Thursday, March 31, 2011
FT.com / Comment & analysis / FT Columnists - How China should rule the world
look at access to resources. For the first time in its long history, China is dependent on access to imports of industrial raw materials. It is already the world’s largest importer of most raw materials. For China, policy in this area is of potentially the highest importance. Its immediate interest is to gain access to the world’s resources on favourable terms. It has decided, quite reasonably, to use its cheap capital and labour to secure this end. That is not only in China’s own interests but in those of other consumers. Since resources have global prices, any increase in supply is to the benefit of all consumers.
New Revelations in China’s Railway Corruption Scandal - China Real Time Report - WSJ
the state-run Xinhua news agency saida government audit report shows embezzlers made off with 187 million yuan, or roughly $28.5 million, from just the Beijing-to-Shanghai portion of the high-speed railway project–a revelation
Reports from February, when the scandal first hit local media, acknowledged that the Ministry of Railways was under a heavy debt burden. Indeed, under Mr. Liu’s tenure the ministry had racked up 1.3 trillion yuan in debt, with 854.8 billion yuan in short term debt and 448.6 billion yuan in long-term debt, in 2009 according to a report by the Global Times.
Beijing Aims to Stabilize New Home Prices, Joining Other Cities in Curbs | China Digital Times (CDT)
the Chinese central government has announced policy changes to curb housing speculation. From Global Property Guide:
Measures approved in January 2011 to cool China’s housing market:
- Higher down payments for second homes (from 50% to 60%)
- More areas where home purchases are limited.
- The government is also testing new property taxes in Shanghai and Chongqing, in southwestern China.
Yang Hengjun’s Uncertain Whereabouts | China Digital Times (CDT)
assistant on Yang Hengjun’s Twitter account on Wednesday. Other reports, however, suggest that the Chinese-Australian writer, who appears to have been detained since Sunday,remains in custody, but may soon be freed.
While a long list (compiled by ChinaGeeks) of government critics have disappeared, others have faced different reprisals. The Committee to Protect Journalists reports the dismissal of two journalists in Guangzhou
A look inside the lives of China's high-speed rail workers - Shanghaiist
Recently plagued by corruption scandals and constantly overshadowed by completion deadlines, it certainly is easy to forget about the living force propelling China's high-speed rail network forward. We are witnessing the second-largest public works program in history, after the interstate system in America, and the human aspect is all but lost when thinking in numbers like one trillion RMB and 120,000 km.Thanks to Youth Times (年青时报) photographer Wang Xinke, one part of this process, the Shanghai-Hangzhou high-speed rail link completed in October of 2010, has been recorded for posterity.
Wang was awarded the Economic and Technology Award of Excellence prize at last week's China International Press Photo awards for this excellent set called "The Foundation of our High-Speed Rails" (高铁基石), which documents his six months spent with migrant workers along the high-speed rails.
(Photos from ifeng.com)
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Westford schools toss food - Lowell Sun Online
The School Department has decided to dispose of all food and food-related products it had been keeping at a storage facility on Town Farm Road after a Health Department inspection found numerous health and safety violations.
Westford schools toss food - Lowell Sun Online
That decision, announced by Westford Superintendent of Schools Everett "Bill" Olsen Jr. at the conclusion of last night's Board of Health meeting, comes in the wake of an investigation earlier in the month by Health Department inspector Rae Dick.
Board of Health Chairman Zac Cataldo said last night the investigation stemmed from 70 students missing school on the same day earlier this month and was undertaken solely to make sure it was not related to a food-borne illness.
During her inspection, Dick asked about the School Department's food-storage facility on Town Farm Road, otherwise known as "The Barn." That facility is where the School Department stored food and supplies for each of the district's schools that could not fit in the kitchens of the individual schools.
Dick, who attended last night's meeting, shared the results of her inspection. She said she found evidence of rodent droppings and stains on the floor. She also found no permit for the storage area, no pest-management program on site, uncovered walls with insulation hanging from them, rodent infestation in the ceiling, food-security issues such as unlocked doors and freezer doors that jam and did not have a handle.
At its March 14 meeting, the Board of Health voted to embargo the food stored at "The Barn." The following day, board members inspected it and took pictures to document their investigation. The embargo lasted 10 days, which meant the board needed to decide last night whether to extend the embargo, require the disposal of the food, or drop the embargo and use the non-contaminated food. The School Department hired Maureen Lee of Food Service Solutions, a private company that helps public and private restaurants with health-department inspections. Lee helped the schools investigate what went wrong, Olsen said. "We've been storing items there for 30 years. I've been here for 25 years, and we've never had an incident of illness related to food or any item stored at the facility," said Olsen, who attended last night's meeting with Patricia Donahue, the School Department's food-service director. He said Lee's report found no evidence that the food in the freezer had been compromised. "We don't want to lose anyone's confidence," he said. "Our reputation is to do the right thing." Olsen asked the board if it would be acceptable to continue storing boxes of paper goods that showed no evidence of contamination at the site, but added, "If you feel it's in the best interest of parents and students to discard it, we'll do it. We've never done anything to compromise health and safety, and we're not intending to do it here." Board members asked why food could not be stored at each school. Donahue said there isn't enough room in the individual kitchens. The district gets food deliveries once a month, and paper and plastic supplies once or twice a month, on average. "We distribute as much as possible to the schools and keep the rest at the barn," she said. "The rule of thumb we use at each cafeteria is, the barn is kept as neat as possible. When they receive something from the barn, if it looks compromised, we toss it." Cataldo said he witnessed cans of tuna fish with 2008 expiration dates. The health and safety violations enraged Board of Health member Joanne Martel. "In 22 years of public health, I have never seen something like this before," she said. After Donahue said frozen items were transported from the barn to individual schools via an unrefrigerated box truck, Martel asked, "How do frozen foods stay frozen from the barn to the schools in an unrefrigerated truck?" Donahue, who admitting to never visiting the barn, accepted responsibility for the violations. Food deliveries will go to the individual schools, and what cannot fit there will be kept at the shipping company's warehouse for up to two months before it is sent to the schools. Olsen added that paper and plastic goods will be stored at the administration offices in the Millennium Building. The items that had been stored in the barn and had been embargoed will be destroyed with supervision of the Health Department.
