India-US Relations : News and Discussion- II

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 01 Oct 2015 11:36

Give O'Bomber his due.He inherited a disastrous foreign policy from Dubya Bush and an eco downturn.While he has tried hard to stabilise the economy,the US is now in firm mil retreat across the world's hotspots,exhausted after two decades of fruitless warring which,as Paddy Ashdown (Brit. Lib leader) says,forgot about Clausewitz ,that "war is diplomacy by other means.." The US made no plans for the aftermath of its wars and mil campaigns,leaving nations in ruins and without proper power centres to rule,post conflict.Almost everywhere it won the war but lost the peace.Vietnam redux.Look at Afghanistan.The Taliban have taken Kunduz,far away in the north of the country! Even though Kabul is trying to take it back,it has been a disaster in PR for Kabul and Ghani. The US yet again asininely support Pak to the hilt,which along with the Saudis are the root cause of Islamic extremism.

But O'Bomber has had two terms in which to repair the damage and has asininely failed to stop ISIL ,instead ranted and railed with lapdog Britain against Russia after meddling in the UKR,in Russia's backyard. After failing to stop ISIL in the Levant,Putin has now taken the initiative. Instead of having Russia inside the tent "p*ssing out",he now has Russia outside the "Western tent p*ssing in"! The most famous US foreign policy guru,Henry K,while visiting Britain a year ago,pleaded with the West to work with Putin and Russia to stop ISIL but CaMoron,O'Bomber and co. ignored his advice.Putin has now seized the initiative,but it is a v.dangerous gambit that he has opened.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 01 Oct 2015 19:21

Viv S wrote:The US Federal Reserve's QE program ended in October 2014. And the main reason they've been wary of rate hikes is because the global economy is depressed. Raise rates too sharply and there'll be a rush of capital into the US over-strengthening the already strong dollar and pulling down inflation (currently at half the Fed's 2% target).

Yes Ofcourse and the Economy is Nice and Dandy .....we would would have a interest rate hike soon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0zBwWc5W0M

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 01 Oct 2015 19:57

x-post from Mangalyaan thread ...

Not only CEO's of US, Even pictures from Mars support NaMo's digital india campaign!

As you know, just a few days ago, just near the first anniversary of Mangalyaan, Nasa had a major announcement about finding flowing water in Mars. (see Mangalyaan dhaga)

But I was stunned by an old picture of Mars's Ganges Chasma. I posted almost a year ago ( I actually joked then (a year ago) that here will be stories, how NaMo, who won from a city on the bank of Ganga -- planned all that stuff.. (see my post in 2014 about how Mangalyaan and Ganges Chasma on Mars)

Both US and India had their crafts around Mars at the same time..and US/India joined in that scientific adventure.. so it is some what related to this dhaga and let me xpost it:
>>>xpost

One more thing.. looks like these Outcrops in Ganges Chasma in Mars ..(see picture below)

(From Link: Rockslides and Outcrops in Ganges Chasma

Looks like it is supporting digital India's campaign of Face book. (look at orange and green - transparent hues and network of lines..

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 01 Oct 2015 22:01

Philip wrote:Putin has now seized the initiative,but it is a v.dangerous gambit that he has opened.

Russia is merely trying to live up to treaty obligations, hain? What right do the other countries to go invade Syria by proxy or directly with their air forces?

Viv S · Post by **Viv S** » 01 Oct 2015 22:25

Austin wrote:Yes Ofcourse and the Economy is Nice and Dandy .....we would would have a interest rate hike soon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0zBwWc5W0M

Why not express your views in your own youtube video. Can't be any less credible than Peter Schiff -

"I know inflation is going to get worse in 2010. Whether it’s going to run out of control or it’s going to take until 2011 or 2012, but I know we’re going to have a major currency crisis coming soon. It’s going to dwarf the financial crisis and it’s going to send consumer prices absolutely ballistic, as well as interest rates and unemployment.".

Unfortunately, the current problem is exactly 180 deg from what he predicted - the dollar is too strong and inflation too low.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 01 Oct 2015 23:46

^^^There is inflation, but it is not noticed as it is gradual where people become accustomed to it. Food prices have gone up in the last several years, wages are flat, college tuition is increasing over 4%/year, underemployment is a problem. Artificially low interest rates have raised housing prices in many areas when wages and real economic growth in many areas has not kept up. Also there are many more Americans on means tested welfare and food assistance than ever before over 110 million.

