My Simple Life

Quote : Win with Grace, Lose with Dignity

2011-08-27T17:27:00.000-05:00

Background:

Well, as everyone might have heard, Singapore had their Presidential Election on Saturday. The quote is spurred by the reactions of the people I know on all sides of the election. I find it disturbingly similar to my childhood, not the fun part of me running around trees back in my grandfather's farm, but that of the later years of my elementary school. I came to knew first of malice at around 10-12, thankfully for my parents to protect me all the years before.

There is this group of kids, very smart and very athletic, growing up alongside me. Yet, despite my innocence, they disliked me, and I can't remember what I ever did to deserve that. What they relate to the quote though is that they ganged up on me. When they won, they sneered, without grace, without humility. When they lost, they cried, without dignity, without repentance. They seldom lost, but they did often change the rules to win.

Now, I grew up, much in sync with life. My family is still blessedly moving along well. I thank everyone for that. And through the years, I learnt to seek things with my heart. And it is more often right and good for me than not. That is where I learnt to share, even when I win. That is where I learnt to grow, even when I lost. That is why, I feel I outgrew what is expected of me. And I still want to grow. I still want to share. And I hope the same too for the people around me.

To be fair, I will condone a bit of partying, but I do need people to be aware that since I'm not a party animal, I am not going to join the festivities and I will always maintain a clear mind of what I need to do. And because of that, I do encourage everyone to live responsibly.

Motto : Live Like You Are Going To Die Tomorrow, Plan Like You Are Going To Live Forever

2011-08-25T21:24:00.000-05:00

Background:

It comes after some deliberating how to write this motto. Steve Job's speech at Stanford, the other so common sayings. I chose to use Jobs'speech at the center piece of this motto instead of the standard planner's motto "Hope for the Best, Plan for the Worst".

The real reason in my posting this is that I was talking to my boss today and he was telling me about my performance dipping. Perhaps he read my last motto and aimed to put my bar back up at the high level it should be. Either way, I'm thankful. The only problem now is to get my lazy butt off the bed in time. And as much as I have bad sleep hygiene, I can get around it by planning and executing correctly. And I seldom make the same mistake again.

Motto : Do Not Dare Me *

2011-08-21T20:19:00.000-05:00

Background:

This motto has a huge disclaimer, hence the little start. Disclaimer : I can prove you wrong as long as the dare does not hurt anyone (obvious) or embarrasses me and others. While I am OK to doing relatively awkward things at times, its all about my norm. Just because I'm unorthodox doesn't mean I can accept streaking across town. I'm OK if someone else does it and I would applaud it. It's just not me, yet at least.

Anyway, things got messy recently and I thought, this motto has helped me move on many times. Because I got something to prove, because I want to achieve more, because I want everyone around me to be happy and ultimately, because I want to be happy myself.

Even if I meet people who hate me for no reason, even if I meet mean people, even if I have to do everything myself, I decided, hey, life is good with or without these bad people. I have the best people around me. Always.

So, why should I worry about these mean people? I have better things to take care of, like the many good people I have around me. Am I optimistic? Perhaps. Am I gullible? Maybe. Am I stupid? Who has the right to decide that? You? God? Understand?

For that, dare me to stretch my capabilities till you cannot fathom what I can ultimately be. Challenge me to bring my potential and make things happen. Yes. I must thank many people who allowed me to be here today. And I plan to repay everyone what is rightfully theirs.

Life's RUBBA to Happening!

2011-08-15T20:50:00.001-05:00

Before I start, I need a shout opening. FEEL FREE TO COMMENT! I AM NOT MONITORING COMMENTS FOR LIKE FOREVER ALREADY!

Now, to the real topic, which unfortunately shall start with a moment of sadness. I was reading of a friend's depression and this is not the first I heard. I feel sorry for this friend and would like to help, even by just being there to listen. Anyway, while thinking about this sad story, it linked back to my style of life and brought me an epiphany of some sort.

I remember hearing of "Kübler-Ross model" in Criminal Minds before, hence Wiki'd it. Upon thinking deeper, it is exactly the phases of everything in life. Strategy, political cycle, everything. It seems so weird that things that are so complicated can be explained in such simple ways! Unfortunately, there must always be resistance and the order or components must always satisfy everyone. Is there a need to? Can't we just decide on something that will help people?

However, if you read up the actual article in Wikipedia, the 5 names do not match up to RUBBA, instead it is DABDA. Nothing against it really. It is used in the psychological terms and it matches perfectly. Should one always have these cycles in phase? Well, that's why I thought of re-inventing DABDA and call it RUBBA! Now, instead of an item of anger and depression, I rather express them in action. Here goes!

Refusing - Refusing the facts and constraints as they first dawned upon the subject (s).
Uprising - Uprising against the facts by the subject (s).
Bargaining - Bargaining in an attempt to ignore the facts.
Burrowing - Burrowing within oneself's inner world to avoid more hurt.
Accepting - Accepting the fact and need for changes.

Well, it all sounds familiar, don't they? Now, we know Refusing and Uprising tends to occur first, so that is of little debate of its order. I know that Bargaining and Burrowing pretty much happens hand in hand and could happen in either order. Notice they both start with B, so don't argue! Let's use it to help people! Finally, Accepting. I probably can find a similar word with Accepting and Bargaining to replace them instead of using the original model but hey, RUBBA sounds better than DABDA! RUBBA RUBBA RUBBA! RUBBA BAND!

Of course, I always like to add the kicker at the end. Notice that the title is called Life's RUBBA to Happening! If you reach A, then you can decide to make good things happen! I wanted to put enlightening but that wouldn't sound so fun, would it?

Ok, before I hush hush all of you to go spread Dennis' Model of Life and help everyone reach Happening, I do need to say, you should not take this model negatively. Why? Because I built this for happiness! Below is the happy version!

Refusing to Lose
Uprising against Challenges
Bargaining on Resources
Burrowing deeper to Hold Your Ground
Accepting minor setbacks to Win The War!

Well, now you have the happy version as well, you can go to sleep now. I did wake up from a dream I was fighting a big guy or something so I will be trying to go back to sleep soon to beat that guy!

Weirdest National Day

2011-08-08T23:13:00.000-05:00

As of this post, Singapore is already halfway through National Day. It is almost too funny this year compared to previous.

General Election and Post Election Trauma, noted as GE and PET and together as GEPET
First, they have TPL, which in my opinion is not a good candidate from one look, but she boarded GCT's gravy train so, what can you do? Vote bad politicians out la!
Presidential Election, which is the current hot topic since it could be another walkover
Not that I care, its SGD 4M down the drain as he must listen to the Cabinet's advice
But to have candidate like TKL giving silly quotes to inspire voters really makes my back hurt from falling off the couch laughing
Oh, and TT's open thumb handshake
As part of the election, my ex classmate decided to rip my kind efforts apart as it "threatens" the political project this classmate embarked on
How would anyone know what's in someone else's head?
Oh, because I'm able to commune with God I guess, but God keeps reminding me, live and let live, and don't keep reading people like a book...
Plus I got sick of reading this person's thoughts after the many contradictory things, such as throwing another person under the bus while pretending to be just and upright...
Everyone's screaming about how PAP is unfair
Well, we let them grow arrogant, so we should not blame anyone
If you want to convince someone else, DO THE RIGHT THING
Speaking of doing the right thing, everyone likes to pick on my lack of action as inaction
So, do you see like the amount of brain activity in my head while giving ideas?
Oh, right, you were not listening, of course, that's the very reason why things are not going your way because you did not want to listen to the signs people tell you
And since people aren't listening, I'm going to ignore all complaints of DJIA crashing
Of course it crashed, USA's GDP is not really growing for some time and we told you that when we did QE!
Oh I forgot, you were not listening because you preferred to listen to Cramer or the Singapore replica in Singapore...eh...who huh?

