rantlust

Posted by anupcs on July 16th 2008 in Comics, Humor, Politics
::  [Print This Post]

Maureen Dowd writes in an Op-Ed in the New York Times that Obama and his messianic followers need to lighten up and have a sense of humor about things. The recent furor, as I am sure you have heard, is about the cover cartoon of the latest issue of New Yorker magazine that depicts our man as an Osama look alike and Michelle Obama as an AK-47 wielding terrorist. Even John McCain was forced to decry the cartoon in the name of political civility.

I really hope that we don’t end up having an unfunny president as Dowd fears. We need to keep feeding the genius of the likes of Letterman, Leno, and Stewart and who better to feed them than our leaders? We can only take so much of the Brits and the Lindseys. The nation is depressed as it is. We need more humor to survive through these tough times in the economy and not complain over mere cartoons. What are we, turning into The Netherlands or something? (No offense, reneejo.)

Comments(0)

Posted by wolfgang amadeus on May 27th 2008 in Comics, Politics
::  [Print This Post]

Wolfman learns how important it is to respect women. From Bill Clinton.

Comments(0)

Posted by riyer on May 22nd 2008 in Humor, India, News, Politics, Travel
::  [Print This Post]

I figured that this story deserved a spoof - Here is my version of the same story.

American, Cutting Back, Plans $15 Pants Fee

Published: May 22, 2008
There’s an old saying about the best way to travel: bring half the clothes and twice the money.

Now may be the time to take that advice to heart and you had better not be Indian or Chinese.

American Airlines said Wednesday that it would soon start charging passengers for the clothes and shoes that they wear. $10 for cotton pants ($15 for Jeans) and $5 for Shirts ($7 for full-sleeved shirts). Additionally, American will charge $5 per shoe ($10 if they are hiking shoes) - if they are flying on a discounted fare. Asked why they charge per shoe and not for a pair of shoes, an American spokesperson said that as per the Americans with Disabilities Act, such pricing would be discriminatory.

The airline’s new policy — to take effect July15 — comes only weeks after many major carriers, including American, began charging $15 each way for checked baggage,

The new fee is just the latest example of airlines adding charges on top of rising airfares, even at the risk of angering travelers further, to make up for the billions of dollars they are losing as fuel prices soar. In an effort to reduce the weight and consequent fuel consumption, airlines continue to explore ways to reduce the weight and the clothes we wear are the latest target.

“It’s only going to get worse and worse,” said Laura Glading, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which represents employees at American. “Flight attendants are not trained to distinguish between running shoes and hiking shoes, and what if passengers decide not to wear any clothes so as not to pay the fee” said Glading?

American Airlines executives said they had little choice but to impose such fees, given that the price of jet fuel is up more than 80 percent from a year ago.

Airline industry losses could top $7.2 billion in 2008, Jamie Baker, an analyst with JPMorgan Chase, estimated this week. Airline shares were battered Wednesday, as oil surged to a record $133.17 a barrel. Stock in American’s parent company fell 24.2 percent, to $6.22 a share.

In another development, several airlines are considering charging Indians and Chinese an extra fee - because India and China are being blamed for soaring oil prices. The rise in global oil and food prices are being blamed on demand from India and China. Last week President Geroge W. Bush blamed the demand for food with higher nutrition among Indians as the reason for 9% inflation in food prices in the US.

In a surprising move American announced that for every snack purchased by a non-Indian and non-Chinese passenger, Indian and Chinese passengers on board will be assessed an extra fee.”We are looking for every opportunity to change our cost-structure and even President George Bush has said that food prices are rising because of increased demand in India and China, so it is only appropriate that we pass the price of food consumed by average Americans to the average Indian or Chinese.

“Our company and industry simply cannot afford to sit by hoping for industry and market conditions to improve,” American’s chief executive, Gerard J. Arpey, said Wednesday at a shareholder meeting.

To cut costs, the company also said Wednesday that it would eliminate toilet paper and running water from toilets. “The weight of toilet paper and water adds several hundred pounds to the gross weight of an airplane - this move is expected to save $5000 per year and increase share holder value” said Mr Arpey.

