How to 20 Ways to Look Younger (Women)

These tips have you believe that you took a bath in the fountain of youth.

jQuery ( '. intro. vignette'). each (function (i, e) (jQuery (e). find ( 'img'). a ( 'error', function () (jQuery (e). remove (); ));)); Email Print l ' Article Add to Favorites Flag Article Difficulty: Moderately Easy Instructions Step 1

Make sure your clean clothes still training. As you age, you may discover that you've got a little bigger or a little lower in some places, where appropriate, invest in some new parts, or have you are currently adapted to fit and complement your figure.

Step 2

Wear clothes that are current and adjust to your age group.If you always wear the same clothes you wore in high school, it is time to update your look with something more modern. Keep in mind that you still have the age to wear appropriate clothing (ie not far from the belly bearing tops and mini skirts!). Be inspired by fashion magazines, and advice to workers in the clothing stores.

Step 3

Be sure to moisturize every day, dry skin really exposes lines deep.

Step 4

Consult a dermatologist if your skin is showing age. You do not have to get Botox or chemical peels or one of those fancy stuff (although they are options), you can see what types of creams / lotions they can recommend to help fight the signs of aging.Also, if you've noticed varicose veins, you can have them too.

Step 5

Use a quality sunscreen, the sun can reap havoc on your skin

Step 6

Continue to wear your makeup, just make sure it's not too hard or for maturing skin. Your best bet is to stop at the nearest cosmetics counter and ask what shade of color and what brands of makeup are best to hide the aging.

Step 7

Get a new haircut and hot color. This is the perfect time to try this again or Pixie Bob cut you thought, and to cover gray hairs that were sprouting. Ask your stylist what cut and color would complement and help to hide signs of aging, they could recommend some ideas (egEye-skimming Bangs, the ideal staging etc.) Keep regular appointments so that your hair hair is still young and fresh.

Step 8

Make

[Via http://mypich.wordpress.com]

Australia's Loss : Canada's Gain

India and Canada just signed the Civil Nuclear Agreement, which would allow Canada to participate in the nuclear field in India and permits India to import Uranium and nuclear equipment from Canada.

Canada took time to make its decision – it has been over two years since its neighbour U.S. signed the Civil Nuclear 1-2-3 Agreement with India in a landmark deal between the world’s two biggest democracies. It is actually the eighth country to sign such an agreement (after the U.S., France, Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Argentina and Namibia). My guess is that Canada and India will cooperate aggressively, given that Canada was the original supplier of nuclear reactors to India (the CANDU Reactors), and also the fact that it is the world’s largest producer of Uranium.

Where is our friend Australia in all this ? Nowhere to be sure.

Australia has become very close to China over the past four years or so that no other country matters to it anymore. China is the biggest importer of Australia’s commodities today, notwithstanding the arrest of an Australian company executive in China a few months ago. Everything will be forgiven, or managed out, if China continues to drive the commodity boom in Australia (as it does with several other countries, notably in Africa). Though Australian ministers (both Federal and State) have been visiting India many times over the past six months, including the famous Labour Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, Australia is losing its mindshare rapidly in India. And, nobody has been kicked up about Mr Rudd swinging a cricket bat while on his visit to India. He did not answer the tough questions properly. Why is Australia losing out in India ?

Many reasons – but the biggest one is the bashing up of Indian Students who pay top dollar to get a second-rate Australian eduction divvied up from suspicious institutions which shows a corrupt educational administrative system. No checks and balances, no audit, random colleges driving up recruitments for unapproved degrees – sounds more like a Third-World situation to me. There have been more than couple of hundred attacks on unsuspecting Indian Students, mostly in their early twenties. Dads and Moms from the rich states of India are not happy, and that would have a huge impact on the Australian Education Revenues – one out of every four foreign students in Australia is from India. And, now an Australian Commission has concluded that this pattern of attacking Indians is NOT due to racism !

Secondly, Australia is cozying upto China aggressively, and is not using the right kind of diplomacy with India to smoothen frayed nerves in relation to its approach to China. This is absolutely required, as India is not a country to be overlooked for the future of Asia and the future of the world. We are talking about 1.1B people with an economy growing at 7% this year, and we are also talking about an influential global player.

Thirdly, while Australia supplies Uranium to China, it refuses to supply to India, though the 1-2-3 deal has been approved by the NSG (Nuclear Supplers’ Group), on the pretext that India has not signed the NPT (Nuclear Proliferation Treaty). But, Australia refuses to look at the track record of India in Nuclear Non-Proliferation. China is the worst offender, having transferred sensitive and banned nuclear technology to North Korea, Pakistan, Iran and God knows how many others. Simply because it is huge and powerful, has a high-seat in the U.N. Security Council, has the fastest growing economy in the world, has over USD 2 Trillion in U.S. Treasuries (!), and imports lot of stuff from Australia, all the bad things that it did or doing now are ignored. What kind of justice is this – even the U.S. is overlooking everything bad that China continues to enjoy doing – like oppression of human rights.

Well, that is the might of China’s ECONOMY and ECONOMIC GROWTH. Everyone will come under China’s domination, and Australia is no different despite being one of the two Western Societies in Asia Pacific.

Someone recently asked me which product brand of Australia that I like (from the available ones in India that are not many) – I said I like “Ragu” pasta sauce ! There is no significant product, commodity, or business brand from Australia that is really popular in India. May be coal mines ? Need we say more ?

I hope what Australia is losing in India in terms of business and mindshare is picked up by collaborative partners like Canada and ofcourse, the U.S.

And, Australia – better go back to fundamentals of diplomacy, free society (bring justice to affected parties and do not talk empty English), partnership, a better education system with controls in place, et al.

We are waiting to see that happen.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan

29th November 2009

Mumbai

[Via http://vijaysrinivasan.wordpress.com]

Grand Theft Malaysia

November 28, 2009

Many snouts in the public trough

Asia Sentinel (November 27, 2009)

The Port Klang Free Zone scandal may be big, but it is only the latest in a long line of Malaysian scandals going back to the early 1980s. Time Magazine quoted Daniel Lian, a Southeast Asia economist at Morgan Stanley in Singapore, saying that the country might have lost as much as U$100 billion since the early 1980s to corruption.”

The scandals listed below are only a small sample of the looting of the country’s coffers:

In July of 1983, what was then the biggest banking scandal in world history erupted in Hong Kong, when it was discovered that Bumiputra Malaysia Finance (BMF), a unit of Bank Bumiputra Malaysia Bhd, had lost as much as US$1 billion which had been siphoned off by prominent public figures into private bank accounts. The story involved murder, suicide and the involvement of officials at the very top of the Malaysian government. Ultimately it involved a bailout by the Malaysian government amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars.

Mak Foon Tan, the murderer of Jalil Ibrahim, a Bank Bumi assistant manager who was sent to Hong Kong to investigate the disappearance of the money, was given a death sentence, and Malaysian businessman George Tan who had participated in looting most of the funds, was jailed after his Carrian Group collapsed in what was then Hong Kong’s biggest bankruptcy, and a handful of others were charged. No major politician was ever punished in Malaysia despite a white paper prepared by an independent commission that cited cabinet minutes of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad giving an okay to a request to throw more money into the scandal in an effort to contain it.

That was just the first Bank Bumi scandal. The government-owned bank had to be rescued twice more with additional losses of nearly US$600 million in today’s dollars. Ultimately government officials gave up and the bank was absorbed into CIMB Group, currently headed by Nazir Razak, the prime minister’s brother. That scandal, which stretched over several years before its denouement in 1985, set the tone for 24 years of similar scandals related to top Malaysian officials and was the first to prove that in Malaysia, you can not only get away with murder, you can get away with looting the treasury as well.

Perwaja Steel, for instance, lost US$800 million and its boss, Eric Chia, a crony of Mahathir’s, was charged with looting the company. He stood trial, but was acquitted without having to put on a defense.

In the mid 1980s, the Co-operative Central Bank, a bank set up to aid the Indian smallholder community, had to be rescued by Bank Negara, the country’s central bank, after hundreds of millions of ringgit in loans granted to a flock of United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) politicians became non-performing. Some had never been serviced at all. Although the chief executive and general manager were charged with criminal breach of trust, none of the politicians were ever charged.

Before that, the Malaysian government was believed to have lost US$500 million in an attempt at Mahathir’s urging to corner the London tin market through a company called Maminco, driving the world price of tin from US$4.50 per tonne to US$7.50. It then sought to cover up the loss by establishing a US$2 company called Mukawasa from which allocations of new share issues to the government’s Employees Provident Funds’ were diverted. Mukawasa  expected to sell the shares at a windfall profit to hide the tin speculation.

Mahathir also was behind an attempt by the then governor of Bank Negara, the central bank, to aggressively speculate in the global foreign exchange market. Bank Negara ended up losing an estimated RM20 billion. The governor, Jaffar Hussein, and the head of forex trading, Nor Mohamed Yakcop were forced to resign.

There have been many other political and financial scandals since. In 2005, Bank Islam Malaysia, the country’s flagship Islamic bank, reported losses of RM457 million mainly due to provisioning totaling RM774 million as a result of bad loans and investments incurred by its Labuan branch. Cumulatively, Bank Islam ran up nonperforming loans of RM2.2 billion, partly from mismanagement and poor internal controls but also “years of regulatory indifference fueled by the misconceived notion of an untouchable Bank Islam because it was a favorite child of the Malaysian government, being the first and model Islamic bank in the country and region,” according to a December 19, 2005 article in Arab News.

“Bank Islam had a reputation in the market for being the spoilt child of the Malaysian Ministry of Finance; and the perception of the bank was more of a Muslim financial fraternity or government development financial institution,” the report said.

In 2007, in what was called Malaysia’s Enron scandal, the publicly traded Transmile Group Bhd, whose chairman was former MCA President and Cabinet Minister Ling Liong Sik, was caught having overstated its revenue by RM530 million. A pretax profit from Rm207 million in 2006 was actually a loss of RM126 million, and a pretax profit of 120 million in 2005 was a loss of RM77 million, causing the government postal company Pos Malaysia & Services Holdings Bhd to warn that its earnings for the 2006 financial year might be affected by the reported overstatement, as the postal group owned 15.3 percent of Transmile.

Over the years 2001 to 2006, the government had to spend billions to rescue seven privatized projects including Kuala Lumpur’s two public transport systems, the perennially ailing Malaysia Airlines, the national sewage system and a variety of others that, in the words of one study, “had been privatized prematurely.” The government also repeatedly bailed out highway construction concessionaires, all of them closely connected to UMNO, to the tune of another RM38.5 billion.

In 2008, it was revealed that Rafidah Aziz, who had served as trade and industry minister for 18 years, had been peddling approved permits for duty-free car sales and allegedly lining her pockets. Two companies which didn’t even have showrooms – one of which belonged to the husband of Rafidah’s niece – received scores of permits. Although Rafidah came in for heavy criticism from within UMNO, she remained in office until she was defeated in party elections.

In the 1960s, federal prosecutors in the United States who were attempting to jail the late labor boss Jimmy Hoffa for looting the Teamsters Pension Fund of millions of dollars with his cronies were puzzled by the fact that their revelations appeared to have little effect on the union’s rank and file. It was because no matter how much money Hoffa and his cronies stole, there was always money left because the fund was so rich. That appears to be the case with Malaysia.

[Via http://dinmerican.wordpress.com]

Climate Czar Ignores Contrary Facts

Just like most hard core Progressives, Obama’s climate czar, Carol Martha Browner, is plugging her ears and covering her eyes to the evidence that the International Panel on Climate Change has engaged in a cover up to hide evidence that man made global warming is a hoax.

Ms. Browner said, “”I’m sticking with the 2,500 scientists. These people have been studying this issue for a very long time and agree this problem is real,” totally ignoring the 31,486 scientists who signed a petition denouncing man made global warming. In other words, she will acknowledge the smaller group of scientists with whom she agrees and ignore the majority with whom she disagrees. Typical Progressive.

Ms. Browner also stated the only people who doubt man made global warming are, “a very small group of people who continue to say this isn’t a real problem, that we don’t need to do anything.” That “very small” group is more than 10 times as many scientists as are in the group Ms. Browner believes.