Westford schools toss food - Lowell Sun Online
Monday, March 28, 2011
If Taxes Are Done, Consider a Financial Tuneup - NYTimes.com
There are 31 ideas on the interactive checklist we built last year
Make an extra mortgage payment
If Taxes Are Done, Consider a Financial Tuneup - NYTimes.com
Make an extra mortgage payment
If you can manage it every 12 months, you'll pay off your loan years sooner and save many thousands in interest costs. You might be able to make more money by investing the potential extra payment in stocks and bonds though.
A company called BrightScope grades many 401(k) and 403(b) retirement plans on its Web site, so that may help you get a sense of where your plan stands. (For the record, it rates my plan’s investment menu as merely average.)If Taxes Are Done, Consider a Financial Tuneup - NYTimes.com
Friday, March 25, 2011
The mathematics of being nice - life - 21 March 2011 - New Scientist
You say there are five different ways in which we cooperate that give us an edge, in terms of natural selection. Tell me about them.
The first one is called direct reciprocity. This is when individuals have repeated interactions, so if I help you now, you may help me later. There is also indirect reciprocity, which takes place in groups. If I help you, somebody else might see our interaction and conclude that I'm a helpful person, and help me later. That's a reciprocal process relying on reputation.
The third mechanism is when neighbours help each other - cooperators survive in clusters. This is called spatial selection, and it plays an important role, not only for people but for bacteria, animals and plants. Then there is group selection: it may be that our group of cooperators is better off than another group of defectors: here selection acts on two levels, because in our group there is more cooperation.
Group selection has had a tricky reputation, and has been attacked by evolutionary biologists. Do you think it has now been rehabilitated?
The introduction of the concept of group selection, some 40 years ago, was imprecise. But recent mathematical models explain very clearly when group selection can promote the evolution of cooperation. There must be competition between groups and migration rates should be low.
Unless I've lost count, there should be one mechanism left.
The last one is kin selection, which can occur when you help a close relative.
You published a paper on kin selection last year that caused a bit of controversy.
I have no problem with kin selection when it is properly formulated. My criticism is directed against the current use of inclusive fitness theory, which is the dominant mathematical approach used to study aspects of kin selection.
Can you explain?
Inclusive fitness theory assumes that the personal fitness of an individual can be partitioned into components caused by individual actions. This restrictive assumption implies that inclusive fitness theory is a limited approach that cannot be used to describe typical situations that arise in social evolution. The standard theory of natural selection does not make such a limiting assumption. In that recent paper we showed that inclusive fitness theory is a subset of the standard theory.
Inclusive fitness is a key concept of evolutionary biology. No wonder that many biologists, including Richard Dawkins, reacted negatively when you attacked it (New Scientist, 2 October 2010, p 8).
Real Reason For US Deficit: GE Greed-$14.2B Profit, $0 Tax | Emptywheel
at the New York Times:
General Electric, the nation’s largest corporation, had a very good year in 2010.
The company reported worldwide profits of $14.2 billion, and said $5.1 billion of the total came from its operations in the United States.
Its American tax bill? None. In fact, G.E. claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Death of the Small Business in China • Crema Vita
in the next 5 years you will see a drastic reduction in the amount of small businesses and the same drastic increase in chain stores. As individual small business owners can no longer make a profit you will see a turn to the chain coffee shops, the chain supermarkets, the chain bakeries, and the chain tea shops. Everything will be a chain. Maybe it is an inevitable path of modernization. I just never imagined that we would see it happen before my company even lost its new business smell.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Mullah Caught in Debate Over Tradition vs. Modern Education - NYTimes.com
Mullah Ghulam Mohammed Vastanviis in a struggle for control of India’s most prestigious, influential Islamic seminary.
Mullah Caught in Debate Over Tradition vs. Modern Education - NYTimes.com
Mullah Caught in Debate Over Tradition vs. Modern Education - NYTimes.com
Friday, March 18, 2011
The New York Times Paywall Looks Good : CJR
The Financial Times has a pay meter—you get X amount of stories a month before you run into the wall. It also has a Google workaround, which I use, that lets you read five stories a day for free if you come to the FT.com via search.
These are leaky paywalls, designed to get money from the 5 percent or 10 percent of your readers who make up a whopping share of pageviews and thus ad revenue, anyway, while allowing non-loyal readers to still give you your digital pennies and nickles from their visits.
The Times’s more closely resembles the FT’s. You’ll get twenty stories a month before you’re asked to pay your $15 a month. Incoming links from blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and the like won’t count toward that twenty stories, so the Times should still get traffic from those sources.
The New York Times Paywall Looks Good : CJR
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Destination Imagination team wins 2nd prize in international competition - Westford, MA - Westford Eagle
Jack Cusworth, 11, Rama Mannava, 10, Pranav Nanga, 10, Rohit Rajiv, 11, Rohan Shah, 10, and Kartik Singh, 9, earned silver medals and a second-place trophy at the DI global finals May 20-23 at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn. Led by team manager Savitha Rajiv, the “DIe Hard Dominators” completed against about 48 teams from the United States and Korea and scored a total of 325 points.
Destination Imagination team wins 2nd prize in international competition - Westford, MA - Westford Eagle
Destination Imagination team wins 2nd prize in international competition - Westford, MA - Westford Eagle
Monday, March 14, 2011
The Best Way to Use the Last Five Minutes of Your Day - Peter Bregman - Harvard Business Review
ask yourself three sets of questions:
The Best Way to Use the Last Five Minutes of Your Day - Peter Bregman - Harvard Business Review
- How did the day go? What success did I experience? What challenges did I endure?
- What did I learn today? About myself? About others? What do I plan to do — differently or the same — tomorrow?
- Who did I interact with? Anyone I need to update? Thank? Ask a question? Share feedback?
The Best Way to Use the Last Five Minutes of Your Day - Peter Bregman - Harvard Business Review
Data Mining: How Companies Know Your Personal Information - TIME
Every detail of your life -- what you buy, where you go, whom you love -- is being extracted from the Internet, bundled and traded by data-mining companies. What's in it for you?
how college-admissions departments stalk Facebook.
how one teacher's viral blog post sparked an angry debate.
Data Mining: How Companies Know Your Personal Information - TIMESaturday, March 12, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
The Practical Art of Persuasion - William Ellet - The Conversation - Harvard Business Review
First, recognize your purpose: there is a difference between you and the audience that you'd like to resolve in a specific way. Then ask yourself:
- Do I want to change the way my audience thinks or feels about something?
