Drums of war are beating loudly!! In response to a small but brutal skirmish on the India–Pakistan border, ordinary people on both sides of the border are making emotional appeals to go to war.
Let us place the morality of such actions aside for the time being; a large concern about this is that it appears we are not ready to learn anything from history.… [Read more]
Stem cell research has appeared on the front pages once again. This week, the US Supreme Court announced that they have rejected an appeal that had been filed to block the government’s funding of stem cell research so that the research can proceed. The court refused to hear an appeal from scientists who have been challenging the federal funding for stem cell research — which is used with the hope that the cells will enable scientists to find cures for spinal cord injuries and Parkinson’s disease — on the grounds that it was violating a law that prohibits taxpayer financing for work that harms embryos.… [Read more]
Retiring Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) has made his views widely known. Among his most-discussed policy ideas are his views on the nation’s ‘War on Drugs’. Paul’s policy on drugs became a topic of discussion during a recent argument. Quite predictability, Portugal’s success in decriminalizing drugs was claimed as the ultimate proof that Ron Paul’s policy will work in the U.S.… [Read more]
Existence of homosexuality has always been a matter of great confusion for heterosexuals. Many heterosexuals (I fell into this category in the not-so-distant past) believe that the sexual organ defines the sexual orientation.
This post is to question how it is possible to have different ‘wiring’ for orientation versus organs. This post is not about discussing the role of homosexuality in religion.… [Read more]
Yes, hindsight is always 20-20 and, no, this is not a post to bash Ronald Reagan. The Reagan administration certainly did what they had to do and they managed the challenges presented at the time. What they could not see were the consequences of their actions as they were unintended.
How does a country that was a sweetheart of the free world and a defender of democracy end up being the object of hate for so many?… [Read more]
“A note on republican bullshit on the deficit” elicited some negative responses from my republican friends. After reading the responses, it became clear to me that one needs to call out the Republican bullshit on capitalism as well. These guys are so enamored with this catchword that they fail to look at the implementation.
Now that I think back, the biggest piece of crap to go unchallenged prior to the last election is this perceived ‘opposition to capitalism’ from democrats.… [Read more]
The deafening noise coming from Republicans about the deficit is nothing but a lot of…. noise. Most of these people, especially on the far fringe right, are talking about something that they really do not understand.
Many understand the underlying thought but a picture will help to reinforce the concept. Towards that goal, here is an extremely simplified picture of the economy:
The concept to keep in mind here is that the economy is a network of circulating money.… [Read more]
Though it is difficult to precisely state Mitt Romney’s policy on Syria, it appears from the recent Biden-Ryan debate that his current desire is to be more hawkish and directly arm the Syrian rebels. I must say here that Romney and Paul Ryan appear to be trying their best to hurt this country with such plans.… [Read more]
The last time I wrote about hoodies was in April 2012 when we (most of us) were protesting Trayvon Martin’s senseless murder.
I too was incensed, not only with the murder but with the protests as well. It was very obvious (at least to me) that wearing hoodies does not fix the underlying problem. It was a meaningless display to appease African-American constituents, trying to fool them into believing that something constructive is being done.… [Read more]
One continuous source of argument in my home is the long-running reality TV show “Cops”. My wife just does not get it. It’s not that she minds the show; she could not care less. Her problem is with me glued to TV whenever the show is on.
I have never explained to her why I like the show.… [Read more]
The claim that Tea Party mentality exported American jobs does appear to be counter-intuitive. However, if you care to keep on reading then you will see the proof behind this claim.
To recap:
In the first post of this series we looked at what happened with American “corporations” during the 20 odd years leading to 1970.… [Read more]
We have looked at what happened in the field of corporate strategy untll 1970 in my last post. Now let us take a quick look (in overly simplistic terms) at what happened in the field of Corporate Finance during the same period.
It could be argued that ‘modern finance’ started with a 1952 paper from 25-year old student named Harry Markowitz.… [Read more]
In my previous blog post I mentioned the concept of changed reality; the United States is no longer a land of opportunity. Looking at the post later, I realized that it is also important to know how things changed, one step at a time.
When this country began, no one wanted to create a privileged class, no one started with the intention of exporting jobs and certainly no one wanted to destroy the middle class.… [Read more]
There’s an interesting article on cnbc.com: Why Corporate Fraud Is So Rampant: Wall Street’s Cop by Preet Bharara, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Former hedge fund manager, billionaire Raj Rajaratnam, who was found guilty of conspiracy and securities fraud
A quick recap of the article:
… To the apparent surprise of many in the room, I observed publicly that insider trading appeared to be rampant….… [Read more]
It is time to look at Mitt Romney now that we have discussed what wisdom is and how it works.
The argument that Romney is fit to be a CEO of a company but not the leader of a country is quite well-known without anyone really explaining why is it so. Hopefully this three part series will bring out the underlying thoughts behind the claim.… [Read more]
This is the second article of a series to discuss an important question, “does Mitt Romney have the wisdom to lead a country?”
In the previous article we briefly discussed the concept of wisdom. We discussed questions such as: What exactly is the meaning of wisdom? What is the underlying biological process? How does one acquire wisdom?… [Read more]
There is no doubt that Mitt Romney is a successful business executive. The million dollar question is whether he has the wisdom to lead a country?
Perhaps a brief discussion about wisdom is warranted here.
What exactly is wisdom? Humans have been trying to find an answer to this question for centuries. Now, thanks to the scientific advances, this knowledge is within our reach.… [Read more]
I need your help here for I am completely lost. There is one argument made by gun rights activists that I cannot counter. This particular argument has been troubling me for a long time. Today I decided to write about it after reading in the newspapers about another random death caused by a stray bullet in Seattle.… [Read more]
Ever since I came to the United States, I have always been puzzled with a certain attitude in this country. Why do so many ordinary, god-fearing Republicans in this country oppose measures such as free healthcare for all? What do they mean when they say they are ‘against Obama as a matter principle’?… [Read more]
This is not exactly a conspiracy theory since there is no claim of involvement by any outside party such as the CIA, mafia or even the Soviets. What I am presenting is some disturbing similarities between Lee Harvey Oswald (the sniper who allegedly murdered President Kennedy) and Jared Lee Loughner (the man charged with the shooting in Arizona in which six people were killed and 14 others, including U.S.… [Read more]
