Free the Prawns

The King of Pop (1958-2009)

This is a bit late in coming....but given my frequent impersonations of Michael Jackson's dance moves back in the day, I realized it would be wrong to miss out on a chance to give some props to the man - the legend - on my blog. Here are a couple of quotes that I thought were worth repeating:

"..A major strand of our cultural DNA has left us. RIP MJ. ... I think we'll mourn his loss as well as the loss of ourselves as children listening to `Thriller' on the record player." — Musician John Mayer,

"We are out of our joy. He is out of his pain. ... He was constantly challenged in the press and all he really wanted to be was the greatest entertainer and he was that." -- Rev. Jesse Jackson

To get an idea of how much of a fan I've been: I made home music videos of MJ, and performed renditions of Bille Jean at all major high school dances my senior year. My little cousins got so used to hearing people call me "Michael Jackson" that they actually thought I was Michael Jackson. That's not a joke; they actually told their friends "..Michael Jackson? Oh yes, that's my cousin.". I also was planning on trying out as a dancer in one of his concerts years ago but couldn't due to the unfortunate inconvenience of my MBA.

Rest in Peace, MJ. Forget the challenges that life presented. Remember all da love you got when you were on stage. And Keep moonwalking. I know I will!

Has Zardari seen the light?

I couldn't believe it a few days ago when Pakistan's prime minister admitted that Pakistan has been aiding and abetting terrorists for years. This is nothing short of earth-shattering.

Here is a quote: " Militants and extremists emerged on the national scene and challenged the state not because the civil bureaucracy was weakened and demoralized but because they were deliberately created and nurtured as a policy to achieve short-term tactical objectives. Let's be truthful and make a candid admission of the reality "

After about two decades of having new Delhi point fingers at Pakistan after terrorist attacks in Kashmir and other parts of India, and Pakistan completey denying it...I was very pleasantly suprised to hear this.

In other news, as of a few days ago, Pakistan is finally putting several suspects charged with involvment in planning the Mumbai attacks on trial. Again: another break-through. Real cooperation. I haven't heard a lot of talk about this in India...so I am now trying to figure out...am I naive to think that this is great news?

Grass is Greener

I was struck by a statement made by a friend of mine, on my recent trip to the States. She's a new mom...and was talkin' to me about all the stresses of motherhood, and I was talkin' casually about how I had met up with a bunch of friends the night before in NYC, how I had recently explored Sikkim with some friends, etc. I wasn't really too excited about the stories I was telling...it's just the latest from my end, but then she responded..."Well so, I hope you are enjoying life in happy land!"

I was really struck by this statement. Here she was, living the dream: great marriage, great career (a doctor), and a now, a proud parent. And she's asking me about "happy-land"? She was jealous of my life, though I thought it made more sense for me to be jealous of hers.

It was not only a great example of the "grass is greener on the other side" adage, but also a good reminder of the real root of happiness. It's about appreciating what you have, rather than having what you want...

Pakistan: Not a complete mess.

For a few months now, if I heard the word Pakistan, all I could think was "What a f!@# mess! " Taliban strongholds were growing, and the government appeared to be backing down and getting played (They allowed for Islamic law in some areas in exchange for the Taliban's agreement to cease fire, yet Taliban kept advancing and attacking.)

But as of the last few weeks, it seems like the tide has turned. Not only has Pakistani government taken on the Taliban head on, but even public opinion is turning anti-jihadi, according to an article I just read. Some quotes:

• Tariq Hyatt Khan is the most senior government official in one of the tribal areas in North West Frontier Province and he tells me that the people of Pakistan have simply had enough of jihadis.
• "The people hate them and if you see the letters to the editors of all the major newspapers, the people of Swat are writing and they are thanking the army for intervening in a decisive manner.
  
• "They say 'eliminate them, clear up our area, for God's sake', that is the message that is coming from the local people."
  

The main thing holding back Pakistan before is that the government turned a blind eye to extremism to appeal to jihadi-empathizing population. But now that the government has made its choice: anti-jihadi , and the people seem to agree. While it's true that even today there were attacks in Lahore by Taliban bombers, it's also true that the Taliban can't win this war without gaining support from the masses - which they seem to be losing instead. So the signs are positive.

It seems the Taliban over-played their hand by turning on the government that was letting it exist for so long. And of course they cannot re-capture Afghanistan with the US army sitting there..Is this the beginning of the end of this multi-decade jihadi nonsense? What's next? Peace between India and Pakistan? Okay, I'll try not to get carried away.

