USA

It seems no matter what the US does these days we are a step behind. European and Asian countries seem vastly ahead of (even in their respective global slowdowns). They have been sitting patiently the last decade as we have pigeoned holed ourselves as a society. When the time was right they struck by buying up our car dealerships at steep discounts.

Looking forward it seems we are in for scary times. Today in Russia leaders of the four largest emerging market economies discussed ways to reduce their reliance on the United States. The dollar at some point is no longer going to be the favored global reserve currency which makes you wonder where we are headed.

There is hope though with Obama. Though some people doubt his spending patterns I feel its neccesary to fix a broken system, we can no longer patch up holes. The foundation needs to be recreated though its a tough road ahead Obama can re build the foundation.

Observations through June 2009

2009, not sure about you but for me this year is flying by. I don't think I have even gotten used to writing 2009 when I have to date things and it is already June. I haven't posted in a while and thought I would share some of my observations to this point in the year. 

• We have an African American President no, no really we have an African American President don't tell me you thought you would see this in your lifetime. 
• We have an African American President named Barrack Hussein Obama ... I know you didn't see that coming. 
• We may soon see the first Hispanic women on the Supreme Court. 
• Guantanamo should soon be closed
• GM, and Chrysler have both filed for bankruptcy 
• The federal government has had to pump a trillion dollars to keep the economy of the strongest country in the world moving.

Outside of the political and financial world there are plenty of other things to talk about. Is it just me or is 2009 gearing up to be the year of blockbusters. I mean seriously Up was amazing, Star Trek epic, Hangover is hilarious, and we still have movies like Transformers, Sherlock Holmes, and a new Harry Potter movie to go. If the movies don't provide some headlines there is always sports.

Tennis, yes tennis makes for some interesting memories as Nadal gets upset at the French and absent his arch nemesis on clay Federer finally wins at the French. The NBA playoffs provide round after round of sheer brilliance. The Celtics v. Bulls series was nothing short of amazing, a coming out party for Rondo and Rose. These NBA playoffs are arguably the best ever if not the best in a long time. We haven't even seen the end of the Finals yet. No Kobe v LeBron finals but we still got the commercials. In case you forgot we still got football season to go. Does anyone even remember who won the Superbowl(Steelers) or the Bowl Championship(Florida Gators) oh and of course March Madness what a year for sports.

2009 so far has been jam packed with headlines and events, some which we may remember for the ages... 

Mr. President!

Mr. President,

Welcome to the White House. 

Today will be a day filled with festivities and much reverie. But once the confetti has been cleaned up, the roadblocks lifted, and everyone including you has gone to bed.  A new day will dawn.  

We have a lot of work that needs to be done; both you and I know it.  It is a daunting task but “we the people” have chosen you as our Commander in Chief.  I know four years may not be the amount of time needed to restore America, but we need to start somewhere. It’s time to loosen the tie, roll up the sleeves, and get down to business. We have a failing economy, enemy’s at bay, technology that needs updating, and a healthcare that’s sick. We need you to be forthright, daring, and swift with your actions.  The success of this great nation lies within your grasp.

We the people remain faithful in you.  Bring about the change you promised us.

Welcome to the White House, Mr. President.

Your Citizens, await.

Are we in a Recession?

Let me preface this post by saying that I am not an economist and that I won't be regurgitating statistics and arguing the definition of the term. There are plenty of economists and websites out there to do just that. They will argue to ends about what specific indicators prove that we actually are in a recession and then what the actual percentages of those indicators need be for it to actually qualify as one. I as an everyday person will just say that to me it feels like one.

Most of the people I know(including me) that are in the job market are just not finding jobs or if they are not the ones they want or their searches have been far longer then anticipated. These aren't people that you would think would have a tough time. They are all well educated most with masters degrees but yet the jobs just don't seem to be available. To add to this incomes seem to be going down not up at least for all intents and purposes they are flat. People today are not making much more then they were in the 90's while the cost of so many different things around us have doubled and tripled.

I don't think it matters if the numbers of the particular indicators are right or not. I think a recession is just as much psychological as it is economic. Psychologically speaking, in my opinion, we are in a recession. People are holding on to their cash like almost never before. People are afraid to make large purchases, to invest, etc... Confidence in the stock market is lower then ever, even the confidence in banks, usually trusted entities, is as low as it can be. A long time ago someone told me that the American economy goes through cycles, about every four to five year we have a downturn about every eight to twelve years a recession and about every twenty five years a depression. I think in a free economy this would probably true. In our convoluded fed controlled, SEC regulated world the cycles still are there but I think the ups are now lower and the down periods longer. I think the last few years were an abomination where a system was regulated on one end vis a vis the fed but not the other end with no regulation of the mortgage industry and more importantly the mortgage securities industry. The fatheads at large institutional firms, banks, investment banks and brokerage firms got rich while no one did anything to regulate them. The fed chairman at the time Greenspan kept warning that the growth in real estate was dangerous but did nothing really to curb it.

We are in a recession... and it may be a long time before we crawl out of this one.

Yes We Can, Can We Really?

Cheers, today was a historic moment in the history of our nation. If you haven’t already heard the news, Barrack Hussein Obama is the President-Elect of the United States. The news is spreading across the nation and trickling around the world as it is waking up to the news, “a new world dawns”.
What does this mean for the American people? What does this mean for the world? Could Obama unify the country? How will Obama fix the integrity and respect of America around the world? I suppose in due time all will be revealed and tonight we as a “united” nation take this moment in time to be a part of history. “Yes we can,” will quite quickly turn to, can we really? Let’s finally unify the country, start moving towards the change that we all seek no matter how big or small. It is a historic moment today but is that all it will be, just a moment?

Bandagi

Hmmm.... Where do I start. Bandagi, a word from the Hindi language, translated literally means a bond. I suppose what is amazing about being an American of color is the fact that you feel like an outsider as often as you feel like an insider. I am Muslim albeit not a very good one but when "Arab" and "Muslim" become slurs accepted by the mainstream media you start to feel that bond somehow get stronger. This is the land of opportunity and somehow an American who came up from nothing went to the best schools and was the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review has to defend that he is not an "Arab" that he is not a "Muslim." Why does it matter... The attacks on September 11th were just as offensive to me as to the rest of America. I find the war that extreme conservatives in the Islamic world are fighting to be offensive and outright wrong. Oh and by the way for those that forget the attack on the World Trade Center in Oklahoma was carried out by a "White Christian". Wait John McCain is white and Christian and his running mate spoke at a rally for a pro seccionist movement in Alaska maybe we should be more worried about them... God seems to speak to Palin like he did to Bush and we all know where that got us.

Bandagi is a bond and I am bonded to my home, bonded to the good qualities it possesses and to the ones that still need work, I am an American...

Top ten reasons Palin should head the ticket

How many of you in the recent weeks have determined in fact that a Palin-McCain ticket would be far more appealing than a McCain-Palin Ticket. In winning Letterman style, I proffer the following top ten reasons why Palin should head the Republican ticket:

10. Amount of hairspray is the best measure for poise under pressure.
9. You can’t take the small town out of Palin, but she can bring the real America back into Washington, marginal literacy and all.
8. Much more willing to label terrorists, Arabs, Muslims, and all those other bad guys.
7. She actually requires less makeup for TV appearances.
6. It would markedly reduce the necessity for White-House subscriptions to many publications.
5. She doesn’t say “My friends”.
4. If I had to choose, God is more likely to speak to her.
3. Tina Fey provides the necessary comical outlet for presidential faux pas, who can really pull McCain off?
2. A governorship is clearly more executive a function than serving on the U.S. Senate.
1. Her recent proximity to Russia.