Gitmo closed?

Little History lesson first:

Guantanamo Bay is an American detainment facility located in Cuba. The facility is operated by Joint Task Force Guantánamo of the United States government since 2002 in Guantánamo Bay Naval Base, which is on the shore of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

The detainment areas consist of three camps: Camp Delta (which includes Camp Echo), Camp Iguana, and Camp X-Ray, the last of which has been closed. The facility is often referred to as Guantánamo, or Gitmo. In 1999, President George W. Bush signed an executive order that stipulated that the US military could indefinitely detain any non-citizen who was believed to be involved in international terrorism. After the Justice Department advised that the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp could be considered outside US legal jurisdiction, prisoners captured in Afghanistan were moved there beginning in early 2002.
(Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Enough of the history lesson, On Nov 16th 2008 then President Elect Mr. Obama had committed, that upon taking office he would close Guantanamo Bay and ban torture by the American military. First of all I do not think American military is doing torturing, they should if needed to get information out, I personally have no problem torturing enemy to the nation. But that is beside the point, we are here to talk about Gitmo closing....
On January 11 2009, he said on interview on ABC, that he does not expect to close Guantanamo Bay in his first 100 days in office. And than comes the dead line a year later in January 2010. On November 18 2009, at Beijing, President Obama directly acknowledged for the first time Wednesday that the prison facility at Guantanamo Bay will not close by the January deadline he set, but he said he hoped to still achieve that goal sometime next year.


See here is my real trouble with this president, any decision he has taken, any stand taken, any statement made are either wrong, or taken with no thinking behind it, just because they sound good to stupid Voters to Vote for him. Obviously he had no executive experience on or before when he had taken this office so as he is learning facts, he is making excuses and the days goes pushing out.

Now we have news this week, President Barack Obama has ordered the federal government to acquire an underused state prison in rural Illinois to be the new home for a limited number of terror suspects now held at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The federal government will acquire Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson, IL., transforming the prison in a sleepy town near the Mississippi River into a prison that exceeds "supermax standards".

Let us hope they move all detainees from Gitmo to this new Prison in 1 year, though there are many concerns raised for that. But big quesion I have, Does this complete the commitment of closing Gitmo?, or it is just moving it from Guantánamo Bay, Cuba to Thomson, IL.

US Faces H1N1 Flu Vaccine Shortage

Now this was unheard of...
Grown up in India, I had gone through many shortages... shortage of milk, shortage of water, shortage of food, shortage of Petrol (Gas), shortage of Gas (Cooking)...

My more than 10 years in US, i had yet to heard that we are out or something... but there is always first time... isn't it? We are out of Flu Vaccine...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there is not enough H1N1 vaccine available for everyone in the United States. And schools and clinics around the U.S. are experiencing the results of the shortage.
In some cities, people wait for hours at mass vaccination clinics, just to be turned away when the supply is gone.

The man in charge of vaccine procurement at the Department of Health and Human Services says if there are early outbreaks in September and October, there could be increased demand for the shots.

As usual, true to any government, they are giving Excuses and Blames:

—The full 195 million the government has ordered is expected by December, the long-set date for final delivery.

—"We're trying to bring on more manufacturing" for the packaging step that has emerged as a logjam, said Dr. Robin Robinson, the Department of Health and Human Services official in charge of vaccine procurement. "Hopefully, there are ways to bring that number up."

—One manufacturer, France-based Sanofi-Pasteur, took longer than expected to finish brewing the regular winter flu vaccine, delaying the swine flu work, Robinson said. "We knew there were problems," but only recently the extent, he said.

—Another supplier, Australia's CSL, recently notified the U.S. that its shipments will arrive later than promised because it first must provide batches to its home country, where the flu season is winding down. Although the U.S. signed a contract with CSL first, "there was always the possibility they could do that," Robinson said. "Our laws can do the same thing. We don't, but we could."

—And it took health authorities longer than anticipated to develop the tests, called reagents, required to ensure doses are at the proper strength before they are cleared for use.

"The fact that we have fewer doses I think actually will focus attention," Schaffner said. "it will mean that we all will have to be much more specific about whom we will ask to show up."

So what is the Government Solution: - what else - Rationing

Since there is a shortage of H1N1 vaccine, the supply will not cover the entire population. Accordingly, the government is planing to ration the swine flu vaccine. As flu season begins, the only people that will be able to be inoculated are pregnant women, people who work in public health, and children that are under the age of four.

The original plan was to vaccinate every elementary age student, with their parent's approval. But nurse coordinator Robin Wallin at Alexandria public schools outside of Washington now has to tell parents only children in pre-kindergarten through first grade can receive the H1N1 vaccine.

My view: If government can not handle one small health care related task of provide vaccine efficiently, how can one trust them to provide complete health care... can you? I am sorry, but O can't.

Obama's Foreign Policy - Missile Shield

Here is the part of chat i had on Sep 20th, three days after, President Barack Obama announced to shelv the Bush-era plan for a missile shield to defend Eastern Europe:

Me: so how is obama doing
XXXXXXX: actually VERY good. He just relaxed tension of missile shield with Russia .. so that he can concentrate in middle east (and russia reciprocated with promising not putting missiles )
Me: so what is the tension with russia
XXXXXXX: ask Bush on what's missile shield
Me: i didnt ask that, [What] I asked what is tension with russia. I know what is missile shield. Here is what i read when reading between lines. He is being friendlier to enemies as he has no back bone and in process breaking bonds with friends
XXXXXXX: what enemies ?
Me: countries particularly - dont like US
XXXXXXX: russia is not Soviet Union since last 20 years
Me: so why tension?