Morality

One thing that I've explored throughout life is the question of what exactly is right and wrong. I was raised in a religion / philosophy (Jainism) that is very strong in terms of the logic of its principles but weak in numbers.  So, despite a strong foundation in my own beliefs, over time, I've had to accept that many people that I was good friends with did not share the same morals - yet were right to an extent in their own perspectives.

I just came across a great talk discussing morality which examines the drivers of a person's individual moral code:

 http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jonathan_haidt_on_the_moral_mind.html

I think the speaker (Jonathan Haidt), breaks human morality down very well. Essentially there are 5 components:

1. Harm / Care : Feel compassion for other humans / creatures

2. Fairness / Reciprocity: Doing unto others as you would have them do unto you.

3. In-group loyalty (rooted in our tribal psychology): Belief that supporting your "own people" is right.

4.  Authority: Belief in deference to authority (due to its implied support of Order)

5. Purity / sanctity: The part of our ideology that supports restraint of our innate desires

According to the theory (which I buy into) , all humans believe that all 5 of these things are important, and are BORN with these inclinations. The main thing that then defines our unique opinions as adults is the weight that we place on each factor, which is driven by our own personal experiences , such as the teachings of our parents. 

Once you accept that all humans are like this, the next step is to realize that:  Even those who we disagree with most have a moral code with a basis similar to our own. For example: The Taliban - while fanatic to most of us, are driven by a belief that order is necessary to prevent chaos. Of course this reasonable foundation belief becomes tarnished by an extreme definition of Order, and a fear based approach towards enforcing it. But it could probably happen to anyone if born into certain circumstances.  We all are born with some degree of belief in the principle that we should defer to higher authorities to allow for order in society. If we are told at birth that Allah is appropriate higher authority, and the people teaching you in madrassas are the messengers of that authority....then we will do as we are told by those messengers.

I'm not saying that all perspectives on morality are created equal. But it is intriguing to see that they are in essence, different means to the same end: A functional human society. The thing is: none of us know exactly how to get there, so our understood path to that destination can easily be tarnished by what we are told.  I definitely still think that some of us are "more right" than others but its important, and in fact somewhat encouraging to know, that the innate moral goals are largely identical.

Blogged Out?

I've recently come to the realization that political blogging is only fun, if one of the following is true:

1) I hate the guy in charge

2) There's a competitive election underway.

Otherwise, there's just not much to say. Yes, yes, Obama made the right call with this $500K salary cap. And I can't believe the Bush clowns missed that obvious necessity. But Bush-bashing is passe, now that he's history. Obama is boring...cause he's actually good.

So...I need a new leader to hate, or a new topic. Suggestions?

Obama First 10 Days Scorecard

The USA and the world seem to be relishing in the enthusiasm of the new prez. So I thought I'd take a look at how he's doing so far:

1) Inauguration Speech: As usual, top-notch. Great job setting the tone of the new administration. Reminding everyone that they have to chip in, yet infusing optimism by reminding everyone that America can accomplish anything.

2) Foreign Policy: Great Start. Tough on Pakistan, but reaching out to Iran. Seems to be demonstrating clearer ideal-based policy, vs. the past's "We need your help, so we'll overlook everything policy." If he sticks to this, the world will begin to appreciate US leadership again soon.

3) Bailouts and Stimulus Packages: Hmmm. Basically, the question of whether all the giant federal deficit of $1trilllion is worth it or not depends on how wisely they spend the money. The national debt and the private debt ratio are fairly out of control. Worse than the great depression, though better than Japan's 1989 crisis. Through slow a mix of discipline and sacrifice, we can avoid a catastrophe and keep the economy afloat. But we have to make sure don't build any bridges to nowhere, or keep afloat companies that are intrinsically flawed (see: US Auto industry) . I think they are on the right track, but am concerned abt the Auto Bailout, which Obama supported, though Bush executed. Bankruptcy might have been better there...So, too early to say on all this, but Obama's sharp words to Wall Street regadig bonus excesses is a good sign, that they are on the right track.

4) Guantanamo Bay: Okay. Good to be principled, but he rushed this one a bit. Should have had a Plan of Action before actually closing it down. But overall, demonstrating that the USA is a free world "ideals" leader will be a huge factor in bringing the world behind US leaderhip again.

