Barackface

Monday, May 11, 2009

Bloodbath In Sri Lanka: Where Is The Outrage?

Genocide/Ethnic Cleansing Of Sri Lanka Tamils

More Than 1,000 Civilians Killed In Attacks On Sri Lanka Safe Zone Guardian more than 1,400 people were believed to have been killed in two days of air and artillery attacks. ..... said shells were continuing to fall on the area in which civilians were sheltering. "Still the shelling continues and the fighting is going on" ........ also been an attack by a Sri Lankan air force Kfir jet. ...... the UN said the bloodbath it had feared since the government launched its all-out campaign to destroy the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had now become a reality. ...... UN officials estimate that between 50,000 and 100,000 civilians could still be packed into a tiny three sq km pocket of land, but the Sri Lankan government has claimed that no more than 20,000 are left. ........... independent journalists are denied access to the area where the fighting is taking place. ......... The UN has been critical of the Sri Lankan use of artillery and air power in such a small area. ..... the UN security council was due to have another informal meeting on Sri Lanka in New York today, with the foreign ministers of Britain and France – who had a stormy visit to Sri Lanka at the end of April – both due to attend. ....... Both the US and Britain are pushing to secure a ceasefire, but Russia and China have opposed such a move. .......... many were believed to have died in an air strike yesterday morning. ....... the shelling began at 5pm and continued through until 9am. It appeared the shells were fired from government positions in Mullaitivu. ........ "The shells were landing about 300 metres from the hospital," he said. "All the time, we have casualties coming in. We don't have time to think." ........ the dead were being buried in large pits, with 30 or 40 bodies in each pit. ......... a report in which it was alleged that women were being subjected to sexual abuse in the internment camps set up to hold civilians fleeing the fighting.

In The News

Britain "appalled" by civilian deaths in Sri Lanka Reuters
UN condemns Sri Lankan 'bloodbath' The Associated Press
Open IP Architectures Provide Way Forward in 'Zettabyte Era' WiMax.com
The effective super-fast Mobile Broadband 3 is the future Culture11
Abhiash not moving out of Jalsa Times of India
Swine flu hits China as global cases rise AFP
US reports third swine flu death BBC News
Microsoft says Windows 7 on track for holidays Reuters
Obama, industry leaders join to cut healthcare costs Los Angeles Times
Who will be India's PM? Reuters India
Welcome to Your Internet Future - Mobile Broadband Brought to You ... BusinessWeek

Sunday, May 10, 2009

30 Points Down In The Polls

Image by smallislander via Flickr

I am not talking about when Barack was 30 points down in the polls in Iowa, although that is the metaphor: I am talking about today.

Long Walk To Freedom: Just A Third World Guy Dazzled By The City April 2007
Long Walk To Freedom May 2007
Barack Has To Talk Much About His Mother
Barack's Mother Makes An Appearance
Give Me A Huge Rally In This City Before Summer Is Over September 2007
The Largest Rally In US Presidential Campaign History September 2007

His popularity is sky high, but he is the CEO of the American economy, and his Titanic is not exactly doing well right now. His ship is 30 points down in the polls and, by extension, so is he.

Globoeconomics: Name Of The Game
Pakistan Is Where The Fight Is, The Fight Is Not Military
Barack's 100 Days:Cool In The Face Of Big Challenges

I never doubted Barack would win: Jupiter And Obama. And I do not doubt for a moment that Barack will see the country through this crisis and put it back to a shape from where the tomorrows look better than the yesterdays. He is destined to be a transformational president - you don't get one of those every four years, if you are lucky, you get one of those every 40 years. He is destined for greatness.

I love the guy as much as ever.

In The News

Analysis: Obama charts active role in Mideast The Associated Press
Spell out Mideast policy, Obama told Inquirer.net
Hamas Claims US and Europe are Reaching Out TIME
Muslim Brotherhood: Obama's Egypt trip 'useless' The Associated Press
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood dismisses Obama speech Reuters
US President Obama to visit Middle East, Germany and France Deutsche Welle
Obama to revive Guantanamo trials: report Reuters
Supriya Jindal connects with students 2TheAdvocate
Clinton wants Iran presence at Afghan G8 meeting: Italian FM AFP
Clinton: US-Russian relations improving United Press International
Final political alignment only after May 16: Congress Hindustan Times
“Nitish trying to play both sides” Hindu
Are Taxpayers Bailing Out Troubled Banks Twice? ABC News
Obama Urges Credit-Card Reform Wall Street Journal
India's humble business king Times Online
Automotive: India's TATA plays brinkmanship with UK's Labour Party ChiefOfficers.Net
Jacob Zuma inaugurated as South Africa's president Los Angeles Times
Taiwan, China should consider exchanging offices, says MAC eTaiwan News
Acrimony between China and Taiwan gives way to business deals Economist
British journalists held in Sri Lanka after news report CNN
Sri Lankans arrest UK news team BBC News
Karzai in power-share move with extremist wanted by US Times Online
Google Chrome ads coming to TV CNET News
Obama's budget cuts take aim at 121 federal programs Boston Globe

