The “ME” Generation Gone Wild

“City council drops moment of silence” - so stated the headline of the lead article in today’s local newspaper. The article went on to say, “The City Council has dropped its ritual moment of silence at the start of meetings, and some members questioned whether the Pledge of Allegiance should go next.”

As I read on, I wanted to know why. Why get rid of the moment of silence? The answer came two paragraphs later…

“The change came at the request of one of the council’s newest members, who said the practice could be seen as a form of prayer and might offend those who don’t want to participate.”

It didn’t really answer my question, yet there were clues. But it got me thinking about a more general issue which goes far beyond whether or not to observe moments of silence in small-town council meetings. There is a movement underway endeavoring to wipe out anything religious. Our country which was founded because people were looking for freedom of religion, is now a country where there is a strong push for freedom from religion.

Again I ask why, yet regrettably I think I already know the answer, and the answer actually goes far beyond the anti-religious movement. Why are people anti-moments-of-silence? Why are some anti-anything-religious? Why are others anti-(name any group of people, political party, belief, etc.)?

It’s all about selfishness and arrogance.

The new city council member either wants to exert new-found power because of his arrogance, or he just cannot stand the idea of other people believing differently than he does; again, because of his arrogance.

Arrogance is why the minority side of any issue thinks they should have it their way. People in our society are just unwilling to loose. They are unwilling to accept something they don’t happen to personally support. It’s the “me generation” gone wild. There is an epidemic of arrogance, selfishness and even bigotry, on the rise in our generation.

The anti-religion movement is rooted in selfishness as well. An atheist wants to make a name for himself, and becomes intoxicated on the power of his influence. Or maybe because of their bigotry (which is another form of self-centeredness and arrogance), they despise those who are different from themselves. Had you ever considered attacks on religion by atheists as an act of bigotry? Think about it.

And the “religious” are not immune. No one is immune from the diseases of the ego. All of the world’s conflicts, whether among nations or married couples or just two co-workers, are rooted in self-centeredness and arrogance. Get over it people!

We need to all grow up and stop acting like spoiled brats. We cannot always get our way, and we just need to accept that. And we need to start thinking more about others, and less about our selves.

What our society needs more than anything is a good old-fashioned dose of humility. And this actually gets me back to the bible, where humility is held in high esteem. For as Jesus said,

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5)

Arrogant Michelle Obama Bashes America at USC

Captains Eternal

I am usually reluctant to get into descriptions using religious terminology. Seems like a no win situation for me. However, our goal all along has been to identify common belief patterns where we find them. A reoccurring theme of religious doctrine is that humans possess an immortal essence, or soul. There is a counterpart in a systems view of human beings. The essence of an agent is its core accumulation of knowledge.

Instance of soul

In the systems view, an agent is defined by its stored information. Agents of a species are unique implementations of a “standard” model. They are an instance of a particular design package. As a unique instance, the agent accumulates knowledge, learning as it goes, navigating through time and space. This knowledge is a record of the performance of the agent within its local environment. Each individual agent within the system has a history. Included is the original configuration(DNA), and the history of the agent’s growth and actions. This is represented by the current state of the organism, which includes its accumulated behaviors, or potential states. This kernel of knowledge is the agent’s real value to the system.

This information is the essence of the agent, its personality and its performance in the real world. It is also part of the whole body of knowledge compiled by the system. When stored holographically within and alongside the state of the whole, it becomes a comprehensive memory of all of the dynamic relationships that have occurred within the field over time.

All Natural

Although the actual process of storing and applying this information may seem obscure, we can see from a system’s view that the process does indeed exist. The degree of organization and efficiency shown by even the simplest creatures can only be approached in modern supply systems by sophisticated software that keeps track of all variables. The feedback loops have to be there, and we expect they will use nothing but natural laws to do their work. There is ample room within the holographic model to accommodate all of this functionality without resorting to deity, random mutation, emergence or magic for an explanation.

This model also provides a foundation for more than a sterile, mechanical view of reality. Intelligent traits we normally ascribe to the human mind, like evaluating situations, projecting expectations into the future, intent towards achievement of goals, and emotional reactions to events, are fully functional at the cellular level in plants and lower animals. In other words, these are not special abilities of human beings, but fundamental to living organisms.