- Or motivate them to do something?
- Or change their thinking (and feelings) and motivate them do something?
The next questions have to do with who you're trying to persuade. We've all heard how important it is to understand your audience; after all, those are the people who have the power to realize your purpose — or not. But how do you do it? You should know four things:
- Who are they? Are there differences among them relevant to persuasion?
- What's my relationship to them? (e.g. Do I have any power over them I can use?)
- What do they think and feel about my purpose?
- What do they think and feel about me?
Next, focus on content. Creating effective persuasion involves logic, emotions and ethos, or character. Logic is the realm of rational appeals to an audience, a capability business schools develop in their graduates. Argument is the primary vehicle for this type of persuasion. In practical terms, that means a conclusion backed by supporting statements and evidence. To get started developing arguments, ask these questions:
- What are the best arguments I can make to achieve my purpose?
- Do I need to include arguments that will appeal to different segments of the audience?
- What evidence do I need to support my arguments? How much do I need?
It would be comforting to think that business decisions are made strictly according to reason. But research in psychology, the cognitive sciences and behavioral economics has shown that emotion infuses everything we do, including thinking and decision-making. Questions to focus you on the emotional aspect of persuasion are:
- What audience emotions will help me achieve my purpose? Which ones should I avoid?
- How can I stimulate the appropriate feelings in the audience?
Ethos is the audience's perception of a speaker's or writer's character as conveyed through the persuasion. When you are considering what ethos you want to convey, ask these questions:
- How does my audience perceive me now? (Often a hard question to answer!)
- How do I want them to perceive me?
- How can I move my audience to the desired perception?
The Practical Art of Persuasion - William Ellet - The Conversation - Harvard Business Review
30 Things We Need — and 30 We Don't - Tony Schwartz - Harvard Business Review
| WE NEED LESS: | WE NEED MORE: |
| Information | Wisdom |
| Shallow billionaires | Passionate teachers |
| Self-promotion | Self-awareness |
| Multitasking | Control of our attention |
| Inequality | Fairness |
| Sugar | Lean protein |
| Action | Reflection |
| Super sizes | Smaller portions |
| Private jets | High-speed trains |
| Calculation | Passion |
| Experts | Learners |
| Blaming | Taking responsibility |
| Judgment | Discernment |
| Texting | Reading |
| Anger | Empathy |
| Output | Depth |
| Constructive criticism | Thank-you notes |
| Possessions | Meaning |
| Righteousness | Doing the right thing |
| Answers | Curiosity |
| Long hours | Longer sleep |
| Complaining | Gratitude |
| Sitting | Moving |
| Selling | Authenticity |
| Cynicism | Realistic optimism |
| Self-indulgence | Self-control |
| Speed | Renewal |
| Emails | Conversations |
| Winning | Win-win |
| Immediate gratification | Sacrifice |
30 Things We Need — and 30 We Don't - Tony Schwartz - Harvard Business Review
IIM adds more calories to the paycheck - Career news
The pay packages of IIM pass outs have shot up by 10-15% which has resuscitated the hiring trend in the companies. This development was marked by 139 final placement offers and 61 pre-placement offers made during 'Slot Zero'The placement process involved the participation of record 383 students.
Finance sector grabbed the biggest slice of the cake with 31.3 % and consulting & the marketing sectors, relished their share of 23.7% and 21.6% respectively. The candidates made a steal with a whopping
30 lakh to 40 lakh , in the form of remuneration for Indian locations and an astounding Rs 40 to 60 lakh was offered by the 'slot zero' finance companies for foreign locations.
slot zero consulting firms went up to the level of 20 lakh to 25 lakh for Indian locations. The marketing firms offered15 lakh to 20 lakh for the same.
The IIM-C affirmed the fact that the lateral placement has sky-rocketed by 57.6 (from 92 to 145 offers) as compared to the previous year.
The first day of the placement saw banks like
UBS,
Morgan Stanley,
Citigroup,
Deutsche Bank,
HSBC and
Bank of America-Merrill Lynch,
in action.
IIM adds more calories to the paycheck - Career news
Finance sector grabbed the biggest slice of the cake with 31.3 % and consulting & the marketing sectors, relished their share of 23.7% and 21.6% respectively. The candidates made a steal with a whopping
30 lakh to 40 lakh , in the form of remuneration for Indian locations and an astounding Rs 40 to 60 lakh was offered by the 'slot zero' finance companies for foreign locations.slot zero consulting firms went up to the level of 20 lakh to 25 lakh for Indian locations. The marketing firms offered
15 lakh to 20 lakh for the same.The IIM-C affirmed the fact that the lateral placement has sky-rocketed by 57.6 (from 92 to 145 offers) as compared to the previous year.
The first day of the placement saw banks like
UBS,
Morgan Stanley,
Citigroup,
Deutsche Bank,
HSBC and
Bank of America-Merrill Lynch,
in action.
IIM adds more calories to the paycheck - Career news
Wednesday, March 09, 2011
Vivian Schiller Resigns from NPR : CJR
Yesterday, CJR’s Joel Meares wrote about the latest in a long string of NPR dust-ups: a “sting” by conservative activist James O’Keefe that cast one of the organization’s fundraisers in a very unflattering light.
re-posted a profile of Vivian Schiller from our March/April 2010 issue, by Jill Drew. Entitled “NPR Amps Up: Can Vivian Schiller build a journalism juggernaut?”, the piece explored Schiller’s strategy to revitalize public radio with new experiments and investments, even while the organization’s finances were looking grim.
Vivian Schiller Resigns from NPR : CJR
re-posted a profile of Vivian Schiller from our March/April 2010 issue, by Jill Drew. Entitled “NPR Amps Up: Can Vivian Schiller build a journalism juggernaut?”, the piece explored Schiller’s strategy to revitalize public radio with new experiments and investments, even while the organization’s finances were looking grim.