Surya · Post by **Surya** » 01 Oct 2015 23:58

Mort's right

the official inflation figures do not match even the food increase let alone other things

Having said that the sky has not fallen as mentioned

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 01 Oct 2015 23:59

just pooching, will zuckerberg get an OCI card?

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 02 Oct 2015 01:28

+1 to Mort and Surya. Food prices have gone through the roof, especially the healthy ones - fresh veggies, organic farm products, eggs, milk.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 02 Oct 2015 01:36

Insurance is way up. Pest control is up. Weed killer is up. Air fares are way up. Bus fare is up. Taxi fare is up. HVAC service is up. auto service is up (actually the good guys sold out and left, now taken over by unknowns).
JDAMs and RPGs are probably down

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 02 Oct 2015 02:31

Woh Jo Thaa Na Vijay Parshad Leftie Bimara
Usko Nahi Laage Anti Paki Trump Abb Pyara
So he squeak with the reeking tweet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk4c2uoOF3o

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 02 Oct 2015 02:36

UlanBatori wrote: JDAMs and RPGs are probably down

But roofing services are up

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 02 Oct 2015 03:23

Surya wrote:Mort's right

the official inflation figures do not match even the food increase let alone other things

Having said that the sky has not fallen as mentioned

That's because official core inflation data EXCLUDES food and fuel 'because they're volatile'. Yep. That's the official reason for the exclusion.

chanakyaa · Post by **chanakyaa** » 02 Oct 2015 03:45

just pooching, will zuckerberg get an OCI card?

Err...what about his office wife Cherry Sandleburg. This is discrimination.

Official inflation numbers posted are flat out f$*#ing lie. The difference between real inflation and posted inflation which in turn reflects in artificially low interest rates is a TAX imposed on citizens. This subsidizes declining corporate profits. Goal may be is to make corporates healthy, hoping it translates into more hiring.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 02 Oct 2015 03:47

I don't know when in the history where I have seen some data that points prices are going down. (Except for my stocks)

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 02 Oct 2015 08:21

Many years ago a friend of mine said pay attention to a few things. If in the grocery store the packaging says "New/Improved" chances are they've reduced the quantity of the item. Take a look at coffee for example. It was sold in 16 ounce packages, then 14.5, and now down to around 11 ounces. At the same time the price of the same package of coffee has gone up 15-20 cents every time. If you calculate inflation based on per unit weight of coffee, it has gone up considerably.

The worst about Obama's term as president is the huge increase of people on food assistance and welfare. Over 35% of the US population is on federal and state government assistance. The American middle class is shrinking. Something is drastically wrong in US macroeconomic policy.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 02 Oct 2015 09:05

In Alaska, it seems there are entire towns which collect welfare during winter months.

Gus · Post by **Gus** » 02 Oct 2015 09:48

there is a serious erosion of manufacturing industry that has cost a lot of well paying lower-middle and middle class jobs. now there's only the obscenely rich, the rich, service industry salaried folks, the much reduced middle class folks, minimum wage folk, welfare folks.

the middle has thinned with a lot going down and very few going up.

all of this cannot be blamed on obama, as the trend started much earlier, but he has not been able to reverse this and all he can blame is congress obstructionism and for that, he will always be a prez who held a lot of promise, and did some good, but was an underachiever.

Yayavar · Post by **Yayavar** » 02 Oct 2015 09:53

Mort Walker wrote:.. Also there are many more Americans on means tested welfare and food assistance than ever before over 110 million.

1/3rd of the population on welfare/food assistance?

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 02 Oct 2015 10:11

Held a lot of promise even to the extent of receiving a Nobel Prize. That said, Mort's figure of 30% on welfare is not believable unless watertight stats are provided to back it up.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 02 Oct 2015 11:17

http://www.libertynewsnow.com/feds-spen ... rticle1475

According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the federal government spent $100 billion on food assistance programs last year to feed 110 million people.

Most of this total – $75 billion – was spent on food stamps issued to 46 million Americans in 2014 according to congressional testimony from the GAO’s Director of Education, Workforce, and Income Security Kay E. Brown.

The national school lunch program came in second at a cost of $11.3 billion with the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) at $7.1 billion. Puerto Rico received food assistance worth $1.9 billion.