The whole thing came to me back when I have heard the news yesterday, on Fox News that Russia test-launches new Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. For the people who hated Fox as Whitehouse commanded. I have placed link from BBC too so read before discredit fox this time.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,276014,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6700585.stm
Here is some for easy read:

Russia Test-Launches New Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. The new missile would modernize Russia's stockpile at a time of rising tensions with the West. The ICBM was fired from a mobile launcher at the Plesetsk launch site in northwestern Russia, and its test warhead landed on target about 3,400 miles away on the Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, a statement from the Russian Strategic Missile Forces said.
President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said Russia would continue to improve its nuclear weapons systems and respond to U.S. plans to deploy a missile defense system in Europe.First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said the ICBM, as well as a tactical cruise missile that also was tested Tuesday, can penetrate any missile defense system, Russian news agencies reported. "As of today, Russia has new (missiles) that are capable of overcoming any existing or future missile defense systems," ITAR-Tass quoted Ivanov as saying. "So in terms of defense and security, Russian can look calmly to the country's future."

This is as clear as text written, This is answer to US plans... and no matter what you put now, my missiles are good for existing or future defense system:

President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said Russia would continue to
> improve its nuclear weapons systems and respond to U.S. plans to deploy a
> missile defense system in Europe
Russian news agencies
> reported. "As of today, Russia has new (missiles) that are capable of
> overcoming any existing or future missile defense systems

so basically, It proves that the Obama's action, going to Russia with white cloth to reduce THE TENSION is nothing but act of weak as i have mentioned. While in response Russia has flexed the muscle...

and another proof is that no body has dare to condemn... as they dare not.

Nobel peace prize goes to President Obama

Let me start with Congratulating Mr. President for getting Nobel peace prize. Frankly, when i heard this morning while on breakfast table, i was surprised, confused, amazed ... kind of mix feelings. Anyway winner needs to be congratulated and that is what i am doing here.

And i had checked and re checked and double checked the news on various news sites i trusted, to make sure i am not writing something that is incorrect.

Per BBC, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8299824.stm:

The committee said he won for efforts to boost diplomacy and co-operation.

"Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future," the Norwegian committee said in a statement.

"His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population."

There were a record 205 nominations for this year's peace prize. Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Chinese dissident Hu Jia had been among the favourites. Instead the committee chose Mr Obama, who was inaugurated less than two weeks before the 1 February nomination deadline. I have talked to several people today, in fact i have given news to very many, there was widespread surprise at the decision, with about 90% of comments i got, are either disagreeing with the award or saying it had come too soon.

Asked why the prize had been awarded to Mr Obama less than a year after he took office, Nobel Committee head Thorbjoern Jagland Replied: "It was because we would like to support what he is trying to achieve". He specifically mentioned Mr Obama's work to strengthen international institutions and work towards a world free of nuclear arms.

WOW i said, and several questions started flying in my mind, the one was, Why him, and how did that happen. I think this will help him get his popularity back, he is loosing ground in all polls. and being devil's advocate, the first thought was he must have bought it. Nobel prize is loosing its value and must have price tag now, that is the only way people like Al Gore and Obama, can get the prize. He needs it and he bought it.

But again little investigation always helps - Obviously i got little hints from BBC website too. Here is what Wikipedia says about Nobel Prize:

The Nobel Prize (Swedish: Nobelpriset) is a Sweden-based international monetary prize. The award was established by the 1895 will and estate of Swedish chemist and inventor Alfred Nobel. It was first awarded in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace in 1901. An associated prize, The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, was instituted by Sweden's central bank in 1968 and first awarded in 1969. The Nobel Prizes in the specific disciplines (Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Literature) and the Prize in Economics, which is commonly identified with them, are widely regarded as the most prestigious award one can receive in those fields. The Nobel Peace Prize conveys social prestige and is often politically controversial.

For the Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee consists of five members elected by the Norwegian Storting (the Norwegian parliament).[9] In its first stage, several thousand people are asked to nominate candidates. These names are scrutinized and discussed by experts in their specific disciplines until only the winners remain. This slow and thorough process is arguably what gives the prize its importance. Despite this, there have been questionable awards and questionable omissions over the prize's century-long history.

Forms, which amount to a personal and exclusive invitation, are sent to about three thousand selected individuals to invite them to submit nominations. For the peace prize, inquiries are sent to such people as governments of states, members of international courts, professors and rectors at university level, former Peace Prize laureates, current or former members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, among others. The Norwegian Nobel Committee then bases its assessment on nominations sent in before 3 February. The submission deadline for nominations for Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Economics is 31 January. Self-nominations and nominations of deceased people are disqualified.

The names of the nominees are never publicly announced, and neither are they told that they have been considered for the Prize. Nomination records are sealed for 50 years.[12] In practice, some nominees do become known. It is also common for publicists to make such a claim, founded or not.

