Elephant trampling down Obama's backyard

With a Brown victory in its rear view mirror, the GOPP (Grand Ol' Palin Party) is now attacking the Senate Seat that was once represented by President BOB.

While Chicago has been traditionally democratic, this is a Senate seat and the results of MA indicate that plenty of gullible or corrupt folks can tilt this election towards Palinsanity.

Republicans hope for another Senate victory, this time in Obama's Illinois: "Republicans hope for another Senate victory, this time in Obama's Illinois
By lois Romano
Sunday, January 31, 2010; A03

CHICAGO -- Not a good week for the Democrats here trying to hang on to President Obama's old Senate seat.

The party's leading contender -- state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias -- has spent these last precious days before Tuesday's primary scrambling to explain why regulators have targeted his struggling family bank for greater oversight. Giannoulias, once a senior lending officer at Broadway Bank, is being pressed relentlessly by his Democratic rivals and the media about his role in the bank's woes.

Republicans promise that it is not a topic that will go away.

The Senate race in the president's home state will be among the most symbolically important and expensive races in the country this year. After Republican Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts this month, the GOP sees a clear path to victory in this Democratic state -- and his name is Mark Kirk.

Kirk, 50, a moderate five-term Republican House member, appears to be the man of the moment. As the likely GOP nominee to emerge Tuesday, Kirk is seen as a formidable, well-funded candidate, a Navy Reserve officer who has done two tours in Afghanistan and who can withstand the weight of a White House set to defeat him."

A Himalayan Problem

Our dad, a geologist who worked for GSI, used to describe the formation of the Himalayan mountain range to us. He explained the tectonic shifts and how the geologists concluded that it was formed by the collision of the tectonic plates underneath the oceanfloor.

There was an interesting piece in Discovery News on this topic.

India is Sinking into Earth's Mantle : Discovery News: "India is Sinking into Earth's Mantle
By Michael Reilly | Sat Jan 30, 2010 03:19 PM ET
Fun fact for you: scientists don't really know how the Himalayas formed. I mean yeah, they realize that the India tectonic plate is slamming into the Eurasia plate and has been for about 50 million years, but the mystery is why the mountain range is still growing. Usually when two continents collide it's like a car wreck -- there may be a bunch of mangled crust in the middle (mountains), but both vehicles stop moving.

Turns out, India appears to be sinking into the mantle. A new study based on computer models of the two plates shows that the formation and continued growth of the world's highest mountain range makes the most sense if a dense piece of India is down in the mantle, dragging the rest of the continent down with it.

That may not sound so weird but continents are buoyant; they're supposed to float, not sink. All the subduction you hear about all over the world is dense ocean crust sinking underneath continents. Except in the Himalayas. It's as though two cars collided, and one started to sink into the pavement."

$64 Billion, and more for Building America.

Obama Will Seek to Make 'Build America' Bonds Permanent - WSJ.com: "President Obama will ask Congress to make permanent a temporary bond program to help state and local governments finance projects, as they continue to struggle with budget deficits during the recession.

State and local governments issued more than $64 billion in so-called Build America Bonds in 2009, after Congress created the program as part of last year's economic-stimulus program. Under the current arrangement, they would lose the ability to issue such bonds after this year."

A Network's Candidate - social network's, that is.

"The Citizens' Candidate" - Grassroots Effort Uses Craigslist to Find Candidate For Utah House Seat: "AMY GOODMAN: Craigslist to choose a congressional candidate? Well that is exactly what a Progressive Coalition has resorted to here in Utah to unseat the Blue Dog Democratic incumbent Jim Matheson. The initiative is using Craigslist to find applicants willing to run. A final candidate it will be chosen through public interviews at the Salt Lake City, Library on Saturday." The citizens candidate initiative, as its called, was co-founded by Tim DeChristopher. He first made headlines back in December of 2008 as University of Utah student, when he disrupted the Bush administration/minute move to auction off oil and gas exploitation rights on 150,000 acres of federal land in Utah. Tim was arrested after he posed as a bidder and bought 22,000 acres of land in an attempt to save the property from drilling. He’s currently facing 10 years in prison on charges of interfering with the public auction..."

UnSweet Fifteen

More banks are being shut down and taken over by the government. Apparently, the bailouts that worked for the Goldmans and the Morgans have not worked for these banks.

Regulators shut down banks in 5 states - Yahoo! Finance: "Regulators shut down a big bank in California on Friday, along with two banks in Georgia and one each in Florida, Minnesota and Washington. That brought to 15 the number of bank failures so far in 2010 atop the 140 shuttered last year in the punishing economic climate."

Reducing the marginal cost...of hiring a worker

Obama to Seek $33 Billion in Tax Credits for Small Businesses - Bloomberg.com: "President Barack Obama plans to announce details today of a $33 billion package of incentives for small businesses to encourage hiring and wage increases as he refocuses on economic concerns in an election year.
The proposal, which the president is seeking as part of a jobs bill in Congress, would give businesses a $5,000 tax credit for each new hire this year and reimburse the 6.2 percent Social Security tax for wage increases beyond inflation. Obama said the measures will help 1 million small businesses add employees or raise pay.... The tax provisions being announced today would be capped at $500,000 to ensure that small businesses receive the bulk of the credits. Companies that reduce their payrolls in 2010 would be ineligible for both the hiring credit and wage bonus, according to an administration fact sheet...."

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This plan reduces the marginal cost of a worker in the first year, assuming that the credit is for one year. Since wage increases are minimal, the SS tax reimbursement may be of negligible benefit. The question that remains- are there employers that are looking to hire workers at a price point of $x but not at $x+5 ( x is in '000)? This perk sounds attractive if the employer provides no "overhead" benefits like health insurance or retirement plans, and when x is small. Further, what happens at the end of the year, when the benefit runs out? The assumption is that the worker if hired now would be cheaper than if he is hired a year later, and perhaps would be more productive by that time. At the core, the hiring issue still depends on demand, and on what labor is required to meet the demand. The incremental cost of labor has to come down dramatically for the equation to change in a significant manner.

Putting the Fire out...Fireworks out.

July 3 Taste of Chicago fireworks canceled - chicagotribune.com: "Chicago's traditional July 3 Grant Park fireworks extravaganza is shelved this year, eliminating one of the city's largest communal experiences that brings more than a million people to the lakefront to spread out blankets, coolers and lawn chairs to watch the colorful spectacle.

The fireworks show, which ends a three-decades-plus run, joins the South Side Irish Parade, Venetian Night and the Outdoor Film Festival as major community events that have gone by the wayside in the last year, victims of budget woes or public safety concerns."

FT.com / Comment / Opinion - Obama needs to perform a U-turn

Another educator states what I have been saying for a while now...the biggest task Obama has is educating the public- about the game that is getting played and the rules that are being set.