Emotions are a vital part the state of every organism, as well as an essential part of the history package. How much we care is recorded right along with what we do. At the same time, each member of the environment records its participation in the interaction, along with its emotional component. The System knows all.

Immortal Essence

The system doesn’t forget. It’s primary business is memory. In this way, the knowledge gained by each agent is eternal. The System is not going to forget what it learned from you, good or bad. However, the idea that the conscious mind of the agent goes on forever, or can go on forever, without a living physical body to express it, really doesn’t make sense. Our sense of self is just that: a feeling, probably necessary for basic navigation and interaction with other agents, but not of much value to the System.

The self is an attribute of the coherent electromagnetic field generated by the cells of a living body. Take away the living body that is the expression of a particular personality, and what you have left is a static expression stored in holographic memory. Your life history is forever stored, but you can’t add to it without a physical body to express your code in interactions with the System. There may be other advantages to being such a spirit being, but the full expression available to the living, won’t be one of them.

Forever Sundown

There is good reason for each agent not to be immortal, but to have a sundown process embedded in its code. There is the potential for agents to run amuck. They have unlimited potential to learn, which gives them the ability to develop behaviors detrimental to the system. The sundown process terminates agents after a useful life span, giving the system the opportunity to evaluate, filter and/or adjust behavior in future generations. In order for the System to be immortal, the agents cannot be.

Terminating a Run-a-way Process

It also seems that civilization is subject to a sundown clause. The planet is littered with the ruins of failed civilizations. The deeper they dig, the more they find of the same. In our written history, from team sports to governments and ideologies, it is difficult to maintain a dynasty. Everything seems to come in cycles of ebb and flow, in and out, live and dormant.

Maybe it is just as well. Just as an individual agent can run amuck, large concentrations of them can redefine the term. So far, the sundown process has worked. Otherwise we all might be Egyptians or Babylonians or worse.

Obama IN DA HOUSE

Celeberating in my own way with music and funny words. Check it.

LYRICS

Call him President, hes the next new President here Senator, from Illinois, yeah His criteria compared to John McCain just isnt fair Cause hes B-L-A-C, so the eyes are on he Through his pencil, he write legislation, with the country on his mind And he dont coat ish, cause he aint got time Every second, minute, hour, KKK wanna devour He got guards ready to pop em, with their ch-ch-ch-ch-choppers Every brother, mother, sister, cousin, grandma wanna hump him Even got Hilary Clinton on the side ready to jump him Tell the Clintons Ha ha ha ha, couldnt catch him, couldnt stop him They go by the party rules, if you cant beat him, you cant top him Thought shed smack him, couldnt pop em, Delegates, couldnt cop em Bill Clinton couldnt help her, too bad she couldnt drop em, woo! Man, Obamas so Illlll 

Obama goes here, Obama goes there Sayin Yes We Can with wife Michelly, hes hittin that derriere He travel to Arizona, ready to cause some drama Hopin McCain will comment, Look at that bastard Obama Hes too young, hes too hip, Negros always causin problems His pale-lookin face got him lookin like a goblin! Mac-Cain, Mac-Cain, please dont vote for Mac-Cain First day up in office, talkin bout some heart pains Call the ambulance, QUICK! All you hear is sirens His temper isnt private - Dang, I hate a mad prick Dont you hate a mad prick? Plus, McCains an old prick Baracks a younger guy, So choose him, hes the right pick (Laugh) But if you choose the wrong pick Your step-sonll probably end up in Iraq quick! His health clan plan is so immaclate So even if your broke, and cant afford to take a doc trip Youll be feelin much better - not sick And, hes okay, but his wifes sick And her backs thick, And her walks slick Shes a fly chick - Id hit! Hes makin history like X, King and Douglas, and RFK Obama, hes that new black, true that Red-necks saaaay He wont beat John McCain He dont wear a flag pin, his middle names Hussein, but Who gon be dat boy dat doubt dat boy dey call Obama Got Republicans sweatin like they up in Saunas (whew!) Even McCains 90-something mama Be ready to pull his lever every hour (Laugh) And Id rather eat a field mouse Than to see John McCain in the White House Vote Obama in, and I promise He wont turn back into some Uncle Thomas (Aaaaaa!) No Aunt Jemimah or Southern Fried chicken Call him Chief Obama, or Mr. Keeps on Tickin Man, Pastor Wrights comments couldnt stop his tally Even Oprah Winfrey said she was behind him People, I say this countrys no hope without him But hes gotta go out and relate to everybody He do what he do, like give his wife a hug and then a fist dap Gotta do that stuff in public, so the  hoodll know that - Hes black Gotta use big words, white people love to hear it If they hear it, they dont fear him, they dont know him, but they feel him Thats real. Obama 08 White House, a-ha

