Graduation

I was the Valedictorian of my graduating class. Read more on the ceremony and my speech :)

More than 300 graduate during winter commencement ceremony

My trip to New Orleans

I organized an Alternative Spring Break for my college to New Orleans in 2007. We collaborated with a grassroot organization called Common Ground to assist with the post- Katrina hurricane relief. You can read more about the project here:

Tusculum College one of 39 campuses to host National Post-Katrina College Summit

Fall of World Stock Markets

Billions of dollars have been lost from the market during the last year with the crash of the financial sector all around the world. The sub-prime mortgage crisis of the United States, the root of this global financial crisis has significantly impacted all other sectors and most countries worldwide. BBC tracks the fall of the global stock market seen during 2008.

Global stock markets in 2008

The global financial turmoil seen during 2008 has led to extreme volatility on the world's stock markets.

Below you can see how some of the main global stock indexes have fared during 2008. (Visit www.bbc.com for updated charts.)

FTSE 100 INDEX: JAN-DEC 2008

DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE: JAN-DEC 2008

NIKKEI 225 INDEX: JAN-DEC 2008

DAX INDEX: JAN-DEC 2008

CAC 40 INDEX: JAN-DEC 2008

BBC GLOBAL 30 INDEX: JAN-DEC 2008

Cool Widget

Cool Links:

www.personaldemocracy.com - Technology is changing politics
www.realclearpolitics.com - Links to great political articles
www.urbandictionary.com - Urban Dictionary is the slang dictionary you wrote. Define your world
www.pdfonline.com - Free PDF Online Conversion
www.pandora.com - Free Online Radio

I don't know, just arm them!

President Bush was recently interviewed by BBC. Here are some classic quotes :

Question: "What would prompt Hezbollah to abandon their weapons?"
Bush's Answer: "I don't know. Its hard for me to get inside Hezbollah's head. I do know they are destabilising Lebanon."

"what's there to negotiate, they know my position"

"I thought if talks would matter we'd talk." (why not...just shoot 'em!)

"that's why Condy Rice and Hadley and others are going out there all the time to encourage them to get the deal done"

"States can't look like swiss cheese"

"all of a sudden, out of the blue, there's in the middle of some kinda remote area, a reactors there, built with the help of Koreans....North Koreans."

"out of nowhere, they discovered this erector, i mean, reactor"

Please click the link below for the full interview:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7397376.stm

Most Powerful People in Business

Fortune featured the 25 most powerful people in the modern business world. With money and mind, these business icons have revolutionized the culture of business. The pool consisted of a diverse range of age, industy, ethnicity, interests and assets. From the innovative CEOs who created the funky ipods and who enabled us to"Google" anything we need to find, to the more traditional calculative genuises like Warren Buffet and Lakshmi Mittal, the list is a great selection of the best in the business.

Fortune's 25 Most Powerful People In Business:

1. Steve Jobs - Apple
2. Rupert Murdoch - News Corp
3. Lloyd Blankfein - Goldman Sachs
4. Larry Page and Sergei Brin - Google
5. Warren Buffett - Berkshire Hathaway
6. Jeff Immelt - Exxon Mobil
7. Bill Gates - Microsoft
8. Jeff Immelt - GE
9. Katsuaki Watanabe - Toyota
10. A.G. Lafley - Proctor & Gamble

Let's go shopping...in Asia

The rapid commercial development of emerging markets like Phillipines, China and Malaysia are attracting huge investments globally. With foreign investments rising at record levels and an overall improved economy in these countries, the local consumer spending in these markets are heading skywards. High fashion powerhouse like Gucci and Prada are simultanoeusly launching showrooms in India, China, Malaysia and other emerging markets.

Increasing consumer demands and spendings on luxuries, fashion, leisure and entertainment has compelled Asian economies to establish shopping amenities that accommodates the needs of the rising shopping demands. These shopping malls are slowly becoming an attraction to foreign shoppers as well. Forbes Online's Tom Van Riper gives us profiles of 10 largest shopping malls in the world in his report "THE WORLD'S LARGEST MALLS" and most of them are currently in Asia.

In Picture: South China Mall, Dongguan, China - The world's largest mall

Stupid Game Show Answers - Dumb...Dumb Dumb Dumb!

Islamic Finance: Applying religion to economics

I have been hearing about Islamic finance increasingly over the past few years. CNBC reports that it is one of the most innovative banking formula and an "emerging industry" in the finance world today.