NYTimes: Scuba Diving in Thailand: A Balancing Act

Kannu

Remember I offered to take you to Thailand for a week long trip and then you can learn scuba diving there? Here's an excellent article about a father son trip that you may want to read. Of course it's more oriented towards divers who already have a padi licence but we can discuss that. You and I can get a licence in London :) assuming your asthma gets fixed.

Scuba diving, son, is a wonderful exercise. One of the most amazing moments of my life was when I would scuba in the coral reefs. You saw the sea floor in Galapagos. It was nothing. Literally nothing. When you are down there, it's a magical location son.

Remember I have mentioned the burial ground of the sailors of the nautilus submarine for the 20,000 leagues under the sea? It's in a coral area. It is exquisite. So peaceful. The beauty of the scene with the sun dappled waters and fish and sea weed and and and is mind blowing. People faff around on beaches and I hate that. Knowing just few meters away you have a magical sea scape to wonder.

We will go there son :) it should be fun.

Love

Baba





http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/21/travel/thailand-scuba-diving.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share

A father-son relationship deepens during a scuba trip exploring an exotic underworld off Thailand.

Who Invented the Yellow Card?

Fascinating nugget son. How the yellow card was invented. It's a simple ideogram. Like the Chinese language. Should more be a logogram but let's not quibble. 

You see son, living in an Information Age means that we have to digest more and more information. So keep on top of things, one has to abstract things. When I was in my previous bank, I was responsible for creating a one pager for a bank wide transformation. A one page. Which encapsulates the past current and future state of a Multi billion dollar initiative. It was designed to be read understood and then discussed in 1 hour. One of my fields of interest is data visualisation. The science of how to portray data more efficiently. 

And it's fascinating. For the same data, decisions can be different of you've shown it in a table or a bar or radar graph. Reminds me of the quote, it's not your vote that counts but who counts your vote that counts. 

The power to communicate son. That's the key. Hold your audience in your hand. Use visual aids. 

Love

Baba

Who Invented the Yellow Card?
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/who-invented-yellow-card-180951915/

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Among the stadiums and balls and robots specifically designed for this World Cup, a few objects remain unchanged. Most visibly, perhaps, is the yellow card. It is now and has, since its introduction to the World Cup in 1970, been a plain, handheld, yellow, card. That's it. But that simple yellow card can literally change the game.

The use of the yellow card is strictly outlined in the FIFA rulebook, which notes that “a player is cautioned and shown the yellow card if he commits any of the following seven offences:”

• unsporting behavior
• dissent by word or action
• persistent infringement of the Laws of the Game
• delaying the restart of play              
• failure to respect the required distance when play is restarted with a corner kick, free kick or throw-in 
• entering or re-entering the field of play without the referee’s permission
• deliberately leaving the field of play without the referee’s permission

FIFA also documents the invention of the yellow card. The card was the creation of Ken Aston (1915-2001), one of the game’s toughest and most respected referees, who served on the FIFA Referee’s Committee from 1966 to 1972. In 1966, Aston, a Brit, was thinking about some controversial decisions made in a recent match between England and Argentina, which was so heated that, after the game, an angry Argentinian team purportedly tried tobreak into the English locker room. At one point, an Argentinian player was trying to communicate with a German referee, and his passioned pleas, unintelligible to the ref, got him expelled for "violence of the tongue." The Argentinian player refused to leave the field until Aston intervened. Driving home after the game, Aston pulled up to a stoplight and inspiration struck. "As I drove down Kensington High Street, the traffic light turned red. I thought, 'Yellow, take it easy; red, stop, you're off'," Aston had said. It’s that simple. Aston’s epiphany is now used to indicate warnings and penalties in more than a dozen other games, including fencing, field hockey, volleyball and water polo.

Recession or no recession, many NFL, NBA and Major League

Kids

Both of you have investments and thankfully have got the savings bug. That's very good discipline. I've seen poverty closely kids and it's not fun at all. Not at all. Specially when you're old. That's the worst part kids because you cannot make money at that time and have to rely on people's handouts. 

