analysis of random things

2012

2012-01-02T09:23:00.000-08:00

Welcome to 2012, hope it is better than 2011.

But....nothing has actually changed except for the marker on a timeline.

UPA and Corruption

2011-03-03T12:20:00.000-08:00

The current Indian government seems to be in for a spell of bad publicity, thanks to their more than pathetic performance on anything related to governance.
However, the government seems to have scaled new heights in corruption. Seems like Indian people are destined to suffer criminal politicians as predicted by Winston Churchill.

The problem (actually one of the problem) with democracy is that it REQUIRES a citizenry aware of their political rights and duties. This condition is hardly fulfilled in India where a lot of people have to struggle to survive and have no time to bother about politics, infiltration, large scale loot by CONgress and similar kleptomaniacs.

The result is a polity where Kakistocracy is norm, rather than an odious aberration.

Bankocracy

2010-11-10T07:24:00.000-08:00

Bankocracy :
A relatively new form of crony capitalism, though with roots in past. Closely related with the banks' power to create money out thin air.
A state/country can be said to be Bankocratic if the major decisions are made by government in order to favour the Bankocrats. This is a way of keeping the profits earned by bankocrats to themselves and spreading their losses to whole country/state (to a larger group if possible).

A bankocracy effectively uses the money creation power of banks to inflate money supply, create asset bubbles, profit from them, and holding economy ransom when those bubbles are about to naturally pop. A set of useful idiots (economists, politicians, journalists) is all that is needed to socialize any impending losses.

Optimism

2010-10-04T10:42:00.000-07:00

The role of optimism is twofold. It is normally treated as a positive trait in the character of a person.
However, if we look a bit deeper into its effect, a different picture emerges.

Optimism, I contend is the biggest single reason why many new businesses fail. Because, optimism lures the entrepreneurs into believing that they would be successful. Ask, an 'investor' in the now busted property markets in USA and Ireland, why they went for jumbo mortgages. The response, if they respond honestly is, they were confident of finding a bigger fool.

Well, just as pessimism can be bad for life, it turns out optimism too is out there to get the unwary.

Taliban training monkeys for jihad?

2010-07-18T01:32:00.001-07:00

This seems a bit far fetched. But then 9/11 WAS far-fetched to imaging until it actually happened. I would not put it beyond the capability of Talibs to convert Afghanistan into Planet of the Apes.

"... the Taliban forces have tried any possible means and figured out a method to train monkeys as 'replacement killers' against American troops," Stars and Stripes quoted the Chinese daily as saying. The militants were arming the primates with AK-47 rifles, machine guns and trench mortars in the Waziristan tribal region bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, it claimed. The monkey soldiers are being turned into snipers at a secret Taliban training base and are in turn being rewarded with 'bananas and peanuts'.

India Needs ‘Contingency Plan’ to Contain Inflation

2010-07-07T02:15:00.000-07:00

It is natural to have inflation when money can be created out of thin air !

“Inflation is an urgent issue and we don’t have a package as yet which can give us confidence,” Jalan, 69, who headed the Reserve Bank of India from 1997 to 2003, said in an interview in New Delhi yesterday. “We heard inflation will come down by March, then April. It was supposed to come down by now.”

Consumer prices in India are rising at least twice as fast compared with inflation rates in Brazil, Russia and China, the other three nations that make up the BRIC economies.

NASA - a case of political priorities

2010-07-07T02:12:00.000-07:00

Byron York of the Washington Examinerinterview on Al-Jazeera in which the head of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Charles F. Bolden, Jr., explained how Obama charged him to pursue three decidedly non-scientific objectives: uncovered an interview on Al-Jazeera in which the head of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Charles F. Bolden, Jr., explained how Obama charged him to pursue three decidedly non-scientific objectives:

One was he wanted me to help re-inspire children to want to get into science and math, he wanted me to expand our international relationships, and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math, and engineering.

NASA, he went on, is pursuing "a new beginning of the relationship between the United States and the Muslim world."

Britain bans Islamic preacher Zakir Naik

2010-06-25T01:34:00.000-07:00

Too little and too late. After sheltering dreg and discarded and discardable crap from all countries of the world, LONDONISTAN, is now trying to undo the damage it has done to UK, where several areas are a small rumour away from religious riots (could not happen to a more deserving country).

Britain bans Islamic preacher Zakir Naik

Britain has banned controversial Indian Islamic televangelist Zakir Naik, who once claimed that "every Muslim should be a terrorist," from entering the country, citing his "unacceptable behaviour".

The charade of reform

2010-06-25T01:28:00.000-07:00

Wall Street reform debate goes on and on

Had the US Congress and Senate (largely) not been bought by Wall Street, the country would be out of woods. But, then, how would democracy be funded.

The American Dream, Re-revisited

2010-06-24T03:07:00.000-07:00

American renouncing US citizenship is not what was supposed to happen!
However, this seems a logical response by smart people when a big parasite called "government" starts sucking too much life and capital out of its hosts.

"Initially I wasn’t going to respond to your survey. But this time I thought my experience may be helpful in some way to others. Too, the benefit of complete anonymity is also helpful. I am due to expatriate in a few months (the waiting list at the US embassy in Switzerland is incredibly long and one needs to wait nearly a year!)"