Obama Amillie (Parody) Lil WAYNE APT with LYRICS

4c.Professor R.K. Das, Layla and Anjani

When he got home, he had decided on a nap, as it was still early in the afternoon. But he could not sleep. There was the small pile of his wife’s books still within his view every time he lay on the bed. He hadn’t had the heart to replace them on the shelf as he felt she would then lose her carefully marked place in each one. They had lain unread on the chair by the window now for over seven years. They were carefully lifted and dusted each day and replaced in exactly the same order, orientation and location with equal care. Das wrote a letter to his wife after she died and sent it to his own house and it was tucked into one of the books in the pile he doesn’t allow to be moved.

And his daughter Layla’s notebook had been placed on top of that paper monument only two years ago. Her well doodled notebook filled with marginal notes and drawings was something that had puzzled him continually. Too thoughtful. That had been her problem. If she had only disciplined her imagination into something serious perhaps……

He picked her notebook up and near the beginning read:

I cannot keep my mind on my studies. I thought yesterday in the library, I could finish this essay and the readings from last week but instead I wrote this—

There are no photos of you in my wallet or my heart

They are etchings

Traced like a fingernails scrape across steam covered glass

Shadow puppets behind a murky screen

The shape of your hand wiping away the illusion

But my house now is cold

what’s left but to put on the music

and dance through this sterile nightmare

when it gets colder by the minute

And you know me so well

always screaming out the unspeakable

shattering the silence like ice on a glacial lake

like potential

and awaken a thousand times more to a sordid glory ignited

My life is on fire and every time you touch me or don’t

is like being burnt again

Anesthesia

Aphrodesia

I finally run out of subtlety and excuses

To be loved for a month, a week, a night

sometimes that’s all that is necessary

but mornings later when I cry

I want to hide my face in your hands

as if they were my own

Yearn to sleep the dreamless sleep

for I taste your body in that peace

But I don’t sleep till the sun comes up

just in case I may not wake up in time

to stop myself from freezing to death

I cannot hear your breathing nearby

Even though the frost thaws inside the window

and is replaced by the steam

rain washes outside to the sewers

If I cried I would melt like the rest of the world

But finally with the rhythm of the tears

Grief overwhelms me

and holds my heart gently in its ashy palm

He hated this writing and the boy to whom it seemed to be addressed and sometimes he hated his daughter for causing him to feel all these things that he didn’t want to remember. He wanted to erase this history not discover it. He felt he was a man in need of amnesia. And that quest for amnesia meant delving even more deeply into his work as though the ancient past could, by the stirring of the dust, cover up the more recent past. To add it all to the great Necropolis of the heart where once the fire of life dies the memories are buried, some preserved-wrapped carefully, others allowed to crumble to dust but the best are only ash that has burned so hot and thoroughly that is lightness, its essence is the finest thin layer covering all the rest.

World's top innovative nations

1. United States

The United States still rules the world when it comes to innovation. This is no surprise, as the US with a legacy of over 100 years in innovation, has been consistent in taking the leader’s slot. The US knows it must continue to innovate to stay ahead. It tops in three areas: human capacity, business markets and competitiveness. The five input pillars that are included in the GII are: Institutions and Policies, Human Capacity, General and ICT Infrastructure, Markets Sophistication and Business Sophistication. The input pillars define aspects of the conducive environment required to stimulate innovation within an economy. There are three output pillars which provide evidence of the results of innovation within the economy: Knowledge Creation, Competitiveness and Wealth Creation. The US scored high on both input (ranked 2nd) and output (ranked 1st) pillars.

2. Germany

Germany follows in second position, maintaining its position from last year. Germany scores relatively low on the input pillars (10th) and very high on the output pillars (2nd), leading to an overall second rank. It is important to note that that eight out of the top 10 countries in the list are from Europe. As global competition intensifies and innovation becomes more important, the business sector has been internationalizing knowledge-intensive corporate functions, including research and development, the study points out.

