Entries for April 2006
Heros, Zeros & Plagiarism
I was amused by the noise, created by the discovery of alleged plagirism in a book written by a Harvrad Sophomore. It is evident that somebody has worked hard, to read the books in question and come up with a case of plagirism. Add to this lawyers, publishing houses and movie rights, we a cheap version of Boston Legal popping up.
I went thru the so called original author's version an example given below:
"He smelled sweet and woodsy, like cedar"
I don't think there is anything original in this, millions of people would have used the sentence without receiving a penny for it. The many passages claimed to be original, are so cliched that only a person out of his or her mind, will dare to call it original.
Here is another example of the so called original:
"Bridget is my age and lives across the street. For the first twelve years of my life, these qualifications were all I needed in a best friend. But that was before Bridget’s braces came off and her boyfriend Burke got on, before Hope and I met in our seventh-grade honors classes"
I think this phrase would have been said by almost all the teenagers under the sun. I think we have reached a stage where all the possibilities of combining the words have been exhausted and anybody indulging in creative writing, claiming to be really original must be living in fools paradise
I think in this era of instant heros and instant villans, the young author has been made a cannon fodder for News Media, a period of hype followed by a period of character assassination. People who claimed to have spent time discovering similar phrases, probably could have used their time in a better fashion
Correct Right Moral Legal
Never in my life, I ever thought I will sit down and try to figure out difference between the words mentioned in the title. They seemed so close to me for the duration of my familiarity with english language, I didn't even bother to see them as different words. Now I came across a situation where I am forced to understand the fine difference between each of them.
The recent firing of a senior CIA analyst for revealing the secret prison, started my thinking on these words.
First CIA was correct in firing the employee, because she violated the terms of her contract. Any person who violates the terms of his/her employment deserves to be fired, there can be no two ways about it.
But the question that arises is it illegal , former Chief Justice once observed from the bench "just because it is legal doesn't make it correct", my opinion is just because the CIA made a correct decision, I don't think the employee has done anything illegal as defined by law. The law says it is illegal (therefore a crime ) if the employee had helped an enemy, which is not the case here (despite the claims by the government that it has affected the war on terror), she just made something public to American public, which means if she is tried for a crime, only her conduct will be tested by a jury. The instruction to the jury will be whether the conduct of the analyst fails to meet the standards of the society. I think no jury will convict her for this conduct.
The fact that a Pulitzer prize was awarded for this story means that there is a large section of the society, which feels that the action of the analyst is right in making the information about the secret prisons public.
American concept of freedom, liberty, due process under law and human rights, doesn't go along with the operation of GULAGS, despicable Soviet concept, of holding people in secret location, so anybody with a knowledge that such an amoral activity, had a duty to blow the whistle.
So my analysis of the CIA analyst firing is bit complex, while acton of the CIA is correct, analyst's action is moral, her decision is right according to a large section of society and I doubt whether her action can be proved to be illlegal
Learning to be the Majority
I was shocked by the transistion in the Airport director in Cleveland. Technicaly a Mayor is entitled to his/her cabinet, but considering a business operation as cabinet position doesn't make a bit of sense to me.
Cleveland the majorty minority city, the minority hasn't realized that it is in majority and taken up the responsibilities of being in the majority.
Being in the majority means treating everybody including minority with fairness. There is no excuse for playing victim card while being in the majority.
Imagine the reaction that we would have seen, if a white mayor had replaced a performing black airport director with a white.
Replacing a performing professional for reasons of race and not being submissive doesn't speak of leadership, which the current mayor repeated like a parrot while campaiging.
I wonder how the EEOC will react if the current airport director files a complaint
Surprising Pulitzer
Another set of Pulitzers was announced this week, while the spotlight always shine on categories like Public Service, Investigavtive reporting (Journalism awards), I am really heartened by the selection of the book "Polio An American Story" in the category History for the awards in the Letters and Drama section. Yes, there is more to Pulitzers than Journalism.
The book by Oshinsky one of the greatest contemporary historian, narrates the American struggle with Polio. While Polio doesn't mean anything to Americans anymore, recent NY Times series on world's communicable diseases highlight the struggles the world community faces to wipe out the disease.
My father was afflicted with polio, which gives me a ringside view of what that disease can do a person. By rewarding this book Pulitzer has done a great service to the world community; reminding the challenge that lays ahead for the world's public health experts.
I am awaiting for the day, when the 1000 or so Polio outbreaks per year becomes zero.
Has Wall Street become a Parasite.
Wall street has clearly becoming a parasite for the most of the basic industries or industries that are facing technological shift. The crazy notion called shareholder value has destroyed so many companies and led many business executives to become convicted criminals.
Why the wall street analysts are not being tried for aiding and abetting the scandals at Enron and Worldcom , becaue the executives there were generating numbers for the wall street.
Wall street is in the path of destroying the newspaper industry, while yahoo which posts some arbit news pulled from wire services commands ridiculous valuation. Newspapers which do indepth local coverage a basis of democracy is branded a dying industry. Everytime Pratt Whitney losses an opportunity to build an engine for a new aircraft United Technology's value goes up.
Add to this new group of investors called hedge funds who buy a minority holding and create nuisance by demanding change. I can say with confidence, the wall street may increase value of some shares for short duration by its demands but net destruction to the economy is enormous and not studied.
I am confident that if the present day wall street had existed in industrial era, human enterprise would not have made much progress.
Let me make it clear I distrust wall street where a single analyst may cover the health care industry and also the funeral home industry.
OM shanti
The Immigration Debate
am really surprised by the audacity of illegal immigrants to challenge the system and the fact the law enforcement was a bystander when millions of lawbreakers were walking, came as a shock to me.
I don't understand why so many lawbreakers are tolerated, when a mother who forgets her child in a car, faces five years in the prison.
US may be a nation of immigrants, that only explains how the country was populated, it doesn't explain the success of the country. The success of US was due to law abiding people, philanthrophy, top quality education and many other factors. The fact that congress is tempted to legalize lawbreakers on behalf of another set of lawbreakers (business who employ them), sets the country on a slippery slope. These actions sets the country on a slow path of destruction, when the damage is realized it may be too late.
I am amused by the reason put forward by the people who advocate for illegals. I would like to answer some of the points.
Point:
Agriculture economy will collapse.
Counter Point:
Why produce strawberries in US, when it can be bought from any other country like bananas.
Point:
They mow our lawns.
Counter Point:
I thought people mowed their own lawns untill recently.
Point:
Restaurants will close.
Counter Point:
There are too many restaurants in US leading to misallocation of labor, if some restaurants are closed net impact on the economy will be zero.
Point:
Deporting 11 Million will be dificult
Counter Point:
US had a prison population of 4.5 million, which indicates handling 4.5 million is not difficult. Last year 600,000 were deported beyond the 1 million stopped at the southern border.
I don't have anything against any ethnic group but giving amnesty (By any name) is not acceptable to me, in the interest of long term stability of the society.