Google's Latest Domination Reuters
Google Execs: Twitter-like Functionality Could Be Added to Search ReadWriteWeb
@Google - @Twitter To Start Indexing Links For Search Washington Post
Indian films bring people closer: Big B NDTV.com
Indian "Oscar" to be unveiled in Macao Xinhua
Dell: Working on an Android Netbook? BusinessWeek
Microsoft Faces European Antitrust Hearing in June PC World
'Resilience' by Elizabeth Edwards Los Angeles Times
Farrow ends Darfur protest fast BBC News

Thursday, May 07, 2009

Globoeconomics: Name Of The Game

Image via Wikipedia

Capitalism In Crisis Wall Street Journal the dizzying array of programs that the government is deploying and the staggering amounts of money that it is spending or pledging -- almost $13 trillion in loans, other investments and guarantees -- in an effort to avoid a repetition of the 1930s. ..... could lead to high inflation, greatly increased interest costs on a greatly increased national debt, much heavier taxes, the restructuring of major industries, and the redrawing of the line that separates business from government. ........ When the banking system breaks down and credit consequently seizes up, economic activity plummets. ......... prices were rising because interest rates were low. So when the Federal Reserve (fearing inflation) began pushing interest rates up in 2005, the bubble began leaking air and eventually burst. It carried the banking industry down with it because banks were so heavily invested in financing houses. ........ Though the banks are continuing to hoard bailout money and the stimulus program is just beginning to be implemented, these and other recovery programs have probably slowed the downward spiral. ....... because risk and return are positively correlated in finance, competition in an unregulated financial market drives up risk, which, given the centrality of banking to a capitalist economy, can produce an economic calamity ..... we need our central bank, the Federal Reserve, to be on the lookout for bubbles, especially housing bubbles because of the deep entanglement of the banking industry with the housing industry. Our central bank failed us. ..... we may need more regulation of banking to reduce its inherent riskiness. .... a restoration of business confidence ...... Anything that amplifies this uncertainty slows recovery by making businessmen more likely to freeze and hoard rather than venture and spend. Reregulating banking, hauling bankers before congressional committees, passing laws tightening credit-card lending, and capping bonuses all impede recovery. All that is for later, once the economy is back on track. ........... international regulation of banking is needed in principle ...... the government responded to the crisis with spasmodic improvisations, amplifying uncertainty and mistrust and thus retarding recovery. ......the influential economists who assured us that there could never be another depression. They argued that in the face of a recession the Federal Reserve had only to reduce interest rates and flood the banks with money and all would be well. If only.

There are parallels to what we are going through right now and the Great Depression. Many have called this the Great Recession. But the number one lesson from back then is not that you need a huge governmental spending to get out of the ditch, important as it is. The number one lesson from then is that the collective consciousness matured on from microeconomics to macroeconomics. Now the challenge is to mature on from macroeconomics to globoeconomics. There I don't see much work being done so far. The work is to lay down a new, robust set of rules for the global financial system. Two words: transparency and accountability. Jacking up the IMF's resources is only a small part of the equation. Most of the work will affect the private sector. Laying down the ground rules is not about snuffing out the market impulses. It is about laying down the ground rules to make great soccer possible.

Stimulus: Make It A Trillion
Stimulus: Size Matters
Global Finance, Global Terrorism, Global Warming
The Chinese Success Story
Deficits As Far As The Eyes Can See

Money is a resource. It has to go where the need is the greatest, where the return is the greatest, and often times those two are in sync. If there were enough transparency and accountability in place, money would not flow to create housing bubbles that are by definition bound to go bust.

Microfinance could digest a trillion dollars easy. You pour a trillion into microfinance across the Global South, and you are not going to see a bubble. You are going to see a return on your money that is twice the return from the US treasury bonds.

Microfinance, Nanotech, Biotech, Software/Hardware/Connectivity

Flush money should go into creating the jobs, companies and industries of tomorrow. Money should go into small businesses. Money should go to the tried and tested.

Bubbles are a sign the smart money is not being very smart. But the money has to go somewhere. So it ends up in bubbles: short term glory, long term pain.