The GAO report referred to in Brown’s testimony included a list of the 18 federal programs which, taken together, served a total 109.9 million Americans in 2014.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 02 Oct 2015 11:19

if you think about the deep-state cats paws behind entities like NYT , Wapo now wield far less global power than the vast and instant reach of facebook , google , reddit and twitter.

no wonder their CEOs get to sit and break bread with world leaders.

quiestion is - whose cats paws are these new set ? for sure they cannot afford to cross GOTUS set parameters

panduranghari · Post by **panduranghari** » 02 Oct 2015 12:07

Mort Walker wrote:
The worst about Obama's term as president is the huge increase of people on food assistance and welfare. Over 35% of the US population is on federal and state government assistance. The American middle class is shrinking. Something is drastically wrong in US macroeconomic policy.

Its not Obama's fault that prices have gone up.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 02 Oct 2015 17:46

vayu tuvan wrote:Held a lot of promise even to the extent of receiving a Nobel Prize. That said, Mort's figure of 30% on welfare is not believable unless watertight stats are provided to back it up.

Mort has to back it up for 35% and not 30% on welfare.

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 02 Oct 2015 19:39

Interesting discussion! Perhaps started because some chart I just copied and pasted. The chart contained numbers. and unlike language of "scholars" blogs-- numbers are easier to verify, understand and evaluate.

Now let me put another chart, which I am sharing below even though you may have seen it.

It is about startups in India and US.
I know the statistics covers only one small segment (only 8 of the IIT's) but still there are numbers.

( FWIW - Disclaimer - I am still proud to have voted for that guy 6 years ago, and I think he did pretty well. I am also glad to choose IIT many years ago and choose to make US my home. I think US/India is doing pretty well).

(This is recently compiled and covers data of 10 years -- till April 2015. Only 8 IIT's were included in the data)

Satya_anveshi · Post by **Satya_anveshi** » 02 Oct 2015 19:42

Singha wrote:if you think about the deep-state cats paws behind entities like NYT , Wapo now wield far less global power than the vast and instant reach of facebook , google , reddit and twitter.

no wonder their CEOs get to sit and break bread with world leaders.

quiestion is - whose cats paws are these new set ? for sure they cannot afford to cross GOTUS set parameters

If you had followed up trends during the dot com boom and bust (1999-2002), there were multiple news items of that time along these lines.
Intelligence Agency Seeds Technology Entrepreneurs - April 2001

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 02 Oct 2015 20:00

i think some like Palantir are overtly on developing classified information mining and analysis tools for 3 letter agencies. but I am sure these tools are then deployed onto the biggest email , cloud hosting and social media services .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palantir_Technologies

Early investments were $2 million from the US Central Intelligence Agency venture arm In-Q-Tel,
A document leaked to TechCrunch revealed that Palantir's clients as of 2013 included at least twelve groups within the US government, including the CIA, DHS, NSA, FBI, CDC, the Marine Corps, the Air Force, Special Operations Command,

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 04 Oct 2015 02:27

vayu tuvan wrote:Held a lot of promise even to the extent of receiving a Nobel Prize. That said, Mort's figure of 30% on welfare is not believable unless watertight stats are provided to back it up.

From 4th quarter 2012 figures which are less than 3 years old.
http://www.census.gov/sipp/tables/quart ... able4.xlsx

Overall figures from US Census Bureau:
http://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/ ... -char.html

Another set of figures from data coming out after 4th quarter of 2016 sometime in early Jan. 2017.

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 04 Oct 2015 02:44

Mort: Thanks. 48 million people on food stamps are the ones who can be truly called at or BPL. That number is the one I remember which works out to ~16% of 310 million total. The rest require only supplemental assistance. In a some sense they are not really BPL. Still 16% is too high for the most advanced country in the world. The expectation world over would be that there are no poor people in the US.

Virupaksha · Post by **Virupaksha** » 04 Oct 2015 02:54

vayu tuvan wrote:Mort: Thanks. 48 million people on food stamps are the ones who can be truly called at or BPL. That number is the one I remember which works out to ~16% of 310 million total. The rest require only supplemental assistance. In a some sense they are not really BPL. Still 16% is too high for the most advanced country in the world. The expectation world over would be that there are no poor people in the US.

Wonder what is the racial composition among them. anybody have such data?

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 04 Oct 2015 03:57

Singha wrote:i think some like Palantir are overtly on developing classified information mining and analysis tools for 3 letter agencies. but I am sure these tools are then deployed onto the biggest email , cloud hosting and social media services .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palantir_Technologies

Early investments were $2 million from the US Central Intelligence Agency venture arm In-Q-Tel,
A document leaked to TechCrunch revealed that Palantir's clients as of 2013 included at least twelve groups within the US government, including the CIA, DHS, NSA, FBI, CDC, the Marine Corps, the Air Force, Special Operations Command,

The DESI CTO has left the company. Lets hope they soon go public.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 04 Oct 2015 06:47

vayu tuvan wrote:Mort: Thanks. 48 million people on food stamps are the ones who can be truly called at or BPL. That number is the one I remember which works out to ~16% of 310 million total. The rest require only supplemental assistance. In a some sense they are not really BPL. Still 16% is too high for the most advanced country in the world. The expectation world over would be that there are no poor people in the US.