FT.com / Comment / Opinion - Obama needs to perform a U-turn: "This has been a ghastly 12 months for President Barack Obama. As he prepares to deliver his first State of the Union address, none of the fair promises of his November 2008 victory has been fulfilled. The question now being asked, very properly, is whether he can recover in the next nine months, rescuing his Democratic party from catastrophic Senate and House losses in the mid-term elections. Even more importantly, will it be possible for him to proceed to win a second term for himself in 2012? The tasks are Herculean, though they might not have proved daunting for either of Mr Obama’s most distinguished 20th-century Democratic presidential predecessors, Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman...

Mr Obama desperately needs to make a U-turn, and to do so gracefully, deliberately and without rancour. He would do well to begin by seeing the congressional Republicans for what they are, commonplace politicians scarcely redolent of those who graced the GOP opposition in the days of Roosevelt and Truman. One does not need to make heroes of men such as Nelson Rockefeller and later east coast, midwestern and western Republicans who resembled him to say that today’s predominantly southern contingent evokes no memory of them. Mr Obama must stop seeking photo-opportunities with the likes of former president George W. Bush, remembering what he so recently thought of him and those others who served for eight years in an administration he once knew to be disastrous....

Mr Obama is well aware of the difficulties of his task, erasing memories of this last unfortunate year and of much that came before. He can do this best by making clear that his political agenda is not intended to take the country back to some mythical past hallowed by memory, but is instead calculated to bring it forward to a time of innovation and change, of greater social justice and international peace. He cannot pretend that he will resolve the grave and continuing problems of unemployment in a year or two; Roosevelt never achieved that either. But Mr Obama can legitimately recall all that a succession of 20th-century Democratic administrations did to lead the country out of economic stagnation, to give it hope and moral strength....

Yoga Dollars

The great Upanishads and the Gita talk about Yoga- Yoga of the mind and Yoga of the body.

In a nutshell, calming the senses can be called Yoga. Something that was conceptualized more than a few thousand years ago is now being adapted, creatively, for sensual enjoyment. An interesting example of human behavior.

When Chocolate and Chakras Collide - NYTimes.com: "...India has become to American yoga what France is to American cuisine: an ancient source of wisdom to be reinterpreted, democratized and repackaged by its acolytes here. The “yoga industry” now represents about $6 billion in annual spending by American consumers on classes, videos, mats and apparel like the $158 Apres Yoga jacket at the upscale chain Lululemon, according to Yoga Journal magazine.

And in yoga and foodie circles alike, contemplating the awesome significance of every bite taken — its flavors, its implications, its history — often seems to lead to moral judgments about others...."

A Kiwi treat

While the U.S. and European airlines are cutting back amenities, and nickel-and-diming customers to death, Air New Zealand is trying a new innovation for long haul flights. This is certainly worth considering, if one is flying on this carrier.

NZ airline offers economy-class bed seats

Air New Zealand offers long haul economy class bed seats, at a price

On Monday January 25, 2010, 8:31 pm EST

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- Air New Zealand said Tuesday it will set a new benchmark for longhaul flights by offering beds in economy class, but they come with a catch -- passengers need to buy three seats to enjoy lie-down travel.

The airline's "Skycouch" will use three economy seats, folded flat to the seat-back in front, creating a space where children can play or people can relax and sleep, airline chief executive Rob Fyfe said. The Skycouch is aimed at couples and families, and will be the price of about two and a half seats.

"For those who choose, the days of sitting in economy and yearning to lie down and sleep are gone," Fyfe told reporters. "The dream is now a reality, one that you can even share with a traveling companion -- just keep your clothes on thanks."

Developed in-house by Air New Zealand designers and engineers, Fyfe said the Skycouch represents the first real improvement in comfort for economy travelers in more than 20 years and would help the airline set a new benchmark for international travel.

To create the bed, leg rests rise up to fill in the gap between the front of the seat and the back of the seat in front. A thin mattress is placed on top and full size pillows are provided. The result is a level bed across three seats, though it is not completely even due to the seat contours.

About a quarter of all longhaul economy seats will convert to Skycouches, taking up the first 11 rows in the economy cabin of the airline's new Boeing 777-300 planes.

Passengers will pay the standard economy fare for two seats and receive the middle seat for about half price. Presuming it's a couple that buys the seat, the total amounts to about 7,600 New Zealand dollars ($5,420) per person for a return flight to London.

An Education in Conflict

Budget deficit, Education deficit... Money seems to be the answer to all problems.

President Obama is signaling that he will take some token measures to show that he is "serious" about the fiscal deficit. Bill Gates is suggesting that taxes should rise to cover the deficit, and he predicts a slow recovery.

Bill Gates says U.S. recovery to take years, taxes rise

However Gates "also warned against too much government intervention and urged President Barack Obama to focus policy on long-term issues such as education to combat the effects of the worst recession since the Great Depression."

What is too much intervention? Who will pay the higher taxes? Supreme court has given corporations the same rights as individuals, but corporations get around paying taxes...(the American Job Creation Act under Bush is a great example of giving special treatment to corporations).

OTOH, education is increasingly becoming far removed from obtaining degrees- there is no foundation. Witness the new tactic being played by the Republicans...educated Republicans.

GOP sends letter appearing to be census form

GOP seeking input, money in letter seemingly under the guise of US Census Bureau

By Steven K. Paulson, Associated Press Writer , On Monday January 25, 2010, 6:23 pm EST

DENVER (AP) -- The Republican Party is seeking input and money from GOP voters -- seemingly under the guise of the U.S. Census Bureau.

"Strengthening our Party for the 2010 elections is going to take a massive grassroots effort all across America. That is why I have authorized a Census to be conducted of every Congressional District in the country," GOP Chairman Michael Steele says in a letter mailed nationwide.

The letter was sent in plain white envelopes marked "Do Not Destroy, Official Document." Labeled "2010 Congressional District Census," the letter uses a capital "C," the same as the Census Bureau. It also includes a "Census Tracking Code."

The letter makes a plea for money and accompanies a form asking voters to identify their political leanings and issues important to them. There are no disclaimers that participation in the GOP effort is voluntary; participation in the government census is required by law. Failure to participate carries a $5,000 fine, though it is rarely enforced.

A Calvinian Explanation of Bailout Capitalism

Mr. Watterson...Thanks for your wonderful creations- they have given us immeasurable joy!

