Krugman: Conscience of a Liberal

Krugman's book for the most part was an exciting as any of his columns, somewhere in the middle the section on the rise of the movement conservatism was somewhat boring since this has been rehashed several times in the press and elsewhere ad nauseam for the last several years. A few points were eye opening for me.

• The central claim of Krugman is : The middle class in the United States did not evolve automatically as the economy matured, but was created through government policy and intervention, by Roosevelt and the New Deal.
  
• The second claim is : The inequality of wages in the United States is not a result of technological advancements but of government policy.
  

Let's discuss the points below the fold.

• in progress ...


• Similar levels of technology in other western nations from Canada to France did not result in similar degrees of disparity, only Britain with similar policies during Thatcher saw spikes in inequality.


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Bush sees Iraqi sole (size 10)

I can only think of Milton, "the ignominy and shame beneath this downfall"

• This is clearly a far far more effective form of protest than if the guy blew himself up. This actually draws focus on his grievances, I hope other Iraqis take notice.
  


• This is also a form of democratic protest, not unlike the caricatures of world leaders at WTO conferences or nude marches on earth-day. So in some way this is the beginning of democratic protests in Iraq, ..., in a twisted way something that Bush claims to have tried to do.
  


• In other news, some rich Saudi has offered to buy the shoes for 10 million dollars. The journalist faces anywhere from two to fifteen years in prison. Although I think the government might have to relent on public pressure.
  

And here is the rest of it. Read more!

Terrorist Attacks in Bombay

Somehow I always have a mental block every time I type Mumbai, so Bombay from here on (even my automatic spell checker gives an error for Mumbai). Anyway, when I first saw the T.V. report, I thought just another attack. But as the story unfolded, it seemed clear that this was very different.

• The speculation was about the identity of the terrorists. There is no dearth of people with grievances against Delhi, but when I heard about the attack on the Jewish centre, I was convinced that this had to be an outside group. While there is much friction between Hindus and Muslims in India, anti-Semitism is unheard of.
• I don't see any advantage of the Pakistani government in this either. This only brings India, the U.S. and Israel closer which does Pakistan no good. But the reality is that Pakistan, like Palestine is almost an ungoverned land, LeT might have operated with or without the knowledge of ISI.
• What maddens me most is the failure of the Indian intelligence services to preempt this. I mean such attacks will happen from time to time, but this is like the fourth or fifth time this year. Someone high up has resigned, for a change, but does that improve things?
• If it wasn't Bombay, the emergency services would probably have been much much worse.
• What's the impact on the economy? Already investments were drying up, now business travel will inevitably take a hit.

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Monkfish Paella

Went to the "soft" opening of David Burk's new place. The wait staff was good, I ordered the octopus salad, it was good but I had Barbounia's grilled octopus in mind, which was mind blowing. So in comparison this was ok. For the main course I had monk-fish paella. It wasn't a paella at all, but with couscous. But the monk-fish was just fantastic. The shrimp and fries sounded great, but was so-so. The 20% off for the "soft" opening was also very welcome. More pictures below fold.


Octopus Salad


Swordfish with foie gras



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Ugly Little Boy

You might have heard of the mapping of DNA of the woolly mammoth. Now there's talk of cloning an actual Neanderthal, maybe in a not too distant future. Reminds me of the Ugly Little Boy. (nothing extra below fold) Read more!

Geithner

So Geithner for Treasury, it's an interesting choice, but also looks like Summers will be replacing Bernanke in 2010. The Dow suddenly got a 500 point bounce, who are these idiots? One would have to believe that it's only the interregnum and uncertainty which are killing the market. (other observations on the market below the fold)

Meanwhile, Merrill-BofA deal spread is widening, i.e. the "market" or what is left of it is betting against the merger going through under current terms. Which reminds me, I have to remember to vote. This is probably a consequence of TARP. Since Paulson abandoned the original plan of providing relief to the troubled assets, the valuation has changed. However, it's extremely difficult to believe in the wisdom of the market right now; the deal spread could simply be impacted by fund redemption. Also most of the arbitrage players on whom the market depends to close the gap, are out of business, so efficient market theory doesn't apply. Consequences of this deal not going through could be significant, not only for Merrill & Co. but essentially most of the TARP investments would also blow up in smoke as Merrill's debt brings down the remaining players. The market is simply broken right now. [For anyone who cares, all this is from public sources, I have no insider knowledge :(]

In other news, Hillary accepts state. What's annoying to me are the huge number of leaks and rumors which are spreading since the election starting with Emanuel. No-drama Obama is being dragged into the Clinton culture. But then Geithner's appointment was of course orchestrated to have the bounce. One thing that's going around is that you don't hire someone you can't fire. But I think Obama can always lure Hillary to the Supreme Court. All people complaining about too many Clintonites in the administration needs to think that anyone in the Democratic party with any talent had to be associated with the Clintons somehow, they have simply dominated the party for the last sixteen years.