Vivian Schiller Resigns from NPR : CJR
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
Yuvan Chandrasekar's Velietram Novel: Book Reviews: Seetha Bharathy
யுவன் சந்திரசேகரின் ’வெளியேற்றம்’ நாவல் - ஒரு பார்வை
சீதா பாரதி
தமிழின் முதன்மையான முன்னணி கலை- இலக்கிய, சமூகவியல்
சீதா பாரதி
தமிழின் முதன்மையான முன்னணி கலை- இலக்கிய, சமூகவியல்
Kalki's Ponniyin Selvan & Kalainjar's Tamil Nadu Kazhagam: DMK, Nandhini, Vanthiya Thevan
சுந்தர சோழச் சக்கரவர்த்தி – கலைஞர். அனிருத்த பிரம்மராயர் – ஆற்காடு வீராசாமி. ஆழ்வார்க்கடியான் – துரைமுருகன். ஆதித்த கரிகாலன் – அழகிரி. அருண்மொழி வர்மன் – ஸ்டாலின். குந்தவை – கனிமொழி. பெரிய பழுவேட்டரையர் – கலாநிதி மாறன். சின்ன பழுவேட்டரையர் – தயாநிதி மாறன். நந்தினி – ஜெயலலிதா. வானதி – தமிழச்சி தங்கபாண்டியன். கொடும்பாளூர் பூதி விக்கிரமகேசரி – வீரமணி. குடந்தை ஜோதிடர் – சோ. தேவராளன் – ராமதாஸ். மதுராந்தகத்தேவர் – ஈவிகேஎஸ் இளங்கோவன். கந்தமாறன் – டாக்டர் அன்புமணி. நாகப்பட்டிணம் சூடாமணி விகாரத் தலைமைப் பிக்கு – பிரணாப் முகர்ஜி.
வந்தியத்தேவன் – அதான் சொன்னேனே, யாரும் இன்னும் அகப்பட்டபாடில்லை.
சூடாமணி விகாரத்தின் தலைமைப் பிக்கு யார்? | பா. ராகவன்
All Fall Down | Articles | IndUS Business Journal
Add Rajat K Gupta to the list of executives that is being dragged down by the Securities and Exchange Commission's ongoing insider-trading case against Galleon Management founder and hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam. The Westport, Conn.-based Gupta, a business consultant who has served on the boards of directors at Goldman Sachs and Procter & Gamble, was charged by the SEC with insider trading
The charges allege that Gupta illegally tipped Rajaratnam with inside information about the quarterly earnings at both Goldman and Procter & Gamble, as well as an impending $5 billion investment by Berkshire Hathaway in Goldman.
All Fall Down | Articles | IndUS Business Journal
The charges allege that Gupta illegally tipped Rajaratnam with inside information about the quarterly earnings at both Goldman and Procter & Gamble, as well as an impending $5 billion investment by Berkshire Hathaway in Goldman.
All Fall Down | Articles | IndUS Business Journal
SEC charges Bhalla | Articles | IndUS Business Journal
Former Polycom Inc. senior executive Sunil Bhalla was one of several charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission in its SEC v. Galleon insider trading case.
Polycom is a Pleasanton, Calif.-based communications company that provides telepresence, video, voice and infrastructure products built on open standards. The company is publicly traded on the Nasdaq stock market. It reported $1.2 billion in revenue for 2010.
Bhalla had climbed as high as a senior vice president and general manager at Polycom.The SEC alleges that Robert Feinblatt — a co-founder and principal of New York-based hedge fund investment adviser Trivium Capital Management LLC — and Trivium analyst Jeffrey Yokuty engaged in insider trading in the securities of Polycom, Hilton, Google and Kronos. The SEC further alleges that Bhalla and Shammara Hussain, an employee at investor relations consulting firm Market Street Partners that did work for Google, tipped the inside information that enabled the insider trading by Feinblatt and Yokuty on behalf of Trivium's hedge funds for illicit profits of more than $15 million.
SEC charges Bhalla | Articles | IndUS Business Journal
Ga. man charged in $10M bribery scam | Articles | IndUS Business Journal
A Georgia technology entrepreneur is being charged by the U.S. government for his part in an alleged bribery scandal involving $10 million in U.S. Navy funds.
Ga. man charged in $10M bribery scam | Articles | IndUS Business Journal
Anjan Dutta-Gupta, 58, founder and president of Advanced Solutions for Tomorrow, with offices in Roswell, Ga. and Middletown, R.I., along with Ralph Mariano, a civilian program manager and senior systems engineer with the U.S. Navy’s Naval Sea Systems Command in Newport, R.I, were officially charged on Feb. 8 in U.S. District Court in Providence with bribery of a public official in connection with an alleged on-going kickback scheme involving approximately $10 million of naval funds.
Ga. man charged in $10M bribery scam | Articles | IndUS Business Journal
Pulling Weeds out of Potholes: The Emperor's Seed - A Chinese Parable
Once there was an emperor in the Far East who was growing old and knew it was coming time to choose his successor. Instead of choosing one of his assistants or one of his own children, he decided to do something different.
He called all the young people in the kingdom together one day. He said, "It has come time for me to step down and to choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one of you." The kids were shocked! But the emperor continued. "I am going to give each one of you a seed today. One seed. It is a very special seed. I want you to go home, plant the seed, water it and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring to me, and the one I choose will be the next emperor of the kingdom!"
There was one boy named Ling who was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his mother the whole story. She helped him get a pot and some planting soil, and he planted the seed and watered it carefully. Every day he would water it and watch to see if it had grown.
After about three weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Ling kept going home and checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by. Still nothing.
By now others were talking about their plants but Ling didn't have a plant, and he felt like a failure. Six months went by, still nothing in Ling's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Ling didn't say anything to his friends, however. He just kept waiting for his seed to grow.
A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their plants to the emperor for inspection. Ling told his mother that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But she encouraged him to go, and to take his pot, and to be honest about what happened. Ling felt sick to his stomach, but he knew his mother was right. He took his empty pot to the palace.
When Ling arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by all the other youths. They were beautiful, in all shapes and sizes. Ling put his empty pot on the floor and many of the other kinds laughed at him. A few felt sorry for him and just said, "Hey, nice try."
When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Ling just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees and flowers you have grown," said the emperor. "Today, one of you will be appointed the next emperor!"
All of a sudden, the emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front. Ling was terrified. "The emperor knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!"
When Ling got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. "My name is Ling," he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him. The emperor asked everyone to quiet down. He looked at Ling, and then announced to the crowd, "Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!" Ling couldn't believe it. Ling couldn't even grow his seed. How could he be the new emperor?
