Obama Nobled!

The Norwegian Nobel joke continues. Its Obama for Peace.

The liberal winner cup overflows.

We have seen the likes of Jimmy Carter, a gutless appeaser, Yasser Arafat, a terrorist thug and Al Gore, a lying Green win the same prize in the past. Therefore should we be surprised at the Obama choice?

(Plagiarized from BBB)

Just a crazy idea...

What can Obama do to top all this adulation and attention he is in right now? Decline the peace prize and say this is just a beginning and he would like to wait to deserve it! There goes all the hate.

What ya think?

911 & God... A thought

From Stanley...

On the 11th of September 2001 my wife and I were to visit New York and Washington. Sitting before the television after breakfast we were suddenly thrown into a pool of tears to think of what happened to thousands at 9 am and how God spared us.

Almost all the evangelical Christian leaders of America would agree that God is angry with their nation. A country which was founded on God and the Bible has drifted away from Him. God says, " My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters; and hewn themselves cisterns-broken cisterns-that can hold no water" (Jer 2:13). America has invented new gods. The attack on the World Trade Centre is God's rebuke against the god of materialism. The goddess of entertainment received her rebuke when the antenna on the tower fell. The attack on Pentagon is a rebuke on the reliance on military strength. The hijacking of airplanes tells us that we cannot boast of our technological advance. It's time that what's inscribed on the American coin-IN GOD WE TRUST-be transcribed on the hearts of people. King Solomon, the wisest and the wealthiest man who ever lived, said, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding" (Prov 3:5).

By letting such a tragedy happen in the only super power nation in the world, God tells all the inhabitants of the earth, "Everything that can be shaken must be shaken so that only that which cannot be shaken may remain" (See Heb 12:27). It is not the super power but the supernatural power that will stand for ever.

The city of Chennai (India) experienced a tremor measuring 5.9 in the Ritcher Scale on the 25th the same month. Chennai is the Jerusalem of India. Are we heading towards a World War? This is a question that haunts every heart. We don't know anything at the moment for sure. Christ predicted of "wars and rumours of wars" as the "beginning of sorrows" (Mt 24:6-8). We are however admonished to pray for all leaders that we may lead "a quiet and peaceable life" (1 Tim 2:1,2). There is no security in the military strength or monetary power. No place on earth is absolutely safe.

Let's resound the immortal words of the hymnologist Edward Mote (1797-1874)-

On Christ the solid Rock I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand!

Barack, The Swatter

Obama is more closer to normal people. And he is doing it day in and day out. Associated press mentions a latest incident when Barack Obama smacked a fly during a live interview with CNBC correspondent John Harwood, left, in the White House on Tuesday June 16, 2009 in Washington. The best part is he warns it saying, 'get out of here' and then decides to smack it.

No retakes, editing or assistance... just as he is expected to... handle everything alone and settle once and for all. The Economist reports that US President Obama's likeability factor amongst Americans is nearly 70%.

If only things were so simple and easy. Hope is still on Obama about what he can do - turnaround the economic crisis and bring everything on track once again. Time is ticking. All the rhetoric & promises aside, brand Obama's delivery time has come. Will he succeed or collapse? I am starting to question.

Here it is on youtube, the original one before other funny versions crop up.

Eco-friendly options

Each time I have a soft drink and dispose the bottle it crosses my mind. The eco-friendly thought about the bottle being dissolved in environment. I am against all fuss about the eco-friendliness and consequences but am clear about waste. I believe someone somewhere has to start being clear about manners, like disposing your waste in a systematic way. Except for a few people I have never seen any one throwing things in the dustbin. Most of the disposable glasses, tea cups are found on the road, around the dustbin and so on. Coca Cola has thought about this and is planning to come out with an eco-friendly single-use bottle with plant base which can be recycled naturally.

The “PlantBottle” is made from a blend of petroleum-based materials and up to 30 percent plant-based materials. According to the company, the bottles, which are made through a process that turns sugar cane and molasses into a component for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic, are fully recyclable and will be identified with messages on the packages and in stores.

Coke’s effort mirrors moves made by other large bottled water companies all over the world including Pepsi to help the cause. I think each individual should make this a habit to be clean and dispose the waste as required. Good going Coke.

Obama vs Capitalism

I'm not going to get into what's fair. That's for individual bondholders to decide," explained new GM CEO (and former CFO) Fritz Henderson. Fair? There's nothing fair about doing business with the government or the unions.

Few people, especially in government and big business, seem to remember one of the founding principles of Western civilization and capitalism: private property. If you borrow someone's private property, you have to pay it back. It's not optional. GM has borrowed $27 billion from its bondholders - and Fritz Henderson was the person who arranged nearly all of these loans while he was CFO. Fritz promised lenders they would be repaid. If GM cannot repay these debts on time with interest, then according to all the laws of this country and 1,000 years of common-law tradition, GM's assets are legally transferred from the company's equity investors to the bondholders through bankruptcy. Them's the rules. But apparently, OBAMA! has other ideas about how things should work.

