A salute to George W Bush

Like the entire planet i was watching the swearing-in ceremony of Barack Obama and couldnt help but notice one of my favorite global leaders Mr. George W Bush being escorted to the chopper that would take him to his ranch in Texas. The man who shaped the history of not just people from his own country but of many nations across the globe for the worse, was all smiles, sat in the chopper with his wife, smiled, waived and left leaving his imprints in the history of the modern world.
A truly great man as is explained from some great quotes and photographs below. I salute the great man.


"Tribal sovereignty means that; it's sovereign. I mean, you're a -- you've been given sovereignty, and you're viewed as a sovereign entity. And therefore the relationship between the federal government and tribes is one between sovereign entities." --Washington, D.C., Aug. 6, 2004

"You know, one of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror." --interview with CBS News' Katie Couric, Sept. 6, 2006

"I'm the commander -- see, I don't need to explain -- I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being president." --as quoted in Bob Woodward's Bush at War

"I would say the best moment of all was when I caught a 7.5 pound largemouth bass in my lake." --on his best moment in office, interview with the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, May 7, 2006

"I wish you'd have given me this written question ahead of time so I could plan for it...I'm sure something will pop into my head here in the midst of this press conference, with all the pressure of trying to come up with answer, but it hadn't yet...I don't want to sound like I have made no mistakes. I'm confident I have. I just haven't -- you just put me under the spot here, and maybe I'm not as quick on my feet as I should be in coming up with one." --after being asked to name the biggest mistake he had made, Washington, D.C., April 3, 2004

"The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him." --Washington, D.C., Sept. 13, 2001

"I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority." --Washington, D.C., March 13, 2002

"We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories ... And we'll find more weapons as time goes on. But for those who say we haven't found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they're wrong, we found them." --Washington, D.C., May 30, 2003

"Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be somewhere!" --joking about his administration's failure to find WMDs in Iraq as he narrated a comic slideshow during the Radio & TV Correspondents' Association dinner, Washington, D.C., March 24, 2004

"And so, General, I want to thank you for your service. And I appreciate the fact that you really snatched defeat out of the jaws of those who are trying to defeat us in Iraq." --to Army Gen. Ray Odierno, Washington, D.C., March 3, 2008

"We're kicking ass." --President Bush, on the security situation in Iraq, to Australian Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile

And now some memorable photographs of the truly great man.

Quantum of Solace

Read somewhere and found it interesting. This is from a short story called Quantum of Solace which is a part of For Your Eyes Only

"I’ve seen flagrant infidelities patched up, I’ve seen crimes and even murder foreign by the other party, let alone bankruptcy and other forms of social crime. Incurable disease, blindness, disaster - all of these can be overcome. But never the death of common humanity in one of the partners. I’ve thought about this and I’ve invented a rather high-sounding title for this basic factor in human relations. I have called it the law of the Quantum of Solace.
Bond said, "That’s a splendid name for it. It’s certainly impressive enough. And of course I see what you mean. I should say you’re absolutely right. Quantum of Solace - the amount of comfort. Yes, I suppose you can say that all love and friendship is based in the end on that. Human beings are very insecure. When the other person not only makes you feel insecure but actually seems to want to destroy you, it’s obviously the end. The Quantum of Solace stands at zero. You’ve got to get away to save yourself."

Thoughts

"The only man who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my measurements anew every time he sees me, while all the rest go on with their old measurements and expect me to fit them”

Thoughts

• Expecting the world to treat u fairly coz u r a good person is like expecting the lion not to attack u coz u r a vegetarian. Think about it.

• Beauty isn't measured by outer appearance and what clothes we wear, but what we are inside.So, try going out naked tomorrow and see the admiration!

Some thoughts on leadership

• Any important leadership decision will piss some people off. The bolder the decision, the more it will impact the status quo and the more it will piss people off.

• Three important things everyone wants to know from the leader :

1. Where are we going?

2. How are we going to get there?

3. What is my role?

A thought

To stick to what you stand for in life is the most difficult thing you can do.

Lessons from Tough times.

While tough and extremely tough times take a long while to go away, they do leave a lot of learning's. Some of what i have learned :

• You learn how to best make use of your finances. The credit card of course is your best friend in these trying times.
• You suddenly realize that fuel is more costly than it has even been. A thousand rupees seem to get you less of gasoline than it did when you had enough moolah at hand.
• You realize that your friend list seems to shrink everyday, this is the best time to say good-bye to most of them, they were not worth it anyways.
• The electricity bill seems to be more than ever before and seems to come at too quick a frequency.
• Eggs and not pizza is the best food ever created.
• Suddenly your entire set of relatives want a job in your organisation, if not that, nearly all have something to do with the organisation that you just quit.
• The electricity pole just outside your house seems to have developed a fascination for your car and seems to move just as to hit it while you are engaging the reverse gear.
• The bathroom sink and electricity fitting suddenly give up and you realise that inflation has actually increased when you pay a huge amount to the friendly neighbourhood electrician.
• All your younger relatives seems to get married at this time only and your family wants them to given the most expensive gifts.
• Every meeting or party that you attend has to be in Gurgaon, if you are living in Noida.