Rains delayed, we seek permission to die!!

Those who know India know how much normal life is affected by Monsoons in the country. We are used to listening to platitudes such as agriculture is the back-bone of the country even today (agriculture contributes to less than 30% of GDP), and how agriculture is dependent on Monsoons. Every year we hear about thousands of rain starved farmers committing suicide. Either these farmers are irrational or have some kind of hereditary mental illness. For over 60 years the government has failed to provide adequate irrigation facilities, and they still believe the government will do something for them? Something is seriously wrong with them. They should all take a class in Bayesian Updating and rational behaviour.

The latest is this bunch of farmers who have requested the President to give them permission to die. One guy says he is fed up of red tapism, yet he goes back to the same government to ask for permission to die? Hmm!! What makes him think that the same red tape will make his petition move any faster than building proper irrigation systems? More importantly, what can the President do? Pray to the rain gods?

I am a Victim of racism

If I follow the logic of Mizoram Chief Minister, every time people ask me if I am Indian they are being racist. No! Seriously... Here's is his logic.

You can't be serious!!

India's North-East has been a contentious place since Independence. The NE states constantly complain that they have been neglected by the central government and that is why they have turned to violent methods. Here is a news item, and the logic is just completely screwy. The village was ruled by the Communist party for 30 years and they did not have any development all those years. Duh!! Sure there was no development. Communists care only about redistribution, and you guys wanted these communists to rule you, why are you complaining now? You say

I also realized that under CPM rule, we had lost the right to speak up. It was time to take a stand and speak up.

Of course you lost your freedom of speech under the communist!!
Here is the one sensible thing in the whole article

And nobody will pay tax to the government anymore.

Yes. Please stop paying taxes, and build roads yourselves. You do not have to become Maoists and bomb useless government offices. They are not going to help you anyway, so why waste precious resources buying bombs when you can use that to buy mortar to build your roads!!

Credit Card Holder Bill of Rights

The new administration is all set to bring in the new credit card policy. What they do not realize is that these rules will make people more indebted than before. Here is a simple analysis of a few key points:

1. No charges when card holders spend beyond credit limit.

Hmm. Lets think about this. The limit on my card is $2000, if I spend even a $1 more than that I have to pay $35 over the limit fee. So, I constantly have a running account in my head of how much I have spent on my card. If I feel like I am reaching the $1900 mark, I stop spending, because I do not want that $35 fee. If there was no fee, I would do nothing of that sort and keep using my credit card. Isn't that just common sense?

2. Card holders need to be given at least 45 day notice before fee and finance charge increases

The card companies already do that. They give you a 2 month notice before any changes to your card take effect. I have read the fine print in my card holder agreement. 

3. No arbitrary interest increases and universal charges. 

Hmm. My APR goes up if the card company perceives me as a bad credit risk. It is their way of protecting their money. Its just silly to ask the money lender to keep lending you money and not impose any penalties even though the chances of you defaulting on the loan are high. It is precisely this policy that leads to bankrupt government banks. 

People who do not know how to handle their money will not be better off by the government holding their hand. This is akin to saying that teenagers are risk prone so we should keep them under lock and key. That is a ridiculous idea. In the same way, these rules will only change the incentives in the credit card market. Even good credit risk people will find it more difficult to get a credit card, because the companies have no way of assessing risk through user fee and charges and APRs. So, they do not know if the person who is defaulting is doing so because he is a bad risk or because he is just taking advantage of the no penalty situation. 

Stop using Chinese please!!

Chinese toys, pet food and now Chinese dry-walls are leading to health concerns. One day, just for a day, people in the US should not use anything that was made in China or had components made in China. I bet you the country would stand still. 

Who has the right?

A couple of years ago, I saw a new item on TV where the parents of a young boy suffering from cancer refused chemotherapy and wanted to follow a more holistic method of healing. The city Social Services reported them and the parents were charged with negligence and forced to put their kid through chemo. Here is a similar case. I am not sure if its the same case. Why do the parents not have the final say in this matter? Is five years of a painful life better than two without pain? Its difficult to answer such ethical questions. What concerns me is that, the courts instead of saying "we do not have a definite solution here and are conflicted", have chosen to force the parents and penalize them. How should the law handle such cases?

Criminal Prosecution of Psychics

Last night I was watching 48 Hours on TV and the show was about scammers. One segment was devoted to this Psychic out in Florida who runs a legitimate Psychic business, but who is being criminally prosecuted by the City and State for swindling her customers of thousands of dollars. One lady actually gave her a million dollars and more to help improve her life condition, but now wants to criminally prosecute the Psychic for defrauding her. What I do not understand is how someone can give away a million dollars and then accuse the other person of cheating. C'mon if you believe that Psychics can actually change your life, you gave the money voluntarily. If you did not believe they could help change anything, and still gave the money then there is something else other than rationality that motivated your behaviour. I could not believe that the courts were taking the accusations seriously. 

Some Random Guy!!

I moved this past monday and my colleague Jared asked me how I found this apartment, and if I knew my landlord. I said I found the place on Craigslist, and that my landlord was some random guy who had advertised a place for rent. Jared was quite taken aback that I could trust my life and possessions to some random guy online. When I first moved from Nebraska to Virginia, I found my first landlord online. I had not met her, nor did I know anything about her. I saw her ad, replied to it, and her daughter (a law student back then) drew up the lease papers, made two copies, signed both and mailed them to me, I signed both as well, kept one for my records and sent the other with the first month rent as deposit ($450). I only knew the address in Fairfax, and drove up from NE in my truck. For all I knew, they could have been axe-murderers or just simply cheats with no real address. However, when I landed I was not surprised at all, and I lived in that house for two years and have fond memories (the only reason I had to leave was cause I was going away to India and also had the housing job with on-campus living). 

Of course when I moved this time, I met my landlord and made an informed decision. Sure! There are horror stories out there with Craigslist. But, the number of success stories far outnumber the horror stories. There is no regulation of Craigslist. Its a purely spontaneous creation and market run system and the measure of success is such that a young woman can go ahead and trust some random guy online advertising a house for rent. Markets Rock!!

Demand = Supply

I was amused to find the following product on Buy.com. A USB beverage warmer/cooler. What a neat idea!! I do not think I would personally buy it, but apparently someone has expressed a demand for such an item given that it is in the market now. I love the market system. It gives me an enormous variety of products for every whim and fancy. This past couple of weeks I have moved twice and noticed that I have a boatload of stuff. I compared my current moves to my moves back when I was studying/working in India and realised that I never had so many things when I was in India. In fact, when I was in India everytime I moved my stuff I would have 2 medium sized moving boxes filled with my books and stuff, and a one bag for my clothes and personal items. Now, I have a small truck load of stuff. The only reason I lament having so much stuff is cause its a pain moving. Otherwise, I am glad I them because it means at some point I had a demonstrated demand for this stuff and the market supplied it for me. Markets rock!!