A Japanese example for Obama

Recent news reports suggest that Obama and his coterie are scrambling to rescue his Presidency from the morass and quagmire it appears to wallow in. Perhaps Mr. Obama can take a lesson from the Japanese lawmaker Ms. Mizuho Fukushima. She has outlined her principled opposition to the presence of U.S. bases in Okinawa, and has stuck to it despite intense pressure. If only Mr. Obama would:

1. Fire the threesome of Bernanke, Summers, and Geithner, and ask them to cough up the money they made with the "easy money" policies that whacked the economy.
2. Order all the Wall Street Banks and the executives to cough up all the profits they made between 2002 and 2009, a part-payment for damaging the fabric of the country
3. Order a serious inquiry into the abuse of U.S. non-immigrant visa policies by U.S. and foreign firms
4. Order all high schools to fail students who do not have acceptable proficiency levels in mathematics and science
5. Restrict profits of insurance companies and force them to sell policies that are easily understandable

Japanese Lawmaker Stands in Opposition - WSJ.com

"U.S.-Japan relations aren't deteriorating because we can't make up our mind about building a new facility in Henoko," Ms. Fukushima said, referring to the rural community selected by the U.S. along with the prior Japanese government for the base. "Rather, what will drive a fissure in the bilateral relations is trying to push through with the plan," she added.

...The deadlock on the Futenma issue has stalled a broader plan to reorganize troops in Okinawa—a move embraced by both countries to reduce political opposition to the U.S. military role in Japan—sending a chill between Washington and Tokyo. Ms. Fukushima and her allies say the plan doesn't go far enough to cut the U.S. military presence among Japan's population.

Ms. Fukushima said her party wants to move the Futenma facilities "completely off Okinawa and outside of Japan," adding that the search for an alternative plan will give the two nations a good opportunity to take stock of their bilateral security alliance.

"We are not opposed to all military bases in Okinawa and we aren't saying all troops should leave right away," said Ms. Fukushima, a human-rights lawyer. "But I believe we should use this opportunity to discuss broader issues, like why there is such a huge concentration of U.S. bases in Okinawa and why, after 64 years since the end of the World War II, there is still such a significant presence of U.S. forces in Japan."

Ms. Fukushima says Okinawa, an island that represents just 0.5% of Japan's land mass but hosts 75% of the land used by U.S. troops, shouldn't be asked to shoulder more of the burden of the military alliance.

Also, the waters off Henoko, the planned home of a V-shaped runway, hold rich natural life, including coral reefs and dugong, a marine animal related to the manatee whose only habitat in Japan is small areas in Okinawa.

"In the past 15 years [since the plan for the new facility was introduced], people's awareness of environmental issues has changed dramatically," says Ms. Fukushima, who is popular among voters for her straight talk and uncompromising policy stance. "If we work hard enough, I think we can gain the understanding of people of America."

Mr. Herbert, one of the lonely voices screaming about the current system, writes in the NYT, "...In 2008, a startling 91.6 million people — more than 30 percent of the entire U.S. population — fell below 200 percent of the federal poverty line, which is a meager $21,834 for a family of four. The question for Democrats is whether there is anything that will wake them up to their obligation to extend a powerful hand to ordinary Americans and help them take the government, including the Supreme Court, back from the big banks, the giant corporations and the myriad other predatory interests that put the value of a dollar high above the value of human beings...Those at the bottom of the economic heap seem all but doomed in this environment. The Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston put the matter in stark perspective after analyzing the employment challenges facing young people in Chicago: “Labor market conditions for 16-19 and 20-24-year-olds in the city of Chicago in 2009 are the equivalent of a Great Depression-era, especially for young black men.”..."

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Bottom of the economic heap....sounds like the Bottom of the Pyramid. A multitude of innovations have been focused on providing amenities to the people at the bottom of the ladder in countries like India- including small MRIs, induction ranges, cell phones with innovative plans, and so on. It is time that the bottom of the pyramid included the millions Mr. Herbert writes about.

Going Long on media companies and short on ethics

Anyone reading the comments in the NYT from the public about the Supreme Court decision (giving equal rights to corporations) understands the disgust people are feeling with all branches and positions of power- the elected officials and the appointed Court members. Opportunistic people will realize that a great deal of money will be spent on the elections, so it is time to go long on the companies that will receive the money- the media-related companies. Of course, those with a conscience will refrain from funding these very elements that are causing toxicity.

USA...rechristened to USB...or USC

The Supreme Court has given the green light to corporations to spend money freely and buy all elections- Congress, President, and other elected officials will have to bow to big money.

Perhaps the Supreme Court thought USA was an antiquity...and would like the new name

USB = United States of Banks, or

USC = United States of Corporations

Putting (I)IT into perspective...

Interesting data on IIT Madras graduates and their salary offers

Top PSUs that visited the campus this time include ONGC, DRDO, BHEL, NTPC, Mazagon Docks, Bharti Shipyard, Pipavav Shipyard, deputy registrar and placement offer Lt Col( retd) Jayakumar said, adding HAL too was slated to visit soon.

Apart from core engineering companies, that took in as many as 70% of students, finance (7-10%), PSUs (10%) and FMCG (rest) sectors were the other big recruiters. The highest offer, though, came from Tower Research Capital at Rs 28 lakh pa. The company has taken in four students. Incidentally, all offers this year have been for Indian postings. The biggest offer last year was from oilfield services provider Schlumberger at Rs 22 lakh annually for Indian posting and Rs 44 lakh for overseas.

Put together, PSUs took in aound 100 candidates — nearly 10% of the 1,077 students who had registered for plaecments — compared to 35 last year and offered annual packages ranging from Rs 5 to Rs 7.6 lakh. BHEL alone has offered 20 jobs, making it one of the biggest recruiters, next only to Delloitte which has hired 23.
While the number of students placed so far, in absolute terms, is similar to that placed last year towards the end of January, average package has gone up 25% at around Rs 8 lakh pa. compared to Rs 6-7 lakh pa. during the 2008-09 session.

So far, like last year, half the number of 1077 registered students have been recruited under the placement season that began on December 2, 2009, and will continue till the first week of March. The recruitment got off to a brisk start with 10 companies giving out offer letters to 28 students, against five companies making 13 offers last year, Jayakumar said.

Some of the first-timers on campus this year were World Quant, Boston Consultancy Group and Dolat Capital. Others on Day 1 included Morgan Stanley, McKinsey, IBM, Tower Research and Goldman Sachs. The Indian Navy too visited the IIT placement session, making five job offers for naval officers in specialised ship-building role.

No IT company had come calling so far, but Karthik says Wipro is set to visit the campus soon and they were in talks with a couple of other IT biggies too.

For all the talk of recovery in economic activity, there was no big rush for recruitment this year. At 134, the number of companies that visited had actually gone down compared with 163 last year.

"Though there is lot of enthusiasm among the visiting companies, their managers don’t have the freedom to hire as many number of hands as they want," observed Col. Jayakumar, adding this had not dampened students’ spirits, who were happy with the offers made.