So here is my View:
Though it appears to be immature act, it may not be. Here is reasoning: He was President for under two weeks when he was nominated, but you are not needed to be president to be nominated for this prize. Also it appears that nobody was knowing him before he started running for presidency, actually he was well known in the political and academia circles, which is needed for getting nominations.
The thing that bugs me is, per Nobalprize.org, in addition to humanitarian efforts and peace movements, the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded for work in a wide range of fields including advocacy of human rights, mediation of international conflicts, and arms control. And per Wikipedia, the prizes in Peace, are often awarded within a few years of the events they recognize.
And i do not know, the achievements or efforts, other than giving Speeches. I do not see any concrete actions so far. So not sure what events they have recognized, but being charmer, i guess, he has impressed few important and needed people to get this award in good short time.

And I must say, there are very curiously stange group of people had got nominations, for this award in past. the group includes, Joseph Stalin, and Adolph Hitler too.

Joseph Stalin, the Secretary General of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1922-1953), was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1945 and 1948 for his efforts to end World War II.

Adolf Hitler, was nominated once in 1939 by E.G.C. Brandt, member of the Swedish parliament. Brandt changed his mind, however, and the nomination was withdrawn in a letter dated 1 February 1939.

This thing, reminds me with regrets, Mahatma Gandhi, the founding father, father of nation of India, who has run the peace movement against British and achieve Independence for India, have never received this prize.

Per Nobelprize.org, Mahatma Gandhi, nominated in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947 and, finally, shortly before he was assassinated in January 1948. Although Gandhi was not awarded the Prize (a posthumous award is not allowed by the statutes), the Norwegian Nobel Committee decided to make no award that year on the grounds that "there was no suitable living candidate".

May be he was not popular enough in ellite group needed the vote from, or they couldn't find any significant events until he got India Independence from British hmm... not sure. And unfortunately dead before he can be given the prize. the thing i like this comment though, is the fact that they have decided not to give award that year, may be they wanted to give silent award to him, but i don't like the ground, there was no suitable living candidate... So... does that mean they were giving the prize to him because, there was no one else they possibly could?????????? That is more of an insult than the recognition for him...

Now it make me feel bad and sad......

I am sure Morgan and Hu Jia was sure was more qualified, they had more events to consider for sure.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hu_Jia_%28activist%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_Tsvangirai
I don't know what you say, but it appears that they didn't do good job this time. May be this award is not what i was thinking it is... And it sure do come at real strange time, when Mr. Obama could not spare time to meet another Nobel Peace Prize winner, His Holiness, Dalai Lama, who got the same in 1989. And some people say, the reason is Chinese appeasement policy of this administration. Don't know what to say, this is my view...

Taxes

Traffic light incidence has also made me think one more thing - why we are suppose to pay taxes? What gives government right to ask to pay us taxes? And worse, what gives them right to penalize us for not doing it or doing it late? So i did some research...

Research on Tax

Historically record for Taxing the people have been found in various old cultures, like, Egypt, Greece, Roman Empire, Indian Kings, and so and so on...

History of Taxes in United States
In 1794 Settlers west of the Alleghenies, in opposition to Alexander Hamilton's excise tax of 1791, started what is now known as the "Whiskey Rebellion" The excise tax was considered discriminatory and the settlers rioted against the tax collectors . President Washington eventually sent troops to quell the riots. Although two settlers were eventually convicted of treason, the President granted each a pardon.
In 1798 Congress enacted the Federal Property Tax to pay for the expansion of the Army and Navy in the event of possible war with France. In the same year, John Fries began what is referred to as the "Fries Rebellion," in opposition to the new tax. No one was injured or killed in the insurrection and Fries was arrested for treason but eventually pardoned by President Adams in 1800. Surprisingly, Fries was the leader of a militia unit called out to suppress the "Whiskey Rebellion."

The first income tax suggested in the United States was during the War of 1812. The tax was based on the British Tax Act of 1798 and applied progressive rates to income. The rates were .08% on income above £60 and 10 percent on income above £200. The tax was developed in 1814 but was never imposed because the treaty of Ghent was signed in 1815 ending hostilities and the need for additional revenue.

The Tax Act of 1861 proposed that "there shall be levied, collected, and paid, upon annual income of every person residing in the U.S. whether derived from any kind of property, or from any professional trade, employment, or vocation carried on in the United States or elsewhere, or from any source whatever.

The 1861 Tax Act was passed but never put in force. Rates under the Act were 3% on income above $800 and 5% on income of individuals living outside the U.S.

The Tax Act of 1862 was passed and signed by President Lincoln July 1 1862. The rates were 3% on income above $600 and 5% on income above $10,000. The rent or rental value of your home could be deducted from income in determining the tax liability. The Commissioner of Revenue stated "The people of this country have accepted it with cheerfulness, to meet a temporary exigency, and it has excited no serious complaint in its administration." This acceptance was primarily due to the need for revenue to finance the Civil War.
Although the people cheerfully accepted the tax, compliance was not high. Figures released after the Civil War indicated that 276,661 people actually filed tax returns in 1870 (the year of the highest returns filed) when the country's population was approximately 38 million.