Then the emperor said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds which would not grow. All of you, except Ling, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grown, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Ling was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new emperor!"
Pulling Weeds out of Potholes: The Emperor's Seed - A Chinese Parable
He called all the young people in the kingdom together one day. He said, "It has come time for me to step down and to choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one of you." The kids were shocked! But the emperor continued. "I am going to give each one of you a seed today. One seed. It is a very special seed. I want you to go home, plant the seed, water it and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring to me, and the one I choose will be the next emperor of the kingdom!"
There was one boy named Ling who was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his mother the whole story. She helped him get a pot and some planting soil, and he planted the seed and watered it carefully. Every day he would water it and watch to see if it had grown.
After about three weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Ling kept going home and checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by. Still nothing.
By now others were talking about their plants but Ling didn't have a plant, and he felt like a failure. Six months went by, still nothing in Ling's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Ling didn't say anything to his friends, however. He just kept waiting for his seed to grow.
A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their plants to the emperor for inspection. Ling told his mother that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But she encouraged him to go, and to take his pot, and to be honest about what happened. Ling felt sick to his stomach, but he knew his mother was right. He took his empty pot to the palace.
When Ling arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by all the other youths. They were beautiful, in all shapes and sizes. Ling put his empty pot on the floor and many of the other kinds laughed at him. A few felt sorry for him and just said, "Hey, nice try."
When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Ling just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees and flowers you have grown," said the emperor. "Today, one of you will be appointed the next emperor!"
All of a sudden, the emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front. Ling was terrified. "The emperor knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!"
When Ling got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. "My name is Ling," he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him. The emperor asked everyone to quiet down. He looked at Ling, and then announced to the crowd, "Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!" Ling couldn't believe it. Ling couldn't even grow his seed. How could he be the new emperor?
Then the emperor said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds which would not grow. All of you, except Ling, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grown, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Ling was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new emperor!"
Pulling Weeds out of Potholes: The Emperor's Seed - A Chinese Parable
Rabindranath Tagore's poem: Authorship
You say that father writes a lot of books, but what he writes I don't understand.
He was reading to you all the evening, but could you really make out what he meant?
What nice stories, mother, you can tell us! Why can't father write like that, I wonder?
Did he never hear from his own mother stories of giants and fairies and princesses?
Has he forgotten them all?
Often when he gets late for his bath you have to go and call him an hundred times.
You wait and keep his dishes warm for him, but he goes on writing and forgets.
Father always plays at making books.
If ever I go to play in father's room, you come and call me, "what a naughty child!"
If I make the slightest noise, you say, "Don't you see that father's at his work?"
What's the fun of always writing and writing?
When I take up father's pen or pencil and write upon his book just as he does,--a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i,--why do you get cross with me, then, mother?
You never say a word when father writes.
When my father wastes such heaps of paper, mother, you don't seem to mind at all.
But if I take only one sheet to make a boat with, you say, "Child, how troublesome you are!"
What do you think of father's spoiling sheets and sheets of paper with black marks all over on both sides?Rabindranath Tagore's poem: Authorship
Monday, March 07, 2011
Punnaga Varali: Tamil Movie Music & Classical Carnatic Songs in TFM
ஜன்ய ராகங்களில்9. “புன்னாக வராளி” |
| இந்த ராகம், எட்டாவது ‘மேளகர்த்தா’ ’ வான ‘ ‘ ஹனுமத் தோடி’ ’ யின் ஜன்ய ராகமாகும். |
Kaviyogi Sudhanandha Bharathiyaar: Krishnan Venkatachalam: Koodu: Tamil studio
கவியோகி சுத்தானந்த பாரதியார்
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Maalai Mayangukinra Neram - Maragatham: Radha Jeyalakshmi: Sudhanandha Bharathi: Tamil Cinema Classics
ஜெயலக்ஷ்மியின் ஜெம்ஸ்
1. "கல்யாணம் பண்ணியும் பிரம்மச்சாரி(1954)" திரைப்படத்தில் இடம்பெற்ற 'வெண்ணிவாவும் வானும் போலே' என்ற பாடல் புரட்சிக் கவிஞர் பாரதிதாசனாரின் பொன்னான படைப்பு. தமிழ் மொழிக்கும், தனக்கும் உள்ள உதிரத்து உறவை, நேசமிகு நெருக்கத்தை இப்பாடல் முழுவதிலும் பட்டியலிடும் பாவேந்தர், இரண்டாவது சரணத்தில் தமிழ் மொழியின் சிறப்புக்களையும் எடுத்தியம்புகிறார். பாட்டுவேந்தராகிய பாவேந்தர் கட்டிய பாட்டுக்கோட்டை இப்பாடல்.
"வெண்ணிலாவும் வானும் போலே" பாடலுக்கு இசையமைத்தவர், தமிழிசை மாமேதை இசையரசு எம்.எம்.தண்டபாணி தேசிகர். 'கல்யாணம் பண்ணியும் பிரம்மச்சாரி(1954)' திரைப்படத்தின் இசையமைப்பாளர் டி.ஜி.லிங்கப்பா. இருப்பினும், இப்படத்தில் இடம்பெற்ற இந்த ஒரு பாடலுக்கு மட்டும் இசை MMD. தனிப்பாடல் திரட்டிற்காக இப்பாடலுக்கு இசையமைத்திருந்தார் MMD. இப்படத்தின் தயாரிப்பாளரான பத்மினி பிக்சர்ஸ் படக் குழுவினர், இப்பாடலை தங்கள் படத்தில் சேர்க்க விரும்பி அவரை அணுகவே அவரும் இசைந்து கொடுத்தார். பாடல் படத்தில் இடம்பெற்றது. படத்தின் டைட்டில் கார்டிலும் "வெண்ணிலாவும் வானும் போலே" பாடலுக்கு மட்டும் இசை இசையரசு எம்.எம்.தண்டபாணி தேசிகர் என்று காட்டப்பட்டது.