3. Sweden

Sweden rises to 3rd rank in 2008 year from 12th position in 2007. It’s important to provide a safety net to innovators, says the study. There must be a conducive environment for innovative companies. A ’succeed or perish’ environment often kills innovative ideas in the nascent stages as people will be too intimidated to take creative risks that could fail.

4. United Kingdom

The United Kingdom fell from 3rd to 4th position in 2008. The study reflects that innovation is correlated with income levels in a country. For example, the innovation levels in the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries are much more than non-OECD countries. The high income countries do significantly better by topping innovation rankings. The average innovation index falls with the income levels of the country.

5. Singapore

Singapore rose to 5th rank in 2008 from 7th. Singapore is also 2nd from the Asian region. Innovation is not just about generating new ideas, says the study. It is about translating these ideas into value-added products and services. This requires flexibility of attitude and a willingness to adapt and welcome unprecedented levels of change on the part of all stakeholders involved, says the study.

6. South Korea

South Korea made a giant leap by grabbing the 6th rank, up from 19th position in 2007. Over the last two decades, the Republic of Korea has undergone a great change, with Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and innovation becoming the power engine for its high economic growth. After facing a big financial crisis in 1997, Korea emerged into a powerhouse of knowledge through the consolidation of knowledge industries with the ICT industry itself contributing to more than 30 per cent of its total exports, the study states.

7. Switzerland

One of the world most beautiful places has also made it to the top innovative nations’ list. Switzerland is ranked 7th in the global innovative index. Innovation is the key driver of any economy. It works best when like-minded individuals come together in small collectives, irrespective of political and cultural differences and work on projects that yield value for all parties involved.

8. Denmark

While Denmark features among the top nations with an overall score of 5.73 along the different input pillars, it ranks relatively low at position 21st along the output pillars. This pulls the overall GII rank of Denmark down to 8th and raises questions as to why despite creating a highly conducive environment for innovation, it is not able to capitalize on it. The remarkable leadership and phenomenal development of the three Nordic countries of Finland, Denmark and Sweden have consistently done well in the development of institutions and policies that nurture innovation. Denmark tops the ICT and infrastructure pillar. Denmark also comes at top position in the 2008 Networked Readiness Rankings of the World Economic Forum.

9. Japan

The world’s industrial powerhouse Japan moved down to 9th position in 2008. It was ranked fourth in 2007. Ranked relatively lower along the input pillars (16th), Japan comes in at an impressive 3rd position along the output pillars. Clearly, Germany and Japan are able to leverage their less favorable innovation environments into more effective innovation results. The Japanese society is currently undergoing deep structural changes. Japan enjoys a competitive edge in business sophistication, innovation and R&D (research and development) spending. But its macroeconomic weaknesses have led to one of the highest debt levels in the world. People are also questioning the values of the political, economic and social institutions, and alternatives are being explored. This includes the fields of education, research and innovation as well. The government and the private sector give high priority to R&D spending.

10. Netherlands

The Netherlands with a prosperous economy is ranked 10th in the list. It is also the 16th largest economy in the world. A country’s readiness is linked to its ability to garner the best from leading-edge technologies, expanded human capacities, better organizational and operational capabilities and improved institutional performance, according to the study.

Whoopie serendipity.

Prologue

Sometimes, I think, we’re primed to notice coincidences. I’m sure unremarkable, or even funny or important ones, happen all the time, but unless we’re feeling observant, they usually pass unnoticed.

Some people say there are no coincidences, that everything happens for a reason, that for every effect there was a direct and clear cause. Well, if my latest moment of serendipity has any greater meaning, I’ve yet to find it. Let me know what you think.

But first, a quiz.

Pfffffft.

When you think of the word “whoopie” (or “whoopee”), what comes to mind?

• (A.) A terribly old-fashioned euphemism


• (B.) A farting cushion


• (C.) An exaggerated expression of excitement


• (D.) A giant snack cake


• (E.) All of the above except (D.)


• (F.) All of the above

Whoop-te-doo

Until this week, my answer would have been (E.), for sure. But then I read a random tidbit about the Whoopie Pie online. Someone was trying to find one in Austin and felt the search was hopeless. I was of no help, as I’d never so much as heard of the things.