Anyway, as always, I have no opinion over who should be President. You can be sure of someone's ability and promise but to actually see them is another thing. I believe that putting the right people at the right places is key, which is why my "Lazy Bone Project" is underway. Speaking of which, where did I put that manuscript for the plan overview...

Quote : Wastage is in the Mind

2011-08-07T00:32:00.000-05:00

Background:

I was reading my friend Roger (Siow) talking about wasting time in a view of having fun and enjoying it.

That reminded me of many experiences where people tell me that I am wasting time.

I sincerely beg to differ and agree with Roger.

Perhaps I'm silly, perhaps I need to learn, perhaps I'm arrogant, perhaps its not my time yet. Either way, I believe in individuality and making things happen when I want to, not just because someone told me to.

I do not have time to make money like some other when I was 12 because I like to enjoy the flowers of youth. I was unable to be productive in SAF or NUS because I wasn't given the opportunity. I didn't finish my PhD for the same reasons.

Either way, I learnt something and I'm using that experience now to help others. Most evidently, I advised my cousin on her PhD program and she thanked me for talking her into it.

So, all in all, we cannot deem that someone is wasting time. If you think someone can do something better, tell them the better way. Show them the better way. Or, just let them be, because for all you know, they saw through things you missed. I definitely believed in that. I believe my childhood running around trees and sand was wonderful and had wished that if only my sister and brother went through the same amount of fun before elementary school.

Motto : Overkill Is Underrated

2011-08-06T23:36:00.000-05:00

Reason:

I grew up under the Kiasu (怕输) and Kiasi (怕死) system. What Kiasu means is, scared to lose. What Kiasi means is, scared of death.

What that means in my family is "Be Prepared". Well, that's the same motto for my Boy Scouts when I was young. Never really a big fan but I stuck on it enough to be independent. But that meant to everyone to just save their skin by doing just slightly more than enough.

This "Do Just Enough" often contradicts my philosophy. I often get told to do just enough to solve things and not be too good and stand out. That annoys me. To make things worse, many throw problems on myself and others because we're good in solving problems.

Although I am lucky that this has not happened much since I started working, I have resolved to do more than is needed and blow the competition away. That's why I believe in "Overkill". That's why I liked the line in "A Team". That's why, I decided to engage "Project Lazy Bone".

It's better to be a naive damn darn good worker than to be a ingenious normal slacker. That way, we lived our lives to the fullest. Plus, more likely than not, you and I will get rewarded for our hard work in more ways than just money.

Motto : Never Impose On Others What You Would Not Choose For Yourself

2011-08-06T19:41:00.000-05:00

Reason:

Well, straight from Confucius and I'm sure everyone is aware of what it means. The simplest one liner to explain The Golden Rule.

I must say, my mom is a great believer of this rule and I grew into her belief. I find it wonderful and it works well.

I'm not going to write an essay for this. Enjoy!

Motto : You Happy, I Happy

2011-08-06T13:43:00.000-05:00

Reason:

There is an idea in Chinese culture, at least in my family when I was growing up, where everybody lives happy as a community, helping each other and growing with each other. This can be view from many angles, money, education, life, whatever. This is the reason why, as a pacifist who understands the reasons behind war, I believe that this is the best motto for everyone to live with and it enhances The Golden Rule.

Quote : If you can't measure up against people who care about you, you don't stand a chance against people who don't

2011-08-01T18:37:00.001-05:00

Background:

I was discussing with my friend, Yannis, about my little emotional journey over the weekend since he was quite concerned and knew about it.
We chat about politics a lot because he is from Greece.
The above quote is a slightly reworded version of this line when finishing up the conversation.

It was pertaining to "the incident", dubbed as a symbolic effort to walk away from it.
While I was not a competitor in the incident, I tried to state valid points and ideas for fun.
I pointed out flaws while admitting that my views come from equally incomplete information.
The lack of rebuttal shows was unassuring but if arguments are kept logical, all is fine.
However, when one cuts off communication in a losing debate, what is the trophy for then?
The fact that the reasons don't tally makes it so much harder to accept.

What inspired this quote is that throughout the incident, I did not hold a single intent to hurt.
That showed how non existent my defense is.
Even now, it is not up.
I wonder what can inspire one to focus so much on winning without deploying the right strategies and surrounding oneself with the right people.

It is a harsh world out there and we should help each other to survive, not bite each other.
This quote was simply an extension to a view where, like raising a child, we pamper them as much as we provide them the most realistic view of life without shocking it.
So, when you have good friends who point out your mistakes, it is a good sign.
I am still learning how to take criticism in public, but I have learnt to reason in public.
I guess my only problem is derogatory comments in public that hold little truth.
Fortunately, I have a lot of friends that will offer their hand to help me learn.

I am an eternal student of the world.
I will continue learning.

Quote : Common Sense Is So Uncommon

2011-07-31T16:56:00.000-05:00

Background:

I had this quote for years.
It came from a friend when I was working in Reuters (Sorry I forgot your name!).

I was telling him/her that a Top 50 Index cannot have anything more or less than 50 companies.
We went on for why for a few minutes because I thought it was straightforward and I think he/she did not look at the name and was focusing on the process.

My friend burped out the comment when I said "You need 50 companies for an Index of 50 companies".
He/She probably wasn't looking at the name so its not that he/she didn't do the right things.

From what I hear a lot of times, people just do things.
No right or wrong, just do it.
While I believe in what my brother said when he said "Just Dive In, Don't Think", I always believed my brother thought things through, however little he thinks about it.
Yet, many times, people, include myself and my brother, make silly mistakes that can be avoided if we just decided to take a step back and look.

That included the now "fairly funny" incident where I lost a friend of 15 years over some nonsense.

Quote : Prophetic <> Bombastic

2011-07-31T14:46:00.002-05:00

Background:

<> means "not equal" in SQL, a programming language.

I have a bad habit of quoting sayings and then trying to invent prophecy like sayings.
Hence, I notice it when people do it also.

I do things with my heart.
So, even with bombastic words, I want people to feel what I say without trying to.

However, when I read what my friends, or even others, say, sometimes "I can't feel it".
I need to adjust my train thoughts to feel it.

Yet, prophetic things that hit peoples right away are often KISS things.
Keep It Short and Simple.

Please, my brain not that powerful, please use as few bombastic words as possible.
That includes one from my "People to Respect" list, Mr LKY.

Quote : Immortality Exist. Stupidity Mostly, Sometimes Ingenuity.