Team of Rivals is shaping up (I wonder how much money Goodwin is making off this, not that I mind; the press simply creates an idea and milks it for all its worth). But when will the liberals get any appointment?

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Batali in Union Square

So no Paltrow and no DVD, but Batali was entertaining enough. I think once the DVD comes out, I'll have a TV Spain travel evening with tapas and stuff. We shall see! I asked him which countries he was planning to travel next, and apparently the Moroccan government has offered them facilities, but no permission to enter any of the mosques, so that is ruled out. Other choices were Croatia/Italy or Mexico. (Nothing extra below fold) Read more!

Bailout

We met at the Wall St atrium for the discussion on the bailout. At the discussion I learnt one interesting thing. It seems its better for the auto companies to go into chapter 11 bankruptcy, and then get some money for retooling. This will allow them to restructure the management as well as renegotiate with the Unions. Overall my thinking is, even if they get the money, I don't see what the next game plan is. On the other hand if the finance industry gets a bailout, why not the auto industry? (nothing extra below fold) Read more!

e-book Readers

I have been thinking for a while about e-book readers since the time that Kindle came out. The currently available models accomplish a lot, but even with the ones on the horizon, much still seems to be desired. Here's the best comparison of various models available right now (will keep changing over time of course).

So what features do I want in a future e-book reader? (more below the fold)

Basically a fantastic tablet:
1. The size should be very slightly bigger than a letter paper, probably half and inch thick, almost like a note-pad.
2. Should have wireless internet access, and an interface like the iphone, should be able to bring up something like one-note, a touch sensitive screen.
3. A full sized keyboard should fit nicely on a letter paper in the landscape mode, and the screen should be able to recognize double handed typing.
4. All with colored e-ink, and should be able to play video as well. The refresh rate will have to improve considerably for this to happen. The OLEDs can already do this, so e-ink should not be too far behind.
5. Of course, mp3 player, GPS etc are a given, but probably not too large a hard-drive (solid state).

So let's see how much of this is available in the existing models.

The Iliad I-Rex comes close, as you can see in the following video. Dimensions are slightly smaller, but will do. Refresh rate is a real problem, and the internet browsing needs a clunky hack.


Jinke, the Chinese company making the less flashy Hanlin e-book reader had announced the V9 which would be the perfect size, but since then they have withdrawn it from the website, so probably not happening. I might have read somewhere that the company which makes the e-ink screens canceled, couldn't keep up with the order flow.



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Turkish Brunch

So met up with the office gang for brunch at the Turkish Kitchen. A reservation seems to be a must, besides the line at the buffet counters were very long but things got moving. The main courses and desserts were really good. (more below the fold)

There were a lot of salads and middle eastern spreads, but then the main courses were lamb kabobs, grilled fish and the desserts were definitely delicious. All for about $28 with tax and tip.

From there we went to see W. (a life misunderestimated). Somehow I really like this word, and no sarcasm intended. The movie could have been much better, more serious. This seemed like an SNL skit. Condi Rice is shown as a complete retard, much of the dialogue although out of place are actually correct quotations. Overall, I'll give it a C grade, probably will never watch it again (unlike 13 days or even JFK was better), but sort of movie to see to end the Bush era. But in the end, these days one almost feels sorry for the guy, just waiting to retire. And the appearance of Palin on the scene somehow makes him look like a cuddly bear in comparison.

While passing by the Barnes and Nobles in Union Square noticed that Batali and Paltrow will be signing their Spain on the Road Again on Wed. I should get the video and the book, and maybe some pics.

Now off to cooking crab curry.





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Lazy Saturday

So the Google Video Chat actually works, although I had to work out the kinks, had the best Dosa (south Indian crepes) in NYC, had plans to go for black paella (with squid ink) but that looks like will fall through. (more below the fold)


Talked to Nick through the new Video Chat feature in Google, he was using an integrated web-cam in his Mac, I had to change the Firefox settings for him to be able to hear me. I have to say I was very impressed, there goes Skype.

Had Dosa at Saravanas in Curry Hill, not sure why anyone would call their restaurant "Disaster House", but the crepe and especially the condiments were very good.

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Manhattan for Obama

From this very cool Times map, it looks like Manhattan (somehow the borough is being shown as a county, Dom's correction, Manhattan is New York County, King's county is Brooklyn) gave Obama the strongest support at 85% in the entire country. Surprisingly, Staten Island went to McCain by a small margin.(Nothing extra below fold) Read more!

