Nothing is impossible ... then some things are!!!

Sure as I know anything, I know this: In a year or maybe ten, perhaps even on this very ground, they'll swing back to the belief that they can make people better; and I don't hold to that.

- Captain Malcolm Reynolds, Serenity, 2005

Making things better after they have become worse is an innate desire of man, a remnant of discharging the white man's burden or Freudian guilt mechanism? Whatever that may be, but for sure this never has worked, neither in science fiction nor in real life. Lets just try not to spoil and if we do spoil, kindly leave the unspoiling to nature.




References:

Antarctic ocean test fails to get desired results

`Seeding the oceans with iron might not help to suck up carbon ...

Geo-engineering Who ate all the algae?

Thankless freeloaders ...

"There's one in every family, Sire ... actually two in mine" says Zazu (The Lion King, 1994). But its all galore in our economies, be it US or Indian. One refuses to reduce credit rates, others give bonuses. One could never do enough to please these Dalal Street / Wall St. Idiots!!! Neither their employees nor the government!!!


References:

Cabinet Secy to meet bankers in April for easing credit

Govt says interest rates must come down

Do unto others as they do unto you!!!

No wonder Islam and Hindu fundamentalists too are on expansion spree. Takes two to tango. But in these modern times calling the other's beliefs witchcraft is nothing more than barbarism and nonsecular. Thus the Pope too should be hunted down like Osama bin Laden. After all justice is the measure that weighs all in the same way and cuts through all evil alike.




References:

Shun witchcraft, pope tells Angolan Catholics

Pope warns against witchcraft in Angola

Pope urges Angolans to convert; stampede kills 2

SEBI gone EXOTIC!!!

SEBI = Speculative Endeavors Broadening Initiative



Reference:

Now, exotic derivatives in the works

Second straw ...

Harder times push for harder crime zeal and the aspirations to become richer faster. Offshoring required just this additional jolt to shake the western faith in Indian credibility. As it is we have no data security law. And now this, immediately after U.S. protectionism, this seems the apt follow up on the road to doom!!!



References:

Credit card fraudster confronted

Credit card details on sale in India: Report

Indian call centre credit card 'scam' exposed

Geographical Indications: A dead end for cheap, fake, predatory dumping?

At least GI products, especially food GIs can not be faked and dumped. They have to be bought from the real producer!!! eh!

Reference:

India may soon get Chinese nod for basmati exports

Return of what is not deserved!!!

Hope this is a beginning of a whole new area of corporate social responsibility, wherein, instead of shareholders determining bonuses, a government committee or external regulator would have the power to determine so. But it is not happening in the near future. Its just my wishful thinking. Since when did I start to think that the people had power with them; they wrote it off long time ago to the ones that earlier ruled them, and now purport to be elected, and continue to govern them!!!




Reference:

Edward Liddy asks AIG executives to repay bonuses

Complex Issue, misunderstood!!!

Only when the inflation is negative would prices start to drop. However, irresponsible press coverage says differently!!! Shows the depletion of responsible media and/or ignorance of holistic education at colleges of mass communication and journalism.




References:

Falling inflation does not mean falling prices

Inflation falls to record 3.03% on cheaper food

Make your pick: AIG Nero or Marie-Therese AIG!!!

& this happens each day in India and no one regulates, least of all even mentions it in the news!!!! Satyam is the mere tip of the iceberg. So complacent are we regarding our "plenty" that it would soon become scarce.


References:

Obama angered by AIG bonuses

AIG Faces Rising Tide of Public Anger Over Bonuses

Who art thou lest a sinner, judge me not for I am like you!

Why was the Vatican silent when India went ahead with stem cell research. Why is it only interested in US posture on the issue?

They were the ones to accept the Earth was finally round in 2004!! Now will we have to wait for another 400 years for stem cell research to be approved. What a ball and chain at the heels of development!!


References:

Obama stem cell backlash

Vatican recants with a statue of Galileo -Times Online

The world is not enough? ... or is it?

I say it is more than enough. What have we actually done for this earth that we now aim to head elsewhere at astronomical expenditures that could well be used for earth's betterment environmentally as well as socially. Otis - Gandhi belongings auction has shown this shameless dichotomy of thought and actions as no other event in history has ever spat in the face of so called torch bearers of progress. Governments are ready to spend crores of their currency on procuring what symbolizes progress and honor but actually is nothing more than vanity and in vain.

