Today we mourn the tragic death of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Her life was taken by cowardly thugs who felt that it was time for her existence to cease. The actions of a suicide bombing and shooting (yet to be confirmed officially) are literally shots that are heard around the world. It is important that everyone remembers where they were, and what it means to them on this day.
Personally, Bhutto was not an influential person to me, yet I feel some connection to her because she was part of a politcal dynsaty. Not that I am from a political dynasty, nor do I aspire to be part of one; but that dynasty stood for what all Americans stand for -- freedom. She overcame the fact that she was a woman in a male-dominated society, she was influential, she was imprisoned in solitary confinement and came out stronger than she had been.
She continued her father's politcal dominance, and was accused of corruption within the government. She still continued to fight for what she believed in. Bhutto was able to come back to her country of Pakistan just over two months ago; she was granted amnesty from all charges against her and was able to rally many people for a great cause until the moment she left this earth.
The reason I call this "the shot heard around the world" is because during the waning days of 2007, as the stock markets around the world attempt to finish the year on a high note, terrorists decided to make a statement that they are still here. The terrorists may not be blowing up buildings filled with Americans, but a suicide bombing of innocent people and a former leader of a country that is in good tidings with the United States is an act of terrorism that must be responded to.
The geopolitcal instability caused by this tragedy DIRECTLY affects how the economy will stand on December 31, 2007. We will wake up on January 1, 2008, hungover, hoping that we dreamed about what just happened. The economies across the world felt the bombing today, the people of Pakistan mourn the loss of Benazir Bhutto who was the last straw to the legacy of her family name.
If we must live by the rule to take the good with the bad, we must rally the global economies by making it clear to the terrorists that we are still here too. Knock us down -- we get back up, kill a politcal figure in the most unjust, cowardly way -- we still prosper. I ask you, the reader of this blog, to be aware of what happened and do something about it.
I feel obligated to ya'll to write something much more lighthearted very soon, and with that: I AM OUT.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Thursday, December 6, 2007
I'm back, and moving forward!
Since I last posted something South Park has remained brilliant, yet all of Hollywood decided to go on strike. Seriously? What type of messed up system is that? Hollywood people making millions of dollars writing crap for the most part, go on strike because they are not being fairly compensated for DVDs.
What if every job in the world was performance based? Then the people who get paid millions of dollars to write shit on TV would suddenly be the beggars they should be in Santa Monica! The public ratings would prove the true success of the people, and the give the most money to the people who are performing best.
Greed is the downfall of humanity. Nothing else. People, companies and partnerships have been diminished to nothing by greed. You look at friendships that were bonded in college, and suddenly two years after graduation, you hear about the same friendships end over betrayal, or what I like to call "greed of trust" That is what happens, sometimes the unknown is better than the reality, everyone has their secrets. When relationships are built they are built on trust. When you trust someone, that person is to be trusted. That means that answers you are given are to be believed. That is why you must build this trust and not disclose too much information anytime soon.
A company with an idea gets screwed over by a competitor because the company disclosed too much information, thinking that it would get this company more money. Yet, it resulted in the company becoming diminished to a "mediocre at best" minor competitor.
We have to move forward by developing trusts, get to know people and see what trust you may be able to build and possibly even profit from!
We have to move at the speed of life, and maybe even trust yourself to go do the right thing-whatever that may be to you.
What if every job in the world was performance based? Then the people who get paid millions of dollars to write shit on TV would suddenly be the beggars they should be in Santa Monica! The public ratings would prove the true success of the people, and the give the most money to the people who are performing best.
Greed is the downfall of humanity. Nothing else. People, companies and partnerships have been diminished to nothing by greed. You look at friendships that were bonded in college, and suddenly two years after graduation, you hear about the same friendships end over betrayal, or what I like to call "greed of trust" That is what happens, sometimes the unknown is better than the reality, everyone has their secrets. When relationships are built they are built on trust. When you trust someone, that person is to be trusted. That means that answers you are given are to be believed. That is why you must build this trust and not disclose too much information anytime soon.
A company with an idea gets screwed over by a competitor because the company disclosed too much information, thinking that it would get this company more money. Yet, it resulted in the company becoming diminished to a "mediocre at best" minor competitor.
We have to move forward by developing trusts, get to know people and see what trust you may be able to build and possibly even profit from!
We have to move at the speed of life, and maybe even trust yourself to go do the right thing-whatever that may be to you.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Cereal and Milk
Finally! This is a true story, and it literally just happened. My friend who will remain anonymous, let's call him "Tom", received a jacket in the mail from his mother. Yes she is a very nice woman, but that is irrelevant from the story.
His jacket did not come in the normal mail, UPS, DHL or Fedex. It came via a friend who returned from Los Angeles. This jacket was wrapped in brown paper wrapping barely good enough for a Ralphs shopping bag, yet it contained a carefully folded jacket.