The Tax Act of 1864 was passed to raise additional revenue to support the Civil War.
Senator Garret Davis, in discussing the guiding principle of taxation, stated "a recognition of the idea that taxes shall be paid according to the abilities of a person to pay."
Taxes rates for the Tax Act of 1864 were 5% for income between $600 and $5000; 7.5% for income between $5001 and $10,000; 10% on income above $10,000. The deduction for rent or rental value was limited to $200. A deduction for repairs was allowed.
With the end of the Civil War the public's accepted cheerfulness with regard to taxation waned. The Tax Act of 1864 was modified after the war. The rates were changed to a flat 5 percent with the exemption amount raised to $1,000. Several attempts to make the tax permanent were tried but by 1869 " no businessman could pass the day without suffering from those burdens" The Times. From 1870 to 1872 the rate was a flat 2.5 percent and the exemption amount was raised to $2,000.
The tax was repealed in 1872 and in its place was installed significant tariff restrictions that served as the major revenue source for the United States until 1913. In 1913 the 16th Amendment was passed, which allowed Congress authority to tax the citizenry on income from whatever source derived.
It should be noted that the Tax Act of 1864 was challenged several times. The Supreme Court unanimously supported the tax. After the war the tax was declared unconstitutional by the same court because it represented direct taxation on the citizenry which was not allowed under the constitution.

1930's

During the 1930's federal individual income taxes were never more than 1.4 percent of GNP. Corporate taxes were never more than 1.6 percent of GNP. In 1990 those same taxes as a percent of GNP were 8.77 and 1.99 respectively

Here is how i see it:
Tax is invention of governing bodies, could be King, or Modern government, could be Autocrat or democrat. How you think those early Pharaohs could afford the cost of making Piramids, or Taj Mahal by Mugal emperor Shah Jahan... By taxing

It has been so old and people are so used to paying taxes, no one now a days think, why do i have to pay tax...

Every animals who leaves in herd, have herd leader, whether, it's wolves, horses, sheep, goats, cows, yaks, camels, monkeys or humans...

Human leaders over the times are known as different names, tribal leaders, kings, president, prime ministers... but they all have one common job description, lead the group they are accepted as leaders. They had responsibilities towards the group, to defend, to prosper, to mediate, in return, they get respect from group. Group looks up to leader...

And Power Corrupts, over the period, those leaders becomes rulers... they believe ruling is their right... and they have power over the group to make them do what they think right. They made them build big buildings, they push them to wars, they force them to pay for their expensive lifestyles.

At this time i am thinking of two Mughal emperors, father and son... Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb... The one very popular and one very unpopular... Shah Jahan who has built Taj Mahal, the greatest expression of love ever and so and so on... on the other end, Aurangzeb, alleges for initiated laws which interfered with non-Muslim worship and destruction of several Hindu temples... People thinks Shah Jahan was good and Aurangzeb was bad... but the way I see it and what they do not see is this, Shah Jahan has wasted public money to create something of the personal nature, tomb for his wife, while Aurangzeb never drew salary from state treasury but earned his own living by selling caps he sewed and selling copies of the Quran he copied by hand. Ruler does not own state treasury, they are there as administrator of the treasury.

Little side tracked, didn't i?

Anyway, so at some point, those rulers have decided in order to expand their reign, and satisfy their greed of being great ruler, they need army, in older society, every men in group were the soldier, but as time pass and society become more specialized, where some group of men were groomed and specialized in art of war, . In order to pay those men. those leaders now need money. In old days, leader himself used to play the role of judge when needed, but as a ruler he has other priorities, also now the group is bigger, so he need men specialized in art of mediator, and to make sure there is uniformity, they needs written laws, and judiciary system. And now to pay those they need more money. As a leader, he thought, two heads are better than one, he needs group of advisers, and courtiers came, and you need more money...

How to generate revenues? beg, borrow or steal... They are rulers, they have power, obviously they are not going to beg.
For years, those ancient rulers fought wars and collect treasure. Basically, survival of the strongest, they looted...
The oldest record, in Greece, in times of war the Athenians imposed a tax referred to as eisphora. No one was exempt from the tax which was used to pay for special wartime expenditures. The Greeks are one of the few societies that were able to rescind the tax once the emergency was over. When additional resources were gained by the war effort the resources were used to refund the tax. there comes borrow - leaders borrowed money as tax from citizens, and they refund it back when they got from war.
In modern world, when war are considered taboos, the only way to generate revenues, are left to be tax their own citizen. They decided well they are rulers, they have responsibilities towards the group, why not to charge them with taxes in return, almost like the bully in the school, you have to do homework for him, give him food from your lunchbox for the security. And as time passes the greed of the ruler grow more and more just like that bully in school, once he knows he can get his way, he increases his demands...

Do you see the trend now in history of taxes?

Thought on Health insurance issue at Traffic Light

few days back i was driving at 2 AM in morning and came to stop at traffic light. Looked around, i was the only one at that intersection. Waited for few minutes for it to turn green, and headed on to my destination.

While driving a sudden thought had strikes me. Why do we have to stop at red light? it took me back when i was kid and living in small city called Vadodara in state of Gujarat in India. And i do remember my very first encounter with Traffic police, he was old man and neighbor where we used to live. That means i am talking something that is less than 30 years old story. There used to be human police man, also known as traffic police, standing in center of intersection and guide the traffic.