Bhopal, BP and Karma

2010-06-22T23:45:00.000-07:00

Great reading. The US congressmen are no less corrupt than indian ones. They would be quietly taking money (electoral contributions and keeping their mouth firmly shut) were the involved company was Halliburton or some of the several alternative energy businesses where Al Gore etc invest.

Further, the arrogance of american mind cannot believe that they are technically incompetent to plug the leaking crude oil, even though US companies have declared pretty much that in congress.

"Perhaps BP, formerly British Petroleum, is merely exacting vengeance on Americans on behalf of Britain's former colony, India. Two wrongs don't make a right for sure, but when Americans sit around bawling about the sheer injustice of it all, the rest of the world could well use examples like Bhopal to still feel less than sympathetic. "

And they call India a secular nation

2010-06-13T12:04:00.000-07:00

Loan Waiver Scheme for Christian converts

No wonder this scheme (scam ?) is being run in what is claimed to be the god's own country (what an oxymoron used by secularists (another oxymoron)).

"In his address at the inauguration of the loan waiver scheme, undertaken by the Kerala State Development Corporation for Christian Converts from Scheduled Castes and the Recommended Communities Ltd. here on Thursday, Mr. Balan said the current loan waiver scheme would write off Rs.159 crore and this would benefit nearly one lakh people, mostly belonging to the poorest sections of the society, he said."

http://beta.thehindu.com/news/states/kerala/article451983.ece

Nearby galaxy emitting mysterious radio waves: Scientists

2010-04-15T12:04:00.000-07:00

Nearby galaxy emitting mysterious radio waves: Scientists

Have they got iPads already up there ???

"An unknown object in the nearby galaxy -- M82 -- is sending out radio waves, an incident which has never happened in the universe before.
Researchers at the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics near Macclesfield in UK, who have traced the radio waves said that "they don't know what it is".
The team, which presented the discovery at the Royal Astronomical Society National Astronomy Meeting in Glasgow on Thursday, said the thing appeared in May last year while they were monitoring an unrelated stellar explosion in M82."

Firms Devastated in the Downturn had More Risk Managers Than Ever Before

2010-04-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

Talking about professionals ......

"It is ironic that in the last decade more attention has been placed upon risk management than ever before. Every failed bank in this cycle manned a risk department with a veritable army of experts, but like the Romans feeling secure that Hannibal would never cross the Alps with elephants to attack them, the unexpected did happen."

Kyrgyz president Bakiyev flees, ending standoff

2010-04-15T11:45:00.000-07:00

Obama led USA is shown to be a wimp. Russia is fundamentally undoing all the coloured revolutions engineered by USA and now Putin is paying back in the same coin.

"It marked an ignominious end to his rule, five years after he led street protests dubbed the "Tulip Revolution" that ousted the country's first post-Soviet ruler Askar Akayev on the back of a call for greater democracy."

Chidambaram washes his hands off with civil war waged by Maoists.

2010-04-15T11:42:00.000-07:00

strange....seems like Manmohan is certainly not losing any sleep.. Naturally, the home minister of india (elected in his own consituency by fraud ?) has already declared that it is states business to respond to it.

Well this leaves option of any future state government (e.g. CON government of AP) to seek election time support from Maoists/Naxals.

"Home Minister P Chidambaram today said the Dantewada massacre was a "wake up call" for the country and asked for a collective resolve to defeat the Maoists, whose aim was to seize political power."

The Caucasus Emirate

2010-04-15T11:34:00.000-07:00

"On April 9, a woman armed with a pistol and with explosives strapped to her body approached a group of police officers in the northern Caucasus village of Ekazhevo, in the southern Russian republic of Ingushetia. The police officers were preparing to launch an operation to kill or capture militants in the area. The woman shot and wounded one of the officers, at which point other officers drew their weapons and shot the woman. As she fell to the ground, the suicide vest she was wearing detonated. The woman was killed and the man she wounded, the head of the of the Russian Interior Ministry’s local office, was rushed to the hospital where he died from his wounds.
Such incidents are regular occurrences in Russia’s southernmost republics of Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria and North Ossetia. These five republics are home to fundamentalist separatist insurgencies that carry out regular attacks against security forces and government officials through the use of suicide bombers, vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs), armed assaults and targeted assassinations. However, we have noted a change in the operational tempo of militants in the region. So far in 2010, militants have carried out 23 attacks in the Caucasus, killing at least 34 people — a notable increase over the eight attacks that killed 17 people in the region during the same period last year. These militants have also returned to attacking the far enemy in Moscow and not just the near enemy in the Caucasus."

Israel Bans the iPad over Wireless Woes

2010-04-15T11:27:00.000-07:00

"Concerns over the strength of the iPad's wireless transmitters and receivers has Israel confiscating iPads, and barring their import into the country.

Apparently not everyone loves the iPad. The AP is reporting that Israel has told Apple that its tablet computer is not welcome.
Israel is claiming that the strength of the iPad’s wireless receivers and transmitters are incompatible with Israeli national standards, and might disrupt other devices. So far 10 iPads have been confiscated, and Israeli officials plan on confiscating any further iPads attempting to make their way into the country. The iPads will be held at customs (for a fee) in storage until the owner leaves or ships the tablet elsewhere."