It's soul destroying to ask for money. I've seen your grandparents in extremely difficult circumstances as far as money is concerned kids. Never ever allow yourself to get into that situation. 

You may have lots of money kids. You may invent something big. Or one of your lottery tickets comes true. Or an investment pays off. But always be grounded. 

See the story of these athletes. They are like flashes in the pan kids. They earned loads and then whoosh. All was gone. 

Read and learn. And remember the rule kids, save 1/3rd of your money. Every month. As much as possible. 

Love

Baba

Recession or no recession, many NFL, NBA and Major League - 03.23.09 - SI Vault
http://cnnsi.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&expire=&fb=Y&partnerID=289881&title=Recession+or+no+recession%2C+many+NFL%2C+NBA+and+Major+League+-+03.23.09+-+SI+Vault&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsportsillustrated.cnn.com%2Fvault%2Farticle%2Fmagazine%2FMAG1153364%2Findex.htm&urlID=34813453

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What the hell happened here? Seven floors above the iced-over Dallas North Tollway, Raghib (Rocket) Ismail is revisiting the question. It's December, and Ismail is sitting in the boardroom of Chapwood Investments, a wealth management firm, his white Notre Dame snow hat pulled down to his furrowed brow.

Ferguson’s Formula

One of my Hero's son. The man is a legend and here's his success in his own words. Fascinating. Small things but these are difficult to make sure they are done. 

Planning. Foresight. Thinking about what might happen and then ensuring that you put in mitigating actions to avoid. Think about it. He put in a 4 year plan to win a trophy. It's a long time to plan son. And requires awesome dedication to keep on the path for 4 years! 

Good stuff to read and learn. Don't think it's worthwhile to put this in your personal statement but the sentiments are valid. 

Love

Baba

Ferguson’s Formula
http://hbr.org/2013/10/fergusons-formula/ar/1

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Photography: Sean Pollack

Some call him the greatest coach in history. Before retiring in May 2013, Sir Alex Ferguson spent 26 seasons as the manager of Manchester United, the English football (soccer) club that ranks among the most successful and valuable franchises in sports. During that time the club won 13 English league titles along with 25 other domestic and international trophies—giving him an overall haul nearly double that of the next-most-successful English club manager. And Ferguson was far more than a coach. He played a central role in the United organization, managing not just the first team but the entire club. “Steve Jobs was Apple; Sir Alex Ferguson is Manchester United,” says the club’s former chief executive David Gill.

In 2012 Harvard Business School professor Anita Elberse had a unique opportunity to examine Ferguson’s management approach and developed anHBS case study around it. Now she and Ferguson have collaborated on an analysis of his enormously successful methods.

Anita Elberse: Success and staying power like Sir Alex Ferguson’s demand study—and not just by football fans. How did he do it? Can one identify habits that enabled his success and principles that guided it? During what turned out to be his final season in charge, my former student Tom Dye and I conducted a series of in-depth interviews with Ferguson about his leadership methods and watched him in action at United’s training ground and at its famed stadium, Old Trafford, where a nine-foot bronze statue of the former manager now looms outside. We spoke with many of the people Ferguson worked with, from David Gill to the club’s assistant coaches, kit manager, and players. And we observed Ferguson during numerous short meetings and conversations with players and staff members in the hallways, in the cafeteria, on the training pitch, and wherever else the opportunity arose. Ferguson later came to HBS to see the ensuing case study taught, provide his views, and answer students’ questions, resulting in standing-room-only conditions in my classroom and a highly captivating exchange.

Fauja Singh, the runner

Dear Kannu

Here's a fascinating story about the oldest marathon runner. A man who lost his son and took up running to manage his grief. 

That's indomitable courage. Not common son. Not common at all. And it's not a question of fear kannu. Everybody is afraid. The question is what do you do with the fear. Fear of pain. Fear of death. Fear of life. Fear of loneliness. The truly brave go ok and conquer the fear and do exactly what they are afraid of. 