2011-07-30T23:23:00.002-05:00

Background:

Singapore National Day Parade organizers planned to play a edited version of "Bad Romance" from Lady Gaga.
They had paid the royalties to play it but did not include the right to edit it with usage.
On top of the miscalculation, it was heavily criticized online for its poor taste after being leaked.
It is currently known that it will not be used at NDP.

My friend, Chor Yean, and myself were commenting on how it will remain on the cyberspace "forever" when I made this quote.
I thought it was fairly witty and decided to share it with the world under my new section "Quotes"!
Enjoy!

Hello Box!

2011-07-30T20:15:00.002-05:00

I am saddened recently by a friend who forsaken 15 years of friendship. While I may be biased on why this person made such a choice, I do have time to waste to think about what happened, so while unwinding, I was also planning my work among other things I needed to do. Quite a fruitful Friday.

Fortunately, this also reignited my drive to finish what I now call the "Lazy Bone" project. It will be elaborated in more detail later on but first, let me comment on something that is close to my heart. I view this post as part or whole of the epilogue of my envisioned project.

Before you go on and lambaste me with the usual "Bloody Hell, Dennis Wrote An Essay Again" complaint, I will now issue a "Essay" Alert.

"Thinking Outside The Box", which will be abbreviated TOTB from now on, is a relatively lukewarm topic in real life, but I often hear it so much that I doubt people really know what it is. Fortunately, my new work environment allowed me to experiment with their workflow and presentation styles that allowed me to realize what people are missing.

First, lets demystify common misconceptions.

It works, its a new concept, hence TOTB
Fallacy : The idea may not be new, and even if it is TOTB, it might be credited to the wrong person since the thought process is the key, not the execution. Most of the time, the planner will be supervising the execution.
It works, its not new, hence not TOTB.
Fallacy : TOTB requires the understanding of the whole picture. Even if only a small part of the system changes, complete understanding is needed to avoid complications. Again, like the previous, since a misconception may exist, credit might be attributed wrongly.
It's alternative, but it doesn't work, hence not TOTB
Fallacy : Ideas are thought to work but not always executed correctly. Science to back the theory up may not be there. Theory behind the plan may be incomplete. Results is not the reason why we need TOTB. Its the avenues of thought it opens up that matters.
It's TOTB, it's too alternative, it cannot work
Fallacy : TOTB is not guaranteed to work, just like all ideas. Trial and error is needed. ROI is often the issue here but that is a HR issue or an office politics issue, which will have its own short paragraph of elaboration.
You're spouting nonsense, its not even science, hence not TOTB
Fallacy : Often this stemmed from shortsightedness and office politics. TOTB is naturally unorthodox sometimes and can appear un-scientific. However, our science cannot explain everything. As such, it is a HR issue and will be elaborated in the separate paragraph.
No idea, hence not TOTB
Fallacy : Education is an abstract issue. You need the right mix to find the right talent. You cannot force TOTB on people because it needs the right environment. For most questions asked, TOTB is not needed. TOTB is for improving anything and everything. 1+1 questions doesn't help and it is definitely not TOTB. To reason 1+1 may be TOTB.
Right environment, why no TOTB
Fallacy : As a scientist, I do not believe in the distinction of right or wrong. I believe in the pursuit of specificity. If our measurements become more accurate, we will find more things. Hence, there is no true right environment for TOTB now until we improve sciences to the extreme.
TOTB, right environment
Fallacy : Like above. Perhaps the individual is unique to be capable within that environment. Perhaps it was luck. Perhaps there is help. Perhaps you should just sit back and give up control and have more TOTB. Then again, how do we maximize efficiency?

So, will the examples with fallacy reasoning explain everything? No.

The reason is, as we know, we are only a drop of the entire universe. I always remember the marble scene in MIB 1 at the end, the perfect illustration of my thought process.

There is no perfect way to train everyone. You allow pure creativity to carry through, things are chaotic and inefficient. You control so much of everything, having strict rules and guidelines for everything, creativity gets stifled even if everyone becomes a literate and numerable intellect.

I would compare the systems in Singapore and USA to illustrate this.

Singapore is known for its efficiency with an almost complete rate of literacy and numeracy.

Strict rules through everything including education
Loves rankings
Prefers specialization and deters cross discipline at a young age
Highly stratified at a young age, with disciplines and educational pace streamed since 10
Complains about the lack of TOTB

USA. Well who doesn't know USA's system. A complete melting pot but I need a comparison.

Encourages individuality
Deters ranking, preventing big schools from having a reason to fight each other
Encourages multi-discipline education but not enforcing it
Homogeneous in mix of specialization while not enforcing it
Low stratification in range of disciplines but huge spectrum of capabilities
No complaints on lack of TOTB but does complain on lack of efficiency and streamlining

Well, I will not step into the political debate behind both systems but the distinction is clear. You want TOTB, you can't strangle people who don't perform. You want efficiency, you cannot spare the rod. Yet, USA does not lack in talents. In fact, if there is a dearth in talent in one area, they can replenish it in immigration. On the other hand, Singapore's immigration has not improved the amount of TOTB it sought.

Why? Control. A few of my friends, while consoling me over my latest melodrama, said, you cannot love everyone without having an equal amount of hate. I agree. I know what I dislike when I see it, but even when I see it, I can see the good in things. That allowed me to see the best in people and TOTB when they appear. That also allowed me to learn from people and help myself in TOTB.

I am at a constant struggle of control versus complete chaos. I "ACCEPT" that I can fault and had the good fortune of having "ACADEMY", "APTITUDE", "AMBITION" and "ADVERSITY". My good fortune is really in the people in my family and the people I know. They tolerated my sometimes wild behavior, spanked me when needed, helped me when I was bullied by unrealistic environmental factors, including very mean people, and I grew. I decided that I will continue to grow for these people and add more wonderful people into my life for the good people already in my life.

Hence, these are reasons why Singapore's search for TOTB has been relatively futile. We do not need TOTB everywhere. We do not need a lot TOTB in politics. We need TOTB in industry but we give little room for error, just like everything else in Singapore. Why? Do we really have so little room for error?

My argument against the room for error. I failed GP, survived in NUS, got work and salary comparable to Honors graduates through consistent pursuit of my passion. In 2003, I sat at home, applying for work everyday and got nothing, other than almost being a sushi chef for $1k.

My first job is a $1k temp job which I got caught for sleeping on the first day! I continued to pursue what is in my heart, got a job at teaching within 2 months. I loved it, if it wasn't paying just $1.5k and taking 60 hours a week due to travel and stress. I love kids running in circles around me. Then I quit but got my next job at $1.8k in less than a month later. Guess what, I got a quick pay rise to $2.2k, got into NCSU and deferred for a year.

Now, that might not sound like honors pay, but here's the kicker. I was given night shift with great understanding from my bosses that I wanted the money and I don't mind the hard work. I was given the night shift, working 4 hours into the night. I get to claim cab fare after work and night shift allowance, totaling about $800. I thought "Hey, I'm going USA, I got no girlfriend, little social life and just wanted to enjoy myself and still give my parents some allowance". Yes, despite my parents not demanding or needing allowance, I still gave 20% of my base salary because in my heart, I knew they were the reason I came so far. Hence, my blogging here.