With a little bit of research, I found out that the cream-filled, chocolate sandwich-cookie-cake is highly popular in some of our smaller, more northerly states, as well as in Amish country. Not in Texas, though.

I was intrigued. I wanted to figure out what it was about these treats that made people’s mouths water with nostalgia and hunger, and why, in a state where outrageously sweet and/or obnoxiously fatty treats (think kolaches, candy-coated pecans, chicken-fried bacon, a House of Pies, Shipley’s sugar-coated Do-Nuts, chicken-fried steak, cupcakeries, chicken-fried chicken …) are ubiquitous, this particular confection was missing.

Whoopie overload.

Turns out that Wicked Whoopies, a company based out of Maine that thrives on mail-order business via its site (http://www.wickedwhoopies.com/), is the place to go for displaced New Englanders in search of their childhood favorite.

A dozen classic (chocolate cakes, plain sweet filling) pies will set you back $24, plus $11-$65 in shipping, and the site also offers appetizing-sounding varieties ranging from maple to peanut butter to pumpkin, as well as a chocolate-dipped variety and a 5-pound monster pie ($24 on its own).

At $2 a pop ($7.4o with next-day air), I assumed the Whoopie had to be vastly superior to a Little Debbie Swiss Cake Roll or a SnackWells Devil’s Food Cake, the products it brought to mind (white filling, darkly chocolate cake).

Whoop, there it is

Imagine my surprise when, just two days after I’d been introduced to the concept, a co-worker sent an e-mail to everyone in the office, begging us to partake of a giant order of Whoopie Pies he’d been express-mailed that very day.

It's a whopper. Probably 3 1/2 inches across.

I practically leapt from my desk to snatch one up (with thanks to the co-worker, of course) from the super-bubble-wrapped case — somebody didn’t want these cakes getting spoiled, squashed or so much as nudged out of place.

The first thing I noticed was the heft. This thing was huge, about the size of a hamburger, but the ‘bun’ was much more dense. At 5.75 ounces, one pie is more than double the size of a pair of Swiss Cake Rolls (2.2 oz) and only one ounce smaller than a whole box of SnackWells.

It glistens.

A single Wicked Whoopie pie is two servings for 740 total calories, 42 grams of fat, 54 g of sugar and, oddly, 20 percent of your daily iron intake. By comparison, a whole box of SnackWells (12 cookies) has 600 cal; a Swiss Roll 2-pack has 270 cal (the equivalent weight in rolls, which would be absurd to eat in one sitting, would have 702 cal).

Big (mouth full of) Whoop(ie)

I waited until I got home from work to open the package, as I didn’t want to distractedly munch at such a hippopotamus of a snack while working and find I’d eaten the whole thing without noticing.

It was just as well. Simply removing the cake from the packaging got my fingers all covered in shortening and sugar from the oozing innards. At the office, my keyboard, desk and everything else would have ended up sticky and slick with white glop. At home, it was just my countertop, hands and camera.

Chock full o' ingredients I can't pronounce.

I licked my fingers clean so I could snap some pictures. The filling is fluffy and tastes of nothing much more than sugar and shortening. Sweet and greasy.

After sizing it up, I cut in, causing yet more stuff to gush out with the pressure of the knife — the filling layer began nearly half an inch thick. I started with just a sliver. The flavor of the interior fluff overwhelmed that of the heavy chocolate cake. I just couldn’t get a good idea of the cake’s taste when all my mouth could feel was a sugar rush.

I tried just a smidge more than this slice.

I licked one side of the scrap of cake clean of icing, took a few sips of water, and tried the brown slab on its own. The slightly dry, shiny outside gave way to a pleasantly compact, lightly chocolatey inside. It reminded me of a high-quality commercial cupcake. It might have just been the heady sugar buzz from the earlier spoonfuls of frosting, but I actually enjoyed the cake.

The first-bite mess was an inevitability.

If I were more of the dessert-buying type (the cupcakes I got in December were the first baked sweets I’d bought in at least six months), I might actually pay $2 for two of these gigantic chocolate buns. … OK, probably not. The ingredient list is pretty gross. But the texture and flavor were better than the average prepackaged snack cake, by a mile.

Way, way too much fluff.

