Sunday, October 30, 2016

"My promise: If Trump gets elected, and he does anything that looks even slightly Hitler-ish in office, I will join the resistance movement and help kill him."

Scott Adams
Said : Scott Adams of ‘Dilbert’ fame about Donald Trump whom he had been supporting until last month.

According to Washington Post, Adams, switched his endorsement from Hillary Clinton to Trump last month, and then again to Gary Johnson this month after the “Access Hollywood” tape’s release. 

Michael Cavna in his post tries to analyse "why Scott Adams - who was long seen as a truth-telling champion of the beleaguered cubicle dweller - risked his reputation by sparking controversy in the election."

"Adams has repeatedly stated that the White House was Trump’s to lose, predicting a “landslide” victory. According to Adams, who is a trainer in persuasion techniques and hypnosis, Donald Trump was “a master persuader” — a man who knew how to stay expertly on message", Cavna noted Adams, in his blog, under a post titled "The Crook Versus the Monster."


Adams feels that "reality isn’t a factor in this election, as per usual." This is based on his observation that if the truth mattered, voters might care about the real issues and characteristics of their favoured candidate. They have a kind of illusion about their leaders. 

For example, "we think the people on the other side can’t see the warts on their own candidate. But I think they do. Clinton supporters know she is crooked, but I think they assume it is a normal degree of crookedness for an American politician. Americans assume that even the “good” politicians are trading favors and breaking every rule that is inconvenient to them. I’ve never heard a Clinton supporter defend Clinton as being pure and honest. Her supporters like her despite her crookedness." 
"Thanks to timely assists from Wikileaks, Trump has successfully framed Hillary Clinton as a crooked politician. Meanwhile, Clinton has successfully framed Trump as a dangerous monster. If the mainstream polls are accurate, voters prefer the crook to the monster. That makes sense because a crook might steal your wallet but the monster could kill you. As of today, Clinton has the superior persuasion strategy. Crook beats monster." - Scott Adams
Similarly, "Trump supporters know what they are getting. They know he’s offensive. They know he’s under-informed on policies. They know he pays as little in taxes as possible. They know he uses bankruptcy laws when needed. They know he ignores facts that are inconvenient to his message. They just don’t care. They want to push the monster into Washington D.C., close the door, and let him break everything that needs to be broken. Demolition is usually the first step of building something new. And Trump also knows how to build things when he isn’t in monster mode," he added. 

In yet another post Adams compares the leadership qualities of Jesus, Martin Luther King, Abe Lincoln, Gandhi, and Nelson Mandela. "None were bully leaders, and none encouraged their supporters to be bullies. So what did they do that worked so well? "I’ll tell you what. They described a better version of ourselves and let us find a way to it," he answered himself and went on comparing Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump for their leadership qualities. 

Adams has confessed that he had to pay a heavy price for his apparent support for Donald Trump. “My speaking career (his once-lucrative side business) ended because of this and licensing sales are down," he revealed to Cavna who reported "All told, Adams said, his income has dipped precipitously." But Adams regrets none of it.

Saturday, October 29, 2016

"क्या कहा-चुनाव आ रहा है? तो खडे हो जाइए..."

Thursday, September 1, 2016

I believe a developed city is not a city where the poor have a chance to buy a car but the rich are using the public transportation

Said : Martin Lundstedt, president and CEO of Volvo Group in an interview with China Daily.

Swedish automobile conglomerate Volvo's CEO sees 'super opportunity' in China's e-commerce boom. He has been a believer of a fun workplace during his 24-year career in the commercial vehicle industry. Martin was unfazed despite the current downward pressure in China's economic growth. "We've a very thrilling vision about the future, for we are seeing very positive changes," he said in the interview.
Martin Lundstedt, president and CEO of Volvo Group. [Photo provided to China Daily]
According to Martin, the government's growing emphasis on green initiatives, sustainable development and innovation are all bringing great opportunities for his company. In China for more than 20 years, the manufacturer of vehicles, engines and construction equipment now hopes to better tap into the country's booming e-commerce business. 

For reading the edited excerpts from the interview, please click here.

