Graveyards of nuclear submarines....

Consumerism and nuclear proliferation have converted the world into one vast waste dump yard. With evolution of humankind its increasing reliance upon inorganic way of life is threatening the very foundations of the organic planet earth. The quantum and degree of waste is directly proportional to the complexity of human life. In simpler societies, the most of the waste was organic and was recycled back to the earth without any toxicity. As society developed and progressed, the amount of processed waste increased which had higher content of inorganic material which was not readily assimilated by mother earth. 

Earliest societies lived closer to earth, in mud houses…defecated on earth…waste mostly food leftovers was given to cattle or strewn on the ground. The waste was bio degradable and hence posed no environmental risk. Gradually with development, the defining inflection point being the industrial revolution, the complexity of waste changed. Industrial scrape and refuse became a watershed in the history of waste. Large scale production of steel, textiles...led to discharge of various effluents like hazardous chemicals, gases, lead...from the factories, mills into the land dumps, lakes, rivers, seas, atmosphere... 

Along with urbanisation, there came the concomitant disposal of human waste. This waste compounded in complexity over time during past few centuries... excreta, food, paper, bottles, tin cans, plastics, electronics... The earlier urban conglomerates had open drains which were most harmful for our health and living conditions with overpowering stench...even today many old cities have open drains...

Next the was the problem of final disposal of these waste from drains etc...these often discharged into lakes, rivers, streams, seas, land dumps...which in turn increased the toxic levels of these water bodies and land...leading to diseased fish, animals, birds who fed on these waters and land...finally carrying the poison into humans who fed on the fish and used the water...thus the poison multiplied in the atmosphere, land, water and in our bodies and other living creatures...

Atmospheric pollution is reaching alarming levels especially in Asia. India and China have some of the most polluted cities in the world. Cars, factories, coal fuel...contribute to this hazard which is threatening living conditions. Rising migration to cities is also aggravating this crises. 

Several cities have started segregation of waste into food, paper/dry, plastics/glass...but its not easy to discipline all to follow the rules. Segregation of waste at source is the only way to recycle waste properly converting food etc to compost, paper / glass and plastic for further recycling..even in some advanced countries like USA they do not have at source segregation of household waste... 

Humankind’s insatiable hunger for energy has now lead to unthinkable levels of contamination of the seas, land through oil spillages, train accidents...and newest hazardous element of the block to join this waste race is deadly radiation from discarded nuclear rods of nuclear plants..the nuclear arms race between the nuke powers has now lead to new dilemmas resulting from disposal of the aging nuclear submarines..basically nuclear waste like rods and submarines were supposed to be buried in deep sea much below sea bed...

The other scourge emanating from our fascination for modern life, insane consumerism is indiscriminate use of plastics....the use of which has compounded geometrically over the past half century...and thereafter electronics...now plastic and e waste disposal is also becoming a global problem. Many countries have resorted to disposing off the plastic in rivers and seas which have affected marine life. Several species have dwindled. 

Humankind’s waste has now reached space. Several old satellites and old space stations are floating debris in space. Some of them will pose problems in future to space flights...but the most frightening waste problems are the several nuclear submarine graveyards of the developed nations littered in the oceans along with the millions of tons of plastic. Anthropocene  humans have reduced the planet to a graveyard of waste through their throwaway lifestyles. 

Notes from America...31st may 15

31st may 15
in view of climate change, extreme climate, geological changes...risks of most places in the world have increased. the recent increases in snow storms in the east coast of usa, drought in california, floods in texas...generally used to make me pessimistic about long term climate stability in usa. i used to think that perhaps for indians like us india is perhaps better especially where i am living now ie bengaluru. but the recent heat waves in india, pollution in the cities and lowering of aquifer levels have made me think otherwise.

for the first time i feel, chicago could be one of the best and safest places in usa and maybe in the world. chi has lots of fresh water, its away from the east coast storms, tornadoes of mid plains...though it has harsh winters, still i feel its the best bet in usa. maybe if my daughter and her family stay on here it would perhaps be a good choice in these uncertain times...and a more terrifying future...