படத்தில் நடிகை ராகினி பாடுவதாக அமையப்பெற்ற இப்பாடலுக்கு பின்னணிக் குரல் கொடுத்து பாடியவர் கர்நாடக இசையுலக கானவாணி திருமதி.ஜெயலக்ஷ்மி அவர்கள். [ராதா-ஜெயலக்ஷ்மி சகோதரிகளில் ஒருவரான ஜெயலக்ஷ்மி தான்]. கர்நாடக இசை ராகமான 'ஜெயந்தசேனா' என்கின்ற மிக, மிக அரிய, அபூர்வ ராகத்தில் அமையப்பெற்ற இப்பாடலின் ஆரம்ப இசையும், பல்லவியின் முதல் வரியை விருத்தம் போல ஜெயலக்ஷ்மி தொடங்கும் த்வனியும் நம்மை சொக்க வைத்து சொர்க்கபுரிக்கு அழைத்துச் செல்லும். பாடல் வரிகளுக்கு ஏற்றாற் போல், பாடல் முழுமையுமே, இசையும், பாடப்பட்ட விதமும், சங்கீதப் பிரவாகமாக ஒரு உயிர்ப்பான ஓட்டத்துடன் திகழுவதை இப்பாடலை அனுபவித்து, ரசித்து கேட்கும் போது உணர முடியும். தமிழ்த் திரையில் முழுக்க, முழுக்க கர்நாடக இசை பாணியில் அமைந்த சிறந்த பாடல்களில் இதுவும் ஒன்று என்றால் அது மிகையன்று.
http://www.thiraipaadal.com/album.php?ALBID=ALBOLD01060
2. சுந்தரம் பிள்ளையாக சூப்பர்சானிக் ஆக்டர் வாழ்ந்து காட்டிய "மோட்டார் சுந்தரம் பிள்ளை(1966)"யில் இடம்பெற்ற 'மனமே முருகனின் மயில் வாகனம்' ஜெயலட்சுமியின் இன்னொரு மாஸ்டர்பீஸ். மெல்லிசை மாமன்னர், கர்நாடக இசையிலும் மன்னர் என்பதற்கு கட்டியம் கூறும் அவரது பல சிறந்த கர்நாடக பாணிப் பாடல்களில் இப்பாடல் மிகுந்த முக்கியத்துவம் வாய்ந்தது. பாடலை இயற்றியவர் கொத்தமங்கலம் சுப்பு. பாடலின் ஆரம்ப இசையாக ஒலிக்கத் தொடங்கி, கிட்டத்தட்ட பாடல் முழுமையும் வியாபித்திருக்கும் வீணை இசையை, படக் காட்சியில் வாசிப்பவராக நடிப்பவர் சௌகார் ஜானகி. சௌகாரின் அருகேயமர்ந்து, ஜெயலக்ஷ்மியின் மணியான பின்னணிக் குரலுக்கு (பாட்டில் வருவது போல் அவரது கம்பீரக்குரல் திருச்செந்தூரின் கோயில்மணி தான்), முன்னணியில் (படக்காட்சியில்) குரல் கொடுப்பவர் மணிமாலா. பல்லவி மற்றும் ஸ்வரங்கள் என இப்பாடல் மொத்தம் ஒலிப்பதே இரண்டு நிமிடத்திற்கு குறைவாகத்தான். எனினும், இரண்டு மணி நேரத்திற்கு மேல் ஒலிக்கும் ஒரு சிறந்த கர்நாடக இசைக் கச்சேரியை கேட்டு ரசித்த திருப்தி இப்பாடலைக் கேட்கும் போது கிடைக்கும். ஹிந்தோள ராகத்தில் அமைந்த இப்பாடல் கேட்பவரை ஹில்டாப்புக்கு அழைத்துச் செல்லும் என்பதனைக் கூறவும் வேண்டுமோ!
http://www.raaga.com/player4/?id=154...57967725303024
குறிப்பு:
முதல் பாடல் அமைந்த "கல்யாணம் பண்ணியும் பிரம்மசாரி"யும் நடிகர் திலகத்தின் திரைப்படம் என்பது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.
அன்புடன்,
1. "கல்யாணம் பண்ணியும் பிரம்மச்சாரி(1954)" திரைப்படத்தில் இடம்பெற்ற 'வெண்ணிவாவும் வானும் போலே' என்ற பாடல் புரட்சிக் கவிஞர் பாரதிதாசனாரின் பொன்னான படைப்பு. தமிழ் மொழிக்கும், தனக்கும் உள்ள உதிரத்து உறவை, நேசமிகு நெருக்கத்தை இப்பாடல் முழுவதிலும் பட்டியலிடும் பாவேந்தர், இரண்டாவது சரணத்தில் தமிழ் மொழியின் சிறப்புக்களையும் எடுத்தியம்புகிறார். பாட்டுவேந்தராகிய பாவேந்தர் கட்டிய பாட்டுக்கோட்டை இப்பாடல்.
"வெண்ணிலாவும் வானும் போலே" பாடலுக்கு இசையமைத்தவர், தமிழிசை மாமேதை இசையரசு எம்.எம்.தண்டபாணி தேசிகர். 'கல்யாணம் பண்ணியும் பிரம்மச்சாரி(1954)' திரைப்படத்தின் இசையமைப்பாளர் டி.ஜி.லிங்கப்பா. இருப்பினும், இப்படத்தில் இடம்பெற்ற இந்த ஒரு பாடலுக்கு மட்டும் இசை MMD. தனிப்பாடல் திரட்டிற்காக இப்பாடலுக்கு இசையமைத்திருந்தார் MMD. இப்படத்தின் தயாரிப்பாளரான பத்மினி பிக்சர்ஸ் படக் குழுவினர், இப்பாடலை தங்கள் படத்தில் சேர்க்க விரும்பி அவரை அணுகவே அவரும் இசைந்து கொடுத்தார். பாடல் படத்தில் இடம்பெற்றது. படத்தின் டைட்டில் கார்டிலும் "வெண்ணிலாவும் வானும் போலே" பாடலுக்கு மட்டும் இசை இசையரசு எம்.எம்.தண்டபாணி தேசிகர் என்று காட்டப்பட்டது.