“The science is settled” is a lie. It is far from settled. But science isn’t the motivating factor for believers, they are motivated by lust for power. They simply want a control mechanism to use to further their own power hungry desires, and Cap and Trade is that mechanism.

[Via http://theconservativebiker.wordpress.com]

Turkey can expect rapid economic recovery, says finance minster

Turkey’s finance minister says there is every sign Turkey’s economy is bouncing back.

Commenting at the 2nd Gold Summit in Istanbul, Mehmet Simsek predicted the economy will recover rapidly from the global economic crisis. “There are already several indications of recovery,” he said.

“In the past one or two months, there have been strong indications in both Turkey and the rest of the world that the markets are recovering. Especially in Europe, the developments are rather positive. In Turkey, export volume is experiencing minor growth and there is an increase also in the number of new enterprises.”

The banking sector, a crucial part of economic recovery, was in a healthy state before the economic crisis and was therefore dealt a lighter blow than the banking sectors of many other countries.

Simsek said Turkey is experiencing its lowest-ever inflation rate, and its low interest rates are helping growth in loans. “I expect the economy to recover from the crisis in the near future and this recovery will be permanent because the foundations of the economy are solid.”

[Via http://whypurchasepropertyinturkey.wordpress.com]

The struggle for the heart of Marx. By Amy Leather

Via: Socialist Worker.

Workers’ battles must be at the centre of our understanding of Karl Marx’s theories if we are to realise his hope for revolution, writes Amy Leather.

Karl Marx’s ideas have seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years. Most mainstream commentators, however, concentrate on Marx’s economic theories and tend to ignore the other fundamental aspect of his politics – his belief in the ability of the working class to liberate itself.

Capitalism was still in its infancy when Marx was writing in the mid-18th century onwards. Marx was impressed by the way capitalism transformed the way things were produced and the wealth it could create. But he was appalled at the immense human misery the system created.

Marx saw that capitalism was characterised by two key divisions. The first is between different groups of capitalists locked into competition with each other as they attempt to make greater profits than their rivals.

The second division is between the ruling class – the bourgeoisie of capitalists – and the working class, which Marx referred to as the proletariat.

The tiny minority who own all the workplaces exploit the vast majority who have no other option but to sell their ability to work.

This exploitation, Marx argued, is the source of the capitalist’s profits.

On the surface the working class today looks very different from that of Marx’s time. Then, factory workers and domestic servants made up much of the working class. But capitalism has constantly transformed the old ways of working.

The working class now includes people who work in offices and call centres, as well as those in hospitals, refuse depots, the post and public transport.

Exploited

Most academics and commentators tell us that notions of class are outdated, or that rising standards of living mean that we are all middle class now.

These assumptions rest on the idea that class is self-defined and marked by patterns of consumption.

But Marx did not share this view. For him class was a social relationship that could be reduced to a simple question – do you own the means of producing wealth in society or do you have to go and work for someone else?

Or, even more simply, are you an exploiter or one of the exploited?

Marx was not alone in being horrified by the horrendous conditions that workers had to endure. Other socialists were similarly outraged.

But their solutions were either to appeal to the capitalists to bring about change, or to look to some form of charitable work among the poor.

In contrast Marx emphasised workers “self emancipation”. He argued that despite being the most exploited class, workers occupy a unique position in society because they create the profits that are crucial to capitalism. The system cannot function without them.

What’s more, bosses have to bring together those they exploit in large numbers – as in a factory or office – in order to extract profits from them.

This means that the working class is concentrated in workplaces where the battle over pay and conditions can only be won by collective struggle, such as strikes, protests and occupations.

Under certain conditions this fight can spill over into a more general battle against capitalism itself.

This is why Marx referred to workers as the “gravediggers” of capitalism. Their position means they have the potential to overturn capitalism and transform society.

But there’s a problem. Workers may be the majority, and have enormous potential power, but that doesn’t mean they always feel revolutionary. The reality of life for most people means that they feel the opposite to powerful.

What’s more, many workers accept some or all of the ruling class’s ideas about how the world is organised.

Even if they don’t like certain aspects of the system, most people believe that the dog-eat-dog competition of capitalism reflects human nature and is therefore the only way to run society.

The institutions of capitalist society – the schools, colleges and media – reinforce this idea.

And many workers buy into one or another of the nasty and divisive ideas propagated by the ruling class.

The capitalists use racist, sexist and homophobic ideas to divide the working class.

So how can workers go from being a class that has potential power to being a class that is conscious of its own interests and has the confidence to fight collectively?

In short, how does the working class become a revolutionary force?

Marx grappled with this question. His response again differentiated him from other socialists of his time – many of them were happy to dismiss workers’ struggles as being concerned with economic rather than political issues.

In contrast, Marx thought every struggle should be welcomed. For him, it was only through such action that the working class could become united, start to identify its common interests and constitute itself as a class “for itself” – fighting for its own interests.

Marx could see that what may begin as a fight over a purely economic issue, such as a strike over wages, could quickly become something more political.

The very act of taking action together helps break down divisions among workers, starting with those in the same workplace. Marx noted how “large-scale industry concentrates in one place a crowd of people unknown to one another”. This is even more the case today.

In the mega-offices, call centres and factories of the 21st century, it is likely that you know few people beyond your immediate workmates.

But anyone who has been on strike will tell you stories of new friendships forged, and of how a picket line can give you the opportunity to get to know the people from the “other side of the office”.

What’s more, the need for unity raised by strikes force people to overcome some of the divisions that may have existed previously.

Fighting back in this way does more than unite workers. As Marx points out, “The capitalists in their turn unite for the purpose of repression.”

Whether it’s the threat of the police to break up a picket line, the use of the media to vilify strikers, or government ministers denouncing strikes, the ruling class stands together against any threat of mass action by workers.

This can raise the stakes in any struggle, making it far more political than it may have been when it started.

The process can be seen in the recent post strikes, which highlighted the government’s backing of the bosses, the media’s portrayal of workers as lazy and managers’ routine bullying. It also showed, crucially, the need for strikers to appeal to other workers for solidarity.

In this way, being on strike can push many to question the priorities of the system as a whole.

That’s why, for Marx, it is in the struggle that the “mass becomes united and constitutes itself as a class for itself. The interests it defends become class interests.”

Ultimately, “the antagonism between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie is a struggle of class against class, a struggle which carried to its highest expression is a total revolution”.

Experience

Every struggle throws up a battle of ideas. The experience of fighting back can lead many to challenge previously held views – but the conclusions drawn are not predetermined.

Reactionary right wing views can flourish even in the heat of struggle.

For example, earlier this year construction workers walked out under the slogan of “British jobs for British workers” – a divisive slogan that any decent socialist would take issue with.

That is one of the reasons why as well as continually stressing the need “for the self emancipation of the working class”, Marx also believed that socialists need to be organised.

He thought that they could play a decisive role at crucial points by promoting the best ideas and arguing against the worst.

Marx was himself an active revolutionary, and threw himself into the struggles of his day.

He felt that socialists should stand together with workers in their battles, where they would be most open to ideas of revolution and socialism.

Every strike and struggle by workers shows the working class’s potential to transform itself into a class capable of overthrowing capitalism.

[Via http://kanan48.wordpress.com]

physics weighs on climate

“The study – which is based on the concept that physics can be used to characterize the evolution of civilization – indicates:

• Energy conservation or efficiency doesn’t really save energy, but instead spurs economic growth and accelerated energy consumption.

• Throughout history, a simple physical “constant” – an unchanging mathematical value – links global energy use to the world’s accumulated economic productivity, adjusted for inflation. So it isn’t necessary to consider population growth and standard of living in predicting society’s future energy consumption and resulting carbon dioxide emissions.

• “Stabilization of carbon dioxide emissions at current rates will require approximately 300 gigawatts of new non-carbon-dioxide-emitting power production capacity annually – approximately one new nuclear power plant (or equivalent) per day,” Garrett says. “Physically, there are no other options without killing the economy.”

……

Garrett says his study’s key finding “is that accumulated economic production over the course of history has been tied to the rate of energy consumption at a global level through a constant factor.”

That “constant” is 9.7 (plus or minus 0.3) milliwatts per inflation-adjusted 1990 dollar. So if you look at economic and energy production at any specific time in history, “each inflation-adjusted 1990 dollar would be supported by 9.7 milliwatts of primary energy consumption,” Garrett says.

……

“Viewed from this perspective, civilization evolves in a spontaneous feedback loop maintained only by energy consumption and incorporation of environmental matter,” Garrett says. It is like a child that “grows by consuming food, and when the child grows, it is able to consume more food, which enables it to grow more.”

…..

He says the idea that resource conservation accelerates resource consumption – known as Jevons paradox – was proposed in the 1865 book “The Coal Question” by William Stanley Jevons, who noted that coal prices fell and coal consumption soared after improvements in steam engine efficiency.

…….

Garrett says often-discussed strategies for slowing carbon dioxide emissions and global warming include mention increased energy efficiency, reduced population growth and a switch to power sources that don’t emit carbon dioxide, including nuclear, wind and solar energy and underground storage of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel burning. Another strategy is rarely mentioned: a decreased standard of living, which would occur if energy supplies ran short and the economy collapsed, he adds.

“Fundamentally, I believe the system is deterministic,” says Garrett. “Changes in population and standard of living are only a function of the current energy efficiency. That leaves only switching to a non-carbon-dioxide-emitting power source as an available option.”

—–

full article from this mash-up

interesting that by taking a physics perspective, he steps outside the bounds of the normal view of climate change and its relation to the economy. we are always assuming that certain parts of our equations are true, leaving no room for fundamentally shaking our ideation of change and limiting what we have to work with.istead of reworking things form ground up, we always get stuck tweaking.

its the economy stupid. through and through. but what does that really mean…?

[Via http://shredsomething.wordpress.com]

Just Stare at the Commodities...Much Happier Than the Truth

Decline of the Dollar

Nov. 23 (Bloomberg) – Stocks rose around the world and the dollar and the yen fell as sales of U.S. homes increased more than forecast and speculation grew that central banks will keep interest rates near record lows.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rallied 1.4 percent to 1,106.24 at 4:07 p.m. in New York and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed to a 13-month high. Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index jumped 2 percent, its best gain in six weeks. Copper surged to a 14-month high and gold reached a record as the Dollar Index fell for the first time in three days.

Sales of existing U.S. homes increased 10 percent in October to the highest level since February 2007, National Association of Realtors data showed today. Economic reports this week will show rising export orders in Taiwan and South Korea, according to Bloomberg News surveys of economists’ forecasts.

“What may be perceived as strength in commodities or equity prices can just as easily be seen as weakness in the value of the dollar,” said Kevin Caron, a market strategist in Florham Park, New Jersey, at Stifel Nicolaus & Co., which manages about $98 billion in client assets. “What you’re seeing is an unprecedented array of government and taxpayer funded efforts to revive the economy, and they’re doing it, in the United States of course, at the expense of the dollar.”

Global stocks also advanced, and the dollar weakened, amid speculation the Federal Reserve will keep borrowing costs near record low levels. Charles Evans, president of the Fed Bank of Chicago, told the Financial Times that U.S. interest rates may stay near zero until “late 2010, perhaps later.”

‘Some Comfort’

Evans’s comment “is going to provide the market with some comfort in the near term, allow asset markets and higher-risk markets to continue to move higher,” Ian Stannard, a foreign- exchange strategist in London at BNP Paribas SA, said today in a Bloomberg Television interview. That “will keep the dollar under pressure for the time being,” he said.

All 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 advanced, led by technology, telephone and financial companies. Deere & Co. and Schlumberger Ltd. rallied 2 percent as analysts advised buying the shares. Verizon Communications Inc., AT&T Inc., General Electric Co. and Chevron Corp. climbed more than 2.5 percent to lead the Dow average up 132.79 points, or 1.3 percent, to 10,450.95.

The MSCI World Index of 23 developed nations added 1.7 percent, its biggest gain in two weeks. BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, and Rio Tinto Group rallied at least 3.5 percent in London. Renault SA, Europe’s second-biggest automaker, increased 3.8 percent in Paris after Credit Suisse Group AG advised buying the shares.