RoP achievement of the day : U.S. Consulate Attacked In Pakistan

2010-04-05T04:57:00.000-07:00

RED ALERT: U.S. Consulate Attacked In Pakistan

April 5, 2010

Three explosions, two rocket attacks and subsequent gunfire have been reported in the near vicinity of the U.S. consulate in Peshawar, Pakistan, on April 5. The attack occurred early afternoon local time when the consulate would have been full of both American and local employees. The death toll is reported at 36 but is expected to rise.

There are no assessments yet of the damage that the consulate building has sustained, but reports indicate that the explosions led to the collapse of other, adjacent buildings. Pakistani soldiers are also reported to be engaging militants in gunfire, indicating that militants are actively engaged in an attack near the area - possibly with the intention of breaching the U.S. consulate.

Many U.S. diplomatic missions (including the one in Peshawar) have a number of built in security features, such as a perimeter wall, ample stand-off distance between the buildings and the wall, reinforced concrete structure and windows and marines stationed inside to ward off attacks. While militant activity in the tribal belt of northwest Pakistan has led to regular attacks against targets of the Pakistani state, today’s assault against the consulate is an extremely rare direct attack on a U.S. target. STRATFOR is monitoring the situation for more details. Monitor our coverage.

Elephants' legs 'work the same as a 4x4 vehicle'

2010-04-01T10:23:00.000-07:00

Does not seem like that from their speed :-)

"Researchers found that off-road vehicles such as Range or Land Rovers cars were the mechanical equivalent of the largest living land mammal because of the way they move.

Scientists from the Royal Veterinary College, in London, found that the animal's ''four-leg-drive'' system means power is applied independently to each limb."

Elephants' legs 'work the same as a 4x4 vehicle'

NASA engineers join Toyota investigation

2010-04-01T09:48:00.000-07:00

Exactly this is going to happen to all the businesses which are in the unfortunate situation of being in direct competition with Uncla Sam.

"Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is bringing in a team of nine NASA engineers who specialize in computer-controlled electronic systems, electromagnetic interference, software integrity and hardware to help his department investigate alleged unintended vehicle acceleration in Toyota vehicles."

NASA engineers join Toyota investigation

Stop treating army men like 'beggars', SC to govt

2010-04-01T06:42:00.000-07:00

Stop treating army men like 'beggars', SC to govt

There was an element of drama in the court when Additional Solicitor General Parag Tripathi pleaded with the court not to use "strong words" in the order like "beggars," "niggardly" "miserly", following which the bench dropped them from the written order.

"We regret to say that the army officers and army men in our country are being treated in a shabby manner by the government. In this case, the respondent,(Sidhu) who was posted at a high altitude field area and met with an accident during discharge of his duties was granted a meagre pension. This is a pittance (about Rs 1000) per month plus D.A.

What happens when economists rule a nation

2010-03-29T06:30:00.000-07:00

Note this amount is only for first half of the coming fiscal year.

Indian Govt to borrow 2.87 lakh cr in H1

lord's resistance army of Uganda

2010-03-28T06:42:00.000-07:00

The sort of info you are never going to get from NDTV, Times of India et el. primarily because some source of funds may be common.

Anyway, since lord is involved, human right violation, murder, abduction, mutilation, sexual enslavement of women and children and forced participation of children in hostilities is justified...No ?

"The Lord's Resistance Army (also Lord's Resistance Movement or Lakwena Part Two) is a sectarian Christian militant group based in northern Uganda.

The group was formed in 1987 and is engaged in an armed rebellion against the Ugandan government in what is now one of Africa'slongest-running conflicts. It is led by Joseph Kony, who proclaims himself the "spokesperson" of God and a spirit medium, primarily of the Holy Spirit, which the Acholi believe can represent itself in many manifestations.^[3]

The group adheres to a syncretistic^[4] blend of Christianity, Mysticism,^[5] traditional religion,^[6] and witchcraft,^[7] and claims to be establishing a theocratic state based on the Ten Commandments and Acholi tradition.^[3]^[8]^[9]^[10] The LRA is accused of widespreadhuman rights violations, including murder, abduction, mutilation, sexual enslavement of women and children, and forcing children to participate in hostilities.^[11]"

Lord's Resistance Army

an unjust justification of inflation

2010-03-28T02:59:00.000-07:00

justifying inflation seems to be a requirement for being considered economist or being looked favorably by ruling.
Here is a report that claims inflation is not so bad as claimed by some.

"Indian households database Consumer Pyramids answers why two years of high inflation did not matter to the consumers of the country, writes Mahesh Vyas.

Inflation has been high for a fairly long period of nearly two years. First, the wholesale price index had shot up in 2008-09 because of an increase in commodity prices. And then, in 2009-10, the consumer price index rose as food prices soared following an agricultural drought that curtailed domestic supplies."

http://business.rediff.com/special/2010/mar/22/spec-inflation-common-mans-uncommon-reaction.htm