படத்தில் நடிகை ராகினி பாடுவதாக அமையப்பெற்ற இப்பாடலுக்கு பின்னணிக் குரல் கொடுத்து பாடியவர் கர்நாடக இசையுலக கானவாணி திருமதி.ஜெயலக்ஷ்மி அவர்கள். [ராதா-ஜெயலக்ஷ்மி சகோதரிகளில் ஒருவரான ஜெயலக்ஷ்மி தான்]. கர்நாடக இசை ராகமான 'ஜெயந்தசேனா' என்கின்ற மிக, மிக அரிய, அபூர்வ ராகத்தில் அமையப்பெற்ற இப்பாடலின் ஆரம்ப இசையும், பல்லவியின் முதல் வரியை விருத்தம் போல ஜெயலக்ஷ்மி தொடங்கும் த்வனியும் நம்மை சொக்க வைத்து சொர்க்கபுரிக்கு அழைத்துச் செல்லும். பாடல் வரிகளுக்கு ஏற்றாற் போல், பாடல் முழுமையுமே, இசையும், பாடப்பட்ட விதமும், சங்கீதப் பிரவாகமாக ஒரு உயிர்ப்பான ஓட்டத்துடன் திகழுவதை இப்பாடலை அனுபவித்து, ரசித்து கேட்கும் போது உணர முடியும். தமிழ்த் திரையில் முழுக்க, முழுக்க கர்நாடக இசை பாணியில் அமைந்த சிறந்த பாடல்களில் இதுவும் ஒன்று என்றால் அது மிகையன்று.
http://www.thiraipaadal.com/album.php?ALBID=ALBOLD01060
2. சுந்தரம் பிள்ளையாக சூப்பர்சானிக் ஆக்டர் வாழ்ந்து காட்டிய "மோட்டார் சுந்தரம் பிள்ளை(1966)"யில் இடம்பெற்ற 'மனமே முருகனின் மயில் வாகனம்' ஜெயலட்சுமியின் இன்னொரு மாஸ்டர்பீஸ். மெல்லிசை மாமன்னர், கர்நாடக இசையிலும் மன்னர் என்பதற்கு கட்டியம் கூறும் அவரது பல சிறந்த கர்நாடக பாணிப் பாடல்களில் இப்பாடல் மிகுந்த முக்கியத்துவம் வாய்ந்தது. பாடலை இயற்றியவர் கொத்தமங்கலம் சுப்பு. பாடலின் ஆரம்ப இசையாக ஒலிக்கத் தொடங்கி, கிட்டத்தட்ட பாடல் முழுமையும் வியாபித்திருக்கும் வீணை இசையை, படக் காட்சியில் வாசிப்பவராக நடிப்பவர் சௌகார் ஜானகி. சௌகாரின் அருகேயமர்ந்து, ஜெயலக்ஷ்மியின் மணியான பின்னணிக் குரலுக்கு (பாட்டில் வருவது போல் அவரது கம்பீரக்குரல் திருச்செந்தூரின் கோயில்மணி தான்), முன்னணியில் (படக்காட்சியில்) குரல் கொடுப்பவர் மணிமாலா. பல்லவி மற்றும் ஸ்வரங்கள் என இப்பாடல் மொத்தம் ஒலிப்பதே இரண்டு நிமிடத்திற்கு குறைவாகத்தான். எனினும், இரண்டு மணி நேரத்திற்கு மேல் ஒலிக்கும் ஒரு சிறந்த கர்நாடக இசைக் கச்சேரியை கேட்டு ரசித்த திருப்தி இப்பாடலைக் கேட்கும் போது கிடைக்கும். ஹிந்தோள ராகத்தில் அமைந்த இப்பாடல் கேட்பவரை ஹில்டாப்புக்கு அழைத்துச் செல்லும் என்பதனைக் கூறவும் வேண்டுமோ!
http://www.raaga.com/player4/?id=154...57967725303024
குறிப்பு:
முதல் பாடல் அமைந்த "கல்யாணம் பண்ணியும் பிரம்மசாரி"யும் நடிகர் திலகத்தின் திரைப்படம் என்பது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.
அன்புடன்,
பம்மலார்
ராதா-ஜெயலட்சுமி என்கின்ற மிக உன்னதமான பாடகியரைப் பற்றியும் அவர்களுடைய பாடல்களையும் பற்றிக் கூறி அசத்தி விட்டீர்கள். அது மட்டுமின்றி என் நினைவுகளையும் கிளறி விட்டீர்கள். ராதா ஜெயலட்சுமி என்றாலே நினைவுக்கு வரும் பல பாடல்களில் முக்கியமானது மரகதம் திரைப்படம். அதில் வரும் பாடல்கள் உள்ளத்தைக் கொள்ளை கொண்டு விடும். புன்னகை தவழும் மதிமுகமோ, மாலை மயங்குகின்ற நேரம், கண்ணுக்குள்ளே உன்னைப் பாரு என என் நினைவுக்கு எட்டிய வரை அப்படத்தில் அவர் நான்கு பாடல்களைப் பாடியிருக்கிறார். தமிழ்த்திரையுலகில் முதல் ஆயிரம் பாடல்களைப் பாடியவரைப் பட்டியலிட்டால் அதில் இவருடைய பெயர் நி்ச்சயம் இடம் பெறும். அதே போல் தந்தைக்கு மந்திரத்தை என்று துவங்கும் ஆதி பராசக்தி பாடலும் இவருடைய புகழைப் பறை சாற்றும். 50களின் கடைசியிலும் 60களின் துவக்கத்திலும் ஏராளமான பாடல்களைப் பாடியிருந்த இவர், நடுவில் சிறிது காலம் கச்சேரிகளில் மட்டும் பங்கேற்று பாடிக்கொண்டிருந்தனர். மீண்டும் மோட்டார் சுந்தரம் பிள்ளை, ஆதி பராசக்தி என்று சில பாடல்களைப் பாடினர்.
இவர் பாடிய மரகதம் படப் பாடல்களைக் கேட்டு அனுபவியுங்கள்.
புன்னகை தவழும் மதிமுகமோ
ஆடினாள் நடனம் ஆடினாள்
கண்ணுக்குள்ளே உன்னைப் பாரு
மாலை மயங்குகின்ற நேரம்
அன்புடன்
இவர் பாடிய மரகதம் படப் பாடல்களைக் கேட்டு அனுபவியுங்கள்.