All in All, great start, at least an A-. 

On a lighter note: here's A funny hindi song about Obama.

2008: A few reflections

It seems that the common refrain nowadays is that 2008 was a year to forget. Well, certainly, in some ways it was; a lot of bad things happened but they were the culmination of bad decisions made in the past, and therefore inevitable.  I see this year as more of a learning year; I think the world grew up a bit, having had its share of wake up calls; and thus, we should look forward with optimism. A few key examples:

* In terms of government, the US elected the most qualified president of my lifetime, learning not to vote based on fear (McCain) or pandering (Hillary).  Even the current president seems to have learned from his mistakes and moderated. Bush has admitted to a lot of his mistakes, such as his war-mongering statements, and he has been pretty centrist in his policy toward the economy now. 

* The world finally began to accept India as a responsible nuclear power. The US-Indo nuclear deal was a big step forward.

* In  India,  the string of terror, especially the Mumbai attacks, have served as a bit of a wake up call. Already the goverment is being tougher on itself due to public outcry, and who knows, maybe we will finally be tougher on Pakistan (not holding my breath on this latter one.)

* For the first time in years (Ever?) gasoliine consumption in the US dropped. This was, of course due to this summer's sky-rocketing gasoline prices, but the now-plummeting prices won't reverse the trend, because consumers have now learned their lesson: They know that the costs could jump back up, and dependence on oil/gasoline is something that they need to keep down in the long term.  And in parralell, investment into alternative energy is skyrocketing. This is an important win for the environment - and a lesson learned. 

* I'm not sure if we've sufficiently learned the last lesson. The financial crisis came about due to irresponsible borrowing. We are now going to regualte the banking industry far better than before. But: The lesson perhaps should also have been to stop borrowing irresponsibly, but here we are bailing companies out who made bad decisions and irresponsibly lending to them from money to be earned by future generations. Perhaps it has to be done to avoid the great depression..but its also possible that we are just have delaying the pain, while increasing the magnitude of it. All of this stimulus related borrowing will drive consumption and spending above natural levels and at times, support weak companies at the cost of taxpayers. I dont have a strong opinion yet on whether the US government has responded appropriately with all the bailouts. Stay tuned for a more detailed assessment.

* On a personal note, I think my life this year was analagous to the world experience, in that, it was an up-and-down year in which I also learned alot, and have reason to look forward with optimism. This is also the year I started taking the blog a bit more seriously, and started writing more regularly. Thanks to you all for reading, especially those who have commented.

Happy Holidays, and Best wishes for the year ahead!

Asleep at the Wheel

As with every attack made by Pakistan based militants, one of the most poignant reactions to the tragedy is anger toward Pakistan. While that is also the case this time, something is different. This time, more of the anger is directed toward our own Government.

My feeling is that the Indian government as well as other leaders, such as those in the police force, have been asleep at the wheel. Comfortable in their cushy leadership roles, and lacking a willingness to think to make sure their organizations are as strong as possible. How else can you explain an anti-terrorist unit without weapons better than rifles? Was anyone thinking? As always, Indian police fought bravely given the tools the the tools and organization that they had....but who was thinking ahead? Clearly no one up top.

A friend of mine from Mumbai expressed the incompetence of the government well in his blog. One of the points that stood out for me was that Ratan Tata - billionaire owner of the Taj hotel, was on the ground near the disaster long before any government officials. The government's response, in terms of action and words, was lethargic all around.

The bright spot in this tragedy is that everywhere I look, Indians are fed up. Poor performing ministers are resigning regularly thanks to public pressure. I hope that these results will feed on themselves and Indians will see their ability to actually make a difference.

India is not Shining

This country is a mess.

Another week, another terrorist attack. We are so used to it, we talk about it briefly, then get back to our day. The attack in Mumbai was scary. We all checked to see if everyone we knew was okay, and then we moved on. That's how bad it is. It's normal. And of course, the government's response was slow, and organizer's of the attack, Pakistan based militants, will, as usual, get away with it.

What's more:

* My colleague tries to vote every year. But unless she goes extremely early in the morning, every year, someone has already voted in her name.
* This is nothing, considering that, in every election, people are seen running away with ballot boxes.
* Not that it matters, because every powerful elected official is a goon. Countless opposers of the powerful have disappeared or been killed. Of course we all know this, but I have been in India so long, that I find myself now, accepting it. Because that's just the way it is, and nothing can be done about it. Its not blown out of proportion in the news. It's normal.