24th may 15
one of the main reasons why america has become the most influential country in the world over the past 50 years or so is due to the set of factors listed below. though china and india dominated the world in terms of gdp (together about 50% of global gdp) for about 1700 years since birth of christ, still they could not dominate the globe to the overpowering extent usa has because they did not have the support of the same factors which usa had.

1. lead the world in innovation. hence all the applied products were sold across thev world.
2. most of the biggest brands came out of usa like coke, levis, microsoft, apple, and so on.
3. hollywood movies mesmerised the world through their broader appeal even though european movies were superior in content and style.
4. rock and roll music conquered the world spawning rock based local music all over.
5. with aid of satellites tv broadcasting reached all corners of the globe. 
6. marketing and advertising reached their peak in usa since the 1950s.
7. the internet also emanated from usa, hence its stranglehold upon the medium. 
8. with nuclear superiority became the world's policeman. 
9. since it was the richest country, it became the dream destination to emigrate to. 
10. its fast food like mcdonald's, pizzas, burgers become most popular all over.
11. its large cars since the 50s influenced car designs all over excepts europe.
12. its computers and laptops were the first, mainly through microsoft's windows and office software, though now many other countries have excelled.
13. perhaps the most tectonic product to set the world on fire was apple's iphones and ipads which their pioneering touch screens have set the standards. 

tbc

15th may 15
today the influence america has on rest of the world is beyond all imagination. its very difficult to separate what is not american in most countries. americanism has intertwined itself into the very entails of each country. in any sphere you select, there will be some link to usa. Some of the major reasons why us is such a dominant force in the world whether all countries like it or not are:

1. 140 years of continuous innovation in all spheres which has ensured that the products are now sold in all countries 
2. complete dominance in armaments whereby it is the largest seller of arms in the world except one or so odd year. 
3. entertainment also is the biggest influencer. hollyhood had shaped most global cinema. 
4. IT industry hub is in us. all the top companies are american like apple, google, microsoft, IBM....
5. it has the highest representation in the fortune 500.
6. it has the largest space research set up NASA, 

it is a veritable power house which sets the pace of economic development,

tbc

12th may 15
since 2010, this is my 7th trip to usa in 6 years visiting my daughter and son-in-law in chicago. most of the time we are perched up in their 41st floor apt in downtown chicago next to the river and near millennium park. our main objective is to visit our our only child. even she had been in timbuktu, we would have still visited her religiously once ever year or more.

only because it happens to be the imperial united states it provides me an opportunity to observe the greatest ever empire for the past 150 years from close quarters. we are lucky we stay in chi town downtown one of best places in world to stay. the people are multi cultural and extremely polite.

its not that i like living in cities having lived in large indian cities since the age of 9 months. but am fairly trapped in cities since my wife is gotten used to large cities. now in fact want to go back to my roots in the ancestral village in odisha.

and now my daughter having being brought up in the downtown of Kolkata wants to continue the same in chicago and inflict the same on her daughter born this year and hence our rather long visit of almost six months.

this particular trip though i was busy with the coming of my granddaughter, i was reading daily the wsj, one of the finest newspapers ever. got sucked into its groove and enjoyed it immensely since it vibed with my research bent of mind and synched with my psycho intellectual world view.

basically i have been an american from the early 60s hearing paeans of  usa from a close uncle of mine who stayed with us. soon i became a kennedy fan. was deeply affected by his assassination. cried. it was indeed camelot for me the first family of us. next the hero worship focussed upon robert kennedy. another part of me died when he was assassinated in 1968. a hollowness permeated my life. my american dream was shattered with the blood spattered body of bobby kennedy.

by 1970 after school, one was sucked into the sweet wafting smoke out shiva's chillum from the cosmic crushed leaves of ganja. its was the height of the anti establishment movement in us and first gen of flower power youth from america flocked into india and kathmandu. it was indeed the age of hippies and beads experimenting with mind bending herbs, opiates, chemical like amphetamine and acid. blowing out ones mind each day was the sole purpose of existence. subjecting the soulmind to the most severe contortions of the space time continuum was the motto of our group...brothers.