I tried another bite, but by then my sugar intake was far too high for midnight. So now I have 3/4 of a Wicked Whoopie in my fridge, awaiting the day when I get a craving for such absurdity. Want a bite?

Makin’ Whoopie (at home)

I can’t vouch for this recipe (courtesy cooks.com), but I’d be tempted to try the cake part of it and maybe halve the filling recipe. I looked at tons of them all over the Internet, and this one sounds the most doable, authentic and good (and not monstrously big, serving-size wise).

PIES:

• 2 c. sugar


• 3/4 c. shortening


• 2 eggs, slightly beaten


• 2 c. milk


• 2 tsp. vanilla


• 10 tbsp. cocoa


• 4 c. flour


• 2 1/2 tsp. soda


• Pinch of salt

Cream shortening and sugar. Combine beaten eggs, milk and vanilla and beat into creamed mixture. Slowly stir sifted dry ingredients into the creamed mixture, and beat on medium speed about 2 minutes. Drop with tablespoon onto greased and floured cookie sheet (enough dough to make a baked cookie about 2 to 2 1/2 inches). Bake at 350 degrees until cookie just springs back when pressed in center with finger. Remove to rack and cool completely before filling.

FILLING:

• 1 1/2 c. shortening


• 1 1/2 c. confectioners sugar


• 12 tbsp. marshmallow fluff


• 2 tsp. pure vanilla

Combine fluff, shortening, and vanilla and beat until well mixed. Slowly add confectioners sugar until well mixed. Place a generous amount on the flat side of one cookie and top with another cookie. Makes about 2 dozen whoopie pies.

These store well in an airtight container in the refrigerator and also freeze well.

The recipe that accompanied this picture sounds super easy, using Devil's Food cake mix (photo is link to recipe).

Postlogue

At work today, the co-worker was still trying to get rid of the last of the dozen pies. I never asked who sent them or why he didn’t want them, as I didn’t really want to know. After the taste test and label-reading, I have my suspicions.

The last Whoopie was taken from its plastic cradle by a woman who remarked, when she saw me looking in her direction (likely not without a bit of puzzlement in my eyes), “It’s not for me. I’m gonna let my 4-year-old boy have at it!”

As she laughed at her own excuse, I couldn’t help but think, “What childhood obesity epidemic?”

How Long by serendipity171

white petal lilies

when my family and i lived in an apartment with a small backdoor yard, my father would be in that yard for hours at a time–everyday, trimming the shriveled ends of his plants and piling fresh, dark soil into the newly arrived pots. he loved being in that little yard, this plot of space sheltered his beloved garden of life. and although our apartment was on the bottom floor with many other buildings and houses surrounding the courtyard my siblings and i played, there was something about being in our yard behind the courtyard gates that made the noisy scenery of a densely urban area, look calm and gentle. if you peered through any window of the buildings surrounding our apartment’s courtyard, you’d immediately notice our residence first. the white lilies which bloomed by the dozen per pot casted a clean, velvet white glow perched on a lush green stem. long strands of leaves fell like curved ribbons off a christmas gift. the flowers seem to glow brighter when it rained. i will never forget the deep scent of damp earth and crisp april after another rainy day at school. with careful observation of surrounding temperatures, colors, and creativity–my father had created his perfect vietnamese country side right there in that yard. it was a little piece of childhood home within ours.

as the roots of these flowers helped recreate a place living in my father’s heart, much of the roots in the culture we’re born into does help us shape our’s. it’s inevitable. we’re all born from a within a certain culture that has marked itself present in this world. there is not a single one, that is without. do not be simply mistaken, a culture is not only a lifestyle belonging only to a certain foreign region (who defines foreign anyways?), but it is a living style molded from tradition to belief, down to the simplest of toys and games. whether we choose to believe particular aspects pertaining to that culture is solely our own responsibility. but nonetheless, we’re all shaped one way or another by the culture we’re born into. although this was our chosen place to begin, it does not mean this is the place our personas are meant to end. as time continue people grow, people learn, and people make decisions that they think and feel best suites their moment of discovering truth. the culture we’re in gives us a template to work with, time and grace allows us to redefine ourselves a little further, and in my current standing with time, God guides the way.

Climate change denial

I’ve just been watching Top Gear, the one where they manage to reach the North Pole in a car. Seeing as the car was running on fumes when they got there, I’ve no idea how they got back, but on the whole it was pretty good. Except for the last 10 seconds.