Marathons are like that. When I'm on the bike and cross the 100km mark, then I start thinking about taking a taxi back. Jumping on a bus. Taking the train. So I fool myself and just go around further. 

Age is also nothing to do with courage kannu. Look at didu, weight diabetes knee problems but she goes gallivanting around the world exploring new countries and cultures. Dadu has now gone through two open heart surgeries and is going strong. Looking forward to meeting you in jan next year. 

I like how you are passionate as well son. Like your exercises. Or how you study. Keep it up kannu. compete against yourself. Your own mind and body's limitations. I'm proud of you. 

Baba

OTL: Fauja Singh, the runner - ESPN
http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/8973919/fauja-singh-runner

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ESPNOTL

By Jordan Conn

THE PARTY WOULD BEGIN just as soon as the race ended. And the race would end just after Fauja Singh crossed the line in 3,851st place. By finishing then — by finishing at all — Fauja would do what no man before him had ever done. Amid the bundled and cheering crowd in Toronto, underneath a distended but gracious sky, he would complete a marathon. And he would do so at 100 years old.

Was it pain he felt as he approached the end, just footsteps away from redefining the limits of human endurance? No, this wasn’t pain. Fauja knew pain. Pain was death — you see plenty of that when you live 100 years. Pain was bloody limbs and overtaxed joints — you get too much of that when you insist on completing every race you ever start. This wasn’t pain but exhaustion. And Fauja could handle exhaustion, because exhaustion foreshadowed euphoria. When Fauja got tired, it often meant a record would soon fall.

He’d already broken a few. Fastest to run a marathon (male, over age 90), fastest to run 5,000 meters (male, over age 100), fastest to run 3,000 meters (male, over age 100), and on and on they went. But those records didn’t roll off the tongue the way this one would. Oldest person to complete a marathon (male): Fauja Singh.The other feats had earned him recognition from the Masters Federation websites. This one would put him in the Guinness World Records. An official with the company had contacted Fauja’s coach, Harmander Singh (no relation) several weeks earlier. Harmander told Fauja that Guinness would send representatives to watch Fauja run in the Toronto Waterfront Marathon, and as soon as he finished, they would award him the recognition he deserved.

So Fauja ran in Toronto, arms swinging, yellow turban bobbing, chest-length Zeusian beard swaying in the wind. He was joined by other runners with roots in the Indian region of Punjab, their appearance in keeping with the traditions of their Sikh faith. Fauja trotted for the first three miles, until his coach encouraged him to slow to a jog. Speed was fleeting, the enemy of endurance. By mile 6, he’d downshifted to a toddle. After a break for a rubdown and some tea at mile 18, he settled into a walk.

The exhaustion took hold sometime around mile 20, but Harmander kept Fauja upbeat with white lies about the remaining distance. He’d tell Fauja there were four miles left when there were actually six, then two miles left when there were actually three, making Fauja believe he’d covered more ground than he actually had, until finally Fauja saw the only mile-marker he understood: the finish line.

What had been silence between footsteps was now music and cheers. The slog to the finish reminded Fauja of his wedding day, of the joy that awaited at the end of the long aisle. He waved to the crowd as he walked across the line, then lifted his arms and accepted a medal. He’d finished in 8 hours, 25 minutes. There were smiles and handshakes and photos with friends and strangers, then a rambling news conference for Fauja to reflect on his record. Amid the chaos and congratulations, however, Fauja and Harmander never noticed the absence of one celebrant they’d expected.

They didn’t realize that Guinness was nowhere to be found.

The China USA conflict

When I was growing up son, the Olympics rivalry was Between the USA and USSR. Now the rivalry has morphed into one between USA and china. 

People write off USA at their peril, that country has some amazing properties and characteristics that gives it amazing strength in conflicts and competitions. 

One of the things you should try to understand is how East Germany, USSR or China, who created a state directed system to pick winners start failing when the state fails while USA's sports infrastructure, which is built up individual and ground up, keeps on working and producing champions. 

You have to learn and work in the USA son, otherwise your education will not be completed. 