Top private companies that visited this time were L&T, Reliance, Ashok Leyland, Caterpillar, Daimler India, Tata Motors, TVS Motor, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hero Honda and GE. Nissan Motor is also scheduled to visit later this year coinciding with its inauguration of its plant near Chennai

A Tale of Two Countries...that are joined by a one-way job-way

Interesting to read two sharply contrasting headlines at the same time...

Unemployment rates rose in 43 states last month, the government said Friday, painting a bleak picture of the job market and illustrating nationwide data released two weeks ago.The rise in joblessness was a sharp change from November, when 36 states said their unemployment rates fell. Four states — Delaware, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina — reported record-high jobless rates in December.New Jersey’s rate, meanwhile, rose to a 33-year high of 10.1 percent while New York’s reached a 26-year high of 9 percent.Analysts said the report showed the economy is recovering at too weak a pace to generate consistent job creation. A lot of states that had started to add jobs in November gave up the gains in December, Sophia Koropeckyj, managing director at Moody’s Economy.com, said.

Robust Hiring and RObust raises...in India

The improvement in business sentiments and revival in IT spend have finally translated into robust headcount additions not seen by the top three software vendors the previous two quarters.In the third quarter, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys Technologies and Wipro registered combined net addition of 16,701 employees against 1,238 in the previous sequential quarter.TCS led the pack with net additions of 7,692, closely followed by its Bangalore-based rivals Wipro (which saw a net addition of 4,855 for its IT services) and Infosys, which reported net additions of 4,429 people.However, the big question is whether or not the IT bellwether companies will hire on similar lines in the quarters to come.Backlog clearance“In the last year or so, the hiring done by IT companies was suppressed and hence what we are seeing could be release of the pent up demand. Many of them are looking at clearing the earlier backlog,” Mr E. Balaji, Chief Executive Officer of manpower consultancy firm Ma Foi, told Business Line. TCS has already indicated that it may take on board close to 11,000 in the current quarter, of whom 8,000 would be campus recruits from the 2008-09 batch.Attrition fearsOn the flipside, the return to a business environment devoid of uncertainty could soon see an increase in attrition levels, the biggest nightmare for HR managers in IT companies.The brunt may have to be borne by mid-size software outsourcers that could be confronted with attrition levels of around 15 per cent, say analysts.“Given that large brands have not been hiring for quite a while, employees of mid-size IT companies may consider jumping (to these large companies) if given the opportunity,” said Mr Balaji.Significantly, IT bellwethers have also increased utilisation rates (number of people billed per hundred, as against those on the ‘bench' who are yet to find a client). Including trainees, the utilisation rates have shot up for the top three players, be it TCS (77.2 per cent from 73.6 per cent), Infosys (68.8 per cent from 67.3 per cent) or Wipro (73.2 per cent from 70.8 per cent).

Related Stories:
TCS to bring all 2008-09 freshers on board by March
TCS to get aggressive on hiring
Infosys to hire 4,000 more than planned
Companies back at colleges for campus hires
Wipro fine-tuning training modules

The bailout...that keeps on giving.

More banks are being taken over by the government...even as the big banks are rollin' in the dough.

From the Chicago Tribune...Regulators shut down banks inFlorida and Missouri on Friday, bringing to six the number of bank failures so far in 2010, following 140 closures last year in the toughest economic environment since the Great Depression.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over Miami-based Premier American Bank, with $350.9 million in assets and $326.3 million in deposits, and Bank of Leeton, in Leeton, Mo., with $20.1 million in assets and $20.4 million in deposits. Sunflower Bank, based in Salina, Kan., agreed to assume the deposits of Bank of Leeton. The FDIC will retain most of its assets for later sale.

As the economy has soured, with unemployment rising, home prices tumbling and loan defaults soaring, bank failures have accelerated and sapped billions out of the federal deposit insurance fund. It fell into the red last year.

The 140 bank failures last year were the highest annual tally since 1992, at the height of the savings and loan crisis. They cost the insurance fund more than $30 billion. The failures compare with 25 in 2008 and three in 2007.

The number of bank failures is expected to rise further this year. The FDIC expects the cost of resolving failed banks to grow to about $100 billion over the next four years.

Extraordinary interpretation of the First Amendment

An extraordinary decision by the Supreme Court...

Ruling on Spending May Alter Political Terrain — "Overruling two important precedents about the First Amendment rights of corporations, a bitterly divided Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the government may not ban political spending by corporations in candidate elections. The 5-to-4 decision was a vindication, the majority said, of the First Amendment’s most basic free speech principle — that the government has no business regulating political speech. The dissenters said that allowing corporate money to flood the political marketplace would corrupt democracy. The ruling represented a sharp doctrinal shift, and it will have major political and practical consequences. Specialists in campaign finance law said they expected the decision to reshape the way elections were conducted. Though the decision does not directly address them, its logic also applies to the labor unions that are often at political odds with big business...."

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What role should a corporation be allowed to play in a democracy? Did the public, in 1791 when the First Amendment was adopted, envisage the world of today?

The amount of money that is currently spent on elections to "buy" votes should be alarming enough to those seriously interested in creating and sustaining an educated democracy. This ruling by the Supreme Court will result in a tsunami of money being employed by corporate interests to further their own well-being. The Supreme Court has, by this decision, made a mockery of free speech and of the necessity of a fairly educated public for a thriving democracy.

Governance- GOP Style

According to Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, "Teachers, professors and state and local government workers should take a 5 percent pay cut later this year and remain at that level for the next three years to help save taxpayers money."

It is to be noted that Mr. Bishop is NOT recommending that the pay and benefits of the Senators and members of the House be cut. Sacrifice does not start at home, at least for Mr. Bishop.

Plenty of Republicans on Capital Hill are screaming about the budget deficit, but they have not come forward and proposed reducing their salaries by 50%, for starters. Neither has anyone suggested taxing the big bonuses on Wall Street to pay down the deficit.

Marrying for Money...

One of my star students will be graduating this year with a well-paying job. She is engaged and I told her that over her career, she would be the primary earner and breadwinner in the family, and that her partner should be able to adjust to that. In my classes, the top women far outnumber the boys- sometimes the ration would be four or five top ladies to one man. A significant adjustment period awaits for both sexes.

The NYT has an article along the same lines- "More Men Marrying Wealthier Women."

“Men now are increasingly likely to marry wives with more education and income than they have, and the reverse is true for women,” said Paul Fucito, spokesman for the Pew Center. “In recent decades, with the rise of well-paid working wives, the economic gains of marriage have been a greater benefit for men.”

The analysis examines Americans 30 to 44 years old, the first generation in which more women than men have college degrees. Women’s earnings have been increasing faster than men’s since the 1970s.

“We’ve known for some time that men need marriage more than women from the standpoint of physical and mental well-being,” said Stephanie Coontz, a professor at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., and research director for the Council on Contemporary Families, a research and advocacy group. “Now it is becoming increasingly important to their economic well-being as well.” ...from the NYT.