Asia Advances

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.7 percent. China Construction Bank Corp., the nation’s second-biggest lender, gained 4.1 percent in Hong Kong after Zhang Ping, chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, said China will favor “consistent, stable” policies on the economy. James Hardie Industries NV, the top seller of home siding in the U.S., surged 6.4 percent in Sydney after forecasting earnings at the top end of its range.

Copper for March delivery rose 0.9 percent to $3.162 a pound in New York and climbed as high as $3.204. Nickel, zinc and tin also gained. Gold futures touched a record $1,174 an ounce in New York as the slumping dollar boosted bullion’s appeal as an alternative asset.

Crude oil was little changed after failing to break through resistance at $80 a barrel.

Dollar, Yen Weaken

The U.S. dollar and yen dropped versus major counterparts as stocks advanced, spurring demand for riskier assets. The Dollar Index, which IntercontinentalExchange Inc. uses to track the greenback against the currencies of six major U.S. trading partners, decreased 0.7 percent to 75.110. It slid to 74.679 on Nov. 16, the lowest level since August 2008.

South Africa’s rand was the biggest winner versus the yen and dollar among the major currencies tracked by Bloomberg as the gain in stocks encouraged carry trades, in which investors buy higher-yielding assets with amounts borrowed in nations with low interest rates. The rand strengthened 1.6 percent against the yen and 1.5 percent against the dollar.

Treasuries were little changed after the U.S. sold a record-tying $44 billion of two-year debt at the lowest yield ever, the first of three note sales this week totaling a record $118 billion. The U.S. will sell $42 billion of five-year securities tomorrow and $32 billion of seven-year debt in two days. The yield on the current two-year note traded at 0.73 percent.

Policy Makers

James Bullard, the St. Louis Fed president, said he favors the U.S. central bank seeking authority to continue buying mortgage-backed bonds after the first quarter of next year to bolster bank liquidity. International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn told a Confederation of British Industry conference that “we don’t see a high probability of a double dip,” in the global economy, though avoiding that outcome isn’t “a done deal.”

Developing-nation stocks rose, led by shares in Hungary and Poland, as the MSCI Emerging Markets Index climbed 1.3 percent, its biggest gain in a week. OTP Bank Nyrt., Hungary’s largest lender, rallied 4.7 percent after the central bank cut the benchmark interest rate to the lowest in more than three years. The Czech koruna, Polish zloty and Hungarian forint all climbed at least 0.8 percent against the dollar.

Mexico’s Bolsa Index gained 1.5 percent even after Fitch Ratings downgraded the nation’s foreign-currency rating to BBB from BBB+, saying the recession has “accentuated weakness” in the country’s fiscal profile.

Russia, Israel

The Micex Index of stocks in Russia, the world’s biggest energy-exporting economy, increased 1.6 percent to the highest value since Nov. 18.

The Tel Aviv 25 Index climbed 1 percent before the Bank of Israel unexpectedly raised the benchmark interest rate for a second time since the global economy began to recover as growth accelerated and inflation approached the top of the government’s target range.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index increased 1.6 percent, the biggest gain in a week. The benchmark rebounded from a 2.6 percent decline yesterday after the emirate’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed Bin RashidAl Maktoum, fired a senior aide and removed three others.

For the first time since the equity rally began in March, the biggest U.S. stocks are beating the smallest as the dollar’s descent sends investors to companies with the most business in international markets.

Large Caps Outperform

The Dow Jones Industrial Average of companies with $111.4 billion in median market value rose 6.2 percent this quarter through last week, compared with the 2.6 percent loss by the Standard & Poor’s SmallCap 600 Index, whose members are worth $572.3 million on average. The Dow had trailed by 26 percentage points following the stock market’s low on March 9.

A benchmark gauge of corporate credit risk in the U.S. fell for the first time in three days as stocks gained.

Credit-default swaps on the Markit CDX North America Investment-Grade Index Series 13, which is linked to 125 companies and used to speculate on creditworthiness or to hedge against losses, fell one basis point to 102 basis points as of 3:54 p.m. in New York, according to broker Phoenix Partners Group. The swaps typically fall as investor confidence improves.

Borrowers have sold a record $1.171 trillion in U.S. corporate bonds in 2009, surpassing the amount sold in 2007, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Sales of investment-grade and high-yield, high-risk debt compare with the more than $1.167 trillion that companies sold in all of 2007, a record year for corporate bond issuance, Bloomberg data show.

To contact the reporters on this story: Michael P. Regan in New York at mregan12@bloomberg.net; Stuart Wallace in London at swallace6@bloomberg.net

[Via http://empathynotapathy.wordpress.com]

Be the president of your own personal services corporation

In the world of work, you will always be paid in direct proportion to three things, says Brian Tracy in ‘Something for Nothing’ (www.jaicobooks.com ). “First, the work you do; second, how well you do it; and third, the difficulty of replacing you.”

The key to your future, therefore, is to choose the right job for your special talents and skills, become very good at doing that job, and then make yourself indispensable, he explains. To earn in the current, continually changing marketplace, each person is responsible for regularly upgrading the skill-set, the author advises.

We create our own jobs, no one can make another person more productive, he avers. “A company can only create an environment where a productive person can utilise more of his potential to contribute value. But the individual is always personally responsible for his level of production and the amount he earns or fails to earn.”

From the day you take your first job until the day you retire, no matter who signs your paycheque, you are the president of your own entrepreneurial business, selling your services into a competitive market, urges Tracy. “As the president of your own personal services corporation, you are totally responsible for training and development, productivity and quality control, personal promotion, and financial management.”

The book looks at the common craving of ‘something for nothing’ as an obsession with free money, a virus that can destroy the economy. When people strive to get rewards without working, riches without contribution, recognition without achievement, or power without service, they are manifesting the dark side of greed, the author rues.

On the other hand, “when the entrepreneurial and creative energies of people motivated by greed are directed and channelled into productive activities, greed becomes a powerful and positive social good. It drives people to innovate and create newer, better, faster, and cheaper ways to provide products and services for others.”

A blunt point from Tracy is that people at work generally like to take it easy. He bemoans the fact that once a person has a job and feels relatively secure in that job, what happens is a movement up the hierarchy of needs to comfort and leisure, with the employee doing everything possible to enjoy more comfort and leisure at work.

The book cites an alarming finding of Robert Half International, that fully 50 per cent of working time today is wasted, mostly in idle chitchat with co-workers, personal business, and extended coffee and lunch breaks.

“The average workweek in America today is 32 hours, even though most people are paid for 40 hours. Not only is much of that time wasted, but the time when the employee is actually working is often spent on low-priority tasks that contribute limited value to the employer.”

In a chapter titled ‘welfare, entitlements, and society’ the author differentiates between short- and long-term approaches to benevolence. The former is about taking money away from people who have earned it and giving it immediately to people who need it at the moment, whether or not this robs them of their self-esteem and makes them dependent on government in the long-term, explains Tracy.

In contrast, the long-term approach to benevolence believes that the best welfare programme is a good job. “The best citizen is a proud, independent, self-reliant person who is in control of his own life. People who think long-term do everything possible to encourage a vibrant business system that creates jobs, growth, hope, and opportunity for more people.”

[Via http://newshyderabad.wordpress.com]

View of US Economy by Investment Analyst.

Marc Faber comment on US economy – TOO GOOD

Investment analyst and entrepreneur Dr. Marc Faber concluded his monthly bulletin (June 2008) with the Following:

”The federal government is sending each of us a $600 rebate. If we spend that money at Wal-Mart, the money goes to China. If we spend it on gasoline it goes to the Arabs. If we buy a computer it will go to India. If we purchase fruit and vegetables it will go to Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala. If we purchase a good car it will go to Germany. If we purchase useless crap it will go to Taiwan and none of it will help the American economy. The only way to keep that money here at home is to spend it on prostitutes and beer, since these are the only products still produced in US. I’ve been doing my part.’

[Via http://ramanan50.wordpress.com]

Stocks dip as investors weigh recovery bets

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks fell for third straight day on Friday as investors took weaker-than-expected results from computer maker Dell and homebuilder D.R. Horton as a further sign that the recovery would be anemic.

Following the S&P 500's gain of more than 60 percent from its 12-year closing low of March 9, investors were more sensitive to signs of weakness as they sought to justify lofty shares valuations.

The news of a 54 percent slide in Dell's quarterly profit rounded off a rocky week for the technology sector, which since the start of the market's run-up in March has been a darling as investors bet on a strong recovery that would spur corporate and consumer spending.

"While it appears to us that the recession is over, there are a lot of lingering signs of pain on Main Street," said Sasha Kostadinov, portfolio manager and research analyst at Shaker Investments in Cleveland, Ohio. "The unemployment is very high, lots of people out of work and that is still causing significant stress."

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) dropped 19.57 points, or 0.19 percent, to 10,312.87. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) fell 4.44 points, or 0.41 percent, to 1,090.46. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) shed 13.39 points, or 0.62 percent, to 2,143.43.

Trading was choppy with the monthly expiration of November options on Friday.

A rebound in the U low cost payday loans.S. dollar pressured prices of global commodities, including crude. Energy stocks were hurt, such as Chevron Corp (CVX.N), which fell nearly 1 percent to $76.59.

Even so, the Dow's losses were curbed by buying of defensive stocks, or shares of companies seen better able to withstand an uncertain economy. Coca-Cola Co (KO.N) was up 1.3 percent and drug company Merck & Co (MRK.N) rose 3.7 percent to $36.64.

Dow component General Electric Co (GE.N) and Vivendi SA (VIV.PA) were at least $1 billion apart in their valuation of Vivendi's stake in NBC Universal, the Financial Times reported, dampening hopes of a swift sale.

GE shares shed 1.3 percent to $15.56.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) declined 1.1 percent to $170.98 after the Wall Street Journal reported large shareholders have asked the investment bank — on track to award employees the biggest bonuses in its history — to pass more profits to investors. A Goldman spokesman said major shareholders had not contacted the company about lowering its bonus pool.

The S&P 500 is up 61.2 percent from the 12-year closing low of March 9 but was on track to halt a two-week winning streak on Friday.

(Editing by Kenneth Barry)

Stocks dip as investors weigh recovery bets

The Amirsham NEAC is tasked to propose "structural changes to the economy"

November 21, 2009

www.nst.com.my

Forging Malaysia’s New Economic Model

by Tan Sri Amirsham A. Aziz

NEAC Chairman Amirsham A. Aziz

SINCE the announcement by the Prime Minister on the expected unveiling of the new economic model at year’s end, public expectations have been heightened on its anticipated shape and form.

As the chairman of the National Economic Advisory Council, I have been asked regularly why the work pace and the public engagement of the council is different from our so-called predecessor, the National Economic Action Council (I will refer to it as the “Action Council”) which was created to counter the Asian financial crisis. My response is: we may share the same acronym, but that is where the similarities end. Our tasks, objectives and background are vastly different.

Firstly, the economic environment in which we operate today is starkly different from the crisis atmosphere a decade ago. At that time, our financial institutions were on the brink of collapse. The ringgit fluctuated wildly, occasionally taking deep unpredictable plunges. On top of that, foreign capital was withdrawn abruptly while non-performing loans soared. The resulting erosion of the nation’s wealth plunged the country into a state of crisis. In response, the government had to come up with policy prescriptions almost overnight to slow down or soften the impact of the fast deteriorating economic situation. The Action Council was specially created to “fire-fight” the crisis on a daily basis.

The post-Asian crisis period has seen slower economic output growth in Malaysia. The current global financial crisis has further impeded our ability to reach our target of being a developed nation as envisioned by Vision 2020. The Advisory Council was set up in response to this concern. Our task involves proposing structural changes to the economy. Our inputs have already been included in the 2010 Budget, which marks the beginning of our nation’s move towards a high-income economy. And this will continue with the next two Malaysia Plans covering the next 10 years.
I believe that the mindset challenges we face today are totally different from the crisis of confidence which engulfed our psyche a decade ago. The fact that the country has escaped much of the subprime and credit crunch crisis has resulted in a sense of apathy and complacency creeping in. Many do not appear to realise we are lagging behind some of the emerging economies.