Now, enough of my lucky story, I will elaborate a bit on the HR implications of TOTB. Now, I'm sure you have heard people say "this company does not value talent, they fired this super smart guy" story before. Now, when I first heard it, I begged to differ. The first question I asked is "What did this person do that is smart". The next is "What is his salary". Obviously, in my case, it was kind of the reverse since I knew the position of the people who got fired and their performance. And the next question is "So, what is the ROI then". Yes, ROI, that's what define success and failure of a company, an organization.

How can you get TOTB when you fire people for less than $50k of error which is less than a drop in your ocean of profits? How can you survive with everyone losing you $50k? How do you nurture TOTB when you enforce complete detailed accuracy to the point your sole reason for not developing the talent is "lack of data accuracy". Different people have different strengths. It is the role of the leader to know where to use which talent. A good leader will look after subordinates and usher them to the correct roles. Of course, even leadership takes time and training, hence I understand how things "cannot be helped" sometimes. One thing is, to get an open mind, you must open your mind.

Now, there is another case where TOTB is discouraged, and I saw its impact first hand. There is a manager, very abrasive, very political, very secretive. No information is shared outside this person's team. The team told me they loved their manager because of honesty towards them, but when I mentioned the lack of cross functional teamwork, they agreed with me. Due to the abrasiveness and political mindedness of this person, TOTB is discouraged, of course, compounding other factors that deter TOTB. I feel productivity is also reduced.

The last acts of this person included a highly disputed promotion, to this day, remains the reason I am seen as a thorn in many managers' eyes despite my many TOTB contributions. I left, promoted only once in 4 years. A friend told me, not promoting me is their biggest mistake. I take it with a pinch of salt and thanked my friend's gracious words. In fact, not many people would say I'm TOTB. But a few friends did lavish me with such praise and I truly thank them for not inhibiting my growth.

Now, I must deviate from my arrogance and self praise before it ruins my argument, but I can raise examples that does not involve myself. It is not important how many examples we can find. The truth is, we should not fall into the act of "Do as I say, Not as I do". I need to tolerate others' mistakes to see the best in others. You too. Then we will find a lot of TOTB that doesn't hurt people. I recently saw a video talking about trial and error. We need a good mix of that in life. If we don't dare to try, we never know. I never thought I would really be here in USA. I'm glad I tried.

I would now like to end my essay with a bit of my regular Dennis' humor. I am sick and tired of reading political articles from Singapore and USA. If you speak with greed, your every word stinks. That is what I understood of Lui Tuck Yew. If you speak with anger, your every word betrays your hypocrisy, that is Mitch McConnell with his "No Deal With Obama in Office". Even if John Boehner tries to bash Obama, he does it with style and measured aggression. I like what I hear from Boehner. Same from Khaw Boon Wan from PAP. Not Vikram Nair. For these men who receives such huge pay packages to do such work with no heart, it is an insult to my love for mankind.

Specifically for Pui, McDumbbell and Lair, I offer you this...

Man, I love this pic...I have vowed to use this pic as much as possible. Until I find more interesting ones of course.

Oh, two more things:

First, with my Project "Lazy Bone" underway, I will be re-organizing my blog. Nothing will be deleted but new filing and categories will be added to phase out the old more "solely emotional" categories. This will be my prelude.

Second. I love to sleep. I love great ideas. And I love them more with this video below from TED.com about sleep.

Politics makes no sense in the economy

2011-07-25T22:28:00.001-05:00

As much as I try to avoid taking a stand in the randomness of politics, I was appalled by the lack of common sense in politics.

How can Democrats expect a debt limit increase without planning massive budget cuts and expect not to need another debt limit increase in the future?
How can Republicans expect USA to pay for previous lavish spending without a tax increase? (I do agree that it is unfair to tax regular citizens like myself who contributed positively to the economy with hard work and regular contained spending, hence never really contributing to the deficit...)
How is ROI different across currencies?

Actually the motivation of the post was the last one. It was so funny that I could not help myself. With people like these leading the sheep across the world, its not wonder there is only so much chaos. Where my Avril picture when I need it?

Edit: I forgot to plaster this post but since Straits Times removes articles periodically, I decided to do a Print Screen. Fallacies: (1) predictions on CPI is as vague as predicting interest rates (think China and USA) (2) no mentioned of growth period (3) 5% over a few months is not good news either yearly or monthly comparison. Summary: While putting news on a newspaper is important, but when it is filled with unknowns, newspapers do not add value to society, even if it is the national press. Same goes for political entities.

My Idea Of Talent Creation

2011-07-23T19:14:00.000-05:00

Phew, finally calmed down. I slept the most of today and woke up just to do my chores. What a wonderful life!

Anyhow, without further ado, I will present my idea of Talent Creation formally. This is a full departure from my previous 2 posts that are more like a preview of this boring topic that I'm going to talk about. However, it is part and parcel of life that everyone has to go through. Yes, parenting, and a bit of politics.

Before I jump into the details, I wanted to differentiate between my ideas, parenting and politics. My idea is a very philosophical and generic view of life. Since it is generic, parenting is difficult because it requires a lot of trial and error. Politics, however, should not confuse my ideas. It is just a more fashionable way of setting up a factory to create intelligent humans that can do very complicated work but not rebellious enough to circumvent the owners, aka politicians. Now, not all people in politics are bad, but we all know, the truly good ones are rare.

Now, back to the 4 A's. Again, they are Aptitude, Ambition, Academy and Adversity.

Notice that in previous post, I singled out Adversity as the one hardest item to quantify. The reason is, while all 4 items are fairly ambiguous at times, Adversity is required as an input for the other 3 A's in order for someone to develop his talent enough to overcome Adversity. In fact, Adversity itself is its own input to inspire more Adversity.

Aptitude is often overqualified as the true variable of talent. However, just like we know that there are "many fake prophets", the same applies to talent scouting. In fact, I would like to draw the similarity of religion and politics as the masses following the directions of a leader, spiritual or physical. Hence, the truth I wanted to say is, be glad with the talent you have, seek the talent that can be found, but do not overdo your greed for power by seeking talent that might not be there. False gold is a common phenomenon.

Ambition is often under qualified actually, at least when it comes in contrast to talent. Ambition is often matched to talent without the knowledge of talent creation, and that often leads to dysfunctional talent sourcing. An example, one comment I always hear is that, how can a less capable person be promoted over a more capable people. The common conclusion is nepotism. It is mostly true, but another point that we should understand is, talent can be nurtured. There is a limit through each of our aptitude, but producing beyond expectations set upon us is not uncommon. If such is the case, the leadership is fairly well read into talent creation. Unfortunately, the reason why I'm writing this is because I feel it lacking abundance right now.

Academy is probably the easiest to qualify but often unrealized until after the fact. This is because Mother Nature is the true parents of us all. It provides all 4 A's without most of us knowing it, yet it is part of us as well. A less educated person can go through the same amount of academy through experience rather than literature. A less talented can compensate for its lack through industry with experience and literature. All in all, an academy should be as forgiving to everyone as Mother Nature. The problem with humanity is the shortage of such forgiveness. It is such that causes academies to become dysfunctional and decline in status.