Gandhi would not have approved of such high price purchase of his belongings by the country he lived and died for when we see blatant socio-economic deprivation on the other side of the story. It is ANTI-GANDHIAN to purchase his belongings at an auction even by the richest Indian, the belongings of a man who lived simply and without wealth in a country that still is poor, no matter what its GDP or rate of growth is.

On the other hand NASA thinks it is doing good by spending trillions while US citizens suffer in the face of unemployment and burst of their economic powder-cake.

How different are we from the dark ages when Kings and Temples/Churches amassed wealth while the poor remained static. They too were the golden ages of their times as described by those rulers. Shame on us all who think we are progressing.



References:

Otis offers to donate more Gandhi items

Moon not high enough: India aims for the sun

Nasa probe to seek planets supporting life

US sheds 6,51000 jobs in Feb; jobless rate touch 25-yr high

US unemployment rate hits 8.1 percent

ISRO sun mission Aditya in 2012, to cost Rs 500 million

India should still see growth at near 7%: Kamath

Net Neutrality: A Clear & Present Danger ...

Absolute non-discrimination, is the demand by TRAI towards broadband users. There are some ISPs favoring their corporate clients to the detriment of end consumers. I surely have felt the discrimination when network speed ratios drop from 1:1 to 1:3 during peak hours.

As of now, TRAI has pronounced guidelines only on speed related net neutrality. However ,the day is not far when it would also have to dictate content neutrality guidelines as well.



References:

TRAI trying to empower broadband users in the country

Trai moves to ensure broadband speed

TRAI issues guidelines on broadband service

First straw ...

The below is just one of the measures to boost employment in the U.S. India could also do the same by proposing tax incentives for companies that indulge in R&D rather than merely support services, thus leading to actual creation of value and wealth. Technologies like fuel-cell, ocean current energy, wind energy, electric cars, infrastructure projects that harness solar energy (by building thermal and solar panels into plate glass on structures), road current differential technology (harnessing electricity from roads run on by vehicles), etc. could be the new age employment generators, besides making the earth a cleaner and safer place to live.



References:

No tax cuts for outsourcing: Obama

Obama disappoints Indian inc.

Desperation or plain incompetence?!

Desperation when one is under pressure from all sides to perform? OR is it just incompetence coupled with actualities of the industry that we know not yet? Is it a one off case or is it the tip of the iceberg? Only time will tell ...

References:

Company Update: Ranbaxy

Ranbaxy falls 12% on USFDA regulatory action

When the going gets tough ... vultures gather!!!

Employee vulnerability, speculative growth, fair-weather Johnson investors, et. al. are the order of the day; in these testing times of distress when we see our true selves, who we really are, who is with us and who against.

On November 13, 2008 I had written:

Live with a man forty years, share his house, his meals, speak on every subject. Then tie him up and hold him over the volcano's edge and on that day, you will finally meet the man.

- Modu Shanyu

We sure need to do the same with these corporations, or once in a while by the cause of recession these corporations would reveal their true selves to both its customers and employees.

I would not like to add anything else at all. Sit back and watch the game!!!



References:

Worries galore at Subhiksha

Subhiksha lashes out at fair-weather investors

PF office may query ICICI Venture on dues

Sympathy only for the devil!

Resorting to the Homeowners & Bank Protection Act, 2007 the US government now has brought about a total moratorium on foreclosures by lending institutions of home owners who have been diligent in repayment of their home loans. This shows the political will behind straining out the actual bad debts incurred by lenders due to speculative lending and actual defaulters who have been severely hit by the economic downturn.

India on the other hand continues to harbor and promote speculative lending and investment by allowing unrestricted FDI inflow (without an regard to nascent demand creation by way of employment generation), total ignorance towards sustainable energy generation (by concentrating only on social fallout driven nuclear power), allowing F&O in many sensitive commodities such as Essential Commodities (wheat, sugar, etc. as scheduled under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955), F&O and derivatives of currency, especially the $-Rs. and without forcing private banks to bring down interest rates that are still 3-5% higher than the rates of 2006 - early 2007, still allowing corporate tax evasion through tax haven jurisdiction (when what the Indian exchequer needs is liquidity for social spending); just to name a few. Besides fuel prices as of now can further be reduced, except only when the government wants to pull an ace up its sleeve just before the Parliamentary elections.