And then there is that standard monopoly thing. If a bank is too big to fail, it is too big. It should not have been allowed to get that big in the first place. And it is not too late to break up a few banks. Turn them into smaller size chunkies.

A Single Global Currency, A Global New Deal, A Global Economic Council
A Brighter Future Ahead
Old White Men Need To Chew Gum
Needed: A New Global Financial Architecture

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

The Car Connection

The Car Connection is the go to place on the web for car reviews. Maybe you want to buy a new car. Maybe you are just checking. Maybe you are an auto fanatic and can't help it. You would at least like to take a look. And then maybe buy.

Honda Fit: This baby falls in the subcompact category. This one is slightly longer and wider than the 2008 model. It boasts of a "larger front quarter windows, larger, shapelier headlights, and sportier body-kit-like moldings." The interior has won better reviews than the exterior. How about the "abundant blue LEDs at important marks?"
Cadillac: The 2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe is chic. Also take a look at the 2010, and 2009 models. The 2008 Cadillac CTS remains the most popular. “The front fender air vents, the knife-edged third brake light, and the LED-encrusted tail lamps are beautifully executed,” said a ForbesAutos.com reviewer, “the charismatic glow radiating from this car will draw looks away from the more conservative blue-blood import sedans and make this Cadillac the center of positive attention wherever the affluent gather.” This is obviously a high end car. It is Cadillac, like Macs are high end among computers. This model breaks the conservative mold.
Hyundai Genesis: The styling is on the conservative end. As in, why take chances? Caution seems to be the word. Car and Driver: “a bit of S-Class in the headlights, a hint of Lexus GS in the hood, some 5-series in the taillights, and a BMW- or Nissan-like kink in the C-pillars.” But there is some gush on the "stylish interior."
Chevy Silverado: The styling is "safe," and designed to please everyone. Some reviewers have complained of the "cheesy mirrors," others have praised the same. This baby scores high on performance. The steers and handles have been worked upon to make this pickup more small street friendly. It is thought to be smoother than the other half ton pickup trucks.

(This is an advertisement.)

Saturday, May 02, 2009

Pakistan Is Where The Fight Is, The Fight Is Not Military

Image by azrainman via Flickr

Pakistan is where the fight is. It is not in Iraq, it is not in Afghanistan. The gradual withdrawal from Iraq seems to be bringing in relative normalcy, the democratic state is gaining strength. Afghanistan is a relatively small country. But Pakistan is huge. It is a nuclear power. It is, officially speaking, a democracy. It has a rabid, Islamist, vocal right wing in the parliament and in the streets, and in the wastelands.

Pakistan is a tough nut to crack. America is already inside Iraq. America is already inside Afghanistan. Should America think of going into Pakistan? That is a very tough nut to crack. My instinct says no, a big no. If you have to go in, you have already failed. You could argue should not everything be done to prevent the Islamists from taking over in Pakistan, up to and including going in? To that my reply is going to be, why did you not exercise all options that would have made it unnecessary to go in? But going into Pakistan is not unimaginable, just like a dirty bomb going off in some city is not unimaginable. You just hope it does not happen, you do everything possible to make sure it does not happen.

Pakistan is a challenge for the democratic ideal. How do you build a state? How do you bring a big, strong army completely under the domain of a popularly elected parliament? How do you bring forth grassroots democracy and genuine reform? Why do the Islamists represent the idea of land reform in the Swat valley? Why not the democrats?

Why was it so easy to kill Benazir? It should not have been. The Al Qaeda managing to kill Benazir is like if the democratic forces had managed to kill Bin Laden. That was a big prize for them. That helped them grow.

Nobody Quite Like Benazir
Benazir, One Whose Looks Have No Parallel
Benazir, Last Month
Benazir, Benazir
Benazir Bhutto: No American Stooge
Benazir Should Address Many Mass Rallies, Hold No Street Events, Keep Tight Security Around Her House, Office
Benazir And Islamofascism

How do you strengthen democracy in Pakistan? How do you strengthen the democratic state? America has singularly poured tens of billions into the Pakistani army. The paranoia can be partly understood. But the solution is primarily political, not military. How many billions has America poured into Pakistan's primary education sector? Can America compete for the hearts and minds of Pakistan's young and vulnerable?

I am not naive. I appreciate that there is a military angle to the fight, but if that is the only angle you see, you are doomed to fail. Even with that military angle, the fights end up being nontraditional and asymmetrical.

The world has to help build Pakistan's political parties, and its democracy, and its reform efforts. The Islamists can't be seen as the vanguard of reform. The democrats have to eat their lunch.