along with this intense self realisation process, there was a parallel intellectual development which questioned all existing mores and conditioned lives of parents and money based social hierarchical structure. gurus who lead my life were alvin toffler, ronald laing, beatles, bob dylan, john lennon, traffic, manfred mann chapter III, andy warhol, jrr tolkien, grateful dead, ken kesey, jean paul sartre, albert camus, allen ginsberg, carlos castaneda, woodstock, hitchcock, steinbeck,

shoulder length hair was an index of commitment to the revolution. six acid trips took one where few dare to trod...time stretching towards eternity...dalian face, melting scenes...swimming through complex music of manfred mann chapter III...snakeskin garter...et all....a staunch anti establishment american. that is how effectively us has americanised the world. levis, coke, larger than life cars, rock music, hollywood, gangsters....the list goes on....

to be continued.... 

never too old to rock n roll…. Golden age vs digital age of singularity..

A tryst with destiny. Went to a steve winwood concert at Chicago theatre. Been listening to winwood since my teens for the past 45 years or so – starting from the great blindfaith album where other legends like eric Clapton, ginger baker and ric grech also performed, then the super group band traffic with jim capaldi, ron wood and dave mason. Winwood performed a lot of the traffic classics like low sparks….it was indeed a nirvanic experience. Winwood was 67, I am 63 and about 75% of the audience was above 60.

It was strange how an aging audience gathered for an aging rock star. Presently the rolling stones are touring us for the nth time I guess. Today sir mick jagger is 72+ and he is still belting out the best rock n roll live gigs. Indeed an aging society still hearing their childhood and teen idols now half a century later. Strange but true.

This has set me thinking that maybe there is something magical, exclusive, perennial, epochal during that age of the 50s and the 60s decades post world war II. For the moment sticking to good old rock n roll, more than half of the highest selling bands belong to that era: beatles, elvis, Elton john, led zeppelin, pink floyd and rolling stones. Apart from these highest selling bands, there are some iconic bands like jethro tull, bob Dylan, Manfred mann, Santana, miles davis, …the list goes on…the most seminal bands really belonged to that golden era…subsequent music had their roots in all these bands..compared to that era the past half century has hardly spawned half a dozen bands of that caliber...

The best of music equipment started in that era. The first stereos made their entry in the 60s in Kolkata. Now they say the best music is from analog vinyl records heard on stereos with transistor diodes.

Now coming to movies, there was an amazing bunching of the most seminal directors and actors during the 1940s to 60s. there are very few directors in the same class as chaplin, jean luc goddard, Ingmar bergman, Truffaut, passolini, fellini, kurosawa, satyajit ray, Alfred Hitchcock, Louis malle, Antonioni, Bunuel, hitchcock and the list is unending…their film techniques with very basic equipment was most pioneering. Their leading actors are yet to be matched in virtuoso. Its not that there aren’t great directors and actors since then. But the auteur of the celluloid of that era have not been matched even though filming techniques and digital editing have made it much easier to create movies with greater range of visuals, colours… in a sense there are probably a lot of real great cinema being created now with directors like Kieslowski, ceylan, coen brothers…..an endless list…

Next if we take up books…here the field is vast…the greatest ever could be Shakespeare, dickens, Dostoevsky…all of them pre 20^th century…these three are giants…till 60s in the 20^th century…some more existentialist and magic realism greats like Sartre, kafka, camus, marquez,…post 60s…few like kundera, saramago….i would say that in books too…the seminal ground broken by the existential writers is yet to be matched be later writers…

There is a need for an invariant measure of rating mechanism which can rate artists spread over several decades or centuries. Some of the parameters in the model could be:

1.    No of books

2.    Copies sold

3.    Translated into how many languages

4.    Whether taught in universities

5.    Critical books on author, his books

6.    Movies made from books

7.    Plays made from  books

8.    Whether started new school of writing

9.    No of authors influenced by books.

The above is a simple outline of a rating model. It will need weights and scores. This can be suitably adapted for cinema, music, etc.

Apart from the arts discussed above, we have seen that even in sports, cricket, space exploration, the records notched during the earlier era has seldom been exceeded except in incremental terms. These areas also owe their breakthrough performances during those golden years.