The timing could not be better, because today was a very cold day, and unfortunately only a taste of what is to come. As my friend sat with us around the table drinking, he opened the package and said that there was something else in the package, besides the jacket. What was it?
It was a box of Trix, yes the same Trix that are sugar filled treats for kids every morning from the age of 4 until the end of high school (at least during the normal breakfast hours we used to keep). So what were we to do at a bar with a box of Trix cereal?
I decided that whoever was holding the box would go up to some girls and ask them if they wanted Trix the next morning, sadly there was not one decent looking girl at the bar who was approachable; and not unapproachable in the way that a"hot girl" is unapproachable. It would be an embarrassment to all straight men who gave these women the time of day.
Since the hour is late, and I need to be up soon, I will end with this: use discretion when carrying a cereal box at a bar, because the first girl who comes up to you will not be looking to hook up or even just a free drink, she will be going straight for your TRIX!
His jacket did not come in the normal mail, UPS, DHL or Fedex. It came via a friend who returned from Los Angeles. This jacket was wrapped in brown paper wrapping barely good enough for a Ralphs shopping bag, yet it contained a carefully folded jacket.
The timing could not be better, because today was a very cold day, and unfortunately only a taste of what is to come. As my friend sat with us around the table drinking, he opened the package and said that there was something else in the package, besides the jacket. What was it?
It was a box of Trix, yes the same Trix that are sugar filled treats for kids every morning from the age of 4 until the end of high school (at least during the normal breakfast hours we used to keep). So what were we to do at a bar with a box of Trix cereal?
I decided that whoever was holding the box would go up to some girls and ask them if they wanted Trix the next morning, sadly there was not one decent looking girl at the bar who was approachable; and not unapproachable in the way that a"hot girl" is unapproachable. It would be an embarrassment to all straight men who gave these women the time of day.
Since the hour is late, and I need to be up soon, I will end with this: use discretion when carrying a cereal box at a bar, because the first girl who comes up to you will not be looking to hook up or even just a free drink, she will be going straight for your TRIX!
Monday, October 15, 2007
Light at the beginning of the tunnel
Waiting for the subway to come can sometimes be as a excruciating as waiting to hear about a job or law school or any school application results, yet it is something people do on a daily basis, usually more than once.
My take for this blog is nothing monumental, critical or merely humorous. It is just a motivation I had while I was riding the subway. As I continued to wait, and the seconds ticked on, I realized that this is not what we should be doing, life is supposed to get easier as we get older - not harder. We have on demand television, facebook, and even bidets (the things that shoot water up your butt).
My time is more valuable than the "affordability" of a subway. Interestingly enough it is how NY moves. There are a million different ways to utilize the subway and when you get there, you get there. I realized that it is impossible to achieve perfect convenience anywhere. There will always be a traffic jam, there will always be a subway delay, but when the light from the train comes slowly rolling towards you, you always sigh that sigh of relief. You realize that you will "get there" even if it took slightly longer than expected.
Proof of this is evident in the most recent Nobel Prize winners for economics. Roger Myerson, along with Leonid Hurwicz and Eric Maskin have spent their lives investigating how "mechanism design theory" works. I will get into that at some time soon I promise.
Basically if you look at mechanism design theory carefully, it can be applied to the pursuit of women by men too, I beg you to read up on it and then let me know that you read it then I can blog my take on it... until then remember to be patient and one day you will turn your shoulder and see the light at the beginning of the tunnel. You are now on your way!
My take for this blog is nothing monumental, critical or merely humorous. It is just a motivation I had while I was riding the subway. As I continued to wait, and the seconds ticked on, I realized that this is not what we should be doing, life is supposed to get easier as we get older - not harder. We have on demand television, facebook, and even bidets (the things that shoot water up your butt).
My time is more valuable than the "affordability" of a subway. Interestingly enough it is how NY moves. There are a million different ways to utilize the subway and when you get there, you get there. I realized that it is impossible to achieve perfect convenience anywhere. There will always be a traffic jam, there will always be a subway delay, but when the light from the train comes slowly rolling towards you, you always sigh that sigh of relief. You realize that you will "get there" even if it took slightly longer than expected.
Proof of this is evident in the most recent Nobel Prize winners for economics. Roger Myerson, along with Leonid Hurwicz and Eric Maskin have spent their lives investigating how "mechanism design theory" works. I will get into that at some time soon I promise.
Basically if you look at mechanism design theory carefully, it can be applied to the pursuit of women by men too, I beg you to read up on it and then let me know that you read it then I can blog my take on it... until then remember to be patient and one day you will turn your shoulder and see the light at the beginning of the tunnel. You are now on your way!
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Why are they so funny?
I remember when I was in 7th grade and some 8th graders came in one Thursday morning talking about this "really funny show" they had seen the night before called South Park. There I was, trying to figure out what this show was, I did not know that the show was a cartoon.