I did little research and found this information for some one who might be interested:
Even during the horse and buggy days, traffic in big cities was often heavy. Police officers had to be stationed full time directing traffic at busy intersections.
On 10 December 1868, the first traffic lights were installed outside the British Houses of Parliament in London, by the railway engineer J. P. Knight. They resembled railway signals of the time, with semaphore arms and red and green gas lamps for night use. The gas lantern was turned with a lever at its base so that the appropriate light faced traffic. Unfortunately, it exploded on 2 January 1869, injuring the policeman who was operating it.
The modern electric traffic light is an American invention. As early as 1912 in Salt Lake City, Utah, policeman Lester Wire invented the first red-green electric traffic lights. On 5 August 1914, the American Traffic Signal Company installed a traffic signal system on the corner of East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio. It had two colours, red and green, and a buzzer, based on the design of James Hoge, to provide a warning for colour changes. The design by James Hoge allowed police and fire stations to control the signals in case of emergency. The first four-way, three-colour traffic light was created by police officer William Potts in Detroit, Michigan in 1920. In 1923, Garrett Morgan patented a traffic signal device. Ashville, Ohio claims to be the location of the oldest working traffic light in the United States, used at an intersection of public roads until 1982 when it was moved to a local museum.

Traffic light technology I am sure has been invented and is constantly evolving with the aims of improving reliability, visibility, and efficiency of traffic flow. The very latest on the line is Red light cameras... an automated camera is connected to the triggering mechanism for the corresponding traffic light, which is targeted to photograph any vehicle which crosses against the light. The driver or owner (depending on local laws) of a vehicle so photographed can then be fined for violating traffic laws.

Someone will say, thanks for the information but what it has to do with health care, coming back to the point:

the thought that had stricken me was, if there was human police at 2 AM(???) standing there, what he would have done... let me stand for those 3 - 4 minutes?

its not important at this point, that the only time waste was 3 to 4 minute. If I count so many people like me those minutes will grow exponentially, and add the cost to the car, breaks, gas so and so on... but that is not the point i am trying to make....

So what is the point
people needed to travel and were traveling for thousands of year, before any government even existed. Government thought a brilliant idea, let us devise system where we will control the traffic. So , suddenly from individual, or citizen you became Traffic. not human but traffic that needs to be governed. first came the system where some government official, with power to stop or let you go, with mere flick of hand. What worse..., well we can not pay those employees let us replace them with machines. Control those Traffic with machines. Oh and what is worst, economy is bad, we have deficit in our budget... let us put some camera and charge the Traffic for not obeying. I still remember the ticket i got with picture of my car, front and back in color, showing - I have ran the red light for 0.01 second. Can human reflex be accurate up to 100th of a second???

Now let us talk health care... people needed the access of health care, and getting health care before any government even existed. Medicine was considered holy profession, doctors were respected as some one who comes next to god. I still remember when i was kid, we had one doctor and he was treated as celebrity in my village. I still remember going to doctor and tell him what i am going through (symptoms) and he used to listen carefully, listen to the heart bits... go mix some medicine in mystery liquid and give in bottle that i used to carry from home. Just like those cloth bags, which later replaced by poly-thin plastic bags, the system of carrying your own medicine bottle is replaced by prescription. In my last visit to India this year, i met our family physician, who surprisingly still gives medicine not liquid but tablet forms (yellow, Red, Orange, White - unbranded) in paper packets. you go to him every day, he will listen, and if needed change the medicine tablet and so and so on... this things goes on until you are cured. For last few years i had found myself in position (in India) while taking medicine in front of someone, they look at me strange way, and sometime even asks, is still your doctor, gives medicine this way? I can see very clearly in their eyes written, Your doctor is old fashion - old is bad - change your doctor.

Let us see the new fashion doctors - go to doctor, he runs several tests, prescribe you the medicine for X days. Come back once the dose is over and you still needs me. No continuous monitoring, no doctor / patient relation... and worst, lost the respect.. While my work with Lab System company, I came across the other side of the profession where they had to be business man... even if i don't like it, it is what it is.

looks like i got side tracked again... My point is the profession of medicine has changed over the period instead of charging Rs 20 for home visit 10 years back, or Rs 5 for office visit which includes diagnosis and medicine. we are at Rs 1500 per office visit and forget about home visit. Who does that these days? (any one who knows what were the doctor office charges in US 20-30 years back please comment)

Health Insurance:

My curiosity lead me to this website where i have found the history of health insurance:
http://www.neurosurgical.com/medical_history_and_ethics/history/history_of_health_insurance.htm

Some highlights:

In 1929, the first modern group health insurance plan was formed. A group of teachers in Dallas, Texas, contracted with Baylor Hospital for room, board, and medical services in exchange for a monthly fee.
1932 nonprofit organizations called Blue Cross or Blue Shield first offered group health plans. Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans were successful because they involved discounted contracts negotiated with doctors and hospitals. In return for promises of increased volume and prompt payment, providers gave discounts to the Blue Cross and Shield plans.
Employee benefit plans proliferated in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Wartime (1939-1945) wage freezes imposed by the government actually accelerated the spread of group health care. Unable by law to attract workers by paying more, employers instead improved their benefit packages, adding health care. Strong unions bargained for better benefit packages, including tax-free, employer-sponsored health insurance.
During the 1980’s and 1990’s, the cost of health care rose rapidly and the majority of employer-sponsored group insurance plans switched from “fee-for-service” plans to the cheaper “managed care plans.” As a result, most Americans with health insurance were enrolled in managed care plans by the mid-1990s

The things i have highlighted in highlights:

• Health Insurance is the contract between two parties where one party agrees to provide monitory help agreed in the contract to another party in case he need health care services.
  
• Group health plan was first offered by not for profit organization (BCBS), yes that's how it was started.
  
• Employer provided health insurance was started by employers as benefit package to attract workers since government was not allowing them to pay more.
  