The one mile four minute barrier was broken only the 1950s by Roger Bannister. Since then the record has been improved by 17 seconds in 60 years. The incremental improvement been tardy.  In the marathon for men, since 1964 the record has been reduced from 2:12 hrs to 2:02 hrs inspite of all the improvements in healthcare and training techniques. Breakthrough records came in long jump when bob beamon broke the record by almost 2 ft in 1968, since then there has not been much improvement. Similarly in high jump after Fosbury there has not been much progress.

In cricket, probably what don bradman showcased in 29 test matches, 52 centuries at an astronomical average of 99 runs per innings can never be surpassed. Nowadays with greater commercialization, techniques, technology…sports has become more dehumanized and lacks the spirit of human endeavour.

In space exploration US took a leap by placing a man on moon in 1969. Indeed it was an epochal event for mankind. But since then there has not been any such sheer breakthrough. Similarly in science since Einstein there has not been any greater scientist.

Since the 80s or so, we have made giant advances in technology, computers, internet, biogenetics, medical sciences, robotics, telecommunication like mobiles…  in a way for most us born till 1970 or so, the earlier 50s/60s were a golden era. But for the millennials the digital era is the greatest. They are truly natural born digitalists. They will be the true inheritors of the age of singularity…

Financial Fiction…fi-fi...a new genre

Strange are the ways of the world. The financial world is experiencing weird inconceivable situations which are akin to loss of gravity and matter floating over the surface of the earth. Truly dark holes of space…anti matter…anti gravity…its fi-fi like sci-fi or cli-fi…..financial fiction is the new norm…

1.      Global economy facing secular stagnation with a glut of most commodities like oil,  iron ore, cotton, apart from the classical factors of production like capital, debt and labour which resulting in low economic growth rates, low inflation and low interest rates and yield scenarios. Policy makers in the developed economies, namely, US, Europe and Japan have been struggling to revive the moribund economies and stimulate effective demand.

   

2.      Several countries being sucked into the whirlpool with high debt/GDP ratios, fiscal deficits, default in debt payments. Total debt comprising government, corporate and consumer debt in US risen to $ 25 bn from $ 17 bn in 2008, ie to 181% of GDP from 167%. Corresponding figures in Europe are 204% from 180% and China 241% from 134%.

3.      Corporate sector too reeling under high debt-equity ratios. More so with currency fluctuations and sovereign debt markets in negative zone, many are further leveraged. Corporate sector resorting to dubious quarterly accounting shenanigans in order to meet the expectations of the ever greedy investors.    

4.      Debt markets are awash with several European economies issuing debt at negative yields or real rates of interest.

5.      Gradual bankruptcies among increasing local government and municipal bodies.

6.      Global banks paying billions of dollars in penalties to regulators and in pay backs to customers till today.

7.      Credit raters also paying hefty penalties for deliberately mis-rating bonds.

8.      Short term objectives of performing well at stock markets driving corporate quarterly earnings and leading to questionable accounting practices.

9.      Derivatives balloon becoming bigger by the day totaling $ 700 bn, which is 10 times the cumulative GDP of the world around $ 70 bn.

10.   Most developed economies growth rates are near 0 or below one in real terms.

11.   Stock markets everywhere touching respective all time highs. More worrisome about 40% of all trading in US taking place away from the regulated public exchanges in high frequency trading dark pools.

12.   Currency wars after Swiss franc delinked from euro and global currency markets a veritable casino.

13.   Property bubbles in world top cities and some emerging markets reaching frightening proportions.

14.   Gold still holding centre stage as the most valuable asset class even tough dollar appears to be most valuable currency and parking ground for funds.

15.   Commodities in excess supply and entering age of uncertainty with decline in appetites of China and few others due to global slowdown leading to lower prices and raising sceptre of deflationary processes.

16.   Agricultural prices stagnant though supplies abundant.

17.   Ironically during period 2000-14, global wealth rose more than 100% from $ 117 trn to $ 266 trn, indicating huge build up of savings and capital resulting in low interest rates which has also blunted the tools of monetary authorities.

18.   This has been accompanies by inordinate increases in supply of workers mainly due to higher automation and robotisation in factories leading to rise in painful unemployment. In many countries this has squeezed the middle class and skewed the income distribution further impacting adversely effective demand which comes from a strong middle class.