How about at home, personal life. thats blissful, right? In the preceding weeks, I've heard personal accounts, from friends, of:

* A girl's parents murdering the guy their daughter eloped with. Then forced her to marry someone else. She still is. No one can say anything about what happened because the girl's father is a powerful government official.
* A mother in law throwing burning water on her daughter in law who had sacrificed her career, all her savings to pay for a dowry, and all freedom to marry into an oppressive family. She left, but eventually returned back to her in-laws place.
* A guy using a date-rape drug to coerce a girl into marrying him. She still is married to him, and she supports him while he sits around at home.
* A woman beating her husband regularly and threating to kill off her mother in law, then when she finally got asked for divorce, trying for a high alimony in the courts - which she is likely to win.

Note that These are all friends of friends. Which means that in India, this is normal.

Perhaps its the world I am fed up with and not just India. But certainly, India is not "Shining". If it is, then please scrape off that shiny exterior and see what's underneath.

Relief. Retribution. Elation. Victory. Optimism. History.

I debated for a while how to title this post.

I seriously considered:
"At Last. Retribution after 8 Years of Torture." and "The End of the Bush Era." The end of the Bush era is definitely something I've been waiting anxiously for, but a victory by any democrat would have provided that.

This victory is far more than a referendum against Bush,; it's a victory of positive politics over negative politics. A victory of Hope against Fear. A victory of a Person's qualities over Societal Biases. Of Intellect over Rhetoric. Of Unity over Division. It's a demonstration of America's ability to learn from its mistakes and move forward. It also means that USA will continue to be looked upon by the international community for leadership in the short term.

I considered "History is Made." because, what a huge accomplishment to have an African American in office. This could spark a movement toward a truly color-blind American society, something I've always dreamt of.... But anyway, you see what I ended up with: expressions of how excited I am about this victory. Its an end of 8 years of disappointment, shock, and embarrassment that began with Bush's controversial decision against Gore in 2000.

Its also important to note that my prediction 3 weeks ago about the final electoral vote tally, and frankly, all my predictions throughout this process have come out eerily accurate. I am not bragging, but......okay fine, I'm bragging. So what? It's mostly just friends & family that read my blog anyway....I told my father earlier today that my next career move would perhaps be a political Pundit. Let's see., perhaps I can squeeze it in between Tech Entrepreneur and Movie producer.

So....what will I do now? Without an election to follow, I will need new hobbies and certainly new blogging topics? Wish me luck....

Obama will be the Next President of US

There are a lot of political Pundits out there, who make statements like" Obama has the advantage, it will be difficult for McCain going forward." But unlike these "professional" pundits, I am actually going to go out on a limb and predict the outcome of this election. Obama wins. The US regains respect in the world. The words Red State and Blue state become historic. The people making decisions for the most powerful country in the world (Can I still say that? Maybe for a few more years) are actually intelligent and knowledgeable.

Of course, with Obama taking a commanding lead in the Polls, many would now predict that he would win. So I shall go a step further, and predict the actual outcome.

Obama wins: 366 electoral votes to McCain's 172 electoral votes. While it's true that some latent racial tendencies might emerge at the end of this process, it's also true that the momentum shift in favor of Obama is too much for McCain to recover from, and many staunch conservatives are going to lose their motivation to even go to the polls as they start to feel their hopes flutter.

Some more details on my prediction: Obama takes key battleground states such as Virgina, Nevada, Wisconsin, and even North Carolina and Indiana ( the Chicago factor wins out there.) McCain squeaks out Colorado, and almost loses Louisana (current not considered a battleground but I have a hunch that it will become one.)

Sarah Palin -- Bakwas

As always, the Republicans have devised a brilliant political strategy, devoid of any substance. As usual they are appealing to the uninformed/uneducated (unintelligent?) demographic of America, who would be willing to vote on emotion rather than reason. Here are some reasons that I'm worried:

* Palin is an attractive, charismatic a speaker. Her family is "All-American", with some cute little kids, rounded off by a son on his way to Iraq. It probably "feels right" to a majority of white America. (Just as Obama feels right to black America - but we know which is the larger population)

* She's a woman. While democratic women wont be swayed, what about independent women who were behind Hillary? And what a great way to energize the base of republican women.