புன்னகை தவழும் மதிமுகமோ
ஆடினாள் நடனம் ஆடினாள்
கண்ணுக்குள்ளே உன்னைப் பாரு
மாலை மயங்குகின்ற நேரம்
அன்புடன்
ராகவேந்திரன்
jaiganes
'நெஞ்சில் குடியிருக்கும் அன்பருக்கு நானிருக்கும்' பாடல், 1960 பொங்கல் வெளியீடாக வெளிவந்த "இரும்புத்திரை" திரைப்படத்தில் இடம்பெற்றது. படத்தின் நாயகன் நடிகர் திலகம், நாயகியாக வைஜயந்திமாலா. படத்திற்கு இசை எஸ்.வி.வெங்கட்ராமன் தான். இப்பாடலின் வர்ணமெட்டு 'ஷண்முகப்ரியா'வில் வார்த்தெடுக்கப்பட்டது. நாயகனுக்கு டி.எம்.எஸ்ஸும், நாயகிக்கு பி.லீலாவும் பின்னணிக் குரல்களாக ஒலித்தனர்.
லீலாவின் ஹம்மிங்கும், பாடலின் ஆரம்ப இசையும் நம்மை ஒரு இயற்கைச் சூழலுக்கே இட்டுச் செல்லும். பாடல் தொடங்கியதும், லீலாவும், சௌந்தரராஜனும் மாறி, மாறி குரல்களில் புகுந்து விளையாடியிருப்பார்கள். பல்லவியை நாயகி கேள்வி எழுப்பித் தொடங்க, நாயகன் அதற்கு பதில் கேள்வி கேட்டு நிறைவு செய்வார். இரண்டு சரணங்களிலுமே நாயகி, ஒன்றும் தெரியாதவர் போல் வினா எழுப்ப, அதற்கு விடை கூறுவது போல் கூறி பதில் வினா விடுவார் நாயகன். முதல் சரணத்திற்கு முன் வரும் இடையிசையையும், இரண்டாவது சரணத்திற்கு முன் வரும் இடையிசையையும் கேட்கும் போது, இரண்டு சரணங்களுக்கும் வெவ்வேறு மெட்டுக்கள் அமைந்தது போல் இருக்கும். அப்படித் தோன்றுவதற்குக் காரணம் 'ஷண்முகப்ரியா'வின் முழு ராக லட்சணங்களையும், முழுச் சாயலையும் இப்பாடலில், எஸ்.வி.வி. அவர்கள் சாறாக பிழிந்து கொடுத்திருப்பதினால் தான். ஒரு ரொமான்டிக் மெலடி எப்படி இருக்க வேண்டும் என்பதற்கு சிறந்த உதாரணம் இந்தப்பாடல். தமிழ் சினிமாவின் தலைசிறந்த காதல் பாடல்களில் இதுவும் ஒன்று!
நடிகர் திலகம், "Greatest Actor of the Universe", என்பதற்கு கட்டியம் கூறும் பல பாடல்களில் இப்பாடல் முக்கியமானது.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xel...iyirukkum_auto
இப்பாடலை படைத்தவர் பட்டுக்கோட்டையா, கொத்தமங்கலம் சுப்புவா?! தெரிந்தவர்கள் சொல்லுங்கள்!
அன்புடன்,
Friday, March 04, 2011
Thursday, March 03, 2011
Whatever happened to Social Security?
NBC Nightly News took on retirement income the other day and found most Americans’s savings will come up short. The segment drew a bleak picture of the amount of money people have saved for retirement versus the amount they will need in the future. The picture was bleaker still because the story left out any reference to Social Security—even though for one-third of people who get Social Security, it accounts for at least 90 percent of their income. Not mentioning the role of Social Security gave viewers a skewed view of reality.
The media have not been fond of extolling any of Social Security’s virtues this past year, and the Nightly News piece was simply another in a long string of dubious journalistic efforts.For those lucky enough to have saved $1 million, that may not be enough either. “$1 million translates into $40,000 to $60,000 a year in retirement,” Myers advised.
We learn more about Moss in a Wall Street Journal story that ran a week or so earlier. She works extra hours and contributes to her employer’s version of a 401(k) plan, but she doesn’t contribute the maximum and had to sell her condo by the sea and move to a cheaper house.
The Journal did mention Social Security, noting that benefits will provide as much as 40 percent of preretirement income for a family with a median income—$87,700 in 2009—whose head of the household, age sixty to sixty-two, is nearing retirement. Social Security’s replacement rate is super important, a point that would have made the NBC segment better journalism. The Journal reported “the median 401(k) plan held $149,400,” a number generated by the Retirement Research Center at Boston College whose director, Alicia Munnell, we featured in a Q and A conversation last fall.
That number is for a household whose head is between sixty and sixty-two years old. When that sum is annuitized—that is, converted into a yearly income stream—it amounts to about $9,000 for the family.
“The average 401 (k) nest egg, (has) about $150,000, enough to generate about $9,000 a year in retirement.” For single people, the Center told me, the amount in 401(k) plans is even less. In 2007, the median balance was only $78,000 for individuals age fifty-five to sixty-four who are working.
A Big Omission at NBC : CJR
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
ESPN The Magazine's March 7, 2011 issue: Fiction, Lit, Literature, Short Stories, Sports, TLDNR Gen
- "What if..." by Jeff Pinkner
- "My Life in Baseball, By the Beard" by Dave Eggers
Tracing World Series greatness back to its roots, almost literally.
- "The Family Business" by Miguel Batista
A story about how stickball rekindles a grandmother's memories
Miguel Batista is a veteran of 16 MLB seasons who currently pitches in the St. Louis Cardinals organization. He is a published poet (Sentimientos en Blanco y Negro) and novelist (The Avenger of Blood). This is his first short story.
- "Angel Wings" by Susan Straight
- "John Brisker's Greatest Game" by Gare Joyce
The ABA hothead was as feared as he was cheered. Then he vanished
- "Moto" by Wells Tower
- "Bleacher Couch Man" by Jess Walter
- "The Favorite" by John Brandon
- "The Bowtie Miracle" by Michael Bible
- "The Kudza League" by Chris Bachelder
- Bonus: "Squashed" by Tobias Wolff
- Bonus: "The Life Change" by Tom Barbash
Dave Eggers, a longtime contributor to The Magazine, is the author of seven books. His most recent, Zeitoun, is a nonfiction account of a Syrian-American immigrant and his extraordinary experience during Hurricane Katrina. Eggers is also the founder and editor of McSweeney's, an independent publishing house based in San Francisco.
A short story by Dave Eggers in ESPN The Magazine's Fiction Issue: "My life in baseball, by the Beard" - ESPN
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