19.   Inventories of oil, coal, cotton, iron ore, manufactured products and automobiles are at all time highs.

20.   China’s cooling demand with lowest GDP growth of 7% in 20 years has been one of major contributory factors.

21.   Looks like most of the advanced economies have entered into long tunnels of stagnation and abysmally low rates of growth, interest rates and inflations which Japan entered in early 1990s. Europe is very much in the tunnel and US is fairly in though it’s in a denial mode. China could be about 10-15 years away from it and India probably about 25 years. The ultimate state of all economies is the steady state where growth tapers off into a plateau. 

Robots creating robots…

This is the rise of the robots. Fanuc is the world’s largest company manufacturing robots in japan. Its plant is nestled under the majestic mount fuji. In the past couple of years the company has become the cynosure of the global corporate fraternity. Its valuation has reached $ 53 bn. It’s sitting upon a cash pile of over $ 7 bn, while its operating profit is $ 2.3 bn based upon sales of $ 5.7 bn. Some of its tony clients are apple and tesla motors.

The company till recently was relatively unknown worldwide. Its valuation has climbed sharply by 50% over the past year. It has very few human employees. It’s manned?! mostly by robots who manufacture at a staggering rate fellow robots with clinical efficiency and 0 defect. Yes we are truly at the inflexion point of human history as we are gradually driven towards kurzweil’s age of singularity.

Japan has the highest robot usage by human households, ranging from pets, Barbie dolls as sex toys, house working. The movie Her captures the virtual relationship between and a man and a computer. Now we see the advent of drones, driverless cars. We are slowly but surely morphing into an age where computers will be doing most of our work.

Online ordering of all retail consumer requirements is increasing exponentially. The real estate industry has received a shot in the arm with mega warehouses being booked by online providers like amazon, flipkart in india. Amazon is also working upon drones which will deliver items at customer’s places. The possibilities are limitless.

The next step of melding between humans and chips has started. Chips which are given commands by computers. Kurzweil predicts that by 2029 or so computers will exceed human beings in intelligence and they will be able to do the entire intelligent decision making.

Gradual most factories will be buying robots to replace human labour / brains. Robots will only have a capital cost and EMIs, while humans will need salaries and other allowances plus retirement benefits. Hence the profit drivers will dictate that higher proportion of robots man factories. Over the next 15 years or so, there will be tectonic shift in the employment structure pattern. This will impact across all sectors: industry, services and agriculture. 

Unless new earning opportunities are spawned off, there will be the creation of an impoverished class who will be much worse off than the current lowest classes in society. Maybe with the help of nano biotechnology and the cloud, these classes of unfortunate impoverished workers without meaningful work will be converted into zombies which will have no mind of their own and will be easy to manipulate by the master classes for doing only menial and physical labour. A new class of denizens will be formed as a consequence of the increasing dominance of robots.

The present highest robot using countries are south korea, japan, germany, italy, sweden, denmark, us, spain, finland, Taiwan. Automotive and electrical / electronic have the largest number of robots industry wise. The total stock of robots globally in 2013 ranged between 1.3 to 1.6 mn. The average life of a robot ranging between 12 to 15 years. This trend will increase exponentially. As the power of computers increases to match human beings be 2029, more and more high intellect and senior decision making jobs will be usurped by robots. Already roboplanners and roboadvisers are offering financial planning and wealth management services to clients of Charles Schwab.  

As it is computers are doing a huge share of very complex computations in most spheres be it aerospace, meteorology, aviation, industrial production, etc. now with sophisticated DSSs (decision support systems), a stage can be reached where human intervention in complex operations can be totally bypassed. This is indeed a frightening inevitable trend which will ring the death knell of higher level human jobs which required human intervention and decision making. The main reason why this would be possible is the continuous miniaturization of chips, increase in speeds of data transfer and also the steep declines in chip costs. This will enable using far superior chips every year.  

By 2045 as kurzweil says, the computers will surpass the intelligence of all humans on the planet. Another very significant inflexion point in human history. By then humans we have been unofficially reduced to second class citizens. All the power will have shifted to the computers. It will not be outside the realm of possibility that one day the computers may decide that they take over and rule us. They are cheaper to build and maintain, whereas humans are very expensive. By then also with all major done by computers, humans, at least the upper class ones will be leading a life of leisure with very little work. And gradually also becoming redundant. Most of the resources of mother earth will be for the consumption of the effete human race. 

