Accepted!

I finally pulled the trigger and formally accepted the GSB admissions offer.

I had been waiting until I knew what my financial aid looked like (I got a preliminary look at that today) and I decided it would be good to be done.

The financial aid award was calculated based on a single student budget (it assumed that my spouse would also receive aid from her school) and included some fellowships.

I still have to validate selective service, final tax returns etc, but I feel relieved knowing at least that the damage is quantified.

Look forward to bringing some detailed reports from the admit weekend starting tomorrow evening.

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I understand, I have no money.

This is a little dated but I wanted to put this up here and see what people think.

From ABC News:

Muse appeared in a federal magistrate court in a navy blue prison uniform, standing barely 5’4″ with his left hand wrapped in a white bandage where he was injured in the attack on the Maersk. At one point, Muse sobbed audibly, covered his face with his hand and was soothed by his court-appointed attorney. When the judge informed Muse of his right to a court appointed lawyer he said “I understand, I have no money.”

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I don’t know nothin about nothin anymore

We asked a sales manager whether he thought the pricing pressure from inventory being liquidated in the market was stabilizing or accelerating.

His response:

I don’t know nothin about nothin anymore

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Confessions of an Economic Hitman

As I was writing about hunger among the Sri Lankans who are in the warzone, I wanted to also add a quote from a book that I’ve just started reading: Confessions of an Economic Hitman, which promises to be one of the most insightful books I’ve read of late.

A couple of quotes that really struck me:

The United States spends over $87 billion conducting a war in Iraq while the United Nations estimates that for less than half that amount we could provide clean water, adequate diets, sanitation services and basic education for every person on the planet.

and also..

Ecuador is typical of countries around the world that EHMs (economic hit men) have brought into the economic-political fold. For every $100 of crude taken out of the Ecuadorian rain forests, the oil companies receive $75. Of the remaining $25, three-quarters must go to paying off the foreign debt. Most of the remainder covers military and other government expenses – which leaves about $2.50 for health, education, and programs aimed at helping the poor.

Thus out of every $100 torn out of the Amazon, less than $3 goes to the people who need the money the most, those whose lives have been so adversely impacted by the dams, the drilling, and the pipelines, and who are dying from lack of edible food and potable water.

All of those people-millions in Ecuador, billions around the planet- are potential terrorists. Not because they believe in communism or anarchism or are intrinsically evil, but simply because they are desperate.

The book is a compelling read.

Talking of desperation, the face of the Somali pirate who adorned the cover of the Wall Street Journal today and who will likely receive a life in prison from the US justice system comes to mind.

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Sri Lankan Eyewitness: ‘I thought I won’t survive’

The BBC has been criticized for at times carrying what many believed to be one-sided views of the Sri Lankan conflict. Allegedly, influenced by writers within the organization with links to the Tigers or to the Tamil community, some of whom are sympathetic to the LTTE cause.

Today however Swaminathan Natarajan of the BBC’s Tamil service has published an account based on an actual conversation with a civilian who escaped the LTTE in the conflict zone in Sri Lanka’s North. For this I am grateful to the author and to the BBC. The article clearly describes the repeated attempts by the civilians to escape LTTE custody over the last month.

Full article here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8013016.stm

Selected quotes:

“The LTTE had built a bund and because of that structure it was difficult to move. People had to walk through neck-deep water.

Some children fell down in the water. It was difficult to cross that area. I don’t know how to describe that.

We were trying to escape for the past month. We packed a few of our belongings and tried to escape at an opportune moment.

But we were prevented by the LTTE from escaping from the area.”

“In the LTTE-controlled areas life is very difficult. There is a huge shortage of food. There is heavy fighting and many are dying every day. Some days it is difficult to get a single meal. So we planned to escape to the government-controlled areas.

We were not bothered to take any of our belongings. We made three attempts in one month to escape but all of them were thwarted by the LTTE.

Now we have come to safety.”

“There has been no proper food for the past three days. Yesterday afternoon we got something to eat. Today, only in the late afternoon, we got food. But the amount is very little. We three shared a single meal.