I began to pretend to watch the show, ya know, so I could fit in with the 8th graders. Everyone wanted to be an 8th grader when they were in 7th grade. So I would watch the show and it would be over my head to say the least. It was comical to me that Kenny got killed every episode, but that was about it!
Obviously, the older I've gotten, the more I understand. Matt Stone and Trey Parker are brilliant. They are able to weave together ridiculous thoughts that we have all experienced at one point or another and portray it in a way that pokes fun of popular culture.
We have all taken "the biggest crap ever" like in the episode last week. They had this idea and used it to poke fun at Katie Couric, Bono and European awards. The timing is great. In a week when the Noble Prize winners were announced, and Al Gore wins the peace prize for his work on global warming. It is only appropriate to mock European Awards.
People have to consider what is worthy of a prestigious award. It is quite evident that Al Gore is not one of those people, yet he won something . So to, Matt Stone and Trey Parker decided to award someone with a similar award for the same thing - crap!
I began to pretend to watch the show, ya know, so I could fit in with the 8th graders. Everyone wanted to be an 8th grader when they were in 7th grade. So I would watch the show and it would be over my head to say the least. It was comical to me that Kenny got killed every episode, but that was about it!
Obviously, the older I've gotten, the more I understand. Matt Stone and Trey Parker are brilliant. They are able to weave together ridiculous thoughts that we have all experienced at one point or another and portray it in a way that pokes fun of popular culture.
We have all taken "the biggest crap ever" like in the episode last week. They had this idea and used it to poke fun at Katie Couric, Bono and European awards. The timing is great. In a week when the Noble Prize winners were announced, and Al Gore wins the peace prize for his work on global warming. It is only appropriate to mock European Awards.
People have to consider what is worthy of a prestigious award. It is quite evident that Al Gore is not one of those people, yet he won something . So to, Matt Stone and Trey Parker decided to award someone with a similar award for the same thing - crap!
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Oompa Loompas
In the movie adaptation of Rohl Dahl's book, Charlie and Chocolate Factory tiny little people act as the workers who make everything happen in Willy Wonka's factory. These tiny workers are in fact, Oompa Loompas. Whenever one of the children misbehaves and is about to get "killed off" from the fantastic movie, the Oompa Loompas come out of nowhere and start singing and dancing a "moral of the story"-like tune to provide an "educational" experience for the people watching the film. Where do Oompa Loompas really come from and what do they really do?
Rohl Dahl was a brilliant, creative person (despite his hatred of Israel). He knew that it was good to learn something of any value from any experience at all. He figured that if he showed the public his wild imagination by connecting the story with Oompa Loompas; people would benefit from seeing the movie. We must also examine why we saw the movie in the first place.
There are several reasons that you saw this movie, the one answer that is wrong is "I wanted to kill two hours." Possible answers might include: it was too early to go back to a girl or guys house to fool around, you wanted to see Johnny Depp wearing makeup (but we know that is not the case because he is always wearing makeup, and you would rather save $10 and buy a drink at a club), and finally you most probably saw this film because it was recommended to you by one of your parents because they saw it when they were younger.
Unfortunately, that is the reason most people will answer why they saw the movie. Maybe not as the sole purpose, but a parent was a factor.
Oompa Loompas teach the lesson that is obvious: follow instructions. Conventional wisdom would say this is good, yet it is paradoxical to think that Willy Wonka followed instructions from his father the dentist.
It makes me wonder what Rohl Dahl set out to accomplish, nonetheless, it was brilliant.
This brings me to the conclusion of my first blog ever. I will post new blogs a few times a week so please check it frequently.
I have a lot to say, and it's all very entertaining!
Rohl Dahl was a brilliant, creative person (despite his hatred of Israel). He knew that it was good to learn something of any value from any experience at all. He figured that if he showed the public his wild imagination by connecting the story with Oompa Loompas; people would benefit from seeing the movie. We must also examine why we saw the movie in the first place.
There are several reasons that you saw this movie, the one answer that is wrong is "I wanted to kill two hours." Possible answers might include: it was too early to go back to a girl or guys house to fool around, you wanted to see Johnny Depp wearing makeup (but we know that is not the case because he is always wearing makeup, and you would rather save $10 and buy a drink at a club), and finally you most probably saw this film because it was recommended to you by one of your parents because they saw it when they were younger.
Unfortunately, that is the reason most people will answer why they saw the movie. Maybe not as the sole purpose, but a parent was a factor.
Oompa Loompas teach the lesson that is obvious: follow instructions. Conventional wisdom would say this is good, yet it is paradoxical to think that Willy Wonka followed instructions from his father the dentist.
It makes me wonder what Rohl Dahl set out to accomplish, nonetheless, it was brilliant.
This brings me to the conclusion of my first blog ever. I will post new blogs a few times a week so please check it frequently.
I have a lot to say, and it's all very entertaining!
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