india: move over pepsi and coke

From FOXNews.com:

India's Hindu nationalist movement is launching a new soft drink made from cow urine.

The bovine brew is in the final stages of development by the Cow Protection Department of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), India's biggest and oldest Hindu nationalist group, according to the man who makes it.

Om Prakash, the head of the department, said the drink — called "gau jal," or "cow water" — in Sanskrit was undergoing laboratory tests and would be launched "very soon, maybe by the end of this year."

"Don't worry, it won't smell like urine and will be tasty too," he told the Times of London from his headquarters in Hardwar, one of four holy cities on the River Ganges. "Its USP will be that it's going to be very healthy. It won't be like carbonated drinks and would be devoid of any toxins."

The drink is the latest attempt by the RSS – which was founded in 1925 and now claims 8 million members – to cleanse India of foreign influence and promote its ideology of Hindutva, or Hindu-ness.

Click here to read more on this story from the Times of London.

charles platt: fly on the wal

Interesting piece from February 7th's NY POST:

Some people, usually community activists, loath Wal-Mart. Others, like the family of four struggling to make ends meet, are in love with the chain. I, meanwhile, am in awe of it.

With more than 7,000 facilities worldwide, coordinating more than 2 million employees in its fanatical mission to maintain an inventory from more than 60,000 American suppliers, it has become a system containing more components than the Space Shuttle....
Click here for the complete article

this has me missing southern california

A high school buddy and college housemate sent me this picture of Mt. San Antonio (a.k.a., Mount Baldy). He now lives in Huntington Beach and very recently took this picture from near his home on an exceptionally clear day.

That is a 10,000 foot mountain viewed from sea level 50 miles away.

The peak of Mount Baldy is only 15 miles away from the house in Pomona where I grew up. I could view it from my bedroom window. The foothills shown are only five or six miles away. Much, much closer than the view in the above photo. (Pomona is only 900 feet or less above sea level, so the elevation is not that different.)

I love NNY but this picture has me missing the old homestead despite also remembering the present day pollution, crime, and congestion.

Be blessed!
RB

zimbabwe: bye-bye to trillion dollar notes...for now

Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe:
12 zeros removed from currency

[Link found here]

This image is from the good old days before billion and trillion dollar denominated currency.

That is, last year.

time for football coaches to re-evaluate goals and plans

now this is basketball

This is good.

Very good.

the guacamole song

Get ready for the game on Sunday. (BTW, I'd go with the recipe in the song rather than Kraft's recipe at the end of the video.)

betting on mugabe

The economy of Zimbabwe has been contracting for a decade. Hyperinflation has been a fact of life for going on two years. Currently prices are doubling every day.

Zimbabwe has a cholera epidemic. Cholera is a completely preventable disease. Its victim are the poor and weak. Cholerea is actually a symptom of economic collapse.

How does Robert Mugabe stay in power?. No leader survives with hyperinflation for this long! This Christmas he went on vacation to Malaysia. That shows his confidence. Usually a weakened leader does not leave the country for fear of a coup in his absence.

Tonight I checked the betting odds at Intrade.com of Mugabe staying in power. The odds are actually going Mugabe's way. As you can see on the chart there appears to be only a 6% chance he'll leave office by March 31st. (Rule 1.8: All bets are off if Mugabe dies before leaving office.) As you can see, the odds of him leaving office have been falling.

I do not understand this. The only way this makes sense to me is if the smart money thinks the only way Mugabe will leave office is feet first (i.e., Rule 1.8).

a short video for january 22nd

Found on her facebook page.

wanna be a trillionaire?

Move to Zimbabwe!

Zimbabwe is introducing a Z$100 trillion note, currently worth about US$30 (£20), state media reports.

Other notes in trillion-dollar denominations of 10, 20 and 50 are also being released to help Zimbabweans cope with hyperinflation. ~ Source: BBC News

Pictured is a Z$50 billion note, worth less than two cents US.

Link found at Greg Mankiw's Blog.