• Unions have made them even sweeter for the employees
  

So basically Health insurance is nothing but business and is agreement between you and the insurance company of your choice. You are agreeing that Insurance company will pay towards the health care expense at agreed terms if you pay them fix payments every agreed period. And like any business transaction, no party should be forced to enter in business transaction.

And with what is going on by government, what i feel is, government is intervening in this business transaction with another system of theirs, just like they have done for the Traffic.

Let us talk back about the Traffic light system, here are the words of transportation engineers:
According to transportation engineers, traffic lights can have both positive and negative effects on traffic safety and traffic flow. The separation of conflicting streams of traffic in time can reduce the chances of right-angle collisions. But also the frequency of rear-end crashes can be increased by the installation of traffic lights, and they can adversely affect the safety of bicycle and pedestrian traffic. They can increase the traffic capacity at intersections, but can also result in excessive traffic delay. Hans Monderman, the innovative Dutch traffic engineer, and pioneer of shared space schemes, was sceptical of their role, and is quoted as having said of them: "We only want traffic lights where they are useful and I haven't found anywhere where they are useful yet".

Shared space is a traffic engineering concept involving the removal of the traditional separation between motor vehicles and pedestrians and other road users, and the removal of traditional road priority management devices such as kerbs, lines, signs and signals.

The reasoning behind the idea is that it will result in improved road safety by forcing users to negotiate their way through shared areas at appropriate speeds and with due consideration for the other users of the space, using simple rules like giving way to the right.

Here are some Results:
United States
In West Palm Beach, Florida planners are reported to have removed traffic signals and road markings and brought pedestrians into much closer contact with cars. The result has been slower traffic, fewer accidents, and shorter trip times.[20]

Sweden
Since the zebra crossings and traffic signs were replaced with a spacious fountain, benches and other street furniture, the Skvallertorget square in Norrköping has experienced no accidents, mean traffic speeds have dropped from 21 to 16 km/h (13 to 10 mph) and liveability has increased.[14]

Netherlands
There is a traffic sign at the entrance to Makkinga which reads "Verkeersbordvrij" meaning "free of traffic signs". The town has no road markings and no stop signs or direction signs visible in the streets. Parking meters and stopping restrictions are also absent.[4] Drachten is one of the pioneer towns for such schemes. Accident figures at one junction where traffic lights were removed have dropped from thirty-six in the four years prior to the introduction of the scheme to two in the two years following it. Only three of the original fifteen sets of traffic lights remain. Tailbacks (traffic jams) are now almost unheard of at the town's main junction, which handles about 22,000 cars a day.

Learning:

In answer to a direct question about the role of local legislation, a member of the Shared Space Expert Team replied:
“ To understand how shared space works, it is important to move away from reliance on "rights" and laws, and to recognize the potential for conventions and protocols. ”

“ Such conventions and protocols evolve rapidly and are very effective if the state does not intervene through regulation. ”

OBAMA's Foreign policy - Honduras

Lot of people now a days talk about Acorn and health care policy and how it's affecting President Obama, so i though i talk little different...

Foreign policy:
The biggest PR campaign ran effectively by then candidate Obama's Campaign against Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin was, her Foreign Policy experiance. Remember the famous comment "I can see Russia from my house."
Well no one took effort even to check out, what really had happened in the interview, well it's past, but let me put it here for some one who is interested.


Not trying to defend Sarah Palin or anything, but that time i had posed question, we are questioning the experience for VP candidate on one side, why are we not questioning the other side for Presidential candidate???

Incident at Honduras has actually uncover the big issue what i had tried to raise.

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday the coup that ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was illegal and would set a "terrible precedent" of transition by military force unless it was reversed.

"We believe that the coup was not legal and that President Zelaya remains the president of Honduras, the democratically elected president there," Obama told reporters after an Oval Office meeting with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

Here is the problem, he didn't do the fact check - the Honduran military did NOT arbitrarily take power. Unlike former Honduran president Manuel Zelaya, it followed the rule of law and obeyed the highest court of Honduras.

The Honduran congress and supreme court rejected Zelaya's proposed referendum as illegal.

Then Zelaya confiscated the referendum ballots and tried to proceed with the vote.

Upon receiving an order from the highest court of Honduras, the Honduran army arrested Zelaya before the referendum could take place.

Yet the Obama administration was outraged that the Honduran army followed Honduran law and is backing the power-hungry Zelaya.

I think this is bigger blunder and foreign policy disaster. The Obama administration has effectively turned Zelaya into a symbol of democracy" while Zelaya "is exactly the opposite." The Obama administration does not believe that the highest court of Honduras is entitled to order that the constitution of Honduras be enforced.

So how confident should Americans be that Obama will respect the United States Constitution?
Thats my view - You decide....

CHANGE - OBAMA: Economy is not as bad as we think

WASHINGTON -- On Thursday, the president said the national crisis is "not as bad as we think" and said his plans will speed recovery.

CHANGE- Pres. Obama thinks Economy is not bad
During whole campaign he was so sure the economy is in tank. In first 50 days of his presidency he has to put more than 2 trillion dollar spending plans to fix the economy.
So what has made him change in mind?

• Did the rate of unemployment suddenly came down?
• Did everyone who had lost jobs got it back?
• Did every one who has lost their homes got them back?