3G (Going Green Gently) to avoid divorce?

3G or = Going Green Gently

An interesting piece in the NYT, Therapists Report Increase in Green Disputes, gives examples of some families that have experienced conflict when one member "greened" faster or wider than another...One of the people featured, Ms. Buzzell, "suggests that couples can overcome such differences if they treat each other gently. She advises partners who have a newfound passion for the issue to change only a few things at a time and provide lots of explanation.“It is like exercise,” Ms. Buzzell said. “Take it slowly.” "

The article also mentions Robert Brulle, a professor of environment and sociology at Drexel University in Philadelphia, who "said he had seen divorces among couples who realized that their values were putting them on very different long-term trajectories.“One still wants to live the American dream with all that means, and the other wants to give up on big materialistic consumption,” Dr. Brulle said. “Those may not be compatible.”..."

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This article connects the dots quite well, and reduces one's actions to the underlying value system. Once a person gets 'educated enough' to see the linkage, then he/she would start thinking about the value system. That is about as much as one can ask.

Protection from the Cold...

One strategy is to sign with Fox News, a la Sarah Palin- that should warm one up quite fast...

Of greater interest - a fascinating story about the processes that help insects and other small creatures survive ice and sub-freezing temperatures- is well worth the reading. Anti-freeze production by insects!

Times (of) Twitter

News reports today suggest that NYT is planning to charge again for its content, using a model similar to that of Financial Times. Part of the logic is that a critical mass of e-readers, composed of both stand-alone gadgets as well as apps on smart phones, will make the owners more likely to pay for content. This rests on two assumptions- critical mass of e-readers, and likelihood that the owners purchase content.

Will people flock to Twitter to get their news, rather than pay for content? Will Twitter and other such sites replace newspapers? What are columns by excellent writers like Ms. Dowd worth? Apple is making a lot of money through its iTunes platform, but it is unclear how profitable the platform is for the content creators. A song purchased for $0.99 can provide enjoyment over many years- will a reader get similar pleasure out of reading a news article or an Op-Ed column? Will Newspapers provide a la carte pricing, like the airlines? News about news is certainly making news.

Lifecycles

One of the concepts that business and business education has borrowed from the sciences is that of the "life cycle." Software life cycle, information life cycle, knowledge life cycle, and corporate life cycle, to name a few, are part of the popular lexicon. However, it is high time businesses paid attention to the earth that houses its operations, its uses, and the life cycle of the soil. At Tellabs, the CEO and others created a prairie garden when the corporate headquarters was being built. While there were still large parking garages, this was a start.

In an interesting piece in the NYT, "In Latino Gardens, Vegetables, Good Health and Savings Flourish" Ms. Patricia Leigh Brown describes a growing momentum in gardening among the relatively poor Latino community in San Jose. "At dawn, Maria Lupercio Alarcon wakens to the heady scent of onions and cilantro from her family’s first garden, outside her bedroom window.The two-month-old vegetable garden, from which Mrs. Alarcon picks extravagant bursts of broccoli for breakfast with scrambled eggs, is both comforting and unfamiliar. It is one of 30 backyard vegetable gardens recently planted by a nonprofit group here called La Mesa Verde, or The Green Table, which makes house calls to help residents of the city’s low-income, predominantly Latino neighborhoods grow their own organic produce.“People don’t eat vegetables unless they are close by, to be honest with you,” Mrs. Alarcon, a mother of three who grew up in Guadalajara, Mexico, said of the human tendency to eat whatever is at hand, especially if it is cheap. “If you have vegetables,” she said, pointing to luxuriant tangles of peas and other delights, “then you can come get them. To see them growing is a blessing.”The fledgling effort to bring backyard vegetable beds to San Jose neighborhoods like the Washington-Guadalupe and Gardner districts — historic portals for immigrants — is part of a national movement, from West Oakland to Little Rock, Ark., to make healthy food readily accessible to marginalized urban neighborhoods.“Nobody was going into the homes,” said Raul Lozano, 55, the son of farm workers, whose passion for gardening inspired him to form La Mesa Verde after 15 years as executive director of a Latino theater company. “You can get beer in the neighborhood. But not vegetables.”In San Jose, with roughly 300 sunny days a year, the new gardeners were recruited from food pantry rolls and word of mouth.Once known as “Goosetown,” after Italian immigrants who raised geese there, the Gardner neighborhood is less than two miles from downtown but is fragmented by highways. In the 1980s, it acquired the nickname Barrio Horseshoe, a reference to a contested sliver of territory between street gangs.In recent years, with help from a city neighborhood revitalization initiative, it has become a place of “prideful homes,” as Mr. Lozano put it, where the familiar ting-a-lings of vendors selling ice cream, tamales and pork rinds with lemon and chili punctuate the afternoons. These are the working poor — maids, landscapers, restaurant workers, teacher’s aides — “people trying to make ends meet with two or three jobs and who don’t have time to commit to a community garden,” said Poncho Guevara, the executive director of Sacred Heart Community Service, which started Mr. Lozano’s program with over 100 volunteers...."

Punishing the company, versus punishing the executives

According to AP "The U.S. Transportation Department said on Friday that United Airlines must pay a $30,000 fine for failing to include a federal tax when it quoted some airfares on its Web site. The government said United left a 7.5 percent federal excise tax out of some fare quotes for two-and-a-half days. United spokesman Rahsaan Johnson says a programming error moved the tax from the base fare, where government rules require it. Instead, the tax was part of the final price a customer sees later. In August, the Department of Transportation hit United with a $75,000 civil penalty for other advertising violations. United only had to pay half, as long as it had no more violations. Now, the agency says United will have to pay the other half, or $37,500..."

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All these fines come out of the company's profit. Since shareholders have so little say in the running of the company, the fines should be paid out of the CEO's pocket. It would be interesting to see how quickly the behavior changes...Agassi alleges that Pete Sampras, a guy who grossed many millions, once tipped a guy $1 for valet parking...Whether this is true or not, the message being hinted at is that folks with a lot of money sometimes are loath to part even with a buck. Therefore, charging the fines to the CEO could potentially make him more law-abiding.

OTOH, one could argue that since shareholders elected the Board and therefore the execs, they got what they paid for...Unfortunately the consumers are the ones left grounded...