Here's an Interesting episode from the time of the Balkan wars about china and USA. 

Love

Baba

China Matters: Whatever You Do, Don’t Read China’s Global Times…

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China Matters: Whatever You Do, Don’t Read China’s Global Times…

Saturday, November 05, 2011

Whatever You Do, Don’t Read China’s Global Times…

…You Might Learn Something

I’m not crazy about Global Times (the house organ of Chinese hypernationalism) but I like the sniggering condescension of Foreign Policy magazine(the house organ of neo-lioberalism) even less.

Actually, Christine Larson’s recent profile of Global Times in Foreign Policy is reasonably even-handed.

FP’s editors, however, couldn’t resist juicing the story—and signaling to its readership that GT and its views are not be taken seriously—by titling the piece “China’s Fox News” and adding a sidebar, “The Top 10 Screeds in China’s Global Times,” with takedowns by Uri Friedman.

Example:

Money Quote: ” Living in an international environment that China temporarily cannot change, we need to be alert to foreign interference as well as keep a sober mind, clean house and constantly improve governance … No country is fond of interference from the outside. China is no exception. In addition to hostile forces originating in foreign countries, China also has to face the mixed chorus formed by Tibet separatists, East Turkistan terrorists and the Falun Gong cult, who have gone abroad. Inner calm is specially needed when dealing with the collusions of the above-mentioned forces.”

Context: The editorial, which reflects on China’s rise in a globalized world, sounds a lot like the paranoia about foreign interference expressed by dictators during the Arab Spring. The appeal at the end to “inner calm” may sound tranquil, but one can’t help but wonder whether it’s a euphemism for a crackdown.

In case you don’t see the out-of-control dingbattery you’re supposed to detect in these excerpts, in the interest of full disclosure, I should say that I’m on Global Times’ side of the fence on about half of the pieces, which concern America’s cynical stirring of the South China Sea pot.

Pop Quiz:

Which nation is more likely to pose a long-term threat to freedom of navigation in the South China Sea?

China, which imports most of its oil through the region?

Or the United States, which routinely uses unilateral and multilateral sanctions as a tool of foreign policy, keeps a carrier strike force on tap in the west Pacific, has something of an obsession with bottling up the Chinese strategic nuclear submarine fleet stationed in Hainan, and adores the idea of building an anti-China bloc around the South China Sea conflict?

If you answered China, well, that puts you squarely in  Foreign Policy’s preferred demographic: people for whom the US system of liberal democracy and free market capitalism a priori put it in the right in any disagreement with China.

Nevertheless, the US model, which has recently displayed a pretty strong bias toward military coercion and financial dysfunction, has its own flaws.

The Occupy Wall Street movement has, I think, generated a certain amount of cognitive dissonance among Chinese democracy advocates.

The Chinese government can, of course, be mocked for its anxious banning of the word “Occupy” from search engines and microblogs.  Crowds of disgruntled, idealistic people showing up in high-profile downtown venues is the ultimate nightmare for the CCP.

At the same time, the OWS movement is a statement that US democracy in the age of Citizens United, runaway corporatism, and abjectly craven politicians is simply not delivering the goods for many Americans.

Hurrah!  Americans can impotently demonstrate against the fact that their system isn’t working!

Global Times has a pretty tough row to hoe, of course.  Authoritarianism and state capitalism are not popular among the Chinese or foreign intelligentsia.

But their writers are trying to make some sense out of the world beyond regurgitating government propaganda.

I was struck by a statement in a Global Times editorial on the OWS movement that I found charming in its awkward truthfulness:

Western countries can withstand street demonstrations better, since their governments are elected.

The editorial, presumably written by editor-in-chief Hu Xijin (according to Larson he keeps an iron grip on the editorial page) continues:

People think the street demonstrations will not lead to the overthrow of the Western political system. They are merely valves that can help ease pressure built up in democratic societies while the pressure and dissatisfaction on the streets could end up helping the opposition party seize office.

The conflicts may be minor or serious, but it will not bring significant change.

