Life, Liberty & The Pursuit of Happiness

Blindness of the Anointed

by Reena Kapoor

This seemingly thoughtful piece in the WSJ yesterday, prompted me to write to the author who blind to his own snobbery was lamenting that amongst his liberal friends; and not because it's wrong but only because it was not helping them manipulate the masses at this time.  Read: If you don't sign up for our lefty agenda it's only because you're not paying attention and are easily distracted.

Mr. Frank --
You suffer from the same elitism - and the same blindness to it - that you accuse your liberal friends of.  I am no conservative but the health care plan that Obama has in mind will die in its tracks not because (as you suggest) people think less of Obama because of his overreaction to the Gates incident but because most Americans possess a rare and solid suspicion of big government solutions. What you consider a panacea for class-divide is hardly that, let alone be the answer to our health-care crisis.  Americans - especially the working class who you imply are stupid enough to vote based on distractions alone - see how poorly government does when it takes over or when it meddles in industry. Besides these simple-minded folks are also becoming less and less enthralled with Obama's preferred solutions to all problems - spend, print, spend, print.  Perhaps time for you to reconsider your own supercilious assumptions and show some respect for the people that voted Barack the President of this country?

Recession: Picking Signal From Noise

Talk to most people about the economy: the weary smile response is "the worst is over", "green shoots are emerging", or some token grunt of hope. The main stream media - along with Quantitative Easing & Fiscal Stimulus crowd - are trumpeting the end of recession just around the corner. If this is not the case of hope triumphing over experience, it is certainly the case of hope triumphing over facts.

For a sobering look at facts, uncluttered by government propaganda or industry biases, check out: The End of The End of Recession.

Autism - Reconsidering A "Disease"

Tyler Cowen makes an eloquent case of redefining autism from a disease to a health state with mixed blessings. In a poorly titled but cogently argued article Autism as Academic Paradigm, he explains why we may be overly "medicalizing" the autism spectrum. His reasoning goes as follows:

Mocking Taliban

That Taliban needs to be defeated is not in dispute among the civilized folks. But beside the prologed war in Afghanistan and Pakistan, what other tactics could be effectively employed against a brutal, fanatical regime?  The Indian magazine Pragati suggests an intriguing answer: Mock them!

China Goes Brazilian

by AW

John Lee, author of Will China Fail? writes in his article Is China Really An East Asian Success Story

McKinsey & Co suggested that the average Total Factor Productivity of large state-owned and state-controlled industrial firms was half that of privately owned firms. Bear in mind that the 152 centrally managed state-owned-enterprises or SOEs are the most efficient of the state-owned and state-controlled entities. Even then, 80% of profits from all centrally managed SOEs come from fewer than a dozen firms such as China Mobile, Sinopec, and China National Petroleum Corporation—all operating in virtual monopoly environments.

In other words, the vast majority of even the centrally managed SOEs, despite easy credit and protected environments, are poor performers. Most of the approximately 120,000 provincial state-owned or state-controlled enterprises and collectives perform even worse. To put the situation in perspective, China’s overall use of capital is twice as inefficient as India’s when measured in terms of capital inputs used to produce additional output.

The absolute size of China means that even if its economy falters, China will continue to be a major presence in the region. However, given the weaknesses in its economic strategy and civil society, we need to consider the possibility that China is becoming more like an unbalanced South American giant such as Brazil than an East Asian success story such as Taiwan and South Korea.

Blessings Gadget

by AW

Have you blessed your brand new iPhone yet? Gadget Blessings from the Wired Magazine states:

Japan's Shinto religion holds that nearly every object in the world, animate or inanimate, has a spiritual essence. Therefore, anything can be blessed, from a newborn child to an automobile. Priests at the Kanda Shrine, which overlooks Akihabara—Tokyo's mecca for consumer electronics—offer prayers for the well-being of gadgets.

Hindus are not far behind their tech worship. Car worship (car puja) is practiced by many Hindus even in the U.S.

This step-by-step guide may come handy for the next Prius purchase.

I recall my mother tying black threads (parandees) to the muffler of our new Vespa scooter. The scooter was no worse for it. Though I still shake my head at the thought.

Pakistan's Islamic Education Myth

by AW

In a brilliant post, Asim Khwaja lays bare the Madrassa Myth of Pakistan. In post-9/11 era, there is media perception that Pakistan's madrassas (religious schools) are rising in prominence and are the hot bed of terror. This is a common myth that even NY Times ascribes to in the article Pakistan’s Islamic Schools Fill Void, but Fuel Militancy.