Barackface

Sunday, December 07, 2014

Berea College Died For Me During Five Minutes With Virgil Burnside

English: This is the Official Berea College Logo. It is used in the article on Berea college, so that users can instantly identify that they have come to the correct article. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I attended a high school in Kathmandu that was not designed for people like me. We Madhesis are almost 40% of Nepal, but not even 1% of the Nepal Army, less than 5% of the Nepal Police, of the Nepal bureaucracy. Had not the British given the southern plains to Nepal in two parcels in 1816 and 1860, we would have been part of India today, and since 1947. Bhutan does not have southern plains.

Budhanilkantha School is the national school of Nepal, and the ethnic composition of its student population was and is like the ethnic composition of the Nepal Army. The Terai faces internal colonization and that fact is reflected in all state machineries of the Nepali state.

We are the Indian origin people in Nepal. I am half Indian by birth. It is a sorry state a population as big, right next to the regional power India would be in some kind of a political blind spot.

I went through hell and high water to get to college in America. And I had a very happy freshman year. I got myself elected student body president within six months of landing as an international student in the Bible Belt Deep South. A few weeks into office, Berea College died for me during five minutes with Virgil Burnside.

Saturday, December 06, 2014

Europe, Japan And Immigration

Relative proportions of immigrants from Northwestern Europe (red) and Southern and Eastern Europe (blue) in the decades before and after the immigration restriction legislation. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I think one big reason Japan has been in the doldrums for decades now, and why Europe continues to be in a funk is that both are kind of hostile to immigration. And so you end up with skewed demographics, and you hurt the economy.

For its entire history, immigration has been America's number one strength. The president's recent positive step aside, Washington DC's hostility towards immigrants is a resolve to take America down the Japanese/European path.

Friday, December 05, 2014

Mulayam: Bad Choice

English: Nitish Kumar (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Janata parties coming together is a good thing for Indian democracy. But Nitish might have lost some ground in the process.

When Nitish was running up and down the street urging the BJP to not pick Modi as its prime ministerial candidate, for a moment I thought maybe he himself harbors prime ministerial ambitions. But no, Nitish was rooting for LK Advani!

Advani would have been a sorry choice. I think Advani at the BJP helm would have created room for a Third Front government.

And now Nitish is behind another octogenarian, Mulayam. Mulayam is no development man. At least Laloo had a stellar stint as Railways Minister. Mulayam has none of that. He was a Mandal man who played the caste cards to his advantage. But those tricks don't work no more. Modi khud backward hai.

Nitish is the only development man in the Janata Parivar, and his not leading the unified party tells me Modi will stay PM for 15 years. He is the BJP's Nehru.

This is like Yahoo and Bing coming together to take over Google. Google's search market share increased in the aftermath. Right now my bet is the BJP is on its way to forming the state government in Uttar Pradesh. So much for Mulayam leading the unified Janata party.

Bado ka aadar karo, lekin itna mat karo ki democracy tabah ho jaye.

Thursday, December 04, 2014

The Theoretical Void In Economics

English: Total Solar eclipse 1999 in France. * Additional noise reduction performed by Diliff. Original image by Luc Viatour. Français : L'éclipse totale de soleil en 1999 faite en France. * Réduction du bruit réalisée par Diliff. Image d'origine Luc Viatour. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The 2008 economic meltdown came out of nowhere. Literally no one saw it coming. No economist of any renown had foreseen it. That is like having an army of astrophysicists none of whom can predict the next solar eclipse. I am not too impressed with the economists of the world. Reality is ahead of theoretical progress in the field, obviously.

And even when the crisis hit, the prescriptions were hotchpotch. They were coming from policymakers who sort of kind of knew what needed to be done. That is a sad state of affairs. I still see that theoretical void. It goes unfilled.

One prescription was the 700 billion dollar stimulus. That helped but was too small to make full use of the crisis. Another prescription was the Fed simply printing and pumping dollars into the economy. And that is intriguing to me. Simply by printing more dollar bills, the Feds were also having positive impacts on far flung countries.

Wednesday, December 03, 2014

The Mediterranean Diet

Eating the Mediterranean diet may lead to a longer life

a menu that is rich in vegetables, fruits, nuts, beans and peas, unrefined grains, olive oil and fish. It keeps dairy, meat and saturated fats to a minimum. And you can have a glass of red wine with dinner without cheating. ........ Fruits, vegetables, olive oils and nuts -- the key components of a Mediterranean diet -- have well-known antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.

Could a 'Mediterranean' Diet Extend Your Life?

rich in whole grains, vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, fish and olive oil

Mediterranean diet 'slows ageing' - and could even help you live longer

Nitish Has Valid Points On Indian Muslims And The BJP

हिन्दी: देश के उप राष्ट्रपति मोहम्मद हामिद अंसारी पटना में पूर्व मुख्यमंत्री सत्येन्द्र नारायण सिन्हा(छोटे साहब) की 94वीं जयंती पर आयोजित व्याख्यानमाला श्रंखला पर पूर्व सांसद किशोरी सिन्हा और मुख्यमंत्री नीतीश कुमार के साथ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Former Bihar CM Nitish Kumar questions NDA's good governance claim

questioned why a single Muslim was not among its 282 Lok Sabha MPs from BJP ...... he wondered if the low representation of Muslims in BJP was just a coincidence or it was part of a well thought-out strategy. ..... though BJP got an absolute majority for the first time, a significant aspect was that its vote share was only around 31 per cent. ..... the party has only 22 Muslims out of the total 1,352 MLAs.

Friday, November 21, 2014

Obama, Modi, And The Sling Shot Effect

Barack Obama was the most exciting politician on the planet in 2009. Today that person is Modi. But Modi is also that Jupiter around which Obama can give himself additional momentum through the sling shot effect. In getting close to Modi, Obama can give his final two years in office new life. He need not be a lame duck. He can approach his final two years in office with renewed vigor. And proximity to Modi can help.

Obama's act on immigration reminds me of the guy I volunteered for in the 2007-08 cycle. The guy I volunteered for was, is bold. He need not go quietly into the sunset.

India is the new Britain. Britain being America's closest ally served the Cold War purposes. That era ended a while ago. In the current struggle known as the War On Terror, India is the new Britain. India is America's new best friend. This War only ends after every Muslim country has been turned into a vibrant democracy. And India is the laboratory that can make it happen. The separation between mosque and state has to be first established fully in India. And then it can be taken to the rest of the Islamic world.

Obama going to be Chief Guest at India's Republic Day celebrations in January is a great sign. He will come back to America after that trip as if he just won an election.

We must live in a decidedly post-colonial world where the rulers of the two largest democracies look like Gandhi and MLK.