Natural Calamity in Haiti, Human disaster wreaked by J&J and Chase

The sad news on Haiti, from NYT: "Tensions rose among desperate Haitians awaiting international aid and food that began to trickle in three days after an earthquake that Haitian authorities say killed 200,000 people. Haiti's shell-shocked government gave the United States control over its main airport to bring order to aid flights from around the world and speed relief to the impoverished Caribbean nation. Trucks piled with corpses have been carrying bodies to hurriedly excavated mass graves outside the city but thousands of bodies still are believed buried under rubble. "We have already collected around 50,000 dead bodies," Interior Minister Paul Antoine Bien-Aime told Reuters. "We anticipate there will be between 100,000 and 200,000 dead in total, although we will never know the exact number."Some 40,000 bodies had been buried in mass graves, said Secretary of State for Public Safety Aramick Louis..."

On a separate note, WSJ reports, in a piece titled "J&J Is Accused of Kickbacks to Omnicare on Drug Sales" that "In the latest case in the government's campaign against abusive drug-marketing practices, the Justice Department charged Johnson & Johnson with paying "tens of millions of dollars in kickbacks" to a nursing-home pharmacy company to boost sales of J&J drugs to nursing-home patients.Prosecutors, in a complaint filed in federal court in Boston Friday, accused J&J of illegally paying Omnicare Inc. to buy J&J medicines and recommend their use to nursing homes. Under the arrangements, prosecutors alleged, Omnicare's annual purchases of J&J medicines nearly tripled to more than $280 million...." J&J is also alleged to have been slow in issuing a recall for Tylenol. "Johnson & Johnson's consumer division is recalling more than 53 million bottles of over-the-counter products including Tylenol, Motrin and Rolaids after reports of an unusual odor, expanding on an issue that led to a Tylenol recall last year. The latest voluntary recall, which drew a sharp rebuke from U.S. regulators on Friday, followed consumer reports of "an unusual moldy, musty, or mildew-like odor that, in a small number of cases, was associated with temporary and non-serious gastrointestinal events," the company said. Such events included nausea, stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhea... McNeil should have acted faster," Deborah Autor, head of compliance in the FDA's drugs division, told reporters on a conference call."When something smells bad, literally or figuratively, companies must aggressively investigate and take all necessary actions to solve the problem," she said. The agency repeatedly urged McNeil to identify the source and scope of the problem, Autor said. The company ran more tests and expanded the recall at the FDA's urging, she said..." Separately on Friday, the U.S. Justice Department accused J&J of paying tens of millions of dollars in kickbacks to Omnicare Inc to buy and recommend J&J drugs.

Chase has reported its financial results. "JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s $3.28 billion profit report carried a sobering message: Consumers are still struggling to pay off their loans, posing a threat to a strong economic recovery. Even as the bank reported Friday its earnings more than quadrupled from $702 million during the final three months of 2009, JPMorgan said it's not finished setting aside money to cover failed loans. In other words, it expects many more consumers to default to default on mortgages and other loans. JPMorgan is the first of the big banks to announced fourth-quarter earnings. Its profits came from investment banking and asset management, businesses that have boomed as Wall Street remains far ahead of Main Street...JPMorgan said it's uncertain about the timing of a possible rebound, repeating a warning it has now issued for several quarters. CEO Jamie Dimon was blunt during a conference call with analysts, saying, "We don't know when the recovery is."...JPMorgan's biggest trouble spots were in consumer banking and credit card lending. The bank's retail financial services division, which includes its mortgage operations, lost $399 million...The company reported increases in mortgages that were charged off, or classified as uncollectible, including prime mortgages, the highest quality home loans. It also reported an increase in home equity loan charge-offs...The credit-card lending division lost $306 million during the final three months of 2009. Results would've been worse had the bank not had a payment holiday in the period... Cavanagh said losses could approach 10.5 percent by the middle of 2010, up from 8.64 percent in the fourth quarter. Credit-card losses historically have mirrored the unemployment rate, which was 10 percent last month..."

Wall Street- Crooked Spine

He was so crooked, you could have used his spine for a safety-pin....Dorothy L. Sayers
He was more crooked than a spiral staircase (a poor rephrasing of a brilliant line from Wodehouse's Leave it to Psmith).

A report in the WSJ states that WS is going to pay record amounts -

Top Firms on Pace to Award $145 Billion for 2009, Up 18%, WSJ Study Finds.

The article goes on to report that "...Many firms reiterated that they need competitive pay packages to keep from losing employees to non-U.S. companies, private-equity firms and hedge funds....While Wall Street firms such as Goldman and Morgan Stanley have historically set aside about 50% of revenue for compensation, the rate is lower at commercial banks, which include large numbers of less highly paid employees, such as tellers and other staff in bank branches that the Wall Street firms don't necessarily have."

The stock indices have shot up rapidly over the past few months, but as long as finance is the lead dog, the recovery will be poor. WS rewards firms for outsourcing- why can't the highly paid members of the board outsource the bank executives' jobs to people in India or China or other countries where there is perhaps more talent to be had at much lower prices? One can be certain that there are plenty of individuals in those countries who can run these banks or their trading desks or M&A departments at a fraction of the price of the U.S. bank managers. When the members of the Boards say that they are paying market value for the executives, they are simply not determining the true market value based on global arbitrage- they are determining market value based only on what the corresponding people in the peer institutions are making. This is nothing but a cozy "I scratch your back you scratch mine" club-one that needs to be dismantled or else will lead to a spinal cord injury for the country.

Airline "packing" in the fees

Latest round of charges- United, Delta and others will charge $25 to check in the first bag. A flier going from Chicago to San Francisco to stay a few days will be paying 5% to 10% more through these charges. Since these are "charges" the government most likely will not collect taxes. Many of my friends and family members fly Southwest exclusively these days- it does not charge fees for the first two bags, has a better on-time record than many of the majors, and is generally friendly to fly. How long Southwest will maintain this policy remains to be seen.

If an airline's model is to keep its management overhead cost structure the same, in terms of % of a revenue dollar going to management, then the consequence will be fewer flights and more charges. Upper management will take most of the financial pie, and the hardworking flight attendants will bear the brunt of the cut-backs. Purely from an economics point of view, airfares have been too low for a while. Traveling long distances should be expensive- it is resource-hogging. Whether people will switch to rail, bus, or rental cars for more travel, on the margin, remains to be seen.

Quality in Higher Education

Today I attended the "defense" of an interesting PhD thesis in the Department of Management Studies at IIT Madras. The thesis focused on Total Quality Management in Engineering Educational Institutions in India. During the presentation, a student currently pursuing a PhD asked the PhD candidate to define 'quality' in the education field, in three sentences or less. A rather simple question, but one that is extremely difficult to answer. One can use the definitions of quality suggested by standards such as ISO or MBNQA, but they are unsatisfactory when applied to the field of Education. Education is amorphous, covers both knowledge and skill, product and process areas. If the ultimate purpose of education is to create a desire and a process for lifelong learning, then quality of education can be defined in terms of achieving these objectives effectively and efficiently. Education and educators, at their best, are great works of art- masterpieces. Educators have to embrace TQM and continuous process improvement to refine their art and craft.