This is a fair argument, but it also reveals one of the core reasons why the western world lacks determination for real change. Political parties have been taking advantage of dissatisfaction in their societies, manipulating them to serve their own short-term political interests, rather than eliminating the causes.

It’s a worthwhile observation that democracy provides a measure of political stability but may also  serve as an obstacle to political and economic solutions by empowering forces that want to block a solution.

That’s something that Global Times, which is trying to make the case for the advantages of China’s authoritarian system, is eager to point out; it’s also something that liberal periodicals like Foreign Policy are constitutionally unable to confront.

Like I said, if you read Global Times you might learn something.

I have to admit what really set me off about the article was this passage, which also provided an interesting perspective on where Hu Xijin is coming from:

In 1989, Hu joined the People’s Daily as a reporter; from 1993-1996 he was a correspondent in Yugoslavia covering the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He returned to Beijing in 1996, and at age 36 joined the new Global Times newspaper as deputy editor.

… “But Global Times has been increasingly relevant since 1999,” says Anti, “since the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Yugoslavia.” — i.e., the accidental bombing of the Chinese embassy by U.S. and NATO forces, which stirred conspiracy theories in China and happened to take place in Hu’s old reporting stomping grounds.

That “i.e. the accidental bombing” is, to me, redolent of smug ignorance.  How dare China accuse us of bombing their embassy!

There is plenty of evidence—including an investigative report by England’s The Observer, presumably amply endowed with North Atlantic neoliberal cred in the eyes of FP—that the bombing was intentional and, indeed, was a watershed in elite Chinese attitudes toward the United States.

Because of Foreign Policy’s transgressions, I must perforce repost one of my articles on the Belgrade bombing, with a few minor edits:

Friday, January 26, 2007

Why China Hates Satellite Guided Munitions, Part 1: The Bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade in 1999

 

Read further.

Witch Doctors and Sport

You couldn't make this up.

A Sangoma from either Black Mambas or Mbabane Swallows had ripped open a section of the expensive pitch that FIFA had provided under their ‘Win in Africa’ programme, dug a hole, burnt a sacrificial chicken and then buried it in the middle of the pitch.

And read the comments, there are people who say that the FIFA is being racist or against African culture. Goodness, guys, get a grip.

No fans allowed for Israel tennis match

So let me see if I understand this. A tennis match has to be held in Sweden. Not any odd sod match, but the premier international tennis match in the Davis Cup. And then the local city council says that the match will happen without any spectators. Why? because there seems to be an issue in Israel. Presumably the next time a hockey match is held in Malmo, they will do the same because the match is played using wooden sticks made with wood from Brazil and the Malmo city council is protesting against Amazonian deforestation? No wonder that the same article linked to this article. Anti Semitism on the rise in Sweden. Truly moronic behaviour and actions on part of the social democrats.

Technorati Tags: Sweden,Israel,Sports,Discrimination,Anti-Semitism

Obama should take up cricket to do well in Foreign Policy

This was the funniest political commentary I have read for a long time. I am going to quote liberally from this article. Very funny specially when you think that Americans have challenges with Cricket!

Mr Obama ought to take his lead from a more complex and demanding game than baseball. When it comes to foreign policy, he should take cricket as his text. There are seven lessons about the international system that Mr Obama could learn from cricket.