* They are attacking the media left and right, anytime anyone says anything negative against Palin. According to one article, "it's part of a shrewd, if cynical, McCain strategy: Attack the press, which excites the party's base and, in American sports parlance, works the referees to get a more favorable call next time." So, the press is already scared to take swipes at the poor, defenseless Palin.

* McCain is tied or slightly leading Obama in most polls now! ( How can people fall for this crap!? )

Some silver-lining:

* While people are afraid to attack Palin at the moment, there is such an immense plethora of material working against her, that it may be tough to suppress it all. Couple samples:

--She takes credit for blocking the Bridge to Nowhere's wasted costs, yet she was one of the last one's to do so. Four years ago, Kerry was attacked for flip flopping on the war and taking credit for his position. It's an easy parallel to draw here; can they really suppress it?

--Her current church, the Wasilla Bible Church, promotes a "cure" for gays and lesbians. Does she agree with that stance? (If we can attack Obama's pastor...why not this?)

--She has been known to use her political power for personal agendas. Example: She fired her sister's ex-husband, while he was in a custody battle for her sister's children.

* Obama just raised $66 Million last month, again breaking fund-raising records. There is a plenty opportunity to expose the weaknesses in Palin, perhaps by leveraging other powerful women, like Hillary and Nancy Pelosi.

* In the end, this election is for president. It's going to come down to Obama vs. McCain. Obama can win those debates. And, the arguments that the Republicans were using before against him ( low experience, he's just a celebrity ) are now going to be pretty weak, given the choice of Palin, and her inexperience, and newfound celebrity status.

The Meaning of Life

One of my favorite past times is to destroy a light hearted fun moment with my friends at a social gathering, and turn it into a philosophical discussion. I just can't resist! This tendency sometimes spoils the fun, but often also causes my friends to think on a deeper level..for example, my friend Kalpana blogged about her Philosophy of life after we chatted about it. So... it's only fair that I now share mine. So here it is...behold: The Meaning of Life!

PART I. WHAT IS LIFE ALL ABOUT?
Let's be real. For all practical purposes, we live only once. Even if you believe in reincarnation, then the fact that you can't remember any of your other lives negates their relevance in terms of your personal experience. So...since you only live once...it's all about living life to the fullest. I believe in experiencing life as much as you possibly can. That doesn't necessarily mean be as happy as you can. Happiness is big part of it, of course... people that allow themselves to waste years of their lives being angry or depressed are wasting life.

However, I do believe that sometimes it's okay to be unhappy if it may enable you to later experience some of the peaks in life - those times of greatest happiness. Thus I do not subscribe to the "play it safe" school of thought. Classic examples of this mistake are:

* Never leaving your home town for fear of loneliness.
* Not taking a chance on your dream job for fear of failure.
* Not breaking out of your shell because you might embarrass yourself.
* Not telling someone that you have romantic feelings for her/him for fear of rejection.
* Not having a great, memorable experience because you might be judged.
* Not fixing a sub-par relationship with a loved one because the conversation would be awkward.

Here is the fundamental problem with all the above approaches toward life. You are going to DIE one day! you have...lets say 70-80 years fully enjoyable years on earth, and that's a bit optimistic (there could be an accident or a terrorist attack...you don't want your last thought to be..."why didn't I just try?"). Playing it safe is a foolish way to spend your few years on earth.

So there we are...live life to the fullest. Experience the broadest possible range of life that you can. Meet as many type of people that you can. Have as many types of jobs/careers/hobbies as you can. See as much of the world as you can. Challenge yourself by living the rough life, but then also challenge yourself by living the high life. Get sad or lonely at times? So what...you took that risk so that you could experience something...you'll get past it.

To clarify, I am NOT suggesting that we should always take the risky route. Playing it safe sometimes is the best way to maximize life. For example, if you really want to go bungee jumping, but would also like to make it home to see the family...you may choose to skip that risk. Or a father who chooses not to start a new business so because his current job's steady income is the safe, secure way to provide for the family. So, the safe route is sometimes better, but it shouldn't be taken out of fear, and it should be based on your own priorities, and your personal risk-return tradeoff.

Living life to the fullest ensures that the personal value of your life (PVL) is as high as possible. In other words...the value of your life to yourself. That's the first half of my philosophy.

PART II. WHAT IS RIGHT AND WRONG?
So if we are living life to the fullest, does that mean that there are no limits? That we should just cut loose and go crazy? No...that's where the Part 2 of my Philosophy comes into play: Ethics. Ethics help us to maximize the value of our lives to the universe (VLU).