Clarkson’s voiceover says the following: “They said we’d never get to the Pole because of the damage the car had already done to the ice cap. Perhaps then that’s what we’ve proved most of all. Really. The inconvenient truth is that it doesn’t appear to have even scratched the surface.”

What in hell is he basing that conclusion on? The fact that he drove a car over it? Is that it, seriously?! No figures on the melting ice caps, or on global water levels, just the fact that it’s still there and it can support a 3 ton truck means climate change isn’t happening and the ice caps are just fine and dandy. Talk about making the evidence fit in with the conclusion… The statement was totally irrelevant to the rest of the show too. Up until then it had been “look at this wonderful machine that’s making things so much easier”. This is one of the things I hate about Jeremy Clarkson, it’s the totally nonchalant attitude he broadcasts on national television, particularly towards climate change and humanity’s influence on it (but also on things like speeding and, during this episode, drink driving), an attitude which I’m sure has been adopted by some of his viewers.

I can sort of understand some people not caring about the environment, not being motivated to do anything about it, but to deny global warming is even taking place is a step too far. The majority of evidence shows that it has increased dramatically since the industrial revolution, and the evidence and research which opposes it is far too often funded by those in whose interest it is to deny it; the oil companies, the car manufacturers, the airlines.

What’s more, it is an issue of such fundamental importance! If we do nothing, the world could become uninhabitable, our species and many others could well die out. It’s amazing how people consider finding a cure for cancer more important than solving the problem of climate change, but in reality which is the bigger threat? Even if humanity isn’t a major cause of climate change, surely it is in our best interests to try and reduce its effects! So I’m not sure how to handle this. Should climate change denial be on the same kind of level as Holocaust denial? Certainly the consequences of each are of similar threat levels, one just appears more immediate than the other.

The Second Stimulus Will Fail

The second Indian stimulus package will fail to revive the economy. The government has eased credit in the infrastructure sector and consumer market, provided some duty reliefs and tried to relieve the pains of the realty sector by allowing them ECBs. This will no doubt increase liquidity in the market and provide a short term relief to certain sectors but it will not lead to broad based recovery of the indian consumption. The government should realise that consumers only spend when they have a confidence that they will keep on earning and will be able to pay their debts in short as well as long term.

The direction of package is wrong especially because the pain point in Indian crisis has not been lack of money to spend, but, the willingness to spend. The electronic media has amplified the fears of slow down to such a level that people are just cutting down on spending fearing a job loss. It is leading to a spiral effect where consumption has gone down forcing manufacturers to cut back expenditures and eventually jobs. Thus, the problem will not be solved by giving people more money to spend or make the stuff cheaper as there will always be a doubt that it might suddenly run out as it was introduced. The problem will be solved by making broad based reforms to boost confidence in the Indian story, governance and economy.

The Indian government should have sensed the mood of the nation and tried to prop up the confidence by offering package that would have appealed to the heart and the head. The government could have created a special vehicle to focus on improving the infrastructure in the country and in devising processes to increase access to the new infrastructure. Spending on building infrastructure would have not only created new jobs, but also sent a signal that the government is interested in growth and they are going to take advantage of the slowdown to build infrastructure to fuel long term growth. This signal would have reinforced confidence in the Indian story and investors would stay put in the country, thus, providing a much needed psychological cushion to the consumer market.

Secondly, the government should have spent substantially on recruitment and modernisation of security personnel and revamping of judiciary . The recent mumbai attacks would have allowed the government to take such a step and restore the confidence in governance. Another step that the government could have taken would have been to launch e-governance in the country. E-governance should have been introduced at every level the citizen interacts with government institutions. This would have sent the signal that the government is trying to reduce corruption and give a power to the citizens to make the bureaucrats accountable.

Thirdly, the Indian government should have taken the opportunity to start investing in clean energy sources. With all the world attention on climate change and the commitment of US administration to spend on clean energy the government should have started a mechanism to allow the Indian industry cash in on the emerging next bubble. China has taken a lead in the manufacturing sector already. The government could have earned a lot of money by creating carbon credits and trading them for a profit. Inspite of it, there is a huge market in India itself, which if we dont capture, will be served by others.

I really feel that the government is far away from the concerns and the need of the time and the people. If something could be done…