The computers might just decide that enough is enough and they can manage the world much better at much lesser cost. Hence why support these white elephants who do not contribute any value. The zombies might be more useful to them as they would obediently do all the hard work for very little. Instead the machine might create a few hybrid humarobs with implanted chips and connected to the all knowing cloud which will a superior race and closer to the computers and more amenable. Humans are dead, long live the computers and humarobs.     

Why climate change bothers me?

It’s not that the end is scary. Maybe cowards die a 1000 deaths…maybe because of my paranoia…due to being born after 3 miscarriages which my mother had..as if I spent 9 months in a womb tomb where my three unborn siblings had perished before me…my mother’s fears whether this one will survive or not and see the light of day?... surely must have got transmitted to me and gotten ingrained into my dna…..the existential question to be or not to be…as expounded by the great cult hero…my all time legend and hero..the one and only Dr RD Laing…author of “facts of life” where he says that the prenatal 9 months have the greatest influence on our lives…hence my constant preoccupation with endings…death…

The other is my ability to see the future…forecasting the shape of things to come…the future shock…again the other great influence on my life…Alvin Toffler….i use to have this angst in my late teens during the late 60s and early 70s…of last century…which seems to be aeons ago now…about the dehumanisation of humanity…I used to write furiously…sometimes 70 pages a night speeding away high on Dexedrine and grass…the trigger was my sense of being schizoid because my father had dreams that I should sit for the ias exams and become a bureaucrat..not only him but also my uncles…but I had my own dreams…I loved my reading…writing…stoning…thinking…research….i could see clearly that the path humanity was taking was leading us towards dehumanisation…everyone was bent on being someone which would appear great in the eyes of society…bent on becoming richer…more powerful…society was living within layers of cocoons of deceit…false vanity…ego of being someone…anything but themselves…everything was one big lie…

The world being created around was consciously made to reflect those make belief caricatures they imagined they were…hence society designed monsters in spheres…to mimic their vanity…like outlandish cars…dresses…houses…along with all the high energy guzzling lifestyles….neon lights… cars…air conditioning….jet travel…5 star hotels and living….all this was a sure recipe for disaster I could clearly see…but my ideas and thoughts and writings were deemed mad even by my parents…but that did not deter me from pursuing my beliefs…hence I chose research as a calling and means of livelihood…

Society went on its course of aggrandizement remorselessly…corporate structures…economies…went deeper into debt and tried to out vie each other…hyper competition was  rearing its ugly gorgon medusa head…threatening to destroy everything…then came the epic crashes of enron and world com…my cries fell on deaf ears…a voice in the wilderness…

I had no qualms about the end towards which we were hurtling…in fact my anthem from the 70s was…hurtling towards 2001 and beyond….this was going be one more cycle of extinction…there were five earlier…but our problem is that we humans are domesticated family species…the animal kingdom…never had families…hence for them to face extinction was bit easier….already due to our selfish ways…and anthropogenic traits…we are responsible for so many species dying out…so our turn will come one day…either due to the robotic frankensteins we have created which will snuff us out one day in the age of singularity like in 2001 a space odyssey….or the climate which again we have destroyed with our senseless high energy carbon emitting lifestyles….in either case we are doomed…

But what hurts me is the mangled future we are bequeathing to our children and grandchildren….i can see so very clearly the surreal desolate landscape of 2030….2050…2070…my daughter would be 70 by 2050 and my granddaughter 55 by 2070….indeed an extremely sci-cli-fi surreal scenario…which is too frightening to behold…a lump in my throat because we are leaving behind our blood and flesh to face the unreal future….there is no escape… we are deep into the madness…  

New Grammar of Life megatrends...ongoing musings...12th may 15

New Grammar of Life Roundup consists of relevant papers, articles from various sources which try to highlight the accelerating telescoping of change based upon events impacting the environment & society which are increasingly surfacing all over the globe. These disturbing trends only reinforce the view that its now or never for us to implement radical NGL solutions which may help in decelerating and finally regress the rate of change of degradation of the environment and climate change and humanity. These disturbing events are selected randomly from web news relating to climate, environment, society, individuals, economies, finance and commercial organisations. 