American is also considering charging access fees to toilets for discount fare passengers. Robert Harrell, an industry consultant, estimated that as many as 40 million American passengers could be subject to the new toilet access fee. American carries about 98 million travelers a year. With an average of 100 toilet access per flight, at $1 per toilet access this move could potentially net upwards of $40 million per year. “Each passenger will get a cup of water and 3 sheets of toilet paper and 5 minutes of access to the toilet” said Mr Arpey

Asked whether the Toilet paper charge will be arbitrarily passed on to fellow Indian and Chinese passengers, Mr Arpey said “No. We understand that they don’t use toilet paper in India and China, so we can’t charge them for that”

Comments(2)

Posted by anupcs on March 19th 2008 in Politics, Rants, Society, USA
::  [Print This Post]

If my wife and I ever have any children, they would be neither “brown” nor “yellow” but something else entirely (I am South Asian and my wife is Taiwanese). So, why do people perceive Barack Obama as black? His mother is fully white as far as I know and he’s biracial and both white and black. Why is everyone referring to him as the first black person to have a real chance at winning the presidency?

As the furor over the racial remarks by a pastor associated with Obama rages on, I am really curious about this. Obama is definitely the first half-black person to have a chance at becoming president but he’s not fully black. Maybe the Obamans in the audience can shed some light to this mystery.

Comments(22)

Posted by anupcs on March 15th 2008 in Politics, USA
::  [Print This Post]

As much as you might hate George W. Bush, check this out. He sings and makes fun of himself (Brownie, Dick, and Harriet makes appearances) at the annual dinner with Washington journalists. It’d be funny if it weren’t so sad (and I don’t mean him leaving the White House come January).

Comments(0)

Posted by wolfgang amadeus on March 13th 2008 in Comics, Politics
::  [Print This Post]

Wolfman ponders the mind-bending power of mad cow disease.

Comments(0)

Posted by wolfgang amadeus on March 09th 2008 in Comics, Politics
::  [Print This Post]

Wolfman wonders about the qualifications for commander-in-chief (on day one.)

Comments(0)

Posted by anupcs on February 05th 2008 in Government, Politics, USA
::  [Print This Post]

It’s been a long while since I left the world’s largest democracy to come live in the world’s oldest. I have always been interested in civics and politics and missed the joys of participating in true democratic process. I have voted only a few times in India and now, fifteen years after coming to the US, I am ready to vote again. As a freshly minted American citizen. I couldn’t ask for a more interesting election year to do this.

As an undeclared voter (I am up for grabs, you party people!), I feel like I will have more power in this particular election (both the primaries and the main one in November) than any other time in recent memory. It feels good to know that my vote will make at least an iota of a difference. In California, the Republicans don’t allow independents to vote in the primary election but the Democrats do. I am quite certain, as is everyone else, that McCain will prevail over Romney in the former (as I would have voted despite Romney’s business acumen and experience in “running” things). It’s the Democratic primary that’s more captivating just because of the high brainpower remaining.

Both Clinton and Obama are exceptionally gifted. If either one becomes president, it’d truly be a historic occurrence. Both have quite the same goals for the country despite the vitriolic attacks against each other (see Clinton, Bill on race and Obama’s macaca moment as examples). I have friends and co-workers who are passionate about one or the other but I’d be happy with either being my president. With only a few hours remaining to vote, I am still undecided. I probably won’t decide which way the cursive goes until the curtains are drawn. Some of my friends are voting for Obama because they are convinced that he’s more electable against McCain than Clinton. This might very well be true but for an independent like me, I am not so much against McCain as my Democratic friends are. I believe in checks and balances and politicians of all ilk are bound to screw things up if left unchecked. A Democratic Congress plus a Democratic President is likely to be as bad as the potent combination that ruled us six of the the last seven years. In different ways, perhaps. But there is much homework to be done before November rolls around. All the best to the three candidates that matter today.

I will leave you with some of my favorite opinions/articles regarding this election (I have been reading up vigorously over the past month or so):

• http://salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/02/04/undecided/ (similar dilemma)
• http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/27/ED6EUKN15.DTL (for Obama)
• http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10635584 (choices)
• http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0205/p09s01-coop.html
• http://www.sajaforum.org/2008/01/media-watch-use.html (rather silly argument)
• http://fish.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/03/all-you-need-is-hate/index.html (on hating Hillary–thanks tafkap)

Comments(12)