Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man.
- Benjamin Franklin

Every man should be born again on the first day of January. Start with a fresh page. Take up one hole more in the buckle if necessary, or let down one, according to circumstances; but on the first of January let every man gird himself once more, with his face to the front, and take no interest in the things that were and are past.
- Henry Ward Beecher

Love is blind, they say; sex is impervious to reason and mocks the power of all philosophers. But, in fact, a man’s sexual choice is the result and the sum of his fundamental convictions. Tell me what a man finds sexually attractive and I will tell you his entire philosophy of life. Show me the woman he sleeps with and I will tell you his valuation of himself.

He will always be attracted to the woman who reflects his deepest vision of himself, the woman whose surrender permits him to experience—or to fake—a sense of self-esteem. The man who is proudly certain of his own value, will want the highest type of woman he can find, the woman he admires, the strongest, the hardest to conquer—because only the possession of a heroine will give him the sense of an achievement. He does not seek to gain his value, he seeks to express it. There is no conflict between the standards of his mind and the desires of his body.”

Francisco d’Anconia
Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand

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For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Ashutosh Kadakia and I’m friends with Adam and Shannon from IU.

This is a pretty hard act to follow after all the great toasts we had yesterday, and following in Mr. Hanson’s wake and these lovely maid of honors wake isn’t easy.

But, let me start by apologizing for this awkward presentation – I was going to make it formal, and I had a 717 word speech ready to feed into a teleprompter, but then found out at the last minute that President Obama has gone through so many of them, that teleprompters are in short supply.

No but in seriousness, this was an absolutely perfect weekend and I can’t imagine a bride more beautiful and radiant than Shannon. For those of you that weren’t there yesterday, Shannon’s aunt has a recording of Shannon from when she was 3 ½ asking her what she wanted to become when she grew up – she replied, a lady and a mom. Well Shannom has clearly become a lady.. And well Adam its time start on that second part.

I’m quite used to seeing Adam in grungy sweats, and that dirty tan baseball cap, so seeing him here in a tux is a welcome change – so Shannon thank you for that.

However – I think it’s a great honor to be here as Adam’s best man; we’ve lived together, travelled together, closed out Nick’s and Kilroy’s together, Facebook stalked together, skied together, and even occasionally studied together, and – he has been – and continues to be – a terrific friend.

But, let me hasten to say that the term “Best Man” is a purely a ceremonial title for weddings and not – in any way – an actual intellectual or physical distinction.

However – if any of you single beautiful girls gathered here wish to think “the Best Man” title is an accurate description of my manliness and power, that’s perfectly fine with me.

I think it’s fair to say that I was the first to know – even before Adam knew – that he and Shannon were destined to get married. I broke this rather extraordinary news to Adam as we walked – perhaps staggered is more accurate – back to our dorms while we studied abroad, but in reality the prediction was not that difficult to make.

While we were competing over who could consume the most British pints, all Adam did was talk about Shannon. It was Shannon said this, and Shannon said that, and how bright Shannon is, and how beautiful Shannon is.

But, it was altogether unnecessary, because – truth to tell – I completely agreed, and Erik is a great guy, but I think it was a bit shortsighted of you to not have a sister for me.

Well Shannon thinks I’m and absolutely reckless, awful California driver, who should have his license suspended and when Shannon found out about my being the best man, the first thing she said to Adam was any role he wanted me to play at the wedding is perfectly fine with her, as long it didn’t involve my driving her anywhere.

And, knowing my miserable record for attending classes in college I think she was a bit nervous about me showing up for their wedding, but – not to fear, Shannon, I may have missed half our R305 classes, but I am here.

But, in all seriousness, as I’ve watched Adam and Shannon grow closer, I’m totally certain that they are perfectly matched for each other and there is no doubt in my mind that each has found the perfect soul-mate for life.

And it’s great to be able to say that the couple we just to joke about being the married couple, are now officially the married couple.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, please raise your glasses.

To Adam and Shannon Jorgensen:

• May they always have around them the kind of wonderful people who are here to bless their marriage this evening;
• May they comfort each other in the hard times and share in all the good times;

Ladies and gentlemen, to Adam and Shannon Jorgensen.

Yesterday, I bought the Blackberry Curve 8900. I literally went back and forth between the Curve 8900 and the Bold 9000 five to six times, and ended up going with the Curve. I love it.

It’s the perfect shape, quick, takes 16GB external memory, has a vivid display screen, and has phenomenal battery life. I spend about two hours on the phone yesterday, installed tons of apps, browsed internet, and my battery is still at 55% after not charging it overnight.

Yes, the Curve has no 3G, but 3G from all accounts is a battery hog. My dad recharges his Bold every 7-8 hours. It drains battery as the network isn’t as well saturated yet, and the phone constantly jumps between EDGE and 3G causing the drain. Additionally, most places I’m around frequently like work and home have WiFi so 3G is useless. While traveling on the road, 3G isn’t available due to the remoteness of the highways, and the costs of 3G outweighed the benefits.