In other words, there is an absence of a compelling need for change. Assessing where we are and proposing the way forward is not a process we can achieve overnight. It involves significant stock-taking, dialogue, analyses and post-mortems of why past policy prescriptions succeeded and others did not. This transformation process involves instituting broad policy and institutional reforms, and changing our mindset and the way we do business.

To date, the Advisory Council has been actively engaging members from the private sector, think tanks, NGOs as well as a broad range of opinion leaders — albeit in a lower profile — as we want our stakeholders to give us honest and frank input. Perhaps this deliberate low-profile dialogue strategy has inadvertently given the impression that we have not solicited advice from our external stakeholders. It is important to get a diverse stream of ideas as we debate the form and shape of the new economic model. In my opinion, what the Prime Minister wants is an honest appraisal of where we are today, where we go from here, and, most importantly, how we get there.

The next scheduled meeting of council members will be held in December. In between, the Advisory Council Secretariat has been working with council members to draw up the interim report of the economic transformational blueprint, which will then be submitted to the prime minister by year’s end. Even with this process completed, it only spells the beginning. The Advisory Council welcomes a vigorous and healthy debate on our proposals in the months ahead.

Our stakeholders’ expectations are high. My council colleagues and I are fully aware of this, and we have an obligation to ensure that the proposals we submit can withstand the expected public scrutiny. We do not take responsibilities lightly. Equally important, we want to do it right.

Tan Sri Amirsham A. Aziz is chairman of the National Economic Advisory Council

 

Obama Warns About "Double Dip" Recession

The President is supposed to talk about how much the economy is improving, not how bad it could be. Mr. Obama broke with the approach by saying that “It is important though to recognise if we keep on adding to the debt, even in the midst of this recovery, that at some point, people could lose confidence in the US economy in a double-dip recession,” according to the FT.

What the President did not say is that the national debt is not the only threat to the economy.

The national debt is already causing a large part of the federal budget to go to debt service. Treasury borrowing is expected to increase for several years as the US tries to pay off the cost of pulling itself out of recession. The early numbers for an improved deficit are not encouraging. The government has done well sticking to its plans for spending. The receipts from taxes for both individuals and corporations have been weaker than forecast which should not be startling given the state of the economy.

The number of options open to the Administration for bringing down the deficit is extremely limited. Almost all of choices involve sharp cuts in government spending or sharp increases in taxes. Each of those paths carries the threat that the back of the modest recovery will be broken by too little stimulus or a tax burden that will undermine consumer and corporate spending.

The public is not going to take any comfort in the President talking about another economic downturn, but it is a sign that the chances of second recession are rising rapidly.

Douglas A. McIntyre

යැපෙන්නෝ | The Dependents

සති කිහිපයකට ඉහත ලේඛකයාගේ දුර ඥාතියෙක් මිය ගියේය. කිලෝමීටරවලින් පමණක් නොව සියළු ආකාරයෙන්ගෙන් කොළඹින් බොහෝ ඈත, දකුණු පළාතේ පිටිසර ගම්මානයක විසූ, ‘අමරසේකර මාමා/සීයා’ ලෙස හඳුන්වනු ලැබූ මේ ඥාතියා ලේඛකයා සමඟ හෝ ඔහුගේ පවුල සමඟ කිට්ටු සම්බන්ධතාවයක් පවත්වා ගත්තකු නොවේ. මේ ඥාතියා දුප්පත්ය. ඔහු තමන්ගේ හා බිරිඳගේ කුස පුරවා ගත්තේ කුලී වැඩ කිරීමෙන් ලද සීමිත ආදායමිනි. එතකුදු වුවත් ඔහු නොවේ අනුන්ට අතපාන්නට කැමති වූයේ, කරදරයකදීවත්. අළුත් අවුරුද්දට හෝ මුදලක් ඔහු අත තබනු හැකිවූයේ පෙරැත්තයකින් පසුය. ලද පමණින් සතුටු වීමට හැකිවීම උත්තම ගුණාංගයක් නම් ඔහු උතුම් මිනිසකු විය.

මේ ඥාතියාගේ අභාවයෙන් පසු එතෙක් කිසිවකු නොසිතූ තත්වයක් උද්ගත වූයේය. ඔහුගේ බිරියගේ යැපීම සඳහා ආදායම් මාර්ගයක් නොමැති බව කාටක් පසක් වූයේ හත්දොහේ දානය දුන්නාට පසුවය. (ඔවුනට දරුවෝ නොවූහ.) ඇය ජීවිතයේ කිසිදිනෙක රැකියාවක්, අඩු තරමේ ස්වයං රැකියාවක් හෝ කර නොතිබුණාය. සැමියාගේ ඉපැයීම් ඇගේ එකම ආදායම් මාර්ගය විය. කුඩා ගෙපැලක් ඉදිකර තිබුණාට අමතරව, ඔහු සතු ඉතිරිකිරීම් කිසිවක් වීය නොසිතමි. (අමාරුවෙන් එදා වේල සරි කර ගන්නා මිනිසුන්ට ඉතිරිකිරීම් සිහිනයක් පමණකි.) වයස අවුරුදු පනස් පහක මේ දිළිඳු නූගත් කාන්තාවට කවර ලෙසකින් නම් දිවි සුරැකීම පිණිස රැකියාවක් සොයා ගත හැක්කේද?

ඇයට හිමි එකම ඉරණම තම ස්වාමි පුරුෂයා අභිමානයෙන් පිළිකෙව් කළ අනුන්ට අතපා ජීවත්වීමේ මාර්ගයට අවතීර්ණ වීම පමණකි. කිසි ලෙසක ‘පොහොසත්’ යන විශේෂණය භාවිතා කොට විස්තර කළ නොහැකි ඇගේ ඥාතීන්ට එය අමතර බරක් වෙයි. දැන් ඔවුන්ට කරන්නට සිදුව ඇති කැපවීම අළුත් අවුරුද්දට දාහේ නෝට්ටුවක් හෝ සීයේ නෝට්ටු කිහිපයක් අතමිට මොළවනවාට කිහිප ගුණයෙකින් වැඩිය. වයස අවුරුදු පනස් පහක මහළු කාන්තාවකට අවශ්‍ය කුසට අහර පමණක් නොවේ. ඇගේ ඖෂධ සඳහාද මාසයකට නියමිත මිලක් වේ. මින් යම් කොටසක් රජයේ රෝහලින් නොමිළේ ලැබුනද ඊට යාමට පවා බස් වියදම් දැරුව මනාය. ඊට අමතරව ඈ ගිලන් වන කල්හි තනි නොතනියට කිසිවකු රඳවා තැබිය යුතු වේ. මේ සියල්ල මූල්‍යමය වටිනාකම් වලට පරිවර්තනය වන්නේය. ඒ දැරිය යුත්තේ ඥාතීන්ය. තමන්ගේද, තම දෙමාපියන්ගේද, තම දරුවන්ගේද, කුස පිරවිය යුතු, ලෙඩට බෙහෙත් ගත යුතු, කප්පරක් අමතර අවශ්‍යතාවලට උරදිය යුතු ඥාතීන්ය. ඒ තමන් දවසේ පැය අටක් දහයක් කඹුරා, ඉන්පසු තවත් පැය දෙක තුනක් බස්රියට දුම්රියට වියදම් කොට දුෂ්කර ක්‍රියා කොට උපයන සොච්චමිනි. ටික කලකට නොව අවම ලෙස තව වසර පහළොවක් විස්සක් ඔවුන් මේ බර ඇදිය යුතු වේ. මෙසේ පැවසීම අනුකම්පාවිරහිත කුරිරුකමකැයි කෙනකුට පෙනී යා හැකිය. එහෙත් ඒ වගකීම දරන්නට සිදු වන්නන්ට එය කිසි ලෙසකින්වත් ප්‍රසන්න කටයුත්තක් නොවේ. ඔවුන් මේ සමාජ කටයුත්ත කළ යුතු වන්නේ තමන්ගේ දහසකුත් එකක් සිහින ඊට යට කරමිනි. සමාජවාදය දේශනාවට වඩා භාවිතය ඉතා අසීරුය.

මේ හුදෙකලා ප්‍රශ්නයකැයි නොසිතමි. අද යම් රැකියාවකින් මුදලක් උපයන හැම කෙනකුටම පාහේ තම ආසන්නතම පවුලට (immediate family) අමතරව තව කටවල් කිහිපයකට ආහාර සොයන්නට සිදුවීම සාමාන්‍ය සිද්ධියකි. සමහරවිට ඒ මහළු දෙමාපියන් විය හැකිය. (රජයේ විශ්‍රාම වැටුපක් කියා එකක් තිබුණාට, අපේ රටේ විශ්‍රාමිකයන්ගෙන් 90%ක්ම ලබන්නේ රුපියල් 3,000ට අඩු මාසික ආදායමකි. මේ නිසා අති බහුතරයක් විශ්‍රාමිකයන්ට අනිවාර්යයෙන් අනුන්ගෙන් යැපීමට සිදුවේ. දරුවන් සෙවනෙහි සිටිය යුතු දෙමාපියන්ගෙන් මහළු නිවාස පිරී යන්නේද එනිසා විය යුතුය.) සමහරවිට ලේඛකයාට මෙන් දුර ඥාතීන්ය. සමහරවිට ආබාධිත දරුවන්, සහෝදරයන්ය. තම ලේ නෑයින්ගේ නැති බැරිකමට පිහිටක් නොවී ස්වාර්ථය සලසා ගත හැක්කේ අප අතුරින් ඉතාම ආත්මාර්ථකාමී සුළු කොටසකට පමණකැය සිතමි.

තනිව නැඟීමට පවා අසීරු කඳු ගැටයක් වන ජීවිතය තවත් කෙනකු උසුළාගෙන කෙලෙස නම් තරණය කළ හැක්කේද?

අපේ රටේ මේ ගැටළුව තවදුරටත් උග්‍ර වීමට හේතුව දිනෙන් දින වයස්ගතවන ජනගහණයයි. වඩා දියුණු වූ සෞඛ්‍ය සේවාවන්හි පිළිසරණ ලබන ජනතාව දීර්ඝායු ලබති. එහෙත් යම් වයස් මට්ටමකදී, ආර්ථික හා සාමාජීය හේතූන් නිසා ඔවුන් ශ්‍රම බලකායෙන් ඉවත් කරනු ලබති. මෙහි නොවැලැක්විය හැකි ප්‍රතිඵලය රටේ වැඩකරන්නන්ට සාපේක්ෂව නොකරන්නගේ (යැපෙන්නන්ගේ) ප්‍රතිශතය ඉහළ යාමය. අඩු වයස නිසා ශ්‍රම බලකායට ඇතුළු කරගත් නොහෙන ළමුන්ද, ආර්ථික වශයෙන් සඵලදායී නොවන ශිෂ්‍යයන්ද ඊට එක්වූ විට යැපෙන්නන්ගේ ප්‍රතිශතය තවත් ඉහළ යයි. (වෙන රටවල මෙන් පාර්ට් ටයිම් ජොබ්ස්, සමර් ජොබ්ස් කර ආදායමක් උපයා ගන්නා සිරිතක් නැති අපේ රටේ බොහොමයක් තුන්වන වසර හතරවන වසර සරසවි ශිෂ්‍යයන්ගේ පවා බරපැණ දරන්නේ දිළිඳු දෙමාපියන්ය. ඔවුහුද කිසිම ලජ්ජාවකින් තොරව තම දෙමාපියන් දවස තිස්සේ කඹුරා උපයන මුදල තම පැවැත්මට පමණක් නොව පෙම්වතියට සුවඳ විලවුන් මිලට ගැනීමටද වැය කරති.)

