deviah

Washington.-based consultant to multi-lateral development bank. Active on Facebook and X. Strong political views. Part-time coffee grower.

[deviah @deviah]

@SharrenHaskel Rajdeep Sardesai not a journalist. Congratulations on exposing him.

[deviah @deviah]

@siddharth_iitm Even though I am completely covered in the US, if I fall sick, I will get on the first flight back to India.

[deviah @deviah]

Elon Musk Please provide Starlink to the Iranian people.

[Out of Context Human Race @NoContextHumans]

Italian citizen, who was trying to get to his pregnant wife, had to continue his way by crushing the climate activists who were blocking the roads. Was his actions justified?
https://t.co/beJve81AmD

[deviah @deviah]

@RobertMSterling The Indian companies you mentioned are sweatshops for IT workers. Low wages, long hours, the American companies that contract to them turn a blind eye. As for the financial and management consulting companies, there’s no excuse; the talent they import is available here.

[Shashi Bellamkonda @shashib]

Okay, let's break down this proposed law change in Maryland and how it might affect small liquor stores.

Currently in Maryland:

Wine & Beer: You can only buy these from small, independently-owned stores.
Hard Liquor: Only sold in County-run stores (which also sell beer and wine).

Proposed Change:

Allow regular grocery stores to sell beer and wine.

Why this is a big deal for small liquor stores:

Imagine if suddenly your main competition was Giant, Safeway, and Whole Foods! These big grocery stores have some advantages:

Convenience: People already go there for food.
Pricing Power: They can afford to sell beer and wine at a loss to get people in the door.

What can small liquor stores do?

Become "more than" a liquor store:
Expand Selection: Craft beers, unique wines, specialty sodas, gourmet snacks. Become a destination for things the grocery store doesn't have.
Add Services: Tasting events, delivery, personalized recommendations, maybe even a small deli counter.

Compete on Experience (not just price):

Knowledgeable Staff: Train employees to offer expert advice and build relationships with customers.

Create a Vibe: Make the store inviting and fun. Think cool lighting, music, maybe local artwork.

Market Smarter:

Targeted Ads: Use social media and local papers to reach specific customer groups (e.g., craft beer lovers, wine enthusiasts).

Loyalty Programs: Reward regular customers with discounts or special offers.

Community Focus: Sponsor local events or partner with nearby businesses.

Other Ideas:
Online Presence: Offer online ordering with delivery or in-store pickup.
Specialization: Focus on a niche market, like organic wines or locally sourced beers.
Collaboration: Team up with other small businesses for joint promotions or events.
Important Note: It's going to be tough for some stores. Those that adapt and offer something unique have the best chance of surviving.

[deviah @deviah]

@kyg_best India stands with Israel.

[deviah @deviah]

@elonmusk What plans does DOGE have for the UN, the World Bank, and the IMF?

[deviah @deviah]

@marvinmusk Absofuckinglutely.

[deviah @deviah]

@IvankaNews_ Yes.

[deviah @deviah]

@DonaldTNews Yes.

[deviah @deviah]

@realTrumpNewsX A. Yes

[deviah @deviah]

@meelonmuskusa Bhende.

[Arsen Nazaryan @arsennazaryan]

#greenbuilding #ESG #HealthyLiving #healthybuildings
Healthy Buildings Can Boost Your CRE Portfolio’s ESG Scores (BOMA 2023) https://t.co/uYNBmEywNf

[Asra Nomani @AsraNomani]

At this hour at this minute on this day in the year 2002 — Jan. 23, 2002 — a young man stepped out of a car to walk into a compound on the outskirts of Karachi, Pakistan, believing he was about to do an interview with a Muslim cleric.

Instead, a man named Attaur Rehman grabbed him and pointed a gun at his head.

Poor, innocent Danny Pearl, then just 38, asked sincerely: “Is this security?”

Security, he thought for the sheikh.

No, dear Danny, this was an abduction in a scheme by this deluded militant, Omar Sheikh, just 28.

It was an operation in which you were a “target of opportunity,” but I will explain this to you tomorrow when I share how we discovered how you had been trapped.

For now, I will explain what you didn’t know — none of us knew — when you left my house on Zamzama Street hours earlier, a family of parrots squawking overhead.

