The Fiscal Cliff and Its Impact: Explained.

Fiscal Cliff:  It is defined as the fast-approaching point (January 1, 2013) where we shall collectively experience a free-fall that will bring us all back down to Earth!  It is the fiscal equivalent of "Clifford the Big Red Dog" where all the big dogs on the Wall Street will see their financial reports overwhelmingly immersed in "red" (a term that is used to describe fiscal losses).

Impact: The impact shall be a high velocity splatter on the ground. Except that this particular splatter, being fiscal in nature, will be all green.  The green matter splattered all over the place will be sucked up by the folks who shall land safely soon after - aka the savvy Golden Parachute toters of the 2008 fiscal debacle.

What To Do? Just check in your wallets and check-books at the Cliff and kiss your fiscal behind good-bye.

Thankful? You bet!

So much so that I wonder why would I need to trample over other people when the stores open at 4 AM (or midnight or even Thursday night!) on Black Friday when just a day before that I was unabashedly thankful for everything that I already have?

The Thanksgiving Creep

 

Gaza On My Mind

Backdrop

Song with Lyrics

Gaza, Gaza
The whole day through
And drones all night long
Keep Gaza on my mind

I said Gaza,  Gaza
A song of you
Comes as sad as babies' funerals
As mothers' sobs through her cryin' 

US Arms reach out to whom?
UN smiles tenderly
Still in a peace fantasy I see
All roads blocked to you

I say Gaza, oh Gaza
No peace I find
Just bombs, same old bombs
Keep Gaza on my mind

US Arms reach out to whom?
UN smiles tenderly
Still in a peace fantasy I see
All roads blocked to you

ooh Gaza, Gaza
No peace, no peace I find
Just Israel's old, beaten song
Keeps Gaza on my mind

There'll always be Gaza!

With apologies to and credits to: late Ray Charles and his wonderful classic "Georgia On My Mind"

Bring back sp-ARK in your sps (T-SQL)

Check this out and book mark it for quick reference later.

"Out-Numbered?" No, my dear Rush, that's "Democracy!"

The man who claims to have talent on loan from God and who conducts his talk show with half his brain tied behind his back blames the Sandy and its aftermath squarely on Obama (even tho Rush is the one claiming half the talent from God) and calls the exit polls "BS". BTW, these exist polls are the true reflection of the reality on the ground in a democracy as opposed to those Gallup polls with samples chosen scientifically with "margin of error" disclaimer written all over them. :)

A must see reaction to US Elections results the morning after!

Fiscal Cliff?

What?! A "fiscal cliff"?  Okay... Here is what Thelma and Louise would say: "My dear House and Senate: Y'all jump first!!"

 

The "U-Haul" of AppCloud Where You Don't Haul Anything!

That's right!  You leave the hauling to the pros!  And the pros at Uhuru AppCloud certainly haul azz!

I always complained of how little time I have for the things to do on my plate day in and day out.  However, with Uhuru AppCloud, setting up services and apps is such a breeze that I was able to get my database services up and running in no time.  And a WordPress blog site setup in seconds to boot.

In addition to apps such as joomla,drupal and WordPress in a list of out-of-the-box apps that I expect to grow even more by the time they go commercial later this year, I gather, the services backbone is extremely solid with such messaging platforms as RabbitMq at your disposal.

The ease of use is so profound that I ignored all the "How To..." videos, which are great no doubt but - you guessed it -  for lack of time, and jumped right into hanging services from my newly created cloud.  The interface is extremely intuitive and clutter free.  The website itself is indicative of a cloud that scales and adapts to an enterprise's needs as they grow.

In the coming days and weeks, I look forward to spending more - or should I say "less" - time with hanging more and more apps and services in a variety of dimensions that this well designed hosting site makes available for us.

There are a few minor issues here and there (the app name sometimes clips in the setup pages - I used Chrome), and I expect these rough edges shall be smoothed out by the time they go commercial, but overall with Uhuru AppCloud, the sky certainly is the only limit!

Sandy

It was Sandy
It was windy
It was deadly
It was scary
As we rebuild
We have hope
We turn to our Lord
And beg His Mercy

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/sandy-from-above-slideshow/damaged-houses-covered-sand-aerial-view-hurricane-sandy-photo-190653445.html

O'er the Land of the Philly Cheese...