මාක්ස්වාදියකු ලෙස හිතන පතන සමයේ ලේඛකයාට මේ සියල්ල ධනේශ්වර ක්‍රමයේ වැරදි ලෙස සිතා ලෙහෙසියෙන්ම හිත හදා ගැනීමට පුළුවන්කම තිබුණේය. ලෝකයේ සියළු ප්‍රශ්න ඇතිවන්නේ ධනපති ක්‍රමය විසින් පීඩිතයන් සූරාකන නිසාය යන්න ප්‍රායෝගික නොවුනද අතිශයින් සුන්දර සිතිවිල්ලකි. දුකට මුල පෙර භවයන්හි කළ කර්මය යැයි බෞද්ධයන්ගේ කල්පනාවට සමාන සොඳුරු සිතිවිල්ලකි ඒ. එයින් මේ සියල්ලන්ගෙන් අපට අත සෝදාගෙන ඉවත් වීමට හැකිවෙයි. ධනපති ක්‍රමය අපේ නිර්මාණයක් නොවන නිසාය. කවදාවත් ඇති නොවන බව දන්නා විප්ලවයක් මාර්ගයෙන් මේ සියළු ප්‍රශ්න දූරිභූත වේයැයි අප පැරැන්නන් දියසේන කුමාරයා ගැන තැබූ විශ්වාසයෙන්ම විශ්වාස කරන්නෝද වෙති. ලේඛකයාට ඇති ගැටළුව තව දුරටත් එවැනි රෝමෑන්තික සුරංගනා ලෝකයක ජීවත් වීමට ඇති නොහැකියාවය.

යැපෙන්නන්ගේ ගැටළුවට මුල (ඕනෑම අර්ථ ක්‍රමයකට පොදු) සූරාකෑම නොවේ. සූරාකෑම (exploitation) ගැන ගැටළුවක් මතුකළ හැක්කේ පවා මේ පිරිස ආර්ථික ක්‍රියාවලියෙහි කොටසක් නම්ය. එහෙත් මේ කිසිවෙක් ආර්ථික ක්‍රියාවලියෙහි කොටස්කරුවෝ නොවෙති. ඔවුන් විසින් කරනු ලබන කිසිම නිෂ්පාදනයක් නැත. ඔවුන් සමාජයට බරක් වන්නේද එනිසාය. මොන තරම් යහපත් ලෙස ආදායම් බෙදීයන අර්ථක්‍රමයක් නිර්මාණය කළද මොවුන්ට අනුන්ට බරක් වීමට සිදුවේ. බෙදී යනු ඇත්තේ අනුන් උපයන ආදායම්ය. න්‍යායාත්මක පූර්ණ කොමියුනිස්ට් ක්‍රමයක් තුළදී ඔවුන්ගේ බර ඥාතීන්ට නොව සමස්ත සමාජයට ඉසිළීමට සිදුවනු ඇත. එය කිසිසේත් ගැටළුවට විසඳුමක් නොවේ. චීනයේ සිදුවන්නට ඇත්තේ මෙයයැයි සිතමි. ග්‍රාමීය චීනය තවමත් අපටද වඩා දුප්පත් එනිසාය. තමන් රැකියාවක් නොකොට අනුන්ගේ යැපෙන්නන් විශාල ප්‍රතිශතයක් ඉන්නා ප්‍රජාවන්, කවර අර්ථ ක්‍රමයක් යටතේ වුව සඵලදායී (productive) නොවේ.

යැපෙන්නන් විසින් ඔවුනට පමණක් නොව සමස්ත සමාජයටම ඇති කරනු ලබන ගැටළුවට ලේඛකයා දකින්නේ එකම විසඳුමක් පමණකි. ඒ ඔවුන්ගෙන් කොටසක් වත්, පාර්ශ්විකව හෝ නිෂ්පාදන කාර්යයට දායක කර ගැනීමය. මෙය වසර හැට ඉක්මවූ කාන්තාවන් ගාමන්ට් ෆැක්ටරියක සේවයට යැවීමට අනුබල දීමක් සේ වරදවා තේරුම් නොගත යුතුය. එහෙත් ‘ආකාස කුසුම්’ හි සන්ධ්‍යා රාණි පැටිස් තනා වෙළඳපළට නිකුත් කර දිවි සරි කරගන්නවාක් සේ යැපෙන්නන්ද ආදායම් මාර්ග විවෘත කර ගැනීමට උත්සුක විය යුතුය. මේවා අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම කය වෙහෙසා කරන රැකියා විය යුතු නොවේ. දියුණු අර්ථක්‍රමයන්හි කය නොවෙහෙසා වුව, ආබාධිතයකුට වුව කළ හැකි රැකියා අවස්ථා වේ. රජයෙන් ඔවුන්ට ඒ සඳහා පහසුකම් ලැබෙන ආකාරයේ ප්‍රතිපත්ති සම්පාදනය විය යුතුය. එසේ නොවන්නේ නම් යැපෙන්නන් සමාජයට පමණක් නොව ඔවුනටද බරක් වීම නොවැළැක්විය හැක්කේය.

Global Weather

How can anyone write music on sinking Titanic? With ice shelfs ahead. Even the concentrated musicians know they are. They, too, want to save our most beautiful planet. To play music on sinking Titanic is the best thing to do, anyway. But not the only one.

The halfhearted EU climate package decisions in December 2008 proof that the old lobby forces are still stronger than the evidence of the species’ interest in major political change. We are still not loud enough to shout up to the captain’s brigde that they’d better watch out where they’re driving that luxurious steamboat. Check this video.

When everyday business keeps us in the machine rooms at the bottom of Titanic, the choir for change can’t be heard. The election of Obama changed the feeling. He seems to stand for migrating benevolent philantropic humans. He’s on the captain’s bridge of one shipwrecked country, but still influential. If he doesn’t succeed, at least he showed us how to get there…

Everybody sooner or later will be forced to find the natural balance of expenses and gains. Convenience isn’t necessarily an acquisition. Why drive when you could walk for half an hour? It’s such a luxurious state for the body to walk for half an hour. We have to reset our values. No other choice. But it’s worth it, anyway. Whoever playfully tried to omit convenience that doesn’t make happy, knows the stunning result: only very selected convenience wants to be sustained from this perspective.

That’s on the “private” side. Climate Policy will be the most decisive realm of politics in the next months and years. Check out this Climate Policy Library with a lot of serious material, instructive links and hopefully some constructive interactive discussion about the priorities of our time.

You can find a report I wrote about Climate Policy in Times of Financial Crisis.

- For a collection of climate change links click here or go to the 5th Category to your right. -

BRAC = 10,000 new jobs for Dayton/Springfield region

10,000 new jobs coming to Springfield/Dayton region

I gave a speech last week on the job outlook for Springfield to a community group.  One of the things I talked about was the replacement of manufacturing by the military as far as new job opportunities, a seismic shift from a decade or two ago.  This slide presentation put together by Joe Zeis talks about the impact of BRAC as well as where it came from.  Among other things, the presentation identifies the following areas of job growth resulting from the closure of activities at Brooks City Base in San Antonio, Texas and a base in Mesa, Arizona:

• 1200 direct jobs in the Aerospace Medical field
• 3000 total new jobs  related to the Human Performance Wing
• 700 IT jobs
• 1000 jobs in the intelligence and education areas
• 250 new jobs in the sensors area
• 10,000 total new job impact
• $335 million in new construction

It’s important to note that less than 15% (probably around 10%) of the people actually transfer from the bases being closed.  So, most of the jobs will be created in the region.

>> Wright-Patterson Air Force Base – BRAC site

>> Wright-Patterson Air Force Base

>> WPAFB 711th Human Performance Wing

>> Dayton Development Coalition

>> 2007 story about development of BRAC

>> 10/30/2009 Dayton Daily News story of BRAC

Exceptional

Much has been made of President Obama’s first swing through Asia. Not over arms reduction, not over climate change, not over our business interests. Over a freakin’ bow. That’s right, patriots; Barack Obama greeted Emperor Akihito of Japan with a traditional bow. Members of the Fox News Party immediately sprinted to their laptops drooling over another chance to rant about the end of American exceptionalism under the current administration.

This President has made so much progress in such a short time, reviving our nation from the depths of despair the last guy drove us into. Conservatives are acting like angry sports fans when their team is down. Aren’t we supposed to be better than that? Isn’t our team supposed to be America? And by the way, remember how Bush greeted the Saudi King?

American exceptionalism at it’s finest.

Patient Money: Path to Alternative Therapies Is Littered With Obstacles

WHEN Diane Klenke was told five years ago that she had pancreatic cancer, she was given three months to live. “The doctor told me to go home and put my affairs in order and that was it,” Ms. Klenke, now 52, remembered.

Instead of taking that advice, Ms. Klenke, who lives in Green Bay, Wis., decided to fight. She researched other doctors and alternative therapies until she hit upon the Block Center for Integrative Cancer Care in Evanston, Ill., which uses an approach of traditional and holistic therapies to treat cancer patients.

After undergoing intense chemotherapy along with proper nutrition, nausea and stress management therapies at the Block Center, Ms. Klenke’s cancer went into remission and has stayed that way.

So where is this anecdote heading? Glad you asked.

Cancer and its treatment are so complicated and relatively unpredictable that this column is in no way meant to advocate Ms. Klenke’s approach to dealing with her disease.

As a Patient Money columnist, I don’t pretend to have that expertise.

Instead, my purpose here is to provide financial guidance for those who, like Ms. Klenke, choose to take the medical path less traveled.

Besides learning the ins and outs of complementary and alternative medicine, Ms. Klenke has also become something of an expert on how to pay for these treatments. With the help of the Block center and her own research and persistence, she persuaded her insurance company to cover her entire course of treatment and the follow-up treatments that she continues to pursue, as she puts it, “to boost my immune system and keep me cancer-free.”

So-called complementary and alternative medicine — or CAM, as it is known by practitioners and adherents — is becoming more mainstream every day. In 2007, more than one in three adults and nearly one in eight children, according to a federal study sponsored by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, a division of the National Institutes of Health, used some form of CAM — from self-prescribed nutritional substitutes to repeat visits to alternative health care practitioners. So commonplace are the alternative providers that chiropractors and acupuncturists, for example, are now licensed by most states. At the same time, many traditional medical doctors, recognizing patients’ demand for alternative therapies, have signed up for training in alternative therapies or added alternative professionals to their staffs.

Alternative medicine is also a big business. Americans spent nearly $40 billion out of pocket on alternative therapies, according to that same 2007 study, to pay for practitioners as well as vitamins and supplements. Often, the treatments aren’t cheap. A session at the acupuncturist can easily run $100. And as with pharmaceuticals, vitamins, herbal supplements and homeopathic remedies have a huge price range — from a $12 bottle of vitamins to supplements costing hundreds of dollars.

More insurance companies are now offering full or limited coverage, or arranging discounts, on these treatments. But, as Ms. Klenke learned, getting even limited coverage can be time-consuming and tricky.

And most people pursuing alternative therapies should expect to pay some, if not all, costs out of pocket, says Mark Stengler, a naturopathic doctor in the La Jolla area of San Diego who is licensed in California. He holds a doctorate from the National College of Naturopathic Medicine, now called the National College of Natural Medicine, in Portland, Ore. Naturopathic training is often similar to the training conventional doctors receive and includes holistic training. Dr. Stengler is the author of several books and the Bottom Line newsletter on natural healing. If you venture forth, here’s advice on how to make the most of your insurance coverage and find the best prices for the highest-quality alternative treatments and medicines.

INSURANCE INS AND OUTS Before you do anything, be sure to read your health insurance policy thoroughly. It may spell out some of the alternative practitioners and treatments it covers, for example, 50 percent of all acupuncture and chiropractor visits.

More often, says Linda Bourdosis, a patient advocate at the Block Center, coverage is more subtle. For instance, your insurer may pay for certain specific treatments — massage therapy for muscle strains, for instance, or fish oil supplements to reduce inflammation from arthritis — if they are prescribed by your primary physician for a diagnosed ailment and coded correctly personal loans. Many require preauthorization from the insurer.

Keep at it, Ms. Bourdosis says. Getting the insurer to pay “doesn’t always happen the first time,” she said. “It can take two, three or four claims. You’ve got to be persistent.”

Don’t be afraid to negotiate with your insurer and with your provider, particularly when treating serious illnesses. Ask to speak to the claims manager or your case manager. In Ms. Klenke’s case, the Block Center was willing to discount its rates 25 percent in return for being considered part of the network that Ms. Klenke belonged to through her husband’s group insurance plan. In her case, Ms. Bourdosis at the Block Center negotiated with her insurer, but sometimes the patient needs to be the middle man to get an insurer and health care provider to agree.

