knee-deep rivers through the small Spanish town of Bunol, near Valencia. Looking at some of the pictures where people are lying in tomato pulp on streets makes me wonder what happens to the pulp after the festivities? I hope that it does not end up in any of the tomato sauce. Just kidding......