I have not been given any clothes. So I am still wearing a dress which got wet and is covered by mud and dirt. I have not taken a bath for the past three days. It is very difficult here. My husband’s bandage needs to be changed immediately.”

Let’s hope the international community and the government get together to quickly clothe and feed these people who have gone through unimaginable torture over the last few months and still endure severe hardship.

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Shakur Khan?

At each game of the IPL (Indian Premier League) there is a contest where one lady is selected. The final contest winner will be starring in a Bollywood movie with Shahrukh Khan.

During today’s game between the Chennai Super Kings and the Bangalore Royal Challengers (The Royal Challengers are being massacred as usual, despite the inclusion of Kevin Pieterson), a lady was picked from the crowd (Tammy).

I thought the exchange below was pretty funny (sorry if its not exactly word for word):

Commentator: Who’s your favorite Bollywood actor?

Tammy: Shakur Khan (yes she said SHAKUR, and the commentator didn’t know any better either).

Commentator: Shakur Khan, very good answer you’ve probably seen him around at the tournament, what would you ask Shakur when you meet him?

Tammy: I would ask Shakur to show me some Bollywood moves of course!

Ouch, this game is getting painful to watch (14 runs required per over).  Dravid is watching from the non-strikers end as the 7th wicket falls. Murali is spinning some of his magic here.

As I’m editing this post the 8th wicket falls as well: 74 for 8.

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Sri Lanka: 35,000 Civilians Escape Clutches of Terror

Some positive news from the Sri Lankan conflict, looks like we are getting closer to an end. Hopefully once terrorism is dealt with, the government will do the right thing and make sure that rights of all people are protected. They do seem to be at least trying in the Eastern province where a former child soldier of the LTTE is now the Chief Minister and the democratic process has been reinstated with elections held.

35,000 civilians that were being held within the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) controlled strip of land in Northern Sri Lanka have escaped and made there way into government held territory. There are reports of suicide bombings during the civilian exodus, killing at least 17 people.

The government announced it would allow 24 hours for the remaining terrorists to surrender before launching its final offensive.

An estimated 40,000 civilians are still being held hostage within the LTTE territory as a human shield by a largely outnumbered and depleted Tiger force.

Meanwhile, LTTE supporters in London blocked roads around the Parliament demanding the UK extend support that could protect the last of the banned group, fighting in Sri Lanka. In a show of defiance, the supporters were seen carrying the LTTE flag which features a tiger jumping through a ring of fire and two crossed rifles.

The LTTE is a banned terrorist organization in 32 countries including the UK, US, India, Canada, Australia and many areas of Europe and is known for its indiscriminate use of suicide bombers and for targeting civilians. They have the distinction of being the organization that started the modern practice of suicide bombing (inventor of the suicide jacket), and have carried out more suicide attacks than any other group. They also frequently use child soldiers and have committed horrific crimes against civilians.

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Wall Street Journal iPhone App

I’ve been trying out the new Wall Street Journal iPhone app and it isn’t that bad at all. Considering that it is free it has a pretty broad collection of full articles from the journal. Maybe I won’t need a subscription to the Journal to keep up with what’s happening in the business world while I’m in school: especially if they do a couple of changes to the app considering its still version 1.0. This is a drastically better app at version 1.0 than the NY Times app I think, just because it allows access to more content.

What is interesting is that on the Kindle the Dow charges $9.99 a month for the Journal, I’m sure it’s a better reading experience but for my daily dose of business news: the iphone works fine. You also have access to some great audio and video from WSJ through the app (subject to AT&T network limitations). What’s also interesting is that rather than structure the app as a reader for a paper version of the WSJ (like in the kindle), this app is structured to basically mirror the WSJ website, that might explain part of the pricing strategy.

What’s not so good is that they seem to have left in the ability to start charging for at least some paid content within the app. My guess is that they will implement this pretty quickly considering Dow Jones’ normal policy towards this type of access. Hopefully I’m wrong and we will see a shift in strategy, that will save b-school students a little bit of money!