Or, you might want to try to find an alternative practitioner who is part of a larger group of traditional doctors, or vice versa, Dr. Stengler says. That way, if you need lab tests or other diagnostics, your primary physician can prescribe them and they will be covered — even if alternative treatments are not.

FIND AN ADVOCATE The insurance maze can be time-consuming and difficult, especially in the face of illness, Ms. Klenke acknowledges. But there is help.

Most large hospitals and clinics, especially those with integrative medicine programs, like Beth Israel in New York, have an advocate in the billing or coding department that can help with prequalifications, appeals and other paperwork.

If you have a major illness like cancer, your insurance company may have also assigned you a separate case manager. Ensure the advocate and insurance manager are talking to each other.

BUY ONLY WHAT YOU NEED If you swear by the chiropractor or acupuncturist but your insurance doesn’t cover the treatment, you’ll need to make some spending decisions.

One important caution from Dr. Stengler is this: Avoid paying upfront for a package of visits, say, 10 to 15. “If you’re not seeing improvement in two to three visits,” he said, “then that therapy probably isn’t right for you.”

Ask your practitioner if you can agree to only two or three visits, with the idea that you’ll continue the therapy if you see results.

CARE WITH SUPPLEMENTS A big part of alternative medicine is herbal and vitamin supplements. These are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration and, as a result, there are many cases of supplements being sold with high levels of toxic substances or even prescription drug ingredients not listed on the labels. What’s more, many fraudulent brands sell high-priced supplements with minuscule dosages of the effective ingredient.

“Basically you pay top dollar for, say, a glucosamine supplement thinking you’re getting 100 percent of the daily dose, when, the reality is, you’re really getting a microscopic amount,” said Dr. David Riley, a member of the faculty of the University of New Mexico medical school and editor of Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine.

Your first step is to ask your doctor for recommended brands. (But see the caveat further on.) You should also do your own research on Consumerlab.com, a comprehensive independent site that does thorough testing of unregulated health products of all kinds. Without federal regulations, buyer beware prevails.

SHOP BIG BOX OR ONLINE Once you’ve found a brand you know you can trust, compare prices. Chances are your local health food store isn’t going to have the best prices. Both Costco and Sam’s Club have started selling supplements aggressively in recent years, and many times they have the best deals.

In addition, try Web sites like Vitacost.com, says Dr. Stengler, which can offer products for 40 to 50 percent less than bricks-and-mortar retailers.

Think twice before buying directly from your practitioner, says Dr. Riley. Many doctors, he said, “make huge margins by selling supplements right in the office.”

Patient Money: Path to Alternative Therapies Is Littered With Obstacles

Human Waste

Via: Palestine Monitor. Beyond the demolitions in its suburbs and the frequent, violent clashes around Al-Aqsa, Jerusalem hides a quieter shame. Southeast of the holy city live the Jahalin Bedouins, a community that has been repeatedly displaced and moved on, now enduring subhuman poverty beside Jerusalem’s largest garbage dump. An embarrassment to Palestinians and Israelis alike, the Bedouins and their unique way of life is under grave threat. Photo by Lazar Simeonov

Eid Raeb is a co-ordinator between the Jabal camp and the European NGOs which are its lifeblood. “The Bedouin life is finished”, he declares without hesitation, “sometimes when I look outside I imagine how it was before, but I know that life is over.” Eid is one of the founder members of Jabal and has taken their journey from land that became Ma’ale Adumim, one of the fastest growing settlements, to here. “After they build (Ma’ale Adumim) in 1979, they began to move us. At first very slowly, one family at a time. After 1993 and the Oslo agreements they build many houses and say they need all the land.” Oslo placed them in Area C, under Israeli control and at their mercy. “At first when they tell us to move here we refuse, but the Israelis say they will use force. They promised us building permission, electricity, water and streets. When we came here there was nothing, just open land.”

Photo by Lazar Simeonov

The Jabal camp was established in 1997, with each Bedouin family receiving around $10,000 for the upheaval. But the promises of infrastructural support were reneged on, most crucially the Bedouins were denied building permission, forcing them to live for six years in shipping containers. In 1998, the UN committee on Economic, Social and Cultural rights expressed “deep concern at the situation of the Jahalin Bedouin families who were forcibly evicted from their ancestral lands to make way for the expansion of the Ma’aleh Adumim settlement”. The report also condemned the “manner in which the Government of Israel has housed these families – in steel container vans in a garbage dump in Abu Dis in subhuman living conditions.” After concerted pressure from aid organisations and foreign NGOs the residents of Jabal were finally granted permission to build on their land.

Eid claims that the site was uninhabited when the Bedouins were moved in, that it was Israeli land to give away and that “Palestinians have no problem with us being here”. Not the case according to Abdullah, a long time resident of Abu Dis, the neighbouring Palestinian village. “Their village is built on land confiscated from Palestinians in Abu Dis. We think very badly of them, that they work with Israelis and sometimes they behave like Israeli soldiers. We had a demonstration against the stealing of our land and they came to shoot at us. That they have their own problems and difficulties does not mean they should accept to live on Palestinian land.” Abdullah refers to a neighbouring Bedouin camp where he claims the residents refused to displace Palestinians and now live in temporary tents away from Abu Dis; “they trade milk and cheese with us, we provide them with teachers. They are with us in our struggle against the Israelis.”

Photo by Lazar Simeonov

Eid freely admits to his split loyalties. “The Bedouins here are Palestinians. But before when Jordan had this land we were Jordanians and most Bedouins feel closer to Jordan. We work with Israelis and if there is a problem, Israeli police come here.” It is easy to see how their dealings with the occupation forces would be enough to poison a Palestinian’s view of the Jabal Bedouins, while Eid has nothing but contempt for the PA. “They are not a government, they are like thieves. We are starting from zero here, we need schools, water, roads but the PA is helping us only with teachers. We know that more than $1 million has come from international aid but we do not see it. Abu Marzen and the PA take it.”

The greatest concern for Eid and Jabal is the massive garbage dump located just 300 metres away. The majority of Jerusalem’s waste is disposed here, including tons of chemicals and dangerous gases each day. The site predates Jabal but as Eid says, the Bedouins had no choice. “For the last ten years they have been promising to take the garbage. They say they will relocate it to a place near Jericho but even if they do the problem will not go away, it is in the earth now. We have now many cases of skin disease in our people and animals and we do not know how to treat it. One animal will catch it and then spread the sickness to many others. Sometimes we cannot see it for weeks.”

Photo by Lazar Simeonov

Despite a new clinic having been recently built (a joint venture from the PA and German NGO DED), there is not a single doctor in Jabal’s 3,500 strong population. Eid explains the problem “If we need a doctor, we must drive to Bethany. If we need one immediately it is a problem. Sometimes we ask for an ambulance from Ma’ale Adumim, but most times they refuse.” Like most West Bank residents the Bedouins struggle to access treatment in Israeli hospitals and so conditions can go unseen. In January 2007 an 11 month old baby died from a treatable breathing difficulty, while many mothers have chosen to give birth at home with no post-natal care. These incidents come partly from a suspicion toward modern medical practises, which Eid believes represents a broader struggle to modernise. “A Bedouin will always choose the traditional life, the life that is open. He cannot be in a village seeing only four walls and closed doors. People don’t know how to use their house or proper medicine. It is a big problem for us.”

Two months ago Eid was visited by a representative from the Israeli Land Administration (ILA), guaranteeing the garbage would be moved in the next two years. “I would like to trust her but I can believe only actions” he says. There was less optimistic news from the ICAHD (Israeli Campaign Against House Demolitions). “The most recent meeting between the Interior Minister and the Mayor of Ma’ale Adumim resulted in a decision to postpone any kind of plan for at least six months”, their spokesperson told us.

There are many precedents for Bedouins being forced to endure such conditions. Between 2002-2004 the Israeli Government destroyed 7,500 acres of Bedouin crops in the Negev by spraying the area with illegal toxic chemicals. The effects were hugely damaging to people and animals in the area and the policy was widely condemned as inhumane. In Beit Iksa, several wells were poisoned as part of a campaign to expel the Bedouins by any means necessary. At the time Ehud Olmert defended the policy, “we will displace unrecognised Bedouin communities to make room for thousands of Jews”. Recognition has been a huge problem for the Bedouins and around 20% of their population are not even registered as refugees, giving them no protection from displacement and brutal treatment. Currently a court case is ongoing on behalf of Eizariya camp, Bethany, to determine whether their residents have any right to reverse the 257 eviction orders they have been issued with.

Resented by both sides in the Israel/Palestine conflict and struggling to adapt to a modern way of life, the residents of Jabal face an uncertain future. Although they now own the rights to the land, the constant expansion of Ma’ale Adumim poses a constant menace. Without the resources to support themselves they are reliant on a handful of foreign NGO’s, who have been unable to find solutions for the garbage problem or the resultant diseases. Without urgent attention Jabal could become a humanitarian crisis, but there is no authority willing to represent them.

Applied Materials (AMAT): We Made Money But You're Fired

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) can be added to the long list of American companies that made a profit in the last quarter and then fired a significant part of their work forces. It is a disturbing trend that will make it harder for the US economy to recover.

Applied Materials said it expected its fiscal year sales to be 30% higher. It then let go nearly 1,500 people.

Many of the cuts at profitable companies have happened in the tech sector. Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) recently announced lay-offs. But, some of the largest companies in the US are also cutting jobs despite posting substantial profits. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and Time Warner (NYSE:TWX) recently fired relatively large numbers of people.

Mounting an economic recovery is the US is difficult and perhaps impossible as unemployment grows. The growth in business and hiring activity usually falls to those companies that are doing well and are willing to add to their work forces to help fulfill strong demand for their products and services. Some big and successful companies are not thinking that way based on the belief that their profits can reach even higher it they squeeze an extra ounce of productivity out of every worker.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Wary Investors Go for Gold, But Sunset Park Isn't Buying It

Want to put a finger on the pulse of the economy? Look to the price of gold.

The metal hit a new high of $1119 per once on Wednesday as wary investors ran to sink their savings into a stock even their grandmothers could love. Gold often becomes a hot commodity when confidence in the market thins, and while the dollar has fallen, the price of gold has risen 26 percent since last November.

In Sunset Park, however, it’s the dip in gold purchases that tells of tough times.

Customers buy “just for what they need” said Gus Guzman, the owner of Martha Jewelry Inc. on Fifth Avenue. “They buy for confirmations, baptisms, not for themselves.”

Sunset Park has many Latino residents who gift the traditional gold jewelry at communions and quinceañeras, the coming of age ceremony for 15-year-old girls. Families stretch for special occasions, but no longer buy the extras that once kept Guzman’s business swift.

Guzman said business is down by at least a quarter. Other jewelery shops along the Avenue site losses of up to 60 percent. Nearly everyone says it in October 2008–”right after Lehman Brothers,” said Guzman. The infamous investment bank collapsed on September 15 of last year.

The economic slump has hit New York City’s Latinos particularly hard. In a study by the Community Service Society, four in ten low-income Latinos had either lost their jobs or had their hours, tips or wages cut this year. Seventy percent had savings of less than $500.

With unexpected bills and less money coming in, some are taking up the offer advertised in the window of nearly every jewelry shop on 5th Avenue–”WE BUY GOLD.” The stores hope that by picking up pieces in the neighborhood they will make it through the slump.

On a recent afternoon, Guzman waited to the side while a couple lingered over a small gold crucifix, debating in Spanish whether to make the purchase. The doorbell chimed, and he buzzed a customer through the security door.

She greeted Guzman by name, handed over a gold ring, and asked “How much can I get for this?”

The Federal Government In the Car Loan Business

The federal government is highly active in getting banks to reset loans for people who want to stay in their homes by improving the terms of their monthly payments. The Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan has had mixed success, but it has helped keep tens of thousands of people in their homes. It might be said that keeping even one person from being thrown out into the cold is worthwhile, although the Administration’s entire home foreclosure program is a $75 billion multi-purpose plan designed to help as many as nine million borrowers suffering from falling home prices and unaffordable monthly payments. That is an expensive program to help what may be a modest number of peope with their mortgages

The government tried to make a related effort to help the auto industry. “Cash for clunkers” did not modify people’s car payments. It did give them financial incentives to buy more fuel-efficient cars and those incentives were large enough to bring down the total cost of owning a new vehicle considerably.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) CEO Mike Jackson, the man who runs the largest publicly traded car dealer chain in the country, said he does not expect to see an improvement of any magnitude in US vehicles sales until 2011. This year, the American market will only support the sales of about 10 million cars and light trucks. That level is so low that it nearly put GM and Chrysler out of business. Jackson believes the industry faces at least one more hard year because of unemployment and the lack of credit.