She'd probably not pass the TOEFL exam herself. But, she could probably ace the SAT and GRE Analytical Questions.  

I had extinguished any inspiration I had squeezed out of listening to Reagan's second inaugural address and decided that I shall stay after all. Especially since they set aside a permanent place on the shelf for my beloved Philly Cheese at the international grocery market in Jeddah. Great! I could get my Philadelphia Cream Cheese right here closer to home.  Problem solved!

My TOEFL confirmation card came in the mail and I looked at it for a spell and then dismissed it.

She picked it up and marked the date on the calendar.  And the night before the exam she reminded me to be on time for the 8 AM test at the Taj Mahal Hotel the next morning.  There was no point arguing with her, once she is convinced what she wanted from us.  She had a vision.  She could definitely ace the GRE and SAT Analytical Questions. Because one, she knew I could excel in TOEFL even without any preparation.  So, my excuse about not having studied up for it did not fly with her. And two, after giving it a good thought, she was convinced that she would support - and push for fulfilling - my dream of going to America - even though I had abandoned it since.  But once she is convinced, there was no point arguing with her.

Behind every successful man there is a woman.  And judging from how much my fellow Pakistanis regarded getting an American Student visa as a grand success, it was fair to look for one behind this success as well. Indeed, my success too wasn't without a woman behind it.  My late mother.  I thank our Lord for her and pray that He Showers His Mercy on her.  If it wasn't for her I wouldn't be where I am right now.  The opportunities that my children now have in excelling in this land of opportunities wouldn't be possible had I not listened to my Mummy (as she loved to be called).

I couldn't evade her nagging me all the way to the TOEFL exam centre.   But, I figured I could probably duck my way out of the visa interview appearance at the US Consulate several months later and that'll be the end of it.  I had just gotten back from the tour of Pakistan with my school and embarking on another journey was no where near my radar.  In fact I had switched off and unplugged myself and was ready for a month long sleeping extravaganza at home after the most tiring tour across the country.  But she was there to remind me again of my appointment at the US Consulate the following week.

You guessed it.  I had figured out a way to get out of this one too. I had resigned myself to failing the visa interview.  I mean, how difficult could it be to fail the interview?

The guy sitting - actually "pacing" is the right word to describe it - next to me in the waiting room was constantly reviewing answers from a cheat-sheet that he probably got from another successful interview.  I hadn't plugged myself in yet so my arithmetic was still a bit rusty: But I could have sworn that the guy could have circled the Earth at least once with the amount of pacing back and forth he did in that waiting room.

But I was resigned.  I didn't care.  I wanted to stay.  I could buy a tub of my favorite cheese right here at home.

The visa officer had other ideas though.  He was impressed with my papers.  My marks sheets, my casual, almost matter of fact, answers and more importantly the financial support documents that my Mum and Dad had lovingly attached  - duly notarized - to the application.  He jarred my arithmetic rustiness loose some more by asking me the exchange rate between the Saudi Riyal and the US Dollar.  And even though I purposefully rounded off the Saudi Riyal to the nearest high number, he was still impressed.

You guessed it again: I got the visa.  A mother's prayers seldom go un-answered, I was convinced of that right there and then.

I loved Philadelphia Cream Cheese as much as Wallace does Wensleydale.  But I didn't realize how much I associated it to the USA until the departure date came nearer.  I had made it a point to pick a new block of the Philly Cheese from the international super market in Jeddah before running out - it wasn't available in all the stores.  Just the big super markets carried it. So, the love affair with the Philly Cheese went way back.

I had decided that the first thing I am going to buy in the USA is a tub of Philly Cream Cheese. Although, the fact that I had to spend every loose change in my pocket upon arrival at the JFK to calling home is the topic of another blog.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Today, our fridge is filled with all kinds of different varieties of Philly Cream Cheese.  There is the full cream cheese, there is the 1/3 less fat, and then there is the fat free cream cheese.

I am thankful to God for bringing us to this great land.

Happy Birthday USA!

God Bless America!