I don't know the ethnic break down of food assistance, but those on SNAP or WIC (basically these are food assistance programs) follows locality demographics. Where whites are a majority, then they are the ones on assistance, and other places where Hispanics and blacks are a majority also follows the same. What is of irony is that red states have high percentages of people on assistance.

The Obama administration is lying. Everything is getting more expensive and the only saving grace are low fuel prices and interest rates. Consumer debt is high, wages are flat and the percentage of Americans living paycheck to paycheck is 76%! See http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/24/pf/emergency-savings/

It is hell being poor in America as you will be in substandard housing, poor chances of getting a good educations, more chances of being victim to violent crime and the worst thing is that you are alone. In India we see poor families sleeping on the streets, but they are intact families. In the US many of the poor are single moms.

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 04 Oct 2015 07:03

Consumer debt is high, wages are flat and the percentage of Americans living paycheck to paycheck is 76%! See

One needs to be very careful with statistics. That one does not mean that these guys are all poor. I know couples making a combined $150,000+ and still living paycheck to paycheck. They have no concept is saving or even a 401K.

Added later.

I found the original article. No mention of 76% anywhere. Will check further later. On my cell right now.

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 04 Oct 2015 07:07

In India we see poor families sleeping on the streets, but they are intact families. In the US many of the poor are single moms.

Again, stats. In India which segment of society are you talking of.

And wait till modi's digital India and the ability to travel in a huffy kicks in. You will see very similar stats there too. In addition to those sleeping on the streets.

member_22733 · Post by **member_22733** » 04 Oct 2015 07:18

Poverty in the US is a different beast. I am short on time, so will make it short one line, more when time permits:

There is no country on planet earth that is more harsh on its poor than the US.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 04 Oct 2015 07:32

NRao wrote:
In India we see poor families sleeping on the streets, but they are intact families. In the US many of the poor are single moms.
Again, stats. In India which segment of society are you talking of.

And wait till modi's digital India and the ability to travel in a huffy kicks in. You will see very similar stats there too. In addition to those sleeping on the streets.

I'm unable to draw a correlation between digital India and the ability to travel related to poverty of single moms. Professorji please explain?

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 04 Oct 2015 07:51

NRao wrote: One needs to be very careful with statistics. That one does not mean that these guys are all poor. I know couples making a combined $150,000+ and still living paycheck to paycheck. They have no concept is saving or even a 401K.

There is one partial explanation for this. As I was told by a friend and colleague, he and his wife were young professionals in their early 30s at the time and they had no children. My friend was traveling for engineering conferences and work over 50% of the time, his wife was not. For some time he suspected his wife was cheating on him and he told me as much, but both of them got along very well; however he thought it would end in divorce in a few years. He thought it was prudent to simply spend all of the money they had on cars, vacations, electronics, and the high life. Sure enough the wife filed divorce papers on him while he was on travel. He didn't contest it and gave her everything including the house, which had a nice fat mortgage on it. The house was sold, his wife got most of the stuff and he married again.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 04 Oct 2015 07:53

LokeshC wrote:Poverty in the US is a different beast. I am short on time, so will make it short one line, more when time permits:

There is no country on planet earth that is more harsh on its poor than the US.

Yes, but where else can you easily get an $800 iPhone for 0% interest over two years?

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 04 Oct 2015 08:38

LokeshC wrote:Poverty in the US is a different beast. I am short on time, so will make it short one line, more when time permits:

There is no country on planet earth that is more harsh on its poor than the US.

Going by the wifi equipped homeless shelters here in PRC, sometimes I wonder if it's true.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 04 Oct 2015 09:01

its about economic mobility from hard-scrabble farming and menial jobs into blue-collar union jobs with good benefits (exists in defence but rest sent to china except in large products like automobiles and sensitive areas like high end kit and white collar which needs certain types of education the immigrants from places like india and china are able to tap into by directly entering the workforce at a higher level.

what are the kids and grandkids of the hispanic farmers in morgan hill PRC or central valley getting into?

EU allows very little immigration and protects their domestic industry plus better benefits in social sector. so the poor can potentially filter up the ranks better.