“They simply don’t have the money to lend. So, of course, they make the standards unreasonably tough and unreasonably difficult, because they just want to say no. They don’t want to say yes,” Jackson said in an address quoted by the AP. And, it is really that simple. Many people who could normally afford a car and still have a job cannot get a car because they cannot get a loan.

The federal government has the opportunity to help the car industry and the hundreds of businesses that supply it and the tens of thousands of people that they employ by doing just one simple thing. That is to guarantee the car payments of people who are credit worthy by most reasonable standards. The guarantees can be made through the normal banking system or the lending arms of the car companies. The government would probably be taking a very modest risk if the car buyers are screened through the typical lending process.

A South Korean car company, Hyundai, will allow people who lose their jobs or become disabled to turn their cars back to the dealer within a year of purchase.

The American government is not making an offer like Hyundai’s but if it wants to get the car business back in gear it is going to have to come up with some reasonable plan to help credit worthy buyers purchase cars.

Douglas A. McIntyre

A Fable With No Moral

I didn’t grow up in a wealthy family. For a good chunk of my childhood, we lived on my dad’s income as a high school principal. It wasn’t until I was in 3rd grade that my mom went back to work as a substitute teacher, and a year or two after that that she was back in her own classroom full-time. In certain California school districts I came to know, it wasn’t unheard of for teachers and administrators to make six figures. But this was rural Ohio in the 80’s. When I graduated from college in ‘95, I was offered a job in my hometown school district for just over $20,000 a year. My parents’ salaries ten years prior couldn’t have been much more than that, and, at least at first, were probably less.

Even so, my brother and I lived comfortably. My parents were frugal (a lesson I now wish I had learned from them better), saved religiously, and dabbled a bit in the stock market, and as a result, our family was financially secure. We didn’t always have the flashiest stuff, but there was always a bumper crop under the tree every Christmas, and we took a vacation every summer without fail – Disney World and Epcot Center; up the Eastern seaboard to Bar Harbor, Maine; the Grand Tetons in Wyoming; San Francisco up to Seattle and back again. There was money precisely because my parents were smart with it.

Their work ethic and frugality had an unintended consequence. As I look back at my life in an effort to make sense of who I am now, I think it’s having seen my parents work so hard, make relatively little money, and devote it all to making sure my brother and I were raised well, that directly contributed to the class warrior I’ve become.

I’ve always been suspicious and mistrustful of the wealthy, regardless of how kind they might seem. This has sometimes been to my detriment, when I’ve refused to give someone a fair shake simply because of my preconceptions about their money and how they came to have it. I can be standoffish even in the best of situations, and this is only exacerbated by my thinking anyone who’s well-to-do is a selfish, greedy pig.

The inevitable retort is that I shouldn’t be jealous of other people’s wealth. I’m not. Trust me. I live in a modest one-bedroom apartment, and I don’t really aspire to anything bigger. I drive a Toyota Yaris, and it suits me just fine. I travel occasionally, buy lots of movies, and purchase a yearly iPod update, but otherwise I simply don’t yearn for extravagance. And, in the instances where I do splurge on something flashy (like my TV, the one really nice possession I own), it’s after saving for months, which is as it should be. So I don’t look at other people’s ritzy lives and think, “Gee, I wish that were me.” I’m content with what I’ve got, and I know if I keep saving I’ll be able to afford the things that make me happy.

I say all of this as a long-winded and circuitous explanation for how rabidly, mouth-frothingly angry I get at just about any mention of Goldman-Sachs, Citibank, Chase, or any of the other banking institutions that represent some of the worst of 21st Century human nature. I don’t know enough about the financial sector to understand the ins and outs of everything these parasites are doing (and if you watch one key section of Michael Moore’s recent film, Capitalism: A Love Story, the bankers don’t understand it either), but I do know this: the wealth these people hold is disgusting and, dare I say it, immoral.

I can understand the anger some people feel toward the government, but it increasingly seems to me that they’re missing the more obvious culprit. The government wouldn’t have had to bail out the banks if the banks hadn’t willfully put themselves in that situation in the first place. They prey on home owners, account holders, card users, and then, after the bankers have fucked things up so righteously they need governmental assistance to prevent them from living in a box under the bridge, they go right back to giving themselves salaries and bonuses that are completely disproportionate to any good they’re actually doing.

And then in the last few days we’ve learned two other disturbing things:

1) Goldman Sachs employees got the H1N1 vaccine before schools and hospitals.

The excuse I’ve heard to justify this goes something like this: “We have high-risk employees that need to be protected from H1N1 too.” Yeah, I imagine Goldman Sachs has a large number of the elderly, the sickly, and small children on their payroll. The truth is, every Goldman Sachs employee who gets the vaccine represents another person in New York City who needs it but is unable to get it. The government, as always, bears some responsibility for once again reinforcing the idea that if you’re rich, you’re important, and if you’re not, well, you can get H1N1 and die.

2) Goldman Sachs doing “God’s work”; chairman and CEO Lloyd Blankfein apparently agrees.

Do I even really need to comment on this? Some of the salient facts from the article perfectly underline the frustration I feel with these douchebags. Average pay for employees of the firm is $700,000 a year. How long will it take you to make that much, and how hard do you feel you work compared to an investment banker? I feel like I work my ass off, and it’ll take me the better part of two decades to come close to that average salary. Blankfein paid himself $68 million in 2007 – the highest salary of any CEO – and has $500 million in Goldman stock. The company has set aside $20 billion for bonuses. All of this – as well as playing a sizable hand in our current recession – and Blankfein has the balls to claim banks like Goldman have “a social purpose.” So do prostitutes, Lloyd. And maybe God has changed the nature of the work he likes people to do, but what was that thing He said about a camel and the eye of a needle? And how exactly did Christ feel about the money changers in the temple? It’s escaping me at the moment.

As usual, Matt Taibbi hits the nail on the head.

I think the reason I get so angry about all of this is that I really just don’t understand it, and so my only recourse is confused agitation. So many people in this country work so hard just to scrape by, and then these schmucks rake in multi-million-dollar salaries, destroy the economy, go crying to Papa Bush, get rescued, and then turn right around and rub it in our faces. It’s so selfish and inconsiderate it practically defies belief. A $68 million salary? Why is that even necessary? I hate to say it, but my gut tells me that if you really feel like you need $68 million to live your life, than your life probably isn’t worth living.

*****

Current listening:

Super Furry Animals – Guerrilla (1999)

Washington’s eternal “Cuba problem” — the one they can’t admit to. By William Blum

Via: Foreign Policy Journal.

“Here we go again. I suppose old habits die hard,” said US Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, on October 28 before the General Assembly voted on the annual resolution to end the US embargo against Cuba. “The hostile language we have just heard from the Foreign Minister of Cuba,” she continued, “seems straight out of the Cold War era and is not conducive to constructive progress.” Her 949-word statement contained not a word about the embargo; not very conducive to a constructive solution to the unstated “Cuba problem”, the one about Cuba inspiring the Third World, the fear that the socialist virus would spread.

Since the early days of the Cuban Revolution assorted anti-communists and capitalist true-believers around the world have been relentless in publicizing the failures, real and alleged, of life in Cuba; each perceived shortcoming is attributed to the perceived shortcomings of socialism — It’s simply a system that can’t work, we are told, given the nature of human beings, particularly in this modern, competitive, globalized, consumer-oriented world.

In response to such criticisms, defenders of Cuban society have regularly pointed out how the numerous draconian sanctions imposed by the United States since 1960 have produced many and varied scarcities and sufferings and are largely responsible for most of the problems pointed out by the critics. The critics, in turn, say that this is just an excuse, one given by Cuban apologists for every failure of their socialist system. However, it would be very difficult for the critics to prove their point. The United States would have to drop all sanctions and then we’d have to wait long enough for Cuban society to make up for lost time and recover what it was deprived of, and demonstrate what its system can do when not under constant assault by the most powerful force on earth.

In 1999, Cuba filed a suit against the United States for $181.1 billion in compensation for economic losses and loss of life during the first 39 years of this aggression. The suit held Washington responsible for the death of 3,478 Cubans and the wounding and disabling of 2,099 others. In the ten years since, these figures have of course all increased. The sanctions, in numerous ways large and small, make acquiring many kinds of products and services from around the world much more difficult and expensive, often impossible; frequently, they are things indispensable to Cuban medicine, transportation or industry; simply transferring money internationally has become a major problem for the Cubans, with banks being heavily punished by the United States for dealing with Havana; or the sanctions mean that Americans and Cubans can’t attend professional conferences in each other’s country.

These examples are but a small sample of the excruciating pain inflicted by Washington upon the body, soul and economy of the Cuban people.

For years American political leaders and media were fond of labeling Cuba an “international pariah”. We don’t hear much of that any more. Perhaps one reason is the annual vote in the General Assembly on the resolution, which reads: “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba”. This is how the vote has gone:

Year Votes (Yes-No) No Votes 1992 59-2 US, Israel 1993 88-4 US, Israel, Albania, Paraguay 1994 101-2 US, Israel 1995 117-3 US, Israel, Uzbekistan 1996 138-3 US, Israel, Uzbekistan 1997 143-3 US, Israel 1998 157-2 US, Israel 1999 155-2 US, Israel, Marshall Islands 2000 167-3 US, Israel, Marshall Islands 2001 167-3 US, Israel, Marshall Islands 2002 167-3 US, Israel, Marshall Islands 2003 173-3 US, Israel, Marshall Islands, Palau 2004 179-3 US, Israel, Marshall Islands, Palau 2005 182-4 US, Israel, Marshall Islands, Palau 2006 183-4 US, Israel, Marshall Islands, Palau 2007 184-4 US, Israel, Marshall Islands, Palau 2008 185-3 US, Israel, Palau 2009 187-3 US, Israel, Palau

 

How it began, from State Department documents: Within a few months of the Cuban revolution of January 1959, the Eisenhower administration decided “to adjust all our actions in such a way as to accelerate the development of an opposition in Cuba which would bring about a change in the Cuban Government, resulting in a new government favorable to U.S. interests.”[1]

On April 6, 1960, Lester D. Mallory, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, wrote in an internal memorandum: “The majority of Cubans support Castro … The only foreseeable means of alienating internal support is through disenchantment and disaffection based on economic dissatisfaction and hardship. … every possible means should be undertaken promptly to weaken the economic life of Cuba.” Mallory proposed “a line of action which … makes the greatest inroads in denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government.”[2] Later that year, the Eisenhower administration instituted the suffocating embargo.

__________

[1]  Department of State, “Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958-1960, Volume VI, Cuba” (1991), p.742
[2]  Ibid., p.885

Everyone wants to a Gangster but do no time

Everyone wants to a Gangster but do no time

 

I remember being told no real gangster has both of his front teeth.  Here is another one “No real gangster never did time.”  This is sayings, because everything is in degrees.  But most gangsters do not have there real fronts and do go to prison at some point in their careers.  Me I an not  gangster however I did time and had my fronts surgically removes and replaced, I have two crowns one gold and I am actually known by my father’s friends as Paul Castellano.  So who am I?  Better yet what am I?  Am I a Gangster Monk?

 

I am just a dude that was born into a bunch of crap; whose intelligence was rob in better terms played and now I am going home to my people, family and cousins.

 

Let tell you a story, I am good at telling stories.  This one is called “Bullet Proof.”

 

Bullet Proof

 

One guy was loaded the other empty.  The loaded one was mortal and the empty one was Bullet Proof.  So Mortal had it made as long as he was under the cover of Bullet Proof.  Mortal was a big spender he splurged and mistreated Bullet Proof, he figured he had it all because Bullet Proof was ago lucky dude and never complained.  One time they tried to shoot Mortal and Bullet Proof jumped in front of him, caught the bullet in his hand and asked one simple question, “Now do I get paid?”  Mortal laughed and said this guy is he amazing.