Adversity, as before mentioned, is the hardest to qualify. It is in everything we do. It is life. Life is difficult. I feel that Life is the toughest lesson among all my lessons, yet it is the one I enjoy most and I think I have a decent handle of it. Not an A+ student, but maybe enough to pass. I can provide many examples of failure due to a lack in adversity, much more than the other 3 A's. As such, I think saturation is when recessions happen, factually of metaphorically. We know monopolies are bad, we know dictatorships don't last. Why? Lack of adversity.

Adversity is the key element of evolution. There is a problem, we need to solve it. If it is one off, we will forget it. If it keeps occurring, we will find a way to solve it completely. That shows you how difficult it is to contribute adversity into talent creation. How can you tell 2 talented individuals not to kill each other? It is almost impossible in a push and shove situation, yet, it is necessary and doable.

This is where tolerance for mistakes comes in. If we recognize that we are mere humans and cannot exist alone, accepting compromise and yet trying to outsmart one another without trying to destroy one another. The lifetime opponent as you might have heard. That is the ultimate adversity that is most conducive to talent creation. However, as all good things in life are, it is limited and it cannot be faked. One view I want to present is that propaganda is often aimed at achieving domination through suggestion and implied and fake adversity is one of politics' most common tactic. What is more satisfying to a greedy man if he can get other men to steal from people other than himself and enrich himself in the process? What is more important than keeping your society sufficiently educated and curious if you know telling the truth will make everyone lazybones like me.

Finally, I want to conclude this post with the 5th A, an item which is actually not really relevant to talent creation but one that I realized to be very crucial as well during the drafting of this post.

Acceptance. Yes, acceptance in both oneself and others. While commenting on tolerance, I noticed that I was able to come up with this post because I accepted my flaws. I accepted the flaws of people around me. In being honest to whatever I can think of, I was able to learn as much as I can from every scenario. I cannot learn everything, which I accepted, but I did manage to learn what I would have thought I couldn't. I remember I was told to give up subjects for good grades, which first, I do not accept and secondly, since it made me unhappy, the teachers did not get good grades out of me either. Deny others too much and you will be defeated.

For those in Singapore, that is the one thing I want you all to know. Tolerance for mistakes. If there is one thing we want our politicians to know is that their lack of tolerance for mistakes is unacceptable. Especially when they make so many mistakes as well. Until we can tolerate another person's mistake as long as it doesn't hurt us too much, we will never be able to find the person that can truly lead Singapore. Fortunately for me, I grew up in a family that is tolerant and have lots of love to share.

As such, feel free to share my love for the world and the world full of talents. We all can learn from one another, and I want everyone to know that.

The 4 A's

2011-07-22T20:12:00.008-05:00

I'm not a scholar. I'm not a jock. I'm not a genius. I'm not intellectually challenged. Wait, maybe I am, cause I can't remember too many things and loves to sleep.

Well, whatever. I wanted to deviate from my cynical tone and switch to a more serious, world loving one.

Yes, this is going to be philosophical. Well....only slightly.

To make things easy, I decided to write about the requirements of developing a talent. I worked real hard to find 4 words that start with the same letter, plus I don't really want to waste time and find a word from the 4 initials. Without further ado, I will list what I think is necessary to develop a talent.

It is....drum rolls...OK, waste of time here...The 4 A's. Are you expecting something else?

Aptitude
Ambition
Academy
Adversity

I think it is really easy to illustrate the first 3, with a bit of argument for the 4th later.

Aptitude. No, I'm not talking genes like LKY prefers to believe. I mean, isn't Singapore's system trying to show the opposite and say leaders can be made, hence Academy? Frankly, everyone has talent, not just one, a wide range of them, some people having a more acute range, others with a wide range that doesn't even add up to the sum. But everyone needs to be honest. I am honest with myself. I'm not very smart, not very hardworking but I need to use all my wits and labor to survive. That's what I mean by being honest. Play to my strengths, although I still like to play on my weaknesses to see how far I can go with a handicap. Anyway, like I said, you need 4 A's, not one, so read on.

Ambition. This is quite a no-brainer. Where is our great leaders if they do not have ambition? Of course, they need to have aptitude as well, along with the other 2 A's. Why else would you kill all your brain cells for something you will lose at the end of your life anyway? Really, I mean, I really just want to sleep on the beach all day or some meadow all my life. I like the idea of myself being a farm boy. But I guess, I felt compelled to do a lot of things and that drove the first part of my ambition until I met really smart and ambitious people who spurred me on. Really, how far can your car go on only one tank of gas? Oh, wrong analogy.

Academy. This one should be quite easy, but wait, how did Conan become king? Oh, he's fiction. But there are "less educated" leaders as well. They are not taught by school. They are taught by life. To survive, to become better just to survive. Yea, they went through the academy of life alright. Too bad the only things we can learn nowadays are all in school and all from books and only try to marginally apply the theory on work when we come of age.

Adversity. This one is a tough cookie, not just because it means having a challenge, but it is the invisible teacher that makes us grow. Why is it that success is hard to maintain? Is it because the sky is not the limit but the coconut tree is? Bad example. How about evolution? Right, that will do. You and I need to evolve to try to overcome difficulties to be successful.

So, do we really need to know what the missing link between us and apes are? No. I mean, the way you evolve will be different from the way you have evolved. That's the beauty of evolution. It cannot be defined. It cannot be quantified. It can only be felt. Like relativity. No, not the force, Jedi fan.

Now, with all these, does it mean that we can always groom talents? I think this is ambiguous. People come and go. Leaders come and go. You cannot look for them, but wait for them to appear. If you have all 4 A's, you can strive to be a leader, but only time can answer for you.

Also, don't mix political adversities up with adversity. The whole fake drama like the "Cold War" or "Alien Invasion" as Michael "I only have explosions and explosive sex scenes" Bay like you to believe. If there is someone out there to beat you, everyone is. No one wants to hurt you because it could be everyone, including yourself. The debt limit, the fat cats, the Greek Crisis, really, its all fake in the sense that it doesn't matter to you as much as you think it does.

Confused? Yes, we all are going to be jobless. Yes, ALL OF US. So, who's the enemy here? The ones the politicians want you to think is your enemy or yourself for letting the politician lead you by the nose? Yes, they lied and they will continue lying to keep their skin. That is politics. That is not life. If you cannot be honest with yourself, no one can. I will wake up tomorrow as I did today. So will you. Maybe you will do something different, which is natural because it is a different day! So let's forget what the politician likes us to believe in the definition of talent and really put a great show for ourselves. Yes, the one where we go do what is right for us.

And one last note. If anyone wants to debate on "Are Leaders Born or Made?", I have a picture to show you what I think of this debate.

Man, I love it when a cute girl does that with an (almost) smiley face. If only I have a naughty wife like that. OK, off topic.

Oh, even if its LKY, with all my respect of his contributions to Singapore, I do not agree on one ideal way to develop talent. Plus, you claimed that talent is born, not made, which reversed everything you did on forging talent. My 4 A's is only a generic make up of how talents come to age. It can be refined to enhance education and talent development but it cannot be perfected. Unless you want to claim you're God or God's messenger. I prefer you don't.

