www.vizitei.com

Still want to sit down and talk to them Barak?

Iran's government spokesman is quoted as saying Saturday, Jan. 31 that capitalist thought and the system of domination have failed. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of Khomeini's overthrow of the shah that Iran's Islamic revolution was not limited to its borders. His response to the US president Barack Obama's overtures was a demand that America apologize for 60 years of "crimes against Iran" and its new president carry out a "deep and fundamental change." Let's start apologizing to Iran.

40 years passed, but I am no wiser

Nation lead by Actors and Pop Singers

I just turned on the TV to a spectacle of pre-innaguration festivities. Tom Hanks was speaking to the throngs at the Lincoln memorial. Even now, jaded by all that has come to be, I was taken aback. So, on the eve of supposedly historical innaguration the nation is being spoken to, lead, shown the way by..... actors? Whatever happened to philosophers, scientists, visionaries, leader ? Do we have any left? Is the best we can do is to trot out people whose achievements are mostly defined by a careeer of  playing REAL heroes and leaders and visionaries? Am I the only one who finds this delciiously absurd?

So they spend $150 million of REAL people's money to stage a made-for-TV variety show studded by the likes of Tom Hanks, Queen Latiffa, and Jon Bon Jovi? Are you kidding me? Have we all lost our collective common sense? Will we not look back at this 3 ring cricus years from now with a sense of embarssement and wonderment: Just what the hell were we all thinking?

Happy Birthday to Me

Yes it is today and I THINK I am 48. But here is the weird news of the day. My cousin Eugene happens to livge in China. Thi smorning I got a Skype message from him wishing me a happy birthday and informing me that his daughter ws born TODAY. Katya Vizitei. Born on January 16, 2009. So, there are now 2 Viziteis in the world with the SAME birthdate. How strange is that?

Click here if you think your life is complicated

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDMMwG7RrFQ

The countdown to war

It looks to me like we are about to go through another war in the middle east. I hope I am wrong, but looking at the way things are progressing, I am afraid I am not. Ever since Obama's victory, Israel had to face the countdown to a new resident in America's highest office. This new resident is likely not to be as supportive of Israel as W has bee, With Iran's nuclear build up, and renewed Russian belligerence, the window of opportunity to put out this existential threat is narrowing. I find it hard to believe that Israel will allow it to close. Hamas senses Israel preoccupation with Iran and has stepped up its indiscriminate rocketing of civilian population in Israel as a way of brining more pressure into the situation. Hezbollah has regained its stockpiles of rockets and weapons and is itching for another fight as well. Russia has been beating its chest for a while now. With oil dipping below $35 per barrel they are (like Iranians) desperate to deflect attention from their catastrophic economic situation at home. India and Pakistan are edging closer to an all out confolict of moslem terrorist camps and Syria is making noises about Golan Heights. All of this together spells one thing: war. And this one is not likely to be contained to Gaza strip.I think this one will involved all players in the middle east. It i likely to be nasty and prolonged. This will be mr. Obama's first test. Let's hope he is up to it. Once again the little country that has tuned a tiny stretch of desert into an economic miracle has to fend for its life against blood thirsty medieval hordes. How little things change.

Black Man Given Nation's Worst Job (article from the Onion)

WASHINGTON—African-American man Barack Obama, 47, was given the least-desirable job in the entire country Tuesday when he was elected president of the United States of America. In his new high-stress, low-reward position, Obama will be charged with such tasks as completely overhauling the nation's broken-down economy, repairing the crumbling infrastructure, and generally having to please more than 300 million Americans and cater to their every whim on a daily basis. As part of his duties, the black man will have to spend four to eight years cleaning up the messes other people left behind. The job comes with such intense scrutiny and so certain a guarantee of failure that only one other person even bothered applying for it. Said scholar and activist Mark L. Denton, "It just goes to show you that, in this country, a black man still can't catch a break."

How much for 6 months?

In the book "How we die", I read that about 25% (?) of our total medical spend is used for the last 3 weeks of our lives. Clearly, this is where should find an opportunity for sane and reasonable approach to medical cost reductions. But it's tough. As this article in Times points out the battle is already on in the UK. :

Times Arctcile

It is sure to come our way and soon. I think sooner or later we are going to have to accept that we are mortal and that extension of life by miracle drugs can't come at any cost. to that end, I advance a progressive idea: We tax cosmetic surgery procedures 50% and use their proceeds to help fund extension of life for destitute terminally ill people by 6 months.

Doom and Gloom

People truly do possess a herd mentality. This is what trips up all th economic models and other predictions that the learned attempt to make. When the herd moves in one direction, all follow until the heard changes it. This seems to be an overwhelming driver behind most of the events we see today. Just as in boom times, there seemed no moderating rational voice to be heard anywhere, today all we hear is doom and gloom. Some of it is actually almost comical. Read this "analysis" from a Russian economist who is predicting that America will fall and divide into 6 parts:

http://www.drudgereport.com/flashrur.htm

The part I laughed at the most was:

"He predicted that the U.S. will break up into six parts - the Pacific coast, with its growing Chinese population; the South, with its Hispanics; Texas, where independence movements are on the rise; the Atlantic coast, with its distinct and separate mentality; five of the poorer central states with their large Native American populations; and the northern states, where the influence from Canada is strong."

Central states with their large Native American population?  huh? I am afraid the professor needs to lay off the vodka, The traumatic experience of Soviet Union falling apart has clearly left this man with permanent mental scars.

So the heard is clearly in a negative mood. And it shows everywhere. Just as the Boom times outlasted the predictions of their demise, I suspect that these tough times will also last a while. And yet at the end,  things will turn and go back up again. With all the excess we always add to the process, i am sure.

As for America falling apart, i wouldn't hold my breath if I were him. This country has a way of renewing itself like no other country can. It is far more nuanced and complex than he understands and will ultimately change to suit its people's needs and wishes. However, if I was China or Russia, I would be VERY concerned about the problems they have yet to overcome. They have a long way to go to reach a modicum of resilience and stability inherent in this country. Which is why when the world's economy panics, everyone runs to the same place - US $. Whatever problems we have, they will be minor when compared to those for the rest of the world. Because when we catch a cold, the world gets pneumonia.

I am off to get in touch with those "large Native American populations", wherever they may be.

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