The primary objective is to raise the level of awareness about the rapidly changing scenario in order to create interest in people so that a movement starts which would lead to implementation of solutions which can dampen the rate of change towards any untoward irreversible tragedy impacting mother earth and humanity as we know it.

12th may 15
Sovereign Man - Notes from the Field

April 27, 2015  Cancun, Mexico

“One of the major problems in human nature is our deeply flawed perception of risk. We find comfort in crowds, and even in the face of the most obvious data, we adopt a herd mentality.

Right now, most major governments are insolvent, central banks are borderline insolvent, pension funds are nearly insolvent.

Financial markets are in massive bubbles. Banking systems are highly illiquid and in some cases charging their customers negative interest rates.

And yet, people allow themselves to be convinced that everything is just fine. My neighbor’s not worried, why should I be?

It’s a sign of our times that it takes so much courage to acknowledge reality.”

above is an excerpt from one of the best research newsletters in world. its a voice crying in the wilderness of usa where wall street carries on as if its business as usual. difficult to break nations and people out of the stupor and euphoria of of living in the most developed stage of humankind with technology having transformed our lives beyond recognition. this hold good for for top 5% of the world for whom the good times are always rolling on. for the next 45% its about trying to reach and catch up with the top 5% if not in actuality atleast in some pale imitation where life is in the tv shows. the bottom 50% is so busy trying to eke out a miserable existence of two square meals a day in bustees and shanty towns in leaking rooms where children are peddling drugs. yes indeed it is potpourri of lives as world lurches from crises to crisis and nature's fury is compounding every year with greater extremes of climate. paralysed we wait for godot....   




25th apr 15

• since the 50s till recently, us fought so many wars abroad in the name of freedom and against communist regimes like in korea, vietnam, iraq, afghanistan...now there are us commandos known as special operators in as many as 81 countries round the globe training local armies in fighting extremists, terrorists, rebel groups, etc. some of these are involved in proxy wars....this has intensified during the past decade or so...
• HIV cases have risen in some us rural counties indicating high usage of iv use of heroin and other drugs...a frightening trend of  an affluent society sinking deeper into drugs and alcohol...these trend are actually global since there is quantum increase in youth also in emerging markets resorting to hard drugs...unfortunately alcohol which is the most harmful intoxicant is legal in all places...while a harmless and wonderful herb like ganja or cannabis is illegal....misplaced priorities of a lobby driven world where alcohol is legal and the mafia promoted lethal heroin is clubbed with harmless grass....

18th apr 15

• russia and china want to build 5 nuclear power plants in iran. strange how a small country like iran will have so many nuke power plants...business at the cost of imperiling the planet.
• fed tells largest us banks that they can buy municipal bonds and can use them for liquidity ratio purposes. again the fed is encouraging banks to invest in risky bonds. the bonds scenario gets scarier.
• europe awash with -ve yield bonds. even the banking software cannot handle these deals! the realms of impossibility. 

9th apr 15
drones now to herd cattle, sheep not canines. farmers say that they do not have to feed the drones daily.

how fast we are assimilating drones, robots into our daily lives. suddenly one day we will find we are swamped by machines who can think better than us....towards the age of singularity...


5th apr 15
us has upgraded is biggest bunker buster bomb: http://www.wsj.com/articles/pentagon-worked-to-improve-biggest-bunker-buster-bomb-as-iran-talks-unfolded-1428078456?tesla=y. this weapon is being tested is us. the purported reason being striking iran's nuclear facilities some of which are embedded within mountains, in case the nuclear deal fails or is breached.

its global arms race and warmongering doublespeak at its best. ironically us is trying to stop iran from developing nuclear weapons for next 10 years by working towards the nuclear deal along with few other countries. the deal is a flawed one where there is lack of clarity at several points, major one being when iran can restart its nuclear missile development and also the details on checks which us can do. the deal is also making israel paranoid. in several ways its also upsetting the middle east delicate tinderbox balance of internecine violence where already there are so many criss cross conflicting interest battles and skirmishes with the dreaded isis being latest terror on the block. 

oil of course is a central theme here which will allow iran to step up production and further aggravate the plummeting oil prices. again there is another angle of capitalism at its best by helping iran develop its nuclear power facilities where several companies are waiting in the wings to make lucre out this. just to recall, if we rewind to early 90s, a similar treaty was signed with north korea, which in a few years was undone with north korea claiming it had the nukes, and the rest is history of horror with kim flexing his fat nuclear muscles every now and then!!! indeed this as complex as global neo post bipolar world war mongering nuke politics can get.   

