Goodbye, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. I mourn your passing. Never had tears at the death of any leader. You're the 1st & probably the last.
— Atanu Dey (@atanudey) March 23, 2015
Goodbye, Mr Lee Kuan Yew
Month: March 2015
Friday the 13th, Pi Day the 14th & Beware the Ides of March
But first, if you are superstitious then be wary since it is Friday the 13th. If you know anything about numbers, and you live in the US, then you can be irrational on Saturday which is Pi Day.
This pi day stuff works only in the US convention of writing mm/dd/yy for dates.
But whatever you do, beware the Ides of March.
Public Choice Society Conference at San Antonio TX Mar 12-15
Well, I am off to a conference. Public Choice Society Conference in San Antonio TX.
Money is the root of all Evil
Many people — including some economists — often confuse money with wealth. This frequently leads to avoidable errors and bad policies. It is best to take money out of most discussions and focus on wealth, unless of course one is specifically discussing money. Continue reading
Warren Buffet’s Letter to the Shareholders
The wise and wonderful Warren Buffet, the Oracle of Omaha as he is commonly known, writes an annual letter to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway. Here are a few excerpts from Buffet’s 2015 letter, courtesy of my friend Rajan Parrikar. Buffet is incomparable. Read and share with those whom you care about.
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The Man Lee Kuan Yew Admires the Most
The politician I admire the most is Lee Kuan Yew. Why? Because he is intelligent, learned, wise and gets things done. He is authoritarian — but without authority, you cannot get things done. All great leaders are authoritarian since they have to lead. The problem is not authority; the problem is authoritarian leaders who are stupid. Countries end up in the bottom of heap because of stupid authoritarian leaders. Two notable authoritarian leaders in India’s history are Nehru and MK Gandhi. How wise they were is clear from the evidence: India is a desperately poor country. China too had its fair share of stupid authoritarian leaders. And like India, it was awfully poor. But its fortunes changed. How? Because of one man.
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Daylight Saving Time is Plain Idiocy
The year’s in the Spring. And the clocks spring forward an hour. It’s daylight saving time from today to Nov 1st. The persistence of generalized collective idiocy can be explained by some kind of social inertia. Daylight saving time is a prime example. It was meant to reduce energy use. A little bit of thought should be enough for one to realize that there cannot be — in this present day and age — any energy savings by futzing around with clocks. Continue reading
Happy Holi
Holi was on March 6th in India. Most fun festival. Fun-loving people all over the world like it. Check out this video Nitai Gauranga music video recorded at Festival of Colors, Hare Krishna Temple, Spanish Fork, Utah.
The music is by Kirtaniyas. You can check out the words and translation, and listen to the track here.
Here’s the 2013 Holi at Spanish Fork.
An Informed Citizenry is the Bulwark of a Democracy
Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826), one of the Founding Fathers of the US and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence is believed to have written that “an informed citizenry is the bulwark of a democracy.” Bulwark — a defensive wall — is against something or someone. I don’t know the context in which Jefferson wrote that (or even if he did write it at all) but I’d like to think what he meant was that an informed citizenry protects democracy from the possible tyranny of the government.
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Problems and Solutions
There are problems. That implies solutions. Whether or not you can find a solution to any specific problem cannot be granted. It cannot be also be granted that you know the solution or are even capable of finding a solution. The solution may exist but you aren’t given the capacity or the means to solve it. Then it is not a problem that you should concern yourself with. Live with it.
Quite often a situation is defined as a problem. It may not be. It may be that that’s just the way things are. Being able to distinguish between situations that you can do something about or not is important. It’s not a problem if no one can do anything about it. Get used to it.
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