You were on the hunt to find the man who was the local facilitator in Pakistan for Richard Reid, the “shoe bomber.” Farah Stockman, now at the New York Times, reported in the Boston Globe that it was this Sheikh Gilani. You were chasing the story, and Farah, to this day, regrets she got the story wrong. I regret it too. Those are the mistakes that happen.

You were trying to talk to Gilani directly. In this hour, your wife Mariane knew something was wrong. You didn’t answer your phone.

You always answered your phone. They took your phone. They chained you to a car engine. The guards later told the police you were confused.

They took your clothes. They brought you a 1970s warmup jacket and made you change into it. You were confused.

Oh poor dear Danny. We are in that compound with you, although the years have passed and you are not there anymore. We are with you, dear friend. Now and always.

This is the photo they sent of you. I want to ask the world: can you see Danny’s middle finger at his terrorists? That is the message that I received.

Fight the jerks, the militants, the extremists, the terrorists.

Show them the middle finger. Defeat them with will power, intellect and heart.

You, Danny, could not do so in body, but I know you are with us, Danny, in spirit, so we can prevail to know the world you were always trying to both realize and celebrate.

Take Danny’s symbolic gesture with you, friends, real or imagined, to give yourself courage and determination. It has fueled me for the 21 years since, and we will use our courage to defeat the ideology and hate that seized this innocent man from the streets. For Danny.

xoxo

[CoFounders Nik @CoFoundersNik]

In-N-Out is the Best Burger chain in the USA but has the least known/profiled owner.

Is it because she's a woman?

Check out my new favorite Billionaire, Lynsi Snyder:

- Races a 1969 Chevy-Hemi-powered Chevelle and is a NHRA Top Sportsman

- Owns 100% of In-N-Out, worth $6.7 Billion

- Community College dropout

- Tragically lost her father and uncle as a child, inheriting the company at only 35 as the sole heir of the Snyder Family business

- 400 locations, 0 franchises

- The average In-N-Out Manager has been with the company for 17 years and makes $183,000

Why does In-N-Out have the most rabidly loyal customer base (try getting a burger in less than 8 hours at a new location!)?

No Franchises = Control of Quality

- Innovative focus on customer experience
• No freezers, microwaves, or heat lamps
• Had the first ever drive-thru speaker
• Stupid simple and consistent menu

- Higher CEO rating than Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and Chick-fil-A’s Dan Cathy

- She is a huge philanthropist and passionate about improving the lives of individuals and families affected by substance abuse and/or human trafficking

Lynsi Snyder is criminally under-appreciated

[Asra Nomani @AsraNomani]

On this day, Jan. 21, 2002, the world as I knew it was profoundly different. It is not just because we were a world without Twitter or Teslas or @ handles for identities. It was because I was so naïve. So very naive.

I cared deeply about humanity, the spirit of our world, the beauty of possibility, love and dreams. I had no idea — just no idea about the depths of evil on this earth.

I had jetted across the ocean after the 9/11 attacks — the massacre of thousands of innocent lives. Yet, I was still so very naïve. I had a friend Danny Pearl — who was alive, he was so very much alive, joyful and funny and witty and engaged deeply with this world.

In the last photo I have with Danny from October 2001 in Karachi, I introduced him to two stuffed animals — Merve and Blink — from whom I was writing dispatches in my hometown newspaper, the Dominion Post, to the children of Morgantown, West Virginia. Danny looked at Merve and Blink with the bemused eye he gave much of this world.

Over these next days, I will journal here to share with you my journey from naiveté to the most shocking experience imaginable and the clear thinking that I understand today as post-traumatic growth. I will tap those stuffed beings Merve and Blink that Danny held to tell some of the story, if you will indulge me. It is my farz, my duty, to share with you the pearls of wisdom that my friend Danny gave to me and his father @yudapearl has supported me in understanding and sharing as a witness to truths in our world.

This day, Jan. 21, 2002, was Danny’s last day in Islamabad, Pakistan, with his wife Mariane.

The next day, Jan. 22, 2002, they would board a flight to Karachi, Pakistan, to visit me in a home I had rented on Zamzama Boulevard — Mariane, with a baby in her belly, Danny, with his head full of questions for an interview he thought he was about to have with a man who was suspected of being the man who sent Richard Reid into the world to light his shoe on fire and kill passengers on a jetliner over the Atlantic.

It was a trap.