"Palinoscopy" required for High School Students

Sarah Palin, according to news reports, has joined the Fox Commentary Team... A person who could not cite the newspapers that she allegedly read is going to comment on the important affairs of the day.

The NYT has an an article titled "States Lower Test Standards for a High School Diploma."

Some interesting and thought-provoking extracts: "...A law adopting statewide high school exams for graduation took effect in Pennsylvania on Saturday, with the goal of ensuring that students leaving high school are prepared for college and the workplace. But critics say the requirement has been so watered down that it is unlikely to have major impact.

The situation in Pennsylvania mirrors what has happened in many of the 26 states that have adopted high school exit exams. As deadlines approached for schools to start making passage of the exams a requirement for graduation, and practice tests indicated that large numbers of students would fail, many states softened standards, delayed the requirement or added alternative paths to a diploma....

Nonetheless, responding to fervent opposition from legislators, teachers unions and advocates for parents who feared a loss of local control, Pennsylvania opted in October to allow school districts to substitute their own versions of the exit exams, with state approval, and to give students who fail multiple times alternative paths to graduation.

The rules in Pennsylvania require students to pass at least four courses, with the end-of-course exams counting for a third of the course grade. If students fail an exam or a section of an exam, they will have two chances to retake it. If they cannot pass after that, they have the option of doing a subject-specific project that is approved by district officials.

The exams are not cheap. Education officials in Pennsylvania estimate it will cost $176 million to develop and administer the tests and model curriculum through 2014-15, and about $31 million to administer each year after that.

Also among those states using end-of-course exams is Arkansas, where seventh, eighth or ninth graders will this year for the first time be required to pass the end-of-course Algebra I test to qualify for a diploma. Critics of Arkansas’s system say it fails to show true math proficiency because students have only to score 24 out of 100 to pass the test and those who fail will be granted two additional chances to take the test. After that, they can take a computerized tutorial that is followed by a test....

That same year state education officials in Alabama approved an emergency rule allowing students to graduate if they passed just three sections of the exit test, rather than all five, as long as two were math and reading.

Washington lawmakers also eliminated the math section of the final exit exam in 2008 in favor of math exams to be administered at the end of each course..."

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Makes any Educator and anyone Educated Wince...

Green titles: Corporate Color of the Year

An interesting article in the Chicago Tribune, "Eco-friendly executives: Push for sustainability drives demand for managers focused on green initiatives" describes the current focus by businesses on being green.
"...As companies grapple with climate change, try to attract eco-conscious customers and develop alternative energy agendas while complying with regulations, a new kind of administrator is moving into the executive suite to help out.

Sustainability officers and green supervisors, some say, are successors to the diversity managers and innovation specialists of the 1990s -- with their focus equal parts corporate responsibility, public relations and profit.

"Our clients expect this," Pogue said. "A company of our size doesn't have the luxury any longer of not participating."

Positions such as Pogue's are often placed in the upper echelons of companies, where they are highly visible and directly overseen by the chief executive. At Coca-Cola Co.and Mitsubishi Motors North America Inc., Chief Executives Muhtar Kent and Ryoichi Ueda, respectively, have adopted the sustainability officer title as well.

Other companies bundle in extra duties, such as dealing with the supply chain. At Levi Strauss & Co., Michael Kobori works on labor standards and general green issues as vice president for social and environmental sustainability.

"Ten years ago, the position I have didn't exist," Kobori said. "Now, we are seeing a new generation of business leaders who have grown up with sustainability. There is actually a career path in this field for someone at a corporation."

Last year, fewer than 200 positions dedicated to sustainability were spread among more than 1,200 companies, according to consulting firm Hudson Gain Corp. With a "very limited talent pool of experienced sustainability executives," many companies plucked internal candidates who were well-regarded in other fields for the role, the report said.

Some companies, eager to cash in on the eco-enthusiasm, have been accused of hiring sustainability officers who are little more than figureheads. Instead of greening the business plan and inspiring the staff, critics contend, these executives end up isolated, ineffective or overburdened.

"There's a danger in creating a chief sustainability officer, because it places all the responsibility of that issue onto one person," Kobori said. "We're successful when sustainability gets embedded in all the roles in the company."..."

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Sustainability and sustainable practices, like ethical behavior, has to be displayed by the CEO and the senior management who then have to insist on high standards from everyone in the firm.

The Critical Problem with Critical Thinking

A fundamental objective of "liberal arts" education is to promote "critical thinking." Today's NYT has an article "Multicultural Critical Theory. At B-School?" wherein the writer states that "...Learning how to think critically — how to imaginatively frame questions and consider multiple perspectives — has historically been associated with a liberal arts education, not a business school curriculum, so this change represents something of a tectonic shift for business school leaders...With few exceptions, traditional instruction has involved separate disciplines like finance, marketing and strategy, with an emphasis on quantifiable analyses and methods. While some valued what a liberal arts background could provide, the dominant view was that those elements had no place in professional business schools. BUT even before the financial upheaval last year, business executives operating in a fast-changing, global market were beginning to realize the value of managers who could think more nimbly across multiple frameworks, cultures and disciplines...As a result, a number of prominent business schools have re-evaluated and, in some cases, redesigned their M.B.A. programs in the last few years. And while few talk explicitly about taking a liberal arts approach to business, many of the changes are moving business schools into territory more traditionally associated with the liberal arts: multidisciplinary approaches, an understanding of global and historical context and perspectives, a greater focus on leadership and social responsibility and, yes, learning how to think critically.Two years ago, for example, the Graduate School of Business at Stanford made a sweeping curriculum change that included more emphasis on multidisciplinary perspectives and understanding of cultural contexts. The first-quarter mandatory curriculum, for example, now includes a class called “The Global Context of Management and Strategic Leadership.” First-year students also must take a course called “Critical and Analytical Thinking.”...The changes are also not limited to graduate programs. Because business is now such a popular undergraduate degree, the Carnegie Foundation is arguing for greater integration of the liberal arts with undergraduate business programs.Will any of these changes have a big role in preventing future economic crises? Opinions here are more mixed. If businesses’ pay systems keep rewarding short-term, high-risk or narrowly focused behavior, many say, what business programs teach is unlikely to have much impact..."

/* The term "critical thinking" should be removed from the education lexicon. Just plain old thinking is hard in itself. It is a difficult challenge to get students to pause and think- everything has to be enumerated or put into "buckets." If the teacher asks a question that requires the students to think, his or her student evaluation goes down into the gutter. No one has shown how to measure critical thinking. I would settle for thought, any thought. After that, if one can bring more than one view or approach to an issue, a situation, or an idea, that in itself is a great achievement. While some writers may use the term "critical thinking" to denote this notion, it is far from the universal use of the nomenclature. Some faculty members crow that they give "critical thinking" exercises and promote critical thinking. A careful look at the evaluation often suggests that all participants are given high grades, often an A. if one intends to develop thinking, one needs to be able to assess it. */

Going Neutral- Carbon Neutral

AN interesting piece of news today- from The Economic Times

NEW DELHI: ‘Going Green’ will not remain just a theme at Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM-C) this year; it will be a way of life.