Also, to LKY personally, Tony Leung will make you look ugly, please veto the movie project before it mars the handsome image you have all on your adventure in 1965. I think that photo of you in the suit in 1965 looks cool and befitting of a political leader. Tony Leung is nothing compared to real kick ass hard work. Sorry for my American-glish. I tried very hard not to add words to the dictionary after inventing "chemicalize" in 4th grade.

Defining Talent - Epilogue

2011-07-22T19:20:00.011-05:00

Ok, the trigger for me to write this post is really because everyone seems to be in a frenzy over some country's politics and two guys I know are selling their blogs to the whole world. I'm more bored than anything since there is nothing more crappy than knowing that I could lose my job if some blokes at Capitol Hill can't decide on the bare minimum of changes needed to make sure USA can continue to borrow money and pretend it doesn't need to repay them.

Anyhow, I decided to stroke on a topic I thought is interesting, ridiculous and fairly underestimated. Right, defining a skillset. Not, I don't mean defining one thing you can use to make money. I mean quite simply, defining your talent. Yes. The thing every kind soul would say that everyone has and the super big meanies at Capitol Hill, or anywhere where politicians are around the world, think they have the right to critique of people.

So, what is a talent?

According to what I understand and what I read from every Singaporean complaining about, it means everyone that is foreign. Yes, so I'm not a talent. Incidentally, the previous definition is people who can get 9 to 10 A1's at GCE O Levels and 6 to 7 A's at A Levels. That also disqualifies me as a talent. Well, given the rate they replace locals with foreigners...No wonder I can't help but feel like Oscar the Grouch when I was in Singapore.

Now, in USA, everyone has a talent, however uneconomical it is. From singing to singing badly, from writing to writing garbage, yes, if you can offer an opinion of something, you have a talent. So am I a talent in USA but not in Singapore?

Not really. I mean, I'm just another guy that is in a place where someone else is not. So, other than being OK at school and work, I'm really normal. Yes, in fact, that's what I like. Seriously, I can be as loyal as anyone you can think of when it comes to the well being of Singapore, but classification of talent really puts me in a bad spot.

The lack of the need to compare me to another dude who is trying to be the better dude really puts me at ease, although I'm still not going to call myself a talent like what everyone here wants to call everyone else. But I'm used to telling everyone that they have talent, so I guess that is fine.

But wait, even if I have a talent and do not need to worry about competition, I might still be out of a job come August? Hey, why do I need to wait for Congress to pass a bill to know that I still have work to do? Aren't these supposed to be talented people as well? Maybe they should import some of the talents Singapore is trying to export over just to replace the idling politicians? Oh, I forgot, the definition of talent is only qualified by location only.

I think I'm better off rolling a dice to decide if they are talented or not...Fret not, I'm going to write my second post soon...

Just a bored post

2011-07-09T21:48:00.004-05:00

Ya, just a bored post.

Actually, now that I started, I'll keep writing.

First off, grave news. My mother has Stage 2 Breast Cancer. Before I go bonkers, which I don't think I am, I am only going to make "what if" plans. I want my mother to live her life as she wants so until I am certain I need to make something happen and be back in Singapore to ensure things go well, I'm only to sit back and let life go its natural cause. The best part is that my new boss mentioned that he will try to find ways to make things work in case I need to be in Singapore. The worst part is, well, like any parent would, she told me not to worry about it. So, being the smart alec I am, I'll plan ahead.

Now, the worst part is over, time for something "exciting". I was at Ben's family July 4th celebration before I got back into reality. The day at Ben's place was great. Food, chat and just relaxing to how his cheerful family is like. The reality is, Singapore is not going to have fun during NDP next month.

When someone forgets that ripping a commercialized song is illegal and uses it for NDP, its folly at its peak. Now, to use Lady Ga Ga's song of all possible songs out there, that's quite beyond what we just said about stupidity. Well, I'm laughing now because I can always say I knew they were not that good but no one believed me, but I also worry about my friends and family living under such de-oxygenated environment.

The air is as filthy as can be for a developed country and the politics, getting from bad to worse. From obnoxious to obtuse to obsolete, PAP has done it all. To be honest, I am very forgiving as long as I can see results and I understand that the OOO pack will always stand out more than great work, so I would say my acceptance level for PAP is still rather high, but definitely less than 50% right now.

Ok, the obnoxious. Before tearing anyone, I want to say that LKY can be forgiven for saying things like "We decide what is right". He's been there and done that in times of much less stability. It worked last time because a lot of people do not know what is right for building a nation. Now, a silly dude called Vikram Nair followed suit and says "We decide what is right". Well, since he has not done anything, I wonder what he knew that is right. I love to see the aftermath where he says he's misquoted. LKY would never say that. That is the difference. Oh and tell me I do not know any better when I worked with the best and the diverse in USA. No, really, I don't know any better. I'm just a simple guy writing what he knows would work well. Unlike some big shot lawyer taking fat paychecks for running his mouth like he built Singapore.

Next, the obtuse. Well, if the NDP organizers are already not obtuse enough, police in Singapore arrested young boys for working summer jobs handing out pamplets for loansharks. Yes, not the loansharks themselves but their runners who knew no better. Later, police cited it is for their safety and not for the case. I beg to differ. If I am the police chief, I would say it is safer to do so and it is for the case. What if a boy runs onto the wild roads fearing arrests? Now, rather than taking just the heat for this silly act, I would also work on the mysterious rotting bodies that is showing up in various parts of Singapore. Yes, I'm expecting my police to work hard. I mean, if I knew they cannot arrest TPL for the "Cooling Off" offence, work on the next most important thing like actually arresting the loansharks and murderers. Quit giving excuses and apologize.

Finally, the obsolete. Instead of really working his ass off for the $15k per month times 30 months in a year pay, some military dude dared the rest of Singapore to give ideas and not throw stones. Dude, why should my entire family be paying taxes when I need to think of what works for my family instead of civil servants working to make life better for everyone? I work to make my work better, so must the civil servant. Is it just a paycheck job to you, Chan Chun Sing? If so, please quit your job because you do not deserve it. Being a scholar in school does not represent wisdom in life. Oh, and don't get me started on the silly "lunatic fringe" comment. If someone is a lunatic for being against you, you should not be working in the government. Heck, you should be in an asylum. One who works for the betterment of his country should not refuse to listen to people of his country, even if they are not saying the right things. It is YOUR job to figure out how to fix the problem. I am good at fixing things, but I am not paid the gigantic amount of YOUR salary, and my family pay YOUR pay through our taxes, so quit talking and start working.

Well, all in all, that summarizes Singapore politics. Gone are the days when paying well prevents corruption. Now, from "loanshark" DBSS to irresponsible politicians who go around loafing off while we all slog hard at work. Really, MPs in Singapore are a joke nowadays. To check the drains in McPherson when we all know Orchard is a flood risk is a silly way to tell people you are working. Why do we pay for PAPER TIGERS?