Or

• Just couple of good days on stock market?
• No need now to use Fear mongering which has made him win his presidency?
• Consultation from Dr. Phil for Positive Attitude?

My Views:

Isn't this the same guy who was shouting that Sen. John McCain doesnt understand the pain of America.

Here are the words from his speech on Monday Sept 15 208 in western Colorado, "He [Sen McCain] doesn't get what's happening between the mountains in Sedona where he lives and the corridors of power where he works.", he also have added, "and this morning he said that the fundamentals of the economy are still strong. Sen. McCain, what economy are you talking about?"

I think Sen. McCain was talking about the same Economy, that Sen. Obama [that time] was thinking is too bad and crying sky is falling to get the advantage of the situation. And now after being president, "is not as bas as we think".

Shall I correct your Statement President Obama, "Economy is not bad as we had thought" instead? And i also think, you owe an public apology to Sen. McCain, dont you?

Nancy Pelosi & Dolores Umbridge

You know, i was watching President Obama’s speech to congress. as soon as Mr. President arrived and said a dozen time thank you. and than Madam speaker presented President of United states. The scene suddenly reminded me the Harry Potter movie, “Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix” a character in special – Dolores Umbridge.

You decide yourself – here is the you tube video where Madam Speaker presents Mr President: Watch especially the second from 1:20 to 1:30

And here is Dolores Umbridge:

You decide :)

Executive Salary

I found this job on internet when i was looking for new job…

Salary: $400,000 per year, other benefit includes a $50,000 expense account, a $100,000 nontaxable travel account and $19,000 for entertainment. Oh and Company house, company Limo, two Privet Jets and a Helicopter fleet, with personal security.

Job – any one wants to have – isn’t it?

Today in his first address to Congress, President Obama said, and i quote, “This time, CEOs won’t be able to use taxpayer money to pad their paychecks or buy fancy drapes or disappear on a private jet. Those days are over.”

The Salary up there is for the President of United States of America. President being the head of executive branch of federal government, being paid on taxpayer money, and this bad state of country, he is running, you think he deserves the salary. You decide. This is Kintu Shah and this is my view.

Three Envelope and Today

Very old white house joke – worth mentioning in this situation

The new President settles in at his desk and finds three envelopes marked in his predecessor's handwriting. He opens the one marked, "open first." It reads "Congratulations! And sorry to leave you with such a mess. I did what I could. For now just blame on my administration, and you will be ok. All the best.”  And he did.

Second envelope says open on 4th of July. The crises, indeed, persist, and the president opens the second envelope: "Not as easy as you think, huh? Never mind: Prepare a grand address (You are good at that… Come on…), and blame me all you want - my feelings won't be hurt. If by Thanks Giving, it's all still dire, open the third envelope. " And so the new president broadcasts a somber address on national television, and - eloquently, avoiding a directly accusatory tone - says that he was not aware of the depths of the crises facing the nation when he took office, that he will need time to steer the country back to recovery.

On Thanks Giving, things are worse than ever. The president opens the third envelope, saying open on Thanks Giving. It contains a single piece of note paper: "Prepare three envelopes," it says.

Learning:

Barack Obama has been doing this game of blame for many of the problems he faces as president on the previous administration. And has no doubt even blame President Bush himself. For awhile, that may work. But sooner rather than later, he will realize that the buck does indeed stop in the Oval Office.

Like President Bush he will find that what he said on the campaign trail won't fly in the Oval Office. Remember that President Bush criticizes his predecessor for not having an exit strategy in Bosnia. That has come to be one of the biggest criticisms of his administration. President Bush also warned against using U.S. troops for "nation building." He has been engaged in such an endeavor in Iraq for these many years.

Barack Obama is sure to face many crises. While it will be tempting to blame the previous administration, he still need to learn have to deal with them effectively.

Joseph Nostredame

On October 19, 2008, Vice president today, Joseph Biden has made this prophecy, “Mark my words, it will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy.”

Forget about Six months, it had happened what i was fearing, the foreign affaires insults arrived in three weeks of Obama presidency. And as usual media is paying very little attention.

Insult 1: Pakistan surrendered to the Taliban and al-Qaida

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The government announced Monday that it would accept a system of Islamic law in the Swat valley and agreed to a truce, effectively conceding the area as a Taliban sanctuary and suspending a faltering effort by the army to crush the insurgents.

Thx - Mohammad Sajjad/Associated Press
At peace negotiations in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Monday between government officials and representatives of Taliban insurgents.

Shortly after US special envoy Richard Holbrooke visited Pakistan, the country surrendered to the Taliban and al-Qaida, putting the stability of whole region, and if i may say the world in  danger. The accord came less than a week before the first official visit to Washington of the Pakistani army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, to meet Obama administration officials and discuss how Pakistan could improve its tactics against what the American military is now calling an industrial-strength insurgency there of Al Qaeda and the Taliban militants.

But the truce offered by the Taliban, and accepted by the authorities, rebuffed American demands for the Pakistani civilian and military authorities to stick with the fight against the militants, not make deals with them.

Pakistani government officials insisted the truce with the Taliban and the switch to the Shariah, the Islamic legal code, were consistent with the Constitution and presented no threat to the integrity of the nation. Government also now says, the Taliban has the authority to impose Sharia law in the northern part of the country. This means the Pakistani government is allowing these terrorists to do whatever they want and that will include continuing their attacks on American forces in neighboring Afghanistan.