The Curve is a better phone on most other accounts, better 3.2mp camera (with auto focus), keyboard (a preference thing), larger screen (40 pixels taller), smaller and lighter. The Bold felt clunky and out of proportion to me, but that’s another preference thing.

For all your iPhone fans out there, I understand the appeal, but I’m a blackberry lover for life. It’s simply too good a phone for people that actually work for a living (ha!).

Microsoft Enterprise Exchange Server, Microsoft Outlook, Blackberry Enterprise Server, and a Blackberry device are the perfect combination and I have yet to see a service that can rival how these four play together. Contact, calendars, memos, tasks, emails, settings, speed dial lists, alarm preferences, (even something as meaning less as my ring tones), were automatically synced with my new phone while my old one is somewhere in the bottom of the Atlantic. I can literally throw away my desktop, blackberry, laptop, and still have my data synced with new devices in a matter of minutes.

I initiated a remote wipe on my old phone, just for peace of mind, but I highly doubt underwater sea creatures have mastered the blackberry yet.

I’ve decided to change my homepage from www.google.com to www.bing.com for one week and see how it works out.

Consider this extraordinary fact: The U.S. government is likely putting up to $50 billion in new money to back the company’s bankruptcy reorganization, according to people familiar with the plan.

Most of this is what is known as a “debtor-in-possession” financing made to companies in bankruptcy protection. The sum is also expected to include $6 billion to buyout GM’s secured lenders and another $7.6 billion requested by GM last week to fund ongoing operations.

It’s clear that a large portion of this amount will be secured with the equity of the “new GM.” Why is the government likely to get equity and not, say, debt with interest and a repayment schedule? Because too much debt would apparently make the company unviable. It’s as if the government has devised an SAT exam for GM, and is blatantly funneling the company the answers.

Okay, fine. So what will this equity be worth?

That’s anyone’s guess. By the logic of some of the people who know the company best – its own unionized workforce – the bet is that it won’t be worth much.

Remember that the union just agreed to take a relatively small portion of its health-care trust in GM equity. The rest will be funded via annual payments on preferred stock. In other words, UAW’s view of the future is clear: Cash today over equity value tomorrow.

That comes on top of another $20 billion of existing loans that the government is likely to wipe out as part of the bankruptcy plan.

Put it all together and the government will own an extraordinary 70% of the company. And a large portion of that will have an uncertain value for an uncertain length of time.

President Obama may believe this is necessary to save the industry. But it’s the kind of salvation that only comes with a printing press. What began as a temporary “bridge loan” has become a free-money bonanza with no historic precedent.

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Article from the Deal Journal.

Growing at a slower rate is fine when total debt is below GDP, because there is a spread for financing debt by issuing more debt. However, this model completely spins out of control when national debt is above GDP for an extended period of time, because it’s becomes impossible to service debt by issuing more debt. This is the concept of negative leverage, and no bank or investor would lend money to an institution (government or business) that has faster growing debts than equity for an extended time period, because in the long run bankruptcy is inevitable.

The seriousness of this can’t be emphasized enough — UK’s national debt is now in excess of 100% of GDP and is on verge of losing it’s triple-A credit rating. This is unbelievable, and frighteningly scary. Is our economy so much stronger that we can carry the massive debt load this president is putting on our shoulders? Our current national debt is $11.2 trillion, and with President Obama’s irresponsible spending, we will surely add $3 trillion dollars by the end of his first year in office. Our current GDP is approximately $14 trillion, and President Obama’s deficit would put our debt above 100% of GDP.

Brazil and China are meeting this week to discuss methods to conduct business between their countries in their own currencies; this deals a serious blow to the idea that the dollar is the universal currency. If two of the worlds fastest growing economies start dealing outside the dollar, and furthermore if they start offloading their dollar backed reserves, it could put tremendous pressure on the Treasury markets as demand for dollars will suddenly dry up.

The only way for America to survive in the long run is to grow it’s way out of debt. Small business is the America’s growth engine, and for businesses to grow they need capital. Capital lets business develop, build, buy equipment, employ workers, and this President and his Congress are waging a war on capital and destroying our prospects of growth. There are talks of increasing taxes on corporations, increasing capital gains, and introducing wealth taxes. Taxes reduce available capital, take it out of private hands, and effectively reduce the ability of businesses to grow.

I’ve never been bearish on America’s long term outlook — till today. I love this country, and it’s scary to see where we are heading.

If this isn’t evil, what is?

Hat tip Christie Cash.

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Across the private sector, workers are swallowing hard as their employers freeze salaries, cancel bonuses, and institute longer work days. America’s employees can see for themselves how steeply business has fallen off, which is why many are accepting cost-saving measures with equanimity — especially compared to workers in France, where riots and plant takeovers have become regular news.