R&D on fuel cell can not be furthered and there have been no tax incentives for manufacturers such as Honda and Reva to roll out cheap yet effective electric/hybrid vehicles so as to reduce out flow of $ and also to generate employment at home (not to mention the need for cleaner than CNG public transport, namely, electric buses!). Our energy independence would not only serve for economic insulation, but would also ensure real and actual growth in scientific, manufacturing and various other related sectors.

Indian government seems to have sympathy only for the devil!


References:

Obama pumps in $75 billion to save US homeowners

Jan. 30, 2009 HPI Daily Wire

Stand ... for what you believe.

We all carry the cross and speak what we're taught
Lies and money become the white man's god
We've burned all our bridges one too many times
The time has come now to draw the line

You know you've got to
Stand, stand, stand for what you believe
You know you've got to
Stand, stand, stand for what you believe
You got to...Stand for what you believe

You got to listen now...
Express yourself in the face of change
Repress yourself, you surely seal your fate
You got to look inside, the answer lies in wait
Resurrect before it's too late

Somebody rescue me, come down and rescue me
I know the soul of a good man has got to be free
When you stand, stand for what you believe

-- Stand, Native Tongue, Poison

Below are a few accounts from the St. Valentine's Day and the previous eve. Imagine what would happen if we all become the change we always wanted. The world would definitely be a better place. What is lacking is conviction in our actions. I look into the eyes of today's youth and I see no fire as used to be there 2 decades ago. We are caught up in selfishness to the extent of decadence.

It is rightly said that it is "best to have a wiser enemy than an idiot for a friend". It is thus also true to be a believer in things one wants to achieve. One look at Osama bin Laden's photograph as we all have seen in the newspapers so many times would tell you of a look that holds belief, conviction and selfless determination towards a cause that the man wholeheartedly believes in. Today if we have half that conviction injected in the youth, it would do wonders to make a change for the better of society.

We need to stick for what is right, and against wrong, oppression, injustice, cruelty, economic duress, economic hegemony, employers' deceit, political attrocities, political connivance, together with our colleagues, friends, neighbors as well as total strangers co-situated. M.K. Gandhi would not have achieved all that he did, just by walking half naked across the country had he not sought the camaradre of all he came across.



References:

Sene office flooded with panties

Kapil Dev lashes out at BCCI

Gandhi’s meagre musuem pieces

Democrats muscle huge stimulus through Congress

An Economy based on Tradition!

It has been rightly said:

... if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles ...

- Sun Tzu

It is encouraging that Ayurvedic, Uniani and Siddha formulations are being recorded by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) into what they call a Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL). Now at least with the European Patent Office the TKDL database would be available for establishing prior art.

Then why is it that we have failed to establish our economic growth on traditional knowledge. We should not only guarantee healthcare but also formulate an insurance coverage on such systems of medicine so as to encourage people to adopt these systems and help the economy grow. Yet these systems are considered to be "unproven systems" under all the insurance coverages that we come across today. Besides even stem cell research based cure is excluded from such coverage!



Reference:

India logs over 2 lakh traditional medical formulations

Pink is the color of ... pppppprotest!!!

Innovative and courageous, yet irresponsible to call themselves "A Consortium of Pub-going and Forward Women". Let the one who sinnest not throw the first stone. Do the Sri Ram Sena followers not drink and smoke? Are they above all sin and vice? Then let them throw the first stone and let the mayhem continue.

OR

Let us understand where we all went wrong. Pub culture is not a good thing, nor is it something we need to ape from the west. Pubbing is not a symbol of modernity. There were pubs in the west even before the first Women's Suffrage of France in the 18th Century.

Creation of an opposition to pubbing in violent ways would only make pubbing a symbol of modernity. We definitely do not want to do that in the face of increasing heart ailments, obesity, alcoholism, etc. We need to make the youth aware of what is good, healthy and modern.





References:

Pink underwear for the Sri Ram Sena

Pink campaign for Sri Ram Sena on V-day

Moral policing: Youth brigades take up cudgels for Valentine’s Day

operation successful ... patient died ... how Idiotic!!!

Idiotic it sure is ... well unless a retrospective cap is not on the table, there is no use of devising a plan without teeth that can bite. All private sector remunerations need to be regulated, under and by a Remuneration Regulation Commission in public interest.



Reference:

Goldman, JPMorgan Won’t Feel Effects of Executive-Salary Caps