This is huge. And President would be wise to respond quickly and punish the Pakistan government. they have thrown in with terrorists and killers, and the United States cannot accept that nor should any responsible country. (Wake up India… Jago…)

And did I mention, Pakistan is Nuclear Country?…

Insult 2: Closing Air base in Kyrgyzstan

MOSCOW, Feb. 19 -- The Kyrgyzstan parliament voted Thursday to close a US air base that the Pentagon had hoped to use to expand NATO operations in Afghanistan and reduce the need to ship supplies through a dangerous corridor in Pakistan. But US officials said they had not given up hope on a deal to keep the base open.

The reason the base is being closed is because Russian Tsar, Vladimir Putin doesn’t like America assisting nations like Poland and Ukraine in their defense strategies. So Putin, whom the Kyrgyzstan, government fears, has succeeded in hurting NATO’s war against the Taliban.

The 78 to 1 vote to close the base came as the Obama administration was preparing to send an additional 17,000 troops to Afghanistan and was scrambling to find alternatives to the base or persuade Bakiyev to reconsider.

Bakiyev announced plans to shut Manas Air Base during a visit to Moscow this month after Russia pledged more than $2 billion in loans and aid to Kyrgyzstan's battered economy.

Insult 3: Iran – ready to have weapon-grade nuclear material this year

No surprise here. While the mullah yak about talking with Obama, they continue to fast-track nuclear weapons. A report by the Institute for Science and International security says that Iran could have weapons-grade nuclear material this year. So there is now an urgency to the situation, and Obama must respond quickly, or we will have nuclear genie will be out of the bottle.

Insult 4: Kim Jong Il

The Crazy leader of North Korea, celebrated his 67th birthday this week by threatening a nuclear missile test.

Again, because of the terrible economy, and worse media, many Americans have no idea all of this stuff is going on, but there is no question that Obama is being tested and that villains are watching closely to see what he will do.

In the same speech Biden also told American to “gird your loins.” ESL Sorry… I’m not sure what exactly that means, but it doesn’t sound good. I also am not sure if President Obama is “girding” right now, but he had better be doing something.

CHANGE

Looks like this will be the series on this blog. Yesterday i was watching CNN and i have heard President saying this to the House Democrats in defense of their fiscal stimulus package. Obama's speech is so breath-takingly superficial and fundamentally dishonest that it must be read to be (dis)believed.
Charge:
The bill contains too much pork
Answer:
Then there's the argument, well, this is full of pet projects. When was the last time that we saw a bill of this magnitude move out with no earmarks in it? Not one. (Applause.) And when you start asking, well, what is it exactly that is such a problem that you're seeing, where's all this waste and spending? Well, you know, you want to replace the federal fleet with hybrid cars. Well, why wouldn't we want to do that? (Laughter.) That creates jobs for people who make those cars. It saves the federal government energy. It saves the taxpayers energy. (Applause.)

Change:
Thus Obama answers the charge that the bill "is full of pet projects" by noting that a bill of this magnitude with no earmarks is unheard of. And, in response to the dozens of pork projects idenitifed by the bill's critics, he defends one minor one. I have for a reason put almost complete answer and not just the one that says is it unheard off to avoid criticism of providing only sound bytes. But i do definitely need answer, what is change here if he thinks it was never done before and so is justified to do the same.
Hypocrisy:
A look at some of Obama's claims in Elkhart, IN, in advance of a prime-time news conference called to make his case to the largest possible audience:
OBAMA: "I know that there are a lot of folks out there who've been saying, 'Oh, this is pork, and this is money that's going to be wasted,' and et cetera, et cetera. Understand, this bill does not have a single earmark in it, which is unprecedented for a bill of this size. ... There aren't individual pork projects that members of Congress are putting into this bill."

You decide...

Hope spells F E A R

I was blammed so many times, i see too much of FOX news. All my comments against Now Mr. President comes from mind washing, FOX news has done. And with reminder of the brain, i am left with, i can not think straight.
Well... you all must have noticed, i had not commented on this blog since long. I had decided, to give President Obama a chance, instead of criticizing. And at the same time, i have started listning CNN for a change. here is what CNN says on Feb 4th and I quote: "In recent comments about the state of the economy, President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) have been "fear-mongering" and "blatantly using the politics of fear to push for even more so-called stimulus measures". I was on airport and i heard this on TVs on airport. (btw have you noticed its always CNN on airports and never FOX News. Any idea why????)

President Obama and other top officials are blatantly accusing -- blatantly using the politics of fear to push for even more so-called stimulus measures. They want that bill in the Senate passed without any scrutiny, without any thinking. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, today, topping Barack Obama, however -- Gordon Brown saying the world is in depression.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had her own contribution to hyperbole today. She said 500 million Americans lose their jobs every month. She misspoke of course. The total is about a half a million in December.
And President Obama today warning about the danger of an economic catastrophe. "A failure to act and act now will turn crisis into a catastrophe and guarantee a longer recession, a less robust recovery, and a more uncertain future. Millions more jobs will be lost. More businesses will be shuttered. More dreams will be deferred. "
The Obama administration is just a little over two weeks old, and it appears already that the politics of hope have given way to the rhetoric of fear. Say, it is in my opinion, frankly, time to stop talking down our economy, for our political leaders to stop using fear-mongering to pass economic legislation, and to insist on more thinking and a lot less rhetoric.