A lot happened in the last couple of weeks-not just in the realm of the global financial crisis but in every possible sphere of global news. And amidst all the ups and downs of a turbulent summer of 2009, life as we know it moves on and our delightful human spirit-one that we take so much for granted-continues undaunted and pushes us to fight harder and harder….optimism is so crucial for survival!
In Japan, the opposition Democratic party won the elections by a sweeping majority after almost 5 decades (the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has ruled Japan since its formation in 1955)-marking a historic change of power! Will this mark the end of a spectacular era of long drawn recession? Hard to say-unless the Japanese people get miraculously motivated to spend more and save less and learn to enjoy vacations or luxuries the American way! (debt is not always bad )
In India, the opposition BJP party got engaged in some dirty internal squabbles following the banishment of long time party member Jaswant Sinha for his book on Jinnah-party leaders are being sharply criticized by the media and suddenly it seems financial crisis/poverty/unemployment/terrorism no longer feature are the most important elements in their political agenda!
In Holland, a 13 year old teenager was barred by the legal courts for undertaking a solo around-the-world sailing voyage for risks of psychological malfunction. Well..apparently a child’s parents no longer have the only say in her wishes and desires-it becomes part of a national legal agenda!
Suicide bombings and killings of innocent people continue unabated in the terrorist-infested lands of Pakistan, Afghanistan and the like: by now these are news that people have perhaps begun to overlook coz it’s almost BAU! Sad that terrorism is on the verge of being taken for granted in some parts of our civilized world.
Chinese stock markets in Shanghai and Shenzen began rallying again due to improvement in bank lending and reports of growth recovery-the only big economy to have seen the face of recovery since summer of 2007! (of course any such news coming from China should always be read with a pinch of salt ) This needless to say prompted analysts worldwide to immediately start writing about decoupling and a China-led global economic recovery etc etc etc-fancy stuff but what about the ever growing inequality and potential social unrest in the interiors of a country whose official statistics can never be trusted?
Indian superstar SRK got all emotional and perturbed for being interrogated at a US airport-tsk tsk tsk! Guess he was more shocked at realizing that he is still not as famous as he has been dreaming
Prez. Obama got praised for the re-appointment of Bernanke as the Fed Chairman amidst all the hue n cry regarding the health care reforms-kudos indeed more to Bernanke for sure! An academician after all can also be a stellar policy maker! (am I inspired?!?)
CBO’s budget figures were released in the US and the $9 trillion of projected Fed debt by 2019 took the policy circles once again by storm! Well as Krugman puts it, we need deficits to pull up the economy!! What happens with the revenue side? Who knows? Who cares until something more devastating happens!!http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/how-big-is-9-trillion/
Colombian President diagnosed with H1N1 virus which has claimed close to 100 lives in India and many more in UK and Mexico and US.
In a small town of Santa Cruz tucked away in the mountains of Northern California, thousands of acres of land (7800 acres to be precise) got scorched in the Lockheed fire that took about $26.6 million to be contained. And right as am writing, another fire is burning through the forests of LA near Pasadena…when natural forces wreak havoc..even a global crisis or political upheavals seem trivial!
Eventful fortnight indeed–yet life goes on and new hopes are born and new dreams are woven and new goals are formed in the struggle for existence-a spirit that we humans have been blessed with and yet something that we tend to overlook in our trials and tribulations-something that always stays with us like a rock solid friend in our times of need and distress. We are a blessed species and hope we use this spirit of ours to do more good than harm.
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