OBAMA! is demanding a 50% equity stake in the restructured GM. That's not a misprint. The government wants half of the new company. For what? Yes, the government has put $15 billion into the company - but it did so only after GM should have filed for bankruptcy. In other words, without the government's "help," the bondholders would have gotten 100% of the new company. Now, even though they're still owed $27 billion (almost twice what the government is owed), they're being asked to accept only 10% of the equity in the new GM. Where's the rest of the equity going to be "spread around"? The union expects a 39% stake. And Fritz even plans to give existing shareholders a 1% stake. Everyone, it seems, is going to get a large stake in the new GM - except for the company's legitimate creditors.

Memo to OBAMA!: Capitalism doesn't work when debts aren't repaid. Capitalism doesn't work when legitimate creditors are put last in line - behind the union. If you think the way to restart the financial system is to allow the government to steal 50% of GM's assets and give the rest to the union, you're nuts. Nobody can afford to make a loan if they're forced to figure out the odds that OBAMA! will steal their collateral.

--- Porter Stansberry

Next top blog

How long will it take to be a top blog? Well Obama's blog is 69'th at present on Technorati. The idea of the world's most powerful man talking to you is amazing. But will he be ale to sustain this popularity? The prediction is that the blog will become the most popular blog and reach the top 10 spot in the next 45 days! Here is a video from this blog.



Reasons for the success:

• Interactive nature
• Economic crisis and message of hope
• Quick escalation of issues
• Recency effect
• Huge expectations

Having a blog isn't going to make Obama loved for ever. It is time to deliver.

No travelling this year

Hoteliers should brace for a tough year in 2009. The continued drop in U.S. consumer confidence has a profoundly negative effect on demand, which causes increases in layoffs and joblessness. Lack of demand causes a slump in manufacturing, which in turn creates a slowdown in global commerce. This has a massive trickledown effect on business travel. Among the hundreds of thousands of layoffs reported in the United States alone, there are thousands of business travelers now removed from business travel circulation. Results of new survey from the Association of Corporate Travel Executives Tampa Bay are as expected. Seventy-one percent of respondents to the ACTE poll will spend less on travel in 2009, 21 percent said they will spend the same and only 8 percent said they will spend more. 

The ACTE 2009 Business Travel Spend Survey illustrates that the hardest hit area of business travel is internal meetings, which can constitute up to 40 percent of a travel budget. The growing popularity of electronic business travel alternatives is enabling companies to reclaim as much as $10 million from their travel budgets, without compromising their travel objectives. 

O-BA-MA

The hands that hold the keys to the future of the world. They have a great responsibility and power. The dawn of a new presidency is always a time of awe and anxiety. The awe comes in bearing witness to the peaceful transfer of power as a new chapter of national history unfolds. The anxiety speaks to an untested new leader and the challenges he will face. The swearing-in today of the nation's 44th president is a moment of particular extremes: enormous joy, great hope, deep fears. 

Let us see how he would use them.

Kiss you, Dog!

Many of you have already seen Bush ducking like a professional when a journo threw his shoes at him. Now this is a picture taken from the front just as he was doing it. What Bush did was great. He bahaved like a gentleman: composed, quick and thoughtful! In fact I was expecting him to get angry at the least. He did not. And his comment that the size was 10 was very cheerful.

Was this a publicity stunt?
Or a symbolic action?
Momentary anger?

Well the media reported it in such a way that they equated it with how people bet Saddam Hussein's statue with soles when he was ousted. It takes a lot of strength to stand up to what you feel and do, own your actions. Bush has had quite happening presidency and took some strong decisions on Iraq, Afghanistan and policies. Let's see how many of them will have good results.

Memoirs of Laura

The First Lady of the US, Laura Bush, is in talks for a multimillion-dollar deal to write her memoirs, while her husband George W. Bush may have to wait years before he can write his.

As things have not been going very well during his two terms as President, Bush has been advised to wait for some years before he can publish his memoirs.

Bush would still have some buyers. But as many feel that Bush has had the guts to take some very controversial yet influencing decisions in American history which would have a long-lasting effect. I would really like to know how felt and why he took them.

Obama or McCain: Jus another face of Uncle Sam

I don't agree with Prof. Ray when he says Obama's election would usher in a welfare state in the US. Let me tell you why.

America, or for that matter any nation, is built on certain fundamental principles, beliefs and customs which are designed and created by the people (at least in a democratic society) over a period of time. It does not evolve in a night or does change so fast. Its the foundation on which the nation stands, works and acts.