To me right and wrong comes down to the following:

1. Non violence. Cause as little pain as possible. Avoid causing physical harm, emotional harm, psychological harm. This applies to people you know, people you don't know, and even animals.
2. Truth. Avoid deceit as much as possible. 99.99% of the time, deceit robs someone else of their fair shot at happiness. Deceit includes cheating on a test, or theft also.
3. Help people; help the world. It's not enough to avoid causing pain....put a smile on as many faces as you can. Volunteer, improve society, invent a clean renewable fuel technology. Touch as many hearts as you can. Become an unforgettable memory whenever you can.
4. Take care of your loved ones. To some people, you just mean a hell of a lot more. Be there for them, defend them, support them, vigilantly make sure they are happy.

That about covers it. Anything else you can think of...it probably falls into this somewhere if you think about it.

Of course the usual questions are...what if any of these things come into conflict? Well you just have to use judgment. Simple example: Some loser guy disrespects your sister or wife. Do you hit him? Ethical values #1 and #4 come into conflict here....but certainly, if the disrespect is extreme enough, hell yeah, I hit him!

Another possible area of conflict is between Part I and Part II of the philosophy. For me, living life to the fullest would mean that I try as many types of food as possible. But Part II suggests that by avoiding eating meat, I minimize harm. So I have to pass judgment, and it turns out that the higher VLU is worth the trade off against my slightly reduced PVL, so I choose to be vegetarian.

Summary
To summarize, the meaning of life is to make your best effort to maximize the sum: PVL + VLU. Yes! I even broke life down to a mathematical equation! (I am a true Chicago GSB graduate, baby!)

Questions or thoughts about this? Please enter a comment and I'll gladly put in a follow up post.

Joe Biden?

To me, it looks like Barack went with his conscience here. He de-emphasized political strategy, and chose based on credentials. Surely, Biden does offer the foreign policy experience that Obama needs to balance out his relative inexperience, but this cannot be labeled as a campaign tactic, because he really just hired the best guy for the job. Joe Biden is who Obama needs as his #1 advisor...some with a lot of experience and strong opinions.

It must have been tough to resist the temptation to choose based on political strategy (ex. Gov Kaine of Virginia, who would've helped to win a southern state, or Hillary to secure her base.) But I like this decision, because in the end anyone can be beaten up by the oppositions tactics, so you just need to go with the best choice, especially with a relatively less foolish electorate this year (They didn't vote on the gas tax holiday, a good sign that they the nation is relatively less prone to campaign tricks). That said: With Obama and McCain neck and neck in polls, the situation is scary, and Obama-Biden could easily lose, who knows? I may end up wishing he had chosen more based on tactics than on merit. But at this point, there is a lot of game to be played and the conventions and debates are what will determine the victors in this election. I'm staying optimistic!

India's "Nucular" Deal

With McCain and Obama throwing irrelevant darts at each other while we all wait for the VP announcements, and a president who is quickly approaching "lame duck" status, US politics is relatively boring right now.

Thus, after some heated discussions this past week with some colleagues at Google India, I thought I'd dabble, for the first time, in writing about the crazy world of India politics. The US-India nuclear pact is highly controversial in India, with the two main political parties - the Congress, and the BJP on opposite sides of the issue (The Congress supports the deal / BJP is against it). While I am a supporter of the BJP - their opposition to this deal appears to be nothing more than a pure political play; i.e. they want something to blame the Congress for, so they are exaggerating (inventing) reasons to oppose the deal.

The BJP argues that the deal puts the US in control of India' technology, and somehow has managed to foster the belief the deal has a stipulation that India should conduct no nuclear tests going forward. There is no such stipulation. That's why non-proliferation advocates (Example) in the West oppose the deal. The only thing that India has to agree to is to let civilian reactors (not it's military reactors) be subject to inspection for adherence to International safety standards. And I think its fair to say that ensuring the safety of the reactors is in the interests of the जनता (people).

The only other argument that the opposition makes is that the additional nuclear reactors would only make a small dent into India's energy needs. One critic said: "“Nuclear power provides only 3 per cent of India’s current energy and this will not change massively in the near future." - a hollow argument which still fails to explain why nuclear energy shouldn't be at least part of the solution.