Indian Lunar Mission

For about $80 million, India has launched it's first lunar mission on 22nd Oct. In less than a month the craft has entered lunar orbit, and launched a moon impact probe, basically just something to crash into the moon. A few thoughts:

• The main craft will orbit the moon for about a couple of years at a height of 100km and map the lunar surface, not sure if the Apollo mission did this, but the imaging will use modern equipment. Of special interest will be the poles which might have ice.
  
• The craft is carrying several European and American instruments for free, so this definitely fosters cooperation for future missions.
• The impactor is just a fancy name for a dead weight carrying the Indian flag. This "experiment" was designed with the thinking that one day India can claim at least some part of the lunar territory. Kalam (the previous President) was thinking ahead, a lot ahead!
• The mission also displayed precision control, guidance and communication. Think missiles? Probably this technology is more advanced?
  

(Nothing extra below fold) Read more!

Hillary in State Dept.

The Huffington post confirms that Obama has indeed offered Hillary the State Department. Politico has a deeper analysis. My plan is to cover Doris Goodwin's "Team of Rivals" for our January meet-up, it's the book that Obama claims to have shaped his philosophy of governing and leadership, and in that light he is embracing his former rival. (More below the fold)



But what does this say about the message of "change" if he is filling the white house with "team Clinton", does it worry the Obama fans? After a little thinking I think that Obama is handling it very well, absorbing a host of talented people who were loosely associated with the Clinton administration gives him Washington expertise which will be much needed. Also as the article mentions, this prevents any significant clash with Hillary. What Obama is keeping out though are the Mark Penns and Harold Ickes who are too closely associated the Clintons and were too a large extent responsible for the infighting in her campaign. Does not mesh well with no-drama Obama team.

Should Hillary accept? I would think that her main interest lies in domestic policy, especially health-care. One day she could aspire to be the Senate leader, if she drops out of the senate it may not be too soon that she can return. Furthermore, it'll be difficult for her to run against Obama in 2012 should the opportunity arise. Also, she'll be putting her career at the mercy of Obama. Will she be a great secretary of State? Probably better than Powell or Rice, no worse than Christopher or Albright, but probably not as good as Baker.

Kerry is the other candidate, he brought Obama in national spotlight, so he might be "owed" something, but personally I would really like to see Kerry in Homeland Security, that's his expertise and I think that's where he can be best utilized.
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Obama's Message of Hope

The whole idea of Obama's message of "Hope" had seemed silly to many. But in retrospect, I think this has some genuine prospects. The biggest capital of a politician is the ability to persuade, and people become more pliable when given hope for the future. Given current conditions, a broad consensus needs to be built across the country, for example behind a proper stimulus package. Hillary Clinton fairly or unfairly would not have been able to generate such broad agreements. No matter how much "Hope" sounds like voodoo, it allows a very high favorability rating from the start, and "hope"fully that will allow him to get things done. (Nothing extra below fold) Read more!

Tablet PC

John Vesey was visiting during the week, and I saw his Dell tablet PC, the onscreen writing abilities reminded me of Hector's tablet PC from way back when, but seemed much sleeker. So I was browsing for tablet PCs (if I still have a job, these days everything has to be predicated with that), and found 3 contenders:

1. Electrovaya Scribbler SC4000 [about $2,000]
   
2. Lenovo ThinkPad X61, [about $1,000 right now] and
3. Dell Latitude XT [about $2,000]

From some of the reviews it seems to me that Lenovo is the best deal here. Electrovaya is the slimmest, Lenovo has all the advantages of IBM while remaining slim. Pen has an eraser, and right now its the cheapest. (Nothing extra below fold) Read more!

Obama's Election

Interesting article at the Times about the Levittown, PA which went heavily for Hillary coming around to vote for Obama. It occurred to me that the very process of people confronting themselves to consider Obama's candidacy must be in itself a positive step for race relations in America. It became a choice between discomfort developed from childhood, and the nation facing real problems and people overcame.

On the other hand the failure of (or rather passage of) Proposition 8 in California seems to some as a point of departure for liberals and minorities. Not sure how convincing that argument is. Read more!

Hillary's Campaign

Final thoughts on the Hillary campaign, I think that Hillary did not do a good job in building it. She became the inevitable candidate very early on, and the old hands signed up more in order to promote themselves than to promote her. This led to considerable infighting, positioning and leaks. They fought on doggedly because they simply could not believe they could lose, and that the old hands were making a last stand for their careers.

All said such a team would have served the country very ill. Hillary might have won, with a smaller majority then Obama, but so far the Obama campaign has shown far greater efficiency than one could have reasonably expected from Clinton. Read more!