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First Game of the IPL

Woke up this morning at 6:30 AM (about 5 hours before my Saturday regular wake-up time) to watch the Mumbai Indians go up against the Chennai Super Kings. My favorite player Sanath Jayasuirya has been dismissed already and we’ve also had an extended delay because of a dog who walked on to the field! It was great to watch a team of like 20 people chasing the dog around without a clue of how to get him out.

As I watch, I can’t help feeling that we’ve lost a lot from the IPL this year. South Africa is great but the crowds don’t seem to be as big or to have as much energy as the crowds we’ve gotten used to from the IPL last year in India: unfortunate. It’s actually pretty quiet. And they are cheering for Flintoff and ignoring Sachin, how messed up is that!

Well, hopefully things will get better as the tournament progresses.

As I write this there are back to back boundaries: the crowd is still silent. hmm.

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Selling Furniture on Craigslist

I had to share some of the hilarious emails I’ve been getting from scam artists on Craigslist in response to my postings. I gave the FBI Internet Crime Division Contact Name, Address and Phone Number in Miami and asked them to go ahead and send the check to that address.

Example email 1 (from Carl Peter: carlpeter2008@gmail.com):

Thanks for the mail,I appreciate your response to my inquiry. I really want to buy this furniture from you. I would love to come and check it  my self but I just got married and I’m presently on honeymoon,am okay with the price  and will like to tell you that am paying via chasier check or money oder and also make arrangement with the shiping company for the pick up.i will like you to get back to me with your full names and address for me to mail out the payment to you.

PLEASE NOTE……The payment i will be sending will be of  excess this you will give to the shiping company for the pick up when they contact you.all you need to do is to get the money verified and faithfully deduct your own money and send the balance to the shipping company .The shiping company will contact you as soon as you receive the payment.please let me know if this sounds good to you.i will be waiting to read from you soon.And the payment will get to you as soon as possible.

Thanks
You are blessed

Example Email 2 (from Ona Warley: banjowharley003@gmail.com)

Hello,
Thanks for the quick response and i am interested in the item you
advertised because I like the condition you stated about it and I will
like to make an outright purchase immediately so I will want you
withdraw the advert from the web.
Regarding the payment term,I can only for now pay you with a
certified check in U.S. dollars,so pls let me have the following
informations so that the payment can be made to you :
1.Your full name to be on the check.
2.Your postal address.
3.Your postal code
4.Your mobile phone number (For easier communications).
Kindly get me the above requested information as soon as
possible. Concerning the shipment,it is my regular mover that will
come for the pick up as soon as you receive your money in hands.
Thanks in Advance.
Regards

Editing the article to add some more scammer email addresses:

Scammers Hall of Shame:

anthony smith: anthony_smith001@live.com

smith taylor: smithlord101@gmail.com

Nelson Brown: nelson_brwn05@yahoo.com

Matthew Lee: matthewlee10026@gmail.com

Tony Randy: tonyhandy19@gmail.com

Pop Lawra: poplawra@gmail.com

Ona Warley: banjowharley003@gmail.com

Carl Peter: carlpeter2008@gmail.com

grodwell dennis: gdennis75@googlemail.com

Quote from “Nelson Brown”: Hey,  just surf through the ads you have on here on craigslist and it’s actually what i wanna buy. I will like to purchase these item from you, hope it’s still available for sale… I would have demanded for your phone number so as to call you but i am a deaf person, either way it goes, i am always online so you can email me back.

Quote from Tony Randy: Thanks,i don’t think i really need any more picture,i only wanted to know the interest of the seller,i am just moving into my new apartment and i would want to retain this item while am away so i`ll send a draft from my bank to cover the cost as i am satisfied with what i have seen so far,anyway,i will not be available for the  pick up due to my job transfer and my tight schedule,but my intention is to hire a mover to pick it up.
i will need the details of whom and where to mail the draft.it would be delivered through the United Parcel Service(UPS)within 2-3 days.
NB:UPS do not deliver to p.o box addresses.

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