4th apr 15

toyota, world's largest car manufacturer, is now planning to set up new plants in china and mexico to cater to growing markets of china and us. these plants will take probably couple of years to set up. then toyota will increase its market shares in these regions. rivals volkswagen, gm and volvo are similarly upping their capacities. since the downturn in 2008, there was a glut in auto market. now again with decline in oil prices, market is promising.

this is indeed a frightening portend, one one hand govts are placing before un plans to reduce co2 emissions by 30% or so by 2025, but on the other hand there is no let up in building up huge capacities in these weapons of mass destruction like alluring SUVs, etc and more gigantic houses with all energy guzzling amenities. humankind is living in a delusional state of double think. the death wish syndrome of humanity is strengthening to fearful proportions. 

1st apr 15

Obama Administration Submits Plan for Cutting Greenhouse Gases

Part of a major global effort to curb emissions of carbon dioxide; other economies that formally submitted are EU, Mexico, Norway, Switzerland and Russia

The Obama administration formally submitted its plan for cutting greenhouse gases nearly 30% by 2025, part of a global effort this year to curb emissions of carbon dioxide.The move adds pressure on other countries—including Australia, Canada, and India—that haven’t spelled out concrete plans.

The U.S., the second-biggest carbon emitter after China, has taken a leading role in recent months in negotiations with nearly 200 nations to strike an agreement through the United Nations to rein in gases blamed for global warming. “Our target will help spur others to step forward with targets of their own,” said Todd Stern, the U.S. special envoy for climate change.

Republicans used the announcement to amplify criticism of President Barack Obama’s federal emissions rules, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell warning other countries that Congress could stand in the way of promises the White House makes in the negotiations.

Ironically there is opposition from republicans. first this obama plan maybe too little too late. then the GOP want to reduce the targets. its really a grim outlook for 2025-30. at current trends the east coast of us could face devastating snow storms. temp highs are going to be atleast 2 deg c higher. california a desert. suicidal to the core. then we say lubnitz had suicidal drive. actually society has a whole is bent on suicide for the goodies of modern life. lubnitz is a symptom of the broader malaise. 

31st mar 15 WSJ

Energy’s New Legal Threat: Earthquake Suits

In key test for industry, Oklahoma homeowner blames quake damages on wastewater wells

After an earthquake toppled her chimney, sending rocks crashing through the roof and onto her legs, Sandra Ladra didn’t blame an act of God. She sued two energy companies, alleging they triggered the 2011 quake by injecting wastewater from drilling deep into the ground.

Ms. Ladra’s lawsuit, now before the Oklahoma Supreme Court, highlights an emerging liability question for energy companies: Can they be forced to pay for damages from earthquakes if the tremors can be linked to oil-and-gas activity?

Oklahoma, with a history of mild-to-moderate seismic activity, experienced 585 earthquakes of 3.0 or greater magnitude last year—big enough to be felt indoors—according to the Oklahoma Geological Survey. That’s more than the state had in the previous 30 years combined and the most of any state in the contiguous U.S.

So far, most of the tremors under investigation in Oklahoma and other oil-producing states, including Arkansas, Kansas, Ohio and Texas, have been too small to cause major damage. But the prospect of facing juries over quake-related claims is reverberating throughout the energy industry, which fears lawsuits and tighter regulations could increase costs and stall drilling.

The mad pursuit for energy is going to leave in its wake earthquakes now and for future generations. We are plundering mother earth. deep into its innards. destabilising the delicate balance of nature and the planet. oh for that last ounce of energy...we can trade our souls and future...