But then there is the U.S. public sector, where the mood seems very European these days. In New Jersey, which faces a $3.3 billion budget deficit, angry state workers have demonstrated in Trenton and taken Gov. Jon Corzine to court over his plan to require unpaid furloughs for public employees. In New York, public-sector unions have hit the airwaves with caustic ads denouncing Gov. David Paterson’s promise to lay off state workers if they continue refusing to forgo wage hikes as part of an effort to close a $17.7 billion deficit. In Los Angeles County, where the schools face a budget deficit of nearly $600 million, school employees have balked at a salary freeze and vowed to oppose any layoffs that the board of education says it will have to pursue if workers don’t agree to concessions.

Call it a tale of two economies. Private-sector workers — unionized and nonunion alike — can largely see that without compromises they may be forced to join unemployment lines. Not so in the public sector.

Government unions used their influence this winter in Washington to ensure that a healthy chunk of the federal stimulus package was sent to states and cities to preserve public jobs. Now they are fighting tenacious and largely successful local battles to safeguard salaries and benefits. Their gains, of course, can only come at the expense of taxpayers, which is one reason why states and cities are approving tens of billions of dollars in tax increases.

It’s not as if we haven’t seen this coming. When the movement among public-sector workers to unionize began gathering momentum in the 1950s, some critics, including private-sector labor leaders such as George Meany, observed that government is a monopoly not subject to the discipline of the marketplace. Allowing these workers — many already protected by civil-service law — to organize and bargain collectively might ultimately give them the power to hold politicians and taxpayers hostage.

It wasn’t long before such fears were realized. By the mid-1960s, dozens of cities across America were wracked by teachers’ strikes that closed school systems. Groups like New York City’s transit workers walked off the job in 1966, bringing business in Gotham to a near halt. The United Federation of Teachers led an illegal strike which closed down New York City schools in 1968.

Widespread ire against strikes by public workers produced legislation in many states outlawing them. That prompted government workers to retreat from the picket lines into the halls of government. In Washington, they organized political action committees, set up sophisticated lobbying efforts, and used their muscle to help elect sympathetic public officials.

Today, public-sector unions sit atop lists of organizations that devote the most money to lobbying and campaign contributions.

In Pennsylvania, a local think tank, the Commonwealth Foundation, counted the resources of the state’s teachers union a few years ago. It had 11 regional offices, 275 employees and $66 million in annual dues. In Connecticut, representatives of the teachers union camped outside the legislators’ doors in 2005 to keep tabs on school reformers who were calling on these officials to expand school choice.

And in California, unions spent more than $50 million in 2005 to defeat a series of ballot proposals that would have capped growth in the state’s budget. Now the state’s teachers union is putting its clout behind a ballot initiative, to be voted on next week, that would restore more than $9 billion in educational spending cut from the state’s budget.

The results of such efforts are evident in the rich rewards that public-sector employees now enjoy. A study in 2005 by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute estimated that the average public-sector worker earned 46% more in salary and benefits than comparable private-sector workers. The gap has only continued to grow. For example, state and local worker pay and benefits rose 3.1% in the last year, compared to 1.9% in the private sector, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

But the real power of the public sector is showing through in this economic crisis. Some five million private-sector workers have lost their jobs in the last year alone, and their unemployment rate is above 9% according to the BLS. By contrast, public-sector employment has grown in virtually every month of the recession, and the jobless rate for government workers is a mere 2.8%. For anyone who thinks such low unemployment numbers are good news, remember that the bulging public sector must be paid for with revenues that most governments don’t currently have. This is one reason for a spate of state and local tax increases, such as $5 billion in tax increases New York state passed in April, and $12 billion in tax increases California’s legislature agreed to in February that will only become law if voters pass a series of ballot initiatives next week.

The next lesson we are likely to learn is that voter revolts against new taxes are no longer effective because of the might that these public- sector groups now wield. The tax-cut uprising of the late 1970s began in California with Proposition 13 capping property taxes. It then spread to more than a dozen states before it became a national movement that helped elect Ronald Reagan. The next tax revolt, during the recession of the early 1990s, helped sink officials like New Jersey Gov. James Florio and produced ballot propositions in places like Colorado that capped spending or made tax increases more difficult.

Now powerful and savvy, public unions have moved effectively to quash antitax movements. In New Jersey, public unions derailed a taxpayer revolt in 2005 by using their legislative clout to water down a bill that would have created a state constitutional convention to enact property-tax reform. Meanwhile, under pressure from unions, state legislatures in places like Florida have been tightening rules and requirements for passing voter initiatives and referenda — blunting a favorite tool of antitax groups.

In states like Iowa where public unionization rates are still low government workers have had to accept concessions. But allies of the unions in Washington are working to rectify that situation with union-friendly legislation like the card check bill, which will make organizing much easier.

In the private sector such efforts will still be subject to the demands of the marketplace. Employers who are too generous with pay and benefits will be punished. In the public sector, however, more union members means more voters. And more voters means more dollars for political campaigns to elect sympathetic politicians who will enact higher taxes to foot the bill for the upward arc of government spending on workers. That will be the pattern for the indefinite future unless taxpayers find a way to roll back the enormous power public workers have acquired.