Luckily the deal squeaked through Parliament, despite (or - because of) a number of bribes given out by both sides to buy votes of various members of Lok Sabha. [This corruption was met with shrugs by most Indians, given how normal it is...but that's a topic for another post!]. Now onto the US Congress, where it will likely be put down by the Democratic congress anyway.

This is one of those rare moments when I find myself supporting my most hated politician. The deal is good for both sides. The US economy gets about $100 Billion in revenue, and a more trusting, substantive relationship with a much needed democratic ally. India get's a jump ahead on technology which it has not successfully developed itself, improved relationship with the US, and very clear symbol of trust that says to the world: "India is a responsible nuclear power."

So Bush: even though you can't say "nuclear", and your blatant disregard for international norms is usually a problem...this time, you are actually being a leader.

My advice: Don't choose Hil'.

Barack declared that he that he "will win the nomination" yesterday. And, while
Hillary hasn't yet conceded, it's clear that the media can't hold back anymore; are a lot of articles saying already that Barack "has made history" already. Thus, no need for me to toe the line anymore either! So..congrats Barack and congrats USA. I think a lot of us who had forgotten how to be proud of the US can soon be so again.

Of course, now the big guessing game begins. Who will be the VP? And again, Hillary is a potential disruptive threat. Note that I didn't say viable option...I said threat. I am already bracing myself for Hillary's public declaration of her interest in the VP slot, which would put a lot of pressure on Obama to choose her, because: to turn her down would look really, really bad given that the nomination fight was almost a tie. The problem is: While she was almost the best candidate for the nomination, she's not a great candidate for a VP for Obama. Her message is different, and her style is standard Washington politics. Will she be able to mesh with Obama's high road political style? And, even if she can...would she be willing to? Not sure...Hillary seems to do whatever she wants.

So...Senator Obama, I hope one of your staffers stumbles upon my blog and gives you my advice. Don't choose Hil', if you can at all avoid it. You cant change the world if you got a number #2 on your ticket who is almost as powerful as you and is an old stlyle Washington politican. Pick Jim Webb perhaps. Edwards, maybe? I mean no disrespect to Hillary...she rocks. But she should keep doing her thing in the Senate. She's a decision maker, a great debater, and she's right for the legislative branch ... but not to co-lead the nation.

But, but....he's black!

Is America ready to elect an African-American? That's the question of the day after Hillary won the West Virgina primary by a 2:1 margin, and 2/10 of voters said that race was a factor in their voting. I had a couple friends email me today..telling me that, if I think Obama has any chance in a general election, then I've been in India too long, and I've forgotten about the race divide in America. They tell me that blue-collar whites are voting almost entirely for Hillary. They tell me that whites voters will get nervous and vote for McCain due to controversy's like Wright etc.

Well here is how I see it: Its not about how the chess board looks at this moment that counts, it's how it looks 2-3 steps ahead from now. Today, Obama is an African-American man with an African-American family. Yet: He is on the cusp of wining the democratic nomination. While he has a white mom - a fact that is critical to his success, and he is, predictably receiving almost all of the black vote, the key to his victory has been young white voters and college educated white voters. These are 2 demographics that he has won on merit alone, in spite of his color.... Now, the main election will be a different game - that's why everyone is worried. Fewer blacks in the general election, and what if all the blue-collar Democratic whites switch parties and vote McCain? How will Obama take a southern Red state?

Well, there are 2, very predictable moves that you have to consider before evaluating Obama's chances. 1) His VP choice is going to be white, probably from the south. You have to picture Obama next to his future VP. They will take care to make most of their photo ops combined, and together, they will not look like a black guy, but instead, a great representation of America's diversity. 2) Hillary is going to endorse him, unequivocally. All the blue collar voters, whose trust Hillary earned - most of them will continue to trust her judgment. She'll admit that Obama is not out-of-touch with regular Americans, and not racially biased. One article I read reminded us that when Clinton bows out, she will go out with "good ol' Clinton magic". At the end of her concession speech, Obama supporters are going to have tears in their eyes after her message of Hope, unity, and support for Obama, and she (and Bill) will make it feel like a victory for everyone involved.

I'm not saying that McCain will be easy to beat. He's already beginning to distance himself from Bush (he recently admitted that global warming is real!), and he's a great candidate - for a republican. But Obama defied expectations to (probably) become the Democratic nominee...and thus, I am just saying that my money is on him to do that again.