Obama is just another president. I call him a comma in the history of time (as of now). You don't know if he will be able to make good all the promises he has made and fulfill all his wonderful dreams before his tenure. No wonder he has captured world's imagination and created hope and justified that dreams would come true. Who expected an African American to become the president of the United States? On this front he has succeeded. I also think that certain policies are going to make news for being so social in their tone and mode of implementation but on the whole Uncle Sam's policy will not change.

America has been a capitalist nation and fanatical follower on this front. No individual, not even Obama, can change such a nation to socialist. The system does not support that. The mentality/psyche, of the people, conglomerates, bureaucracy will not change. Its gonna be the same hard pill but coated with pink sweet smelling candy. Capitalism is here to stay. So welfare state can take a break as US was a capitalist state, is one and will be.

Another opinion is that the entire system needs a 'Change' and hence Obama is the right person at the right time. I don't know. I wish he could and hope he stands for what he has been telling people he would do. Bring in Change, give people hope and lift the nation out of the financial crisis and save the image.

America needs a saviour, a leader whom they can look up to, a person who seems real, a president they can relate to. Is Obama the answer?

Obama or no Obama, in God we trust. Good luck, Obama!

McCain picks Sarah Palin

Some 12 hours after the Democrats across the U.S were energized by Barack Obama's acceptance speech, McCain regained some of the buzz with his choice of Sarah Palin, 44, a maverick Republican neophyte who was not even on the shortlist of candidates that at one time included the Indian-American governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal.

Palin is the youngest and first female governor of Alaska, a state that became part of the U.S only in 1949 some 80 years after it was bought from the Russian Empire for $ 7.2 million (about 2 cents an acre). She came to national attention because of her whistleblowing on ethical violations by state Republican Party leaders two years ago. She won election in 2006 by first defeating the incumbent governor in the Republican primary, then a former Democratic Alaskan governor in the general election.

Palin is certain to add some excitement to the rather staid candidature of McCain, notwithstanding his record as a war hero. According to the political grapevine, Palin could well be a conservative posterchild: She hunts, eats moose burgers, ice fishes, rides snowmobiles, and owns a float plane. She also holds a lifetime membership with the National Rifle Association. One of her sons, the eldest of five children, is in the army and is currently deployed in Iraq. The youngest, who is suffering from Down’s Syndrome, was born only four months ago.

McCain's pick of Palin is clearly aimed at attracting female support, especially from Democrats disgruntled over Hillary Clinton's loss in the primaries and Obama not picking her as his running mate thereafter. The choice also balances the Republican ticket, since McCain himself is seen as more centrist than conservative. Palin delivered her fifth child despite knowing about the Down’s Syndrome, which will make her a heroine to the pro-life, anti-abortion groups.

Obama VP Txt Reaches 2.9 Million

Nielsen Mobile (press release): "Nielsen Mobile, a service of The Nielsen Company, estimates that 2.9 million US mobile subscribers received a text message from the Obama campaign over the course of Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

How does Nielsen know this? Nielsen Mobile monitors shortcode marketing (the use of text-message shortcodes such as the 62262 “O-B-A-M-A”) through the world’s largest telecommunications bill-panel, an opt-in panel that reports on the billing activity for more than 40,000 subscriber lines in the US. It’s just one of the many ways Nielsen reports on wireless and mobile media consumers."

Obama Againist Outsourcing?

Taking a tough stand against outsourcing, the presumptive Democratic nominee Senator Barack Obama said that the choice is between giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas or give benefit to those corporations that keep jobs domestically."We can keep giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas, or we can give tax benefits to companies that invest right here in New Hampshire," Senator Obama said at a joint appearance with Senator Hillary Clinton in Unity, New Hampshire."We can have a tax code that rewards wealth and hands out billions of dollars more to big corporations and multimillionaires. Or we can provide a USD 1,000 tax cut to 95 per cent of families in America, start rewarding work and not just wealth, and eliminate income taxes for seniors making USD 50,000 a year or less," Obama said, adding that's an agenda for change that we can believe in. That's the choice that we can make in this election."We can allow millions of Americans to work full-time but still not make enough to support their families, or we can raise the minimum wage, index it to inflation, and ensure that hard work pays off in America," the Illinois Senator said.

Source.

Make way for the new Prez Obama!

Its almost clear that Obama is leading the race for the US President. But I salute the spirit and passion of Hillary. How she follows her campaign! Anyways history will be made. So what I expect is Obama for the prez and Hillary for the vice-prez. That would be a dream come true, for both! Make way for Obama!

If this happens and if Obama’s signals are to be heeded there would be less and less projects coming to India as they would be directed to other nations. With new talent coming up in the form of China, Vietnam and other such nations we will have a tough time in continuing the same lifestyle and we definitely need a back up! So better start working on alternative technologies and skills that would keep your valet full even when the IT shifts its base.

So what’s your back up plan?