Anyway, let me propose my ideas like CCS wanted to show I still love Singapore so much:

Revise foreign worker laws to reflect all the same benefits and penalties locals have, and use levies to control inflow. This nullifies the entire argument of foreign workers having an advantage by employers paying less for them than a local. In USA, after I have the necessary paperwork, I can work for any company I want as long as they are willing to sponsor my work visa and my pay. Is it protective of locals? Maybe, but companies willing to pay for my talent are not paying a dime less for what I can do, so I do not feel protectionism here.
Increase import channels of groceries and other commodities, thereby reducing Cost of Living. This is the growing problem isn't it and it is a wonder how it is not being looked at already.
Reduce GST. Taxes is an important way of controlling cost of living. Apparently, Singapore is rich but the people not so rich, so why bother about a cut in tax revenue when we can afford it and make people happier.
Build more HDB. Although I can't believe I am saying this, I also cannot believe that Singapore reduced building HDBs to the point it is today. DBSS is a joke. HDB has no business helping developers make more money. Neither does it need to make more money for itself. The country is rich already.
Cut the Parliament by half. Who is doing the work? The PM? The DPMs? The Cabinet? We do not need a big committees in everything. Ultimately, the decision is down to the Cabinet and their Deputies. Its like a merry-go-round now where everyone who knows someone in PAP can try to get fat paychecks by sitting there. That way, people have less targets to throw stones at also.
Stop hiring paper tigers. At some point, everyone realizes that the paper tells only so much. The work tells everything so why should my resume be treated poorer than a Bachelor Honors graduate when I completed my Masters, have a few years of experience and the Honors graduates do a "hantakaki" in learning? This paper talk is one of many roots to Singapore's current problems. We need a mix, not an entire segment.
Reduce COE. Actually, this might or might not help my father, but its a reflection of many things in Singapore where we pay more for a paper value than the value of the item itself. When you have tarriffs that affect small businesses and the small businesses fail to compete, everyone loses. We need a constant flow of small businesses booms and busts to replace failing big business models.
Stop media BS. If you don't want media to publish bad things about PAP, do not go after your opponents either because as an educated country like Singapore, people will figure out the ins and outs of a story.
Cut NDP programming to fireworks if you cannot think of anything better. It saves a lot of time and money and avoids ridicule from people, worst of all, Hitler. Ok, that's a joke on a bigger joke of the NDP organizers.
Open up documentation and transparency of sovereign funds and companies. Secrecy begets secrecy. The more you hide, the more people think you have something to hide. Why should I not know what you are doing with my tax money?
I am not writing the 10 commandments so I am writing an eleventh idea of no idea just to wind things down.
Ok, I lied. I have 2 more ideas and I like 13 as a number. Allow multi-citizenships. If it is not stupid enough to have people whose education is paid for in Singapore not to be enforced to be given citizenship and worked for their livelihood, it would be even stupid-er to make expatriates feel less at home when they are able to gain another citizenship. Residency decides how well founded someone is to another country and allowing multiple citizens in Singapore allows smart people who have left for opportunities to come back and contribute.
My last idea was drawn from my dislike of GCT and his many shortsighted comments and policies. But my last idea would be more damaging for him than just dislike. We should not create higher positions than a PM or a President. LKY and GCT can act as consultants to the Parliament and Cabinet but not as any part of government. They definitely should not be titled higher than a PM because it causes confusion to the authority of the PM. We see no shortage of such confusion in history and no shortage of it becoming a power struggle. We simply do not need it. Solidifying the true power of a leader is important in any nation because he is the one who is ultimately accountable for everything, even if he has no part of some of the things.

Ok, another bad news. My aunt also has Breast Cancer. Apparently, it is benign and she goes through routine checkups. I happen to work in a Non Profit segment of Marketing Analytics, so it definitely is a way for me to pay forward to make sure people around me is safe and sound. So what's your idea to help your country? Oh, let me guess, how to increase your pay?

Why so serious?

2011-05-22T11:08:00.003-05:00

Ok, this is a ripoff from a few things:

Heath Ledger's famous Joker
Steve Johnson's infamous post TD celebration

Yet, I found myself over reacting to my friends' over reaction to many over rated things that I decided, you know what, I'll write about something I care about for the betterment of many kids in future.

Yep, you guessed it wrong, it's not education. Yes, it is related to education but really, it is more about life than just education. It is about bullying.

I noticed an up tick in the concern over bullying. Like really, when did we know that bullying is a problem? Oh now? What? Are you serious that poor kids are not suffering at the hands of bullies since the beginning of time? Why now? Because some celebrities' kids are bullied? Or some media moguls'? Or is it really a problem? Wait...Bullying existed since the first worm existed on Earth, and people are only worried about it now? Give me a break.

What people needs to really focus on is: Have they done enough good in life to not be worried about being scorched forever in Hell because if Armageddon comes tomorrow like some nut has it, a lot of "nice" people who are worried about things like bullying and corruption, and many problems that are not problems to them until it affected them, will definitely be burn in Hell when Death comes to shuffle us all in line to meet Michael and Lucifer to see who deserves to go into the Kingdom. Me? I don't really care. I think I have done enough to be able to sit around and have a cup of tea with all the big shots up there and chat what the world really needs other than apocalyptic nuts.

Ok, so back on track for the topic of bullying. Wait, wait. I need to state a few things first.

Truths about Humanity, or Life, or everything about the world we are able to understand due to our fantastic evolution with science:

Survival of the fittest is a fact, not a myth, because if you cannot win by brute strength, you will try to win by sheer intelligence
Power corrupts, another fact because of the above rule, because if you can get everything you want without having to work for them, why not?
Evolution is a fact, at least from a theological standpoint, and leads to (1) and (2)
Extinction happens when other species outgrow a current "master" race by a lot to the point where regeneration of the "master" race is no longer enough to keep their existence obsolete (I thought of this as I went along, not a fact but theologically sound)

Ok, now I can start.

So, why am I annoyed that bullying is now a public enemy?

First, it happened after so many kids have had their childhood messed up by societal mismanagement. Yes, societal, not just a kid, not just the teacher, not just the parent but society. If a kid is a bully, why aren't others stopping him? Kids don't know any boundaries to begin with, so they need to be put on the right track, which actually happens some times, or perhaps they should be jailed, which should not happen. Right now, bring the whole "bullying is bad" case is poor parenting and education to both sides of the bullying because no one learns from it.

Two, I mentioned learning, how? If you read the 3 points I mentioned above, you should have figured it out by now. Yes, thats how creatures evolve. Defense mechanisms, counter measures, anything. If our DNA did not alter for the past few aeons, how did we have better technology than we did a few centuries ago. But lets keep our fingers crossed as I hope the end of the 4th solar cycle and the birth of our 5th human recorded solar cycle will not render any of our current technologies obsolete.

To add a bit more to what I meant, I'll admit first. I was bullied in school when I was a kid. My teachers did not know, nor did my friends, nor did my parents. But that did not harm me. I later grew up with some of the more "bullying" type of people to be friends, not great buddies but ok friends that will help each other. Yes, I still hate some of the bullies I saw earlier in life but really, other than looking at where their life is now compared to mine, and bettering my life by actually growing older and better, I don't think there is much for me to do.