 

Bullet Proof was a man of patience, but death came to his family in a close manner and he realized he was out of time.  See Bullet Proof realized though he was no mortal being his family was and what good would be this delayed fortune if all his family died off prior to his judgment.  So Bullet Proof said to Mortal, I think you are out of time and he walked away.

 

To the big city he said, what good are you?  What do you have to offer me?  I cannot go to a baseball game or borrow your hotels.  I can only look at the condominiums and watch the fancy cars drive by; I cannot even afford a cab in this city.  If I must live a simple life I may as well live in a simple town.  So Bullet Proof packed his bags and left to a small and simple town and did not even look back.  Bullet Proof was Mortal’s nuclear umbrella and he knew it, but Bullet Proof had no idea.  And then hit was a mushroom cloud.

 

Only a story, I mean nobody is bullet-proof!

 

 

NEW Predictions from the Nostradamus of Investing

From: John Mauldin, November 7.

Dear Fellow Investor,

My friends at Casey Research asked me to draft a quick note to you with my thoughts on their services. I’ve worked with Casey Research for years and when I think of them, one of the first things that comes to mind are quotes like this one from May 2008:

“Reduce your standard of living now (while the situation is still under control), greatly increase your savings (in gold, which is real money) and rig for greatly changed patterns of production, consumption, employment and business for a considerable time. The hurricane that’s just starting to hit the economy will both trigger and worsen problems in other areas.”

Was it Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson who said this? Ben Bernanke? Alan Greenspan? Of course not… Rather it was my friend, and legendary contrarian investor, Doug Casey, editor of The Casey Report.

Paulson, on the other hand, said this on May 16, 2008…

“Looking forward, I expect that financial markets will be driven less by the recent turmoil and more by broader economic conditions and, specifically, by the recovery of the housing sector.”

Why are investors still listening to those who missed the entire problem (let alone re-appoint them)? And those who not only missed the problem, but mis-diagnosed the solutions?

By now it is clear that you shouldn’t base your investment decisions on what the talking heads in the media, the government, or the Fed say.

Instead, may want to listen to a man and his team of experts who have accurately predicted dozens of money-making trends.

You’ll find more details in the following report.

To your success,

John Mauldin

He has been spotting so many trends that some people find it uncanny.
Learn how you can profit from the…

NEW Predictions from the Nostradamus of Investing

“It’s not just analysis… it’s more like Nostradamus!”
Daniel L., Casey subscriber

It was October 2006, one year before the subprime mortgage crisis hit the nation (and most of the world). TV’s financial pundits were still giddy with excitement over the seemingly never-ending increase in home values, and most Americans thought the good times were here to stay.

In the same month, Doug Casey wrote:

I believe it’s going to get much worse. As people who bought houses with floating-rate mortgages and little money down slip into default, millions of dwellings will hit a no-bid market. And when hundreds of billions in loans go bad, the institutions holding them and the whole American financial structure will be threatened with a deflationary collapse. Millions of people could lose their jobs in an economy that just doesn’t need that many mortgage brokers, real estate speculators, and McMansion builders – or waiters at restaurants those brokers, speculators, and builders can no longer afford. The Fed will try to prevent this by creating more dollars. But then foreigners – and smart Americans – will treat the currency units like hot potatoes.

Pretty darn insightful. But despite all appearances to the contrary, Doug’s insights do not depend on prophetic powers. (In fact, he regards those things as superstitious nonsense.)

What Doug does is the real deal – a combination of good old-fashioned hard work, a profound knowledge of history and economic principles, and an unfailing instinct for lucrative investments.

Here are a few more examples of his amazing “sixth sense”:

• On March 22, 2006, when the gold price was hovering around $550, Doug went on the record saying he was convinced gold were “on the verge of its next big move up, a move I believe will surprise everyone.”

  Two weeks later, gold had climbed up to $640.60 – and closed out the year at an average price of $629.79.

  Ever since, we have never seen gold below $600 again.

• In August 2004, Doug published an all-uranium edition of his flagship newsletter. At that time, “the other yellow metal” was selling for $18 a pound. A few months later, it was on its trajectory to the moon – eventually topping out at $136/lb in 2007. One of Doug’s recommendations, Paladin Resources, a uranium junior, went from A$0.08 at recommendation to A$4.86… an unbelievable 5,975% gain.
• Just three months later, Doug predicted that the U.S. dollar, which had been in a continuous slump since summer, would see a comeback very soon. At the time, the dollar was valued 0.74 against the euro. Only one week later, it roared back to life – taking most mainstream investors by surprise.

These mega-picks have continued into the present. But Doug is no longer the lone caller in the desert that he used to be. After more than 20 years of flying solo, he gathered America’s best and brightest around him – a group consisting of three top experts in their own right.

Let’s look at the team that has provided outstanding gains for thousands of investors…

The Trend Hunters

This group of brilliant minds is another testament to Doug’s ability of “sniffing out” the best of the best. Together they form the editorial team of Casey Research’s monthly trend advisory, The Casey Report.

 

Bud Conrad
Senior Market Strategist
Bud is the data-crunching genius and analytical brain of the Casey Report team. Convinced that a chart says more than a thousand words, he spends late nights exposing the man behind the curtain the government doesn’t want us to pay attention to. Educated at two Ivy League colleges – Yale and Harvard – Bud has been a futures investor for nearly three decades and a full-time investor for more than one. If you’re lucky, you may run into him at Golden Gate University, where he teaches graduate courses in investing.

 

Terry Coxon
Economist, Editor
Terry Coxon is the man with the big-picture plan. Well versed in the ins and outs of economic theory, he knows that Situation A combined with Catalyst B will inevitably result in Consequence C. Terry is the author of two books, one of which – Inflation-Proofing Your Investments – he co-authored with the late Harry Browne, a legendary free-market libertarian writer and twice-presidential candidate. For more than two decades, he served as the president of the Permanent Portfolio Fund he founded, a mutual fund that invests in precious metals as well as stocks and bonds.

 

David Galland
Managing Editor
Aside from being one of Doug Casey’s closest confidants, David Galland is the managing director of Casey Research and the managing editor of The Casey Report, providing razor-sharp insight into the economy and markets with a libertarian slant. He has extensive experience in the financial world – from years of running the famous New Orleans Investment Conference, to co-founding EverBank, one of the greatest and most solid successes in online financial services. Being exceptionally gifted in getting startups off the ground, he was also a founding partner and director of the Blanchard Group of Mutual Funds.

 

Doug Casey
Guru in Residence
If you have seen or listened to Doug live, you know why there’s standing room only when he speaks at investment conferences all over North America. Not only has he become a living legend for his keen observations of the markets and his instinct for emerging trends, he is also famous – or should we say, infamous – for speaking his mind with few if any thoughts wasted on political correctness.

Doug literally wrote the book on profiting from periods of economic turmoil: “Crisis Investing” spent multiple weeks as #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and became the best-selling financial book of 1980 with 438,640 copies sold. As such, it surpassed even big-caliber names like “Free to Choose” by Milton Friedman, “The Real War” by Richard Nixon, and “Cosmos” by Carl Sagan.

A true cosmopolitan, Doug has pitched tents in various places around the world – from Aspen, Colorado, to Salta, Argentina, to Auckland, New Zealand – and is a great proponent of diversifying one’s assets internationally.

Together, this team of financial heavyweights has been vastly successful in finding emerging, big-picture trends in the economy and markets, as well as unique opportunities to profit from them.

Making Fortunes in Times of Crisis What Other
Investment Pros
Say About Doug

“He has an instinct about investments that has made him and many of those around him very rich. If you ever get a chance to tap into that instinct, you should take it without hesitation.”
Bill Bonner, The Daily Reckoning

“Doug . . . is the most instinctive contrarian I have ever met and that, in my opinion, is the key to his remarkable success as a speculator.”
Rick Rule, Global Resource Investments

Doug likes to point out that the Chinese word for crisis consists of two symbols – one means danger, the other opportunity. One can kill you, the other can make you rich.

The general consensus is that in severe economic downturns like the one we’re currently in, investors lose their shirts. But what few realize is that the very same crises – recessions, depressions – are also those periods in history when the foundations for great fortunes are laid.

In the heyday of 2007, when home prices peaked and people equaled out-of-control consumer spending with a healthy economy, Doug and his team already saw financial disaster on the horizon.

Of course, back then barely anyone was listening, and mainstream investors laughingly called them gloom- and doomsayers.

But some investors were having the last laugh: those subscribers of The Casey Report who followed the editors’ recommendation to short bond insurer MBIA, one of the companies standing squarely in the way of the banking avalanche that was about to thunder downhill.

Doug’s team advised to short MBIA when the stock traded at $61.92. By January 2008, only four months later, the share price had collapsed to $8.55.

In November 2008, the Casey Report editors told subscribers to buy the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX), then trading at $21.01. At the beginning of October 2009, GDX stood at $47.76 – for a 127.3% return in less than a year.

After a long and very eye-opening Casey Report interview with real estate entrepreneur Andy Miller, Doug and his team recommended shorting real estate investment trust Emcor (EME), closing the position with a quick two-month gain of 87% for subscribers.

“I don’t believe that I have ever come into contact with an individual or an organization quite as thorough, knowledgeable, committed, down-to-earth and downright prescient re: any investment sector, as Doug Casey and his senior executives…”
Thomas M., Casey subscriber

Another short, Corus Bank (CORS), a bank with heavy exposure to the condominium market, provided a similar fast-blast gain of 90% within two months.

If you’re wondering whether it’s too late to invest in or short the stocks mentioned – yes, that particular train has left the station. But the market is an organic being, moving and changing all the time… and every month, The Casey Report presents new opportunities to profit.

Recently, for example, the editors have shifted more of their attention to political events in the U.S. and abroad. That’s because governments everywhere have, in the wake of the subprime debacle, begun to take a much more active role in the economy (some would call it market manipulation).

Today’s new regulation can determine tomorrow’s “ten-bagger” – a stock winner multiplying its share price by ten – as well as tomorrow’s mega-loser going from 60 to zero within seconds. In both cases, you get handsome returns if you play it right.

And playing it right has never been easier than today.

Make the Trend Your Friend…
with The Casey Report

The Casey Report has been created specifically for investors looking to take advantage of the markets’ most powerful trends – seeking out opportunities that can double or triple their initial investment in a 12- to 24-month time frame. You’ve seen a few of the results in the examples above.

But that’s not all. Unlike other newsletters that give recommendations without elaborating on the whys and hows, The Casey Report strives to give you a better understanding of the complex machinations of the markets and the overall economy.

An education that will not only invigorate your cocktail parties but also turn you into a proficient investor who is miles ahead of the crowd.

And even though prophecy is not a common word in the editors’ vocabulary, a lot of the Casey Report’s features indeed revolve around foretelling the future. That includes not only in-depth analysis from our own investment pros but also from our network of experts, some of whom enjoy downright celebrity status:

• In January 2009, presidential candidate Ron Paul asked “What’s Next?” sharing his thoughts on where the United States is headed and what needs to be done to heal the economy.
• One month later, Bud Conrad and David Galland dissected the Anatomy of Japan’s Lost Decade, taking a close look at the Japanese experience for lessons that might help predict what lies ahead for the United States.
• In March, Doug Casey mused in Street Fighting Man about social instability during the current crisis, followed by his May article End of the Nation-State, a development he very much looks forward to.
• In June, Neil Howe, bestselling author and renowned authority on generations, described what it will be like going Into the Fourth Turning and why history keeps repeating itself.
• In the next issue, the head of strategic planning of one of America’s Ivy League business schools recommended to Bet on Stuff, making his argument for another mega-boom in commodities.
• In August, independent real estate specialist Andy Miller gave us a Real Estate Reality Check, explaining why commercial real estate is the next domino to fall and why it will make the subprime crash look like a drop in the bucket.
• And in September, the “Mariner” talked under condition of anonymity about Inside Shipping as an indicator that speaks volumes about the state of the economy.

Tons of valuable information just in the course of a few months… information that could have helped you catch the big trends-in-the-making.

Don’t worry, though — it’s not too late.