And on another Saturday,April 14, 2007
As the week ends, it is time for another round of musings on events, trends and people in the news and out of it..
The Dallas police department has recently instituted a fine for officers running red lights – now citizens can lurk in the shadows and on hidden alleys to track unsuspecting police cars and report violations; what’s good for the goose…
World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz has problems separating his affairs from work – he has been inducted into the New Gingrich Institute of Moral Standards. Their mission statement that applies only to non-members – “Thou shall not do anything immoral”. Heard on the grapevine that Mr. Clinton has applied for membership, As we went to press no word on the institute’s response…
Went to the Dallas Mavericks game yesterday
after watching the scantily dressed Maverick dancers with their borderline obscene dance routines, I wondered what Don Imus would have called them….
never could understand why people make a racket and wave flags as opposing teams take free throws – is it bad sportsmanship or the culture of win at any cost?
Why do the best songs come over the radio just as you reach your destination?
Just finished reading Shantaram, a book By Gregory Roberts who escapes an Australian prison and lands in Bombay. Though disjointed in parts it is a compelling story and I would recommend that all Bombayites read the book. The books’ semi-villainous character, Khader Khan, is a philosopher. Khan suggests that the whole universe is moving towards God or towards the ultimate complexity. Anything that helps it along is good and the reverse is also true. Therefore it is rational to do bad things for good reasons as long we are helping the march to complexity. I am going to send that note the IRS in lieu of my tax return and I am sure they will understand.
Talking about taxes, my biggest frustration is the money we spend on entitlements as opposed to infrastructure. The paucity of funds leads individual taxing authorities to build, toll roads, increase vehicle registration fees and increase water charges. It's a tax increase that society absorbs but cumulatively they deepen the wedge between haves and have-nots. And that is a tragedy
The reality is that even if each taxpayer pays $5,000 to wipe out the current national debt there is no system in place to ensure that we will not end up in the same place again in 20 years. That, my friends, is an unmitigated disaster.
As I think about the war in Iraq or the passions that ignite wars it seems to me that despite all the progress we have made in science and technology our approach to war is rooted in history. All wars are about land and natural resources. You would think that we would have adopted another model for warfare. For example, in Iraq why did we not use our navy to embargo their ports and stop oil exports – it would have been cheaper and bought Sadaam to his knees a lot faster and prevented the loss of lives.
I worry about the extensive damage to that country’s infrastructure and the loss of talent as people fled the country. Countries are not unlike companies – it is the people that make or break them. In the aftermath of the widespread departure of talent we are left with having to choose mediocrity to govern the nation which further deepens our involvement. It is a vicious cycle.
History is a great teacher. If you look at countries in Africa and Latin America with brain dead leaders and their subsequent inability to get out of the morass of poverty and corruption, it is not difficult to predict that Iraq is going to descend into chaos and we will sacrifice more of our young men.
And in closing, the opening verse of Dante’s epic poem, The Divine Comedy
Midway upon the journey of our life
I found myself within a forest dark
For the straightforward pathway had been lost.
The Dallas police department has recently instituted a fine for officers running red lights – now citizens can lurk in the shadows and on hidden alleys to track unsuspecting police cars and report violations; what’s good for the goose…
World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz has problems separating his affairs from work – he has been inducted into the New Gingrich Institute of Moral Standards. Their mission statement that applies only to non-members – “Thou shall not do anything immoral”. Heard on the grapevine that Mr. Clinton has applied for membership, As we went to press no word on the institute’s response…
Went to the Dallas Mavericks game yesterday
after watching the scantily dressed Maverick dancers with their borderline obscene dance routines, I wondered what Don Imus would have called them….
never could understand why people make a racket and wave flags as opposing teams take free throws – is it bad sportsmanship or the culture of win at any cost?
Why do the best songs come over the radio just as you reach your destination?
Just finished reading Shantaram, a book By Gregory Roberts who escapes an Australian prison and lands in Bombay. Though disjointed in parts it is a compelling story and I would recommend that all Bombayites read the book. The books’ semi-villainous character, Khader Khan, is a philosopher. Khan suggests that the whole universe is moving towards God or towards the ultimate complexity. Anything that helps it along is good and the reverse is also true. Therefore it is rational to do bad things for good reasons as long we are helping the march to complexity. I am going to send that note the IRS in lieu of my tax return and I am sure they will understand.
Talking about taxes, my biggest frustration is the money we spend on entitlements as opposed to infrastructure. The paucity of funds leads individual taxing authorities to build, toll roads, increase vehicle registration fees and increase water charges. It's a tax increase that society absorbs but cumulatively they deepen the wedge between haves and have-nots. And that is a tragedy
The reality is that even if each taxpayer pays $5,000 to wipe out the current national debt there is no system in place to ensure that we will not end up in the same place again in 20 years. That, my friends, is an unmitigated disaster.
As I think about the war in Iraq or the passions that ignite wars it seems to me that despite all the progress we have made in science and technology our approach to war is rooted in history. All wars are about land and natural resources. You would think that we would have adopted another model for warfare. For example, in Iraq why did we not use our navy to embargo their ports and stop oil exports – it would have been cheaper and bought Sadaam to his knees a lot faster and prevented the loss of lives.
I worry about the extensive damage to that country’s infrastructure and the loss of talent as people fled the country. Countries are not unlike companies – it is the people that make or break them. In the aftermath of the widespread departure of talent we are left with having to choose mediocrity to govern the nation which further deepens our involvement. It is a vicious cycle.
History is a great teacher. If you look at countries in Africa and Latin America with brain dead leaders and their subsequent inability to get out of the morass of poverty and corruption, it is not difficult to predict that Iraq is going to descend into chaos and we will sacrifice more of our young men.
And in closing, the opening verse of Dante’s epic poem, The Divine Comedy
Midway upon the journey of our life
I found myself within a forest dark
For the straightforward pathway had been lost.
posted by Mahesh Shetty | 8:13 AM
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