Timothy Wingerter
According to Timothy Wingerter, who works at Quora, Volvo Cars, which has a global market share of only 1–2%, has been separate from its former Swedish parent company Volvo Group since 1999, and is now owned by a Chinese company. "Volvo Car Group (Volvo Cars) has been under the ownership of the Zhejiang Geely Holding (Geely Holding) of China since 2010. Volvo Cars formed part of the Swedish Volvo Group until 1999, when the company was bought by Ford Motor Company. In 2010, Volvo Cars was acquired by Geely Holding," he wrote on Quora.

Volvo Cars still has manufacturing facilities in Sweden and several other locations, including China. "Apart from the main car production plants in Gothenburg (Sweden) and Ghent (Belgium), Volvo Cars has since the 1930s manufactured engines in Skövde (Sweden). Production of body components has been located in Olofström (Sweden) since 1969. The company furthermore operates an assembly plant in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and a research and development center in Copenhagen (Denmark). Finally, Volvo has design centers in Gothenburg (Sweden), Camarillo (USA) and Shanghai (China)", he added.

In the fourth quarter of 2013, Volvo Cars started serial production at its manufacturing plant in Chengdu, China. This plant produces Volvo cars for the Chinese and US markets. A second manufacturing plant in Daqing, China started production in the second half of 2014, while Volvo Cars also has an engine factory in Zhangjiakou, China. In the US, Volvo Cars is building a manufacturing facility in Berkeley County, South Carolina, which will become operational in the second half of 2018. This is Volvo Car Group.

Volvo Group (responsible for several operations including Mack Trucks, Volvo construction equipment, etc.) is a worldwide company, and is still Swedish.

At present there's only one Chinese-made car you can buy in the US.

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

"London is for the financial world what Madonna is for pop music"

Said : Chris Skinner, author, blogger and co-head of the Financial Services Club, a European financial industry network, in an interview with Martin Hesse for Spiegel in London. Martin describes Skinner "a man who can feel London's pulse." 
According to Skinner, London has reinvented itself over and over as a strong megacity as it posses all the required strengths : People speak English almost all over the planet, British law is acknowledged and applied in large parts of the industrialized world and London attracts talented, ambitious people. The city is both international and pragmatic.

Saturday, June 11, 2016

When you’re deciding whether to plunge into a marriage, don’t ever make the mistake of thinking you’re marrying the person your partner is going to become, once he or she finally grows up.

Matt Bai 
Yahoo News Columnist
Said : Matt Bai, National Political Columnist, Yahoo News, in his June 9 column "The black hole within Donald Trump." 

He said this in context with key Republican Party leaders endorsing Donald Trump for the Party nominated presidential candidate, who totally believed Trump when he promised “I can be more presidential than anybody. I can be a totally faithful husband. You wait." 

[When you’re deciding whether to plunge into a marriage, don’t ever make the mistake of thinking you’re marrying the person your partner is going to become, once he or she finally grows up or finds that perfect job or stops making meth in the basement. The only person you’re marrying is the one sitting right in front of you, and while some people do improve over time, only a fool would count on it.]

"On second thought, this advice probably comes too late for the Paul Ryans and Bob Corkers of the world, who were exactly this foolish when they wrapped their arms around Donald Trump and said: “I do.” But you know, they never asked," he added.

Commenting on Speaker Paul Ryan's refusal to un-endorse Trump, even after admitting that later's remarks about a Latino judge were racist, Matt wrote : "Deceived spouses always throw good money after bad. It’s hard to look in the mirror and admit you were had."

Thursday, June 9, 2016

"I’m with her, I’m fired up, and I can’t wait to get out there and campaign for Hillary."

Said : President Obama while offering his formal endorsement of Hillary Clinton

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

“Trump is not a policy-driven candidate. He is an attitude-driven candidate, and his attitude is pretty much belligerence.”

Said : Tom Steyer, founder of the California-based NextGen Climate advocacy group. 

According to yahoo news' digital editor, Dylan Stableford, in his post, Steyer was explaining what took him so long to endorse Hillary Clinton. 

“There is just a dramatic choice between these two presumptive candidates,” he said. “And it is really important that people rally around Secretary Clinton.”