IIM-C students have not just decided to initiate a drive against carbon emissions, they will also put these initiatives to test. The institute, which is hosting its annual international business symposium — Intaglio, from January 7-10, is aiming the event to be a carbon-neutral event. This means IIM-C students will ensure they reduce the environmental impact or carbon footprint of the event. The institute also claims this is the first time a B-school has taken an initiative to carbon-neutralise an event.

This will be done through a number of environment-friendly measures such as using notepads and bags made of recycled paper and encouraging the use of social networking sites, emails and SMSes to publicise the event. “Earlier, we would get hundreds of posters printed and send them to B-schools across the country. This year, we have managed to cut such printing by 60% and are instead publicising the event through networking sites,” says Ram Shankar, a PGP student at IIM-C and member of the Intaglio organising team.

The team has also tied up with a Gurgaon-based climate change consulting company, Emergent Ventures, to map the event’s carbon footprint and offset it with the footprint saved. The firm will later conduct an audit of the event, and judge if it proved to be carbon-neutral. The institute has even put up shades of brown and lighter colours on the event website, in an attempt to reduce the wattage consumed by computer screens. Participants will also be encouraged to use public transport to come to the campus.

Intaglio organisers have decided to use carbon credits, which can cost anywhere between $5-20 per credit, post the event. “This money will be put to use in planting trees or investing in renewable energy,” says Emergent Ventures CEO Ashutosh Pandey.

Brown can do a lot for you...but green is doing a whole lot more for bankers

United Parcel Service Inc raised its fourth-quarter profit forecast on Friday and said it would cut 1,800 management and administrative jobs. Its shares rose 5.7 percent. (NYT)

Investment bankers at Bank of America Corp. will likely get bonuses close to what they got in 2007 as the bank tries to retain key employees following its takeover of Merrill Lynch, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. Citing people familiar with the situation, the Journal reported that Bank of America bankers are expected to get 2009 bonuses equal to 2007 levels, with about 25 percent in cash and the rest as deferred payments of stock or cash tied to the company's performance. Merrill paid out $5.8 billion in year-end bonuses in 2007, the Journal said. It said the size of Bank of America's bonus outlay could not be determined.

FGH- Friendliness, Generosity, and Happiness

In the piece "The Happiest People" Mr. Kristof of the NYT writes "Hmmm. You think it’s a coincidence? Costa Rica is one of the very few countries to have abolished its army, and it’s also arguably the happiest nation on earth. There are several ways of measuring happiness in countries, all inexact, but this pearl of Central America does stunningly well by whatever system is used. For example, the World Database of Happiness, compiled by a Dutch sociologist on the basis of answers to surveys by Gallup and others, lists Costa Rica in the top spot out of 148 nations. That’s because Costa Ricans, asked to rate their own happiness on a 10-point scale, average 8.5. Denmark is next at 8.3, the United States ranks 20th at 7.4 and Togo and Tanzania bring up the caboose at 2.6.Scholars also calculate happiness by determining “happy life years.” This figure results from merging average self-reported happiness, as above, with life expectancy. Using this system, Costa Rica again easily tops the list. The United States is 19th, and Zimbabwe comes in last. A third approach is the “happy planet index,” devised by the New Economics Foundation, a liberal think tank. This combines happiness and longevity but adjusts for environmental impact — such as the carbon that countries spew. Here again, Costa Rica wins the day, for achieving contentment and longevity in an environmentally sustainable way. The Dominican Republic ranks second, the United States 114th (because of its huge ecological footprint) and Zimbabwe is last.Maybe Costa Rican contentment has something to do with the chance to explore dazzling beaches on both sides of the country, when one isn’t admiring the sloths in the jungle (sloths truly are slothful, I discovered; they are the tortoises of the trees). Costa Rica has done an unusually good job preserving nature, and it’s surely easier to be happy while basking in sunshine and greenery than while shivering up north and suffering “nature deficit disorder.” ....What sets Costa Rica apart is its remarkable decision in 1949 to dissolve its armed forces and invest instead in education. Increased schooling created a more stable society, less prone to the conflicts that have raged elsewhere in Central America. Education also boosted the economy, enabling the country to become a major exporter of computer chips and improving English-language skills so as to attract American eco-tourists. I’m not antimilitary. But the evidence is strong that education is often a far better investment than artillery..."*** While there are many inter-connected factors that have enabled Costa Rica's success, it stands to reason that education trumps artillery. It helps if a country is small and does not have interests globally to defend. Ultimately it is the education of the people that is decisive in the long run prosperity of the world.

A weighty wedlock

Research conducted by faculty at University of Queensland in Australia indicates that "...After adjusting for other variables, the 10-year weight gain for an average 140-pound woman was 20 pounds if she had a baby and a partner, 15 if she had a partner but no baby, and only 11 pounds if she was childless with no partner. The number of women with a baby but no partner was too small to draw statistically significant conclusions. There is no reason to believe that having a partner causes metabolic changes, so the weight gain among childless women with partners was almost surely caused by altered behavior. Moreover, there was a steady weight gain among all women over the 10 years of the study. This does not explain the still larger weight gain in women who became pregnant. The lead author, Annette J. Dobson, a professor of biostatistics at the University of Queensland in Australia, suggested that physiological changes might be at work. “Women’s bodies may adjust to the increased weight associated with having a baby,” Dr. Dobson said. “There may be a metabolic adjustment that goes on when women are pregnant that is hard to reverse. This would be more consistent with our findings than any other explanation.” The study covered more than 6,000 Australian women over a 10-year period ending in 2006..." (from NYT).

/* There are quite a few marriage penalties - however, it is too thick to accept that weight gain is a heavy loss... */

We've lost that lovely feeling...

Bob Herbert of the NYT has an excellent post called "An Uneasy Feeling" in which he talks about a lack of direction for the country. While many praise capitalism for the great success of the U.S. and want the government out of the way, not many recognize that it is the public (government) investments that have paved the way for this success- capitalism is just a beneficiary. The rail networks and the highways brought forth a new era in commerce. While the past two decades have belonged to the Internet, it should be remembered that the government's DoD built the basic plumbing for the Network. Quite a few of the technologies used today are derived from public sector R&D.

Which brings one to the question posed by Mr. Herbert. What are the priorities for the nation, and who is going to foot the bill? Perhaps not many lessons have been learnt from the recent disasters.