1. The first lesson derives from the fact that, like foreign policy, cricket is played outside the US. It is followed by perhaps one or two billion people. Unlike baseball’s World Series, cricket’s World Cup actually involves the world. To succeed in cricket, you need to understand the different approaches of the various cricketing nations. After all, the cricketing world contains multitudes: an emerging great power, India; awkward powers such as Pakistan and rogue regimes such as Zimbabwe; fading imperial powers like the UK and regional metropoles such as South Africa. Rich countries such as Australia play cricket but so do poor countries such as Bangladesh. It is even played in Kenya, Mr Obama’s ancestral homeland. The International Cricket Council is located in the cockpit of geopolitics, the Persian Gulf. Why does all this matter? Because the US needs to get much better at understanding other countries and cultures. With bloody conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, nuclear programmes in Iran and North Korea, a cooling economy and a warming planet, America can ill afford its usual self-absorption. Mr Obama needs to be deaf to the siren songs of protectionism and isolationism and alert to the voices (both the cheers and the jeers) of the world.
2. Second, as Americans often complain, cricket is a long game. A Test match often takes five days – and ends in a draw. Things are opaque in cricket, as in life: sometimes a draw can be a win. Cricket requires patience and discipline, which are not virtues we normally associate with the US. They were, however, on display during Mr Obama’s impressive campaign and they are exactly the qualities his administration will need in order to prevail in the war in Afghanistan.
3. Third, in the game of cricket, the condition of the pitch is critical. The ball usually bounces before it reaches the batsman, which introduces extra unpredictability into the contest. The ball does not just swing in the air, it turns off the seam. It can come at your head, not just your chest. In foreign policy, too, the decision-making environment is fast and fluid. It is difficult to see the choices before you, let alone make the right ones.
4. Fourth, in foreign policy as in cricket, you cannot win a match with a single swing, regardless of the beauty of your cover drive. The invasion of Iraq demonstrated a baseball player’s mentality. Mr Bush thought he could fix all the problems of the Middle East at once: displace Saddam Hussein and the regimes around him would tumble like dominoes, tyranny would end, the Palestinians would make a deal, the price of oil would fall and the US would acquire new bases in the region. Perhaps if Mr Bush had coached a cricket team rather than owning a baseball franchise, he might have taken a different approach. He certainly would have understood that a match-winning innings is built over the course of many hours and hundreds of shots.
5. Fifth, the captain’s role is crucial. He sets the strategy and places the field. But he has to work through his players: he cannot deliver every ball and score every run. The captain is not the decider: he is first among equals. So it is with foreign policy, too. America’s allies and partners are tired of American unilateralism – but they are ready for American leadership.
6. Sixth, toughness has its place. Very few cricket matches are won through sweet reason alone. It is commendable that Mr Obama has cast aside Mr Bush’s prejudice against talking to America’s adversaries, but he needs to ensure those adversaries do not mistake his reasonableness for weakness. On the other hand, assertiveness comes in different forms – spin bowling as well as pace, forceful diplomacy as well as force.
7. Finally, the primacy of no cricket team is assured forever. Australia has dominated international cricket for the past decade through its brilliance, aggression and athleticism – but that period may now be coming to an end. The commonly heard claims of America’s decline are surely premature, yet nothing should be taken for granted. Much depends on the calibre of the new management in Washington.

Technorati Tags: Cricket,Sports,Foreign Policy,USA

Chelsea visit sparks Malaysia row

Ahem.

Technorati Tags: Anti-Semitism,Malaysia,Islam,Muslims

Chess is banned?

I did not know it, but apparently it is. I do not understand it that much. Why on earth would chess be banned, or forbidden or even controlled? Surely that kind of mental exercise is good for you? And while any practise, taken to extremes, is bad, surely things like chess, as long as you are not wagering on it, should be ok????



All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!

A tale of two druggies

So we have two druggies in the headlines in the UK. The first is Dwayne Chambers who used performance enhancing drugs. He has been vilified, he has been told that he will never be at the top table, he has been told that his behaviour was unacceptable. And I think his ostracism has made an impact in the world of sport and it makes it clear that drug usage is bad, sad and would not be tolerated.

Compare that to Kate Moss, she is feted, she is welcomed, people want to rub up against her and she is actually getting better money and publicity after being outed as a druggie.

It is hypocritical. Disgusting.


All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!

Weekly Salary Slip - £83k per week!

Holy Moly!, check this out! This is an actual weekly salary statement of a Liverpool Football team player, and he isnt even on the first team!

£83,413.67 PER WEEK!

Technorati Tags: United Kingdom , Sports

Go Jonny Go!!!!

May God bless his eyes and that rocketing foot.

England Expects Every Man to do his Duty! :)

Technorati Tags: United Kingdom , Sports