Dude, I had to be ostracized by the smartest boys in my class, made to look like a weirdo because despite my friends, I am not part of the "boys". I had the bully's mom call me at my home to reprimand me for picking my nose when I was twelve. Heck, seriously? You call the "fights" we see now on Youtube bad? Given the weapons we have on the streets, that's child's play. We as knowledgeable human beings can do better. By the way, my back was broken when I was twelve when one of the smart kid bullies did a judo slam on me for soccer. Yes, SOCCER.

My childhood was pretty much ruined by my last 2 years in elementary school, although I did have a relatively fun and crazy time when I was young. Now, how your kids will be like depends more on how you treat your kids, not just how you treat other people nor other "kids" treat your kids. Yes, the "kids" can be of any age, as long as humanity lives. Do I feel sorry for myself? Yep, maybe I should still be crying everyday now but frankly, no. I am having a good life and I'll do my part to help others have a good life too.

Three, if you stop people from bullying, aren't you acting like a bully yourself? Oh, you can't do this. No, my kids won't do this. Stop that nonsense, everyone makes mistakes. I got punished for my mistakes and I learn well from it. I listen and advise others on how to deal with their life and I learn well from them too. The minute you stop information from flowing because you believe you and your kids and do no wrong, you're obsolete, waiting for extinction. Maybe not in your lifetime but in one of your descendants.

Yes, and power corrupts. The minute you get to call the shots on how others should run their life, I don't expect anyone to be able to be themselves without you calling the shots. Yes, I'll fire my maid which I do not have yet if she keeps breaking my plates not because of money but because it is a household hazard. Oh, and where's the saying that no human should play God? Is that something the politicians, religious leaders, pop icons and media moguls say to others so that they themselves can Lord over people's lives?

And finally, four, the lack of innovation. I need to credit USA and Ryan for helping me understand this. I sort of know it when I was young and it is most probably why I left Singapore. Laws and bans are just pathetic excuses to stop someone from doing something without being legally called any names from prejudiced to racist. Yes, I'll fire someone if they smoke crack and mess up their work but if thats not the case, I'll just avoid crack myself. By stopping the whole idea that bullying exist, how are kids going to learn from adversity? Because they are competing against foreigners? That's nonsense. We are all neighbors and friends living in the same planet.

Fact, I am a foreigner in USA because I'm not really born there. I am half a foreigner in Singapore because I am away for so long. Where do I belong? I belong to Earth. I should have the right to decide my own life, learn my own life and not take crap from nonsensical people. Yep, that's my rule for myself. And I try to help people stand up for themselves. Give a beggar a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for life. We all need help from each other and we all learn, day by day.

Yep, the whole hype thing is crap. The media focus on "bullying" is crap. The "counter measures" are crap because as adults, we cannot fix our problems with our societies and resort to the same solutions that kept us alive to keep our pathetic lives longer. Yep, QE, bailouts and after votes are thrown into the hate, post GE complaining. Some good things will come out of it, but most of it is still hot air. I find the lack of creativity in media nowadays boring and obsolete. Really? I need more drama over the petty things in life?

What I did instead of all these and will continue to do is what I have done all my life, Listen and Feel. If you cannot even spend some time to listen to someone's problems, you will never be able to feel their pain. Yep, doctors, nurses, lawyers, accountants, bankers, managers, whoever. If you tell me that I cannot complain because my suffering is not worse than yours, then you need a brain scan. And yes, your suffering is worse than mine because you're too mentally damaged that you need a brain scan.

What I propose to solve for "bullying" is this: Social Responsibility. I never liked the whole "Green" movement, but heck, I have been conserving for the natural environment since I was young and I may not look like it, I'm quite a tree hugger, as long as the bugs don't get to me because I like to feel the cool breeze.

Frankly, the whole idea of the Social Responsibility thing is this, if you can't execute responsibility, I doubt you can manage anyone's behaviour. Also, your kids are not stupid. They are smart, just like you and me. They learn from you and me and they will adapt. We grow old and become obsolete, but are all people mass murdering old folks? No! Because we're smart enough to know that wisdom does come with age. Some get it faster than others. That's why Social Responsibility is more important than some rule or law that prevents bad people from being bad. Because there are bad people, like how apples will rot naturally and the whole "Power Corrupts" thing.

By stopping a bully or putting him or her on ice, we are allowing stopping our kids from evolving into smarter creatures. Also, who says bullying must be using fists? My bullies were sophisticated, smart and never really threw any punches. Where did they end up? Not doing society any good, that is one thing I know. If they are bad, they are bad. We punish them for what they did, no more, no less. What we need to do is to ensure that everyone gets the same amount of opportunity.

Ok, not completely equal, since we know from the earliest days of life that not all things are equal but you know what I mean metaphorically. It's not like I can control other people's life anyway so I cannot ensure that the brightest kids can grow out of being bullied or resist bullying others. But if I can put them on the right path as much as I can, I know they will grow up happy. I think that's what you want as a parent, right? Or no? Ok, I'll stop here regardless then.

Today, I successfully explained the idiosyncrasy of having fiat money. We need fiat money but we should not be a slave to any form of money, real or fiat. Yea, I felt like a good preacher today. And if you feel aligned to what I said about the whole nonsensical drama about bullying, I think I did even better. I'm definitely open to how we can be charitable to our community and help kids learn how to deal with bullies, defend themselves and not to become bullies themselves, and if you feel my blog might help people understand how to form a better community, feel free to pass this post on.

Ok, I might want money for it but that's not the biggest thing in my mind. We'll figure it out when people help one another more.

Time to finish the beer I have before I started this post.

Un-Hibernating in May

2011-05-07T12:50:00.007-05:00

Well, I finally caught some time to spare to blog, especially after wasted time driving and waiting at a MVA to realise I need a million other things to register my car.

Anyway, I thought I wanted to blog because of all the nonsense going around all week in Singapore.

For starters, I'll have a legend key:

WP = Worker's Party, GE = General Election, SG = Singapore, OPM = Other People's Money (Taxes),

LKY = Lee Kwan Yew, LHL = Lee Hsien Loong, LTK = Low Thia Kiang,

MP = Member of Parliament, FT = Foreign Talent, CPI = Consumer Price Index,

FB = Facebook, MVA = Motor Vehicle Admin, QE = Quantitative Easing

One, as I now know that Hougang is again safely in WP's hands, I don't care much more than that. But knowing that SG still has a lot of selfish, incapable MPs sitting on insanely high wages on OPM does make me very sick.

Two, the (non) creativity induced nonsense spewed to get people to vote with their "mind", not their "heart". This makes me sicker, and justifies my thought that the current crop of ministers can't handle what's left of LKY's mantra.

Three, for all the science and tech stuff we're proud to be capable of in Singapore, really, explaining the "problems" in Singapore is that hard? Really?

I really want to get this off my chest but I thought it would be really be misunderstood if I put it in less than three paragraphs on FB.

GDP. Can a country's GDP grow like SG organically? Yes. It's only a numbers game anyway. Print as much money as you want and your GDP can "grow" from 1 trillion to 2 trillion. Of course, I left out details of how the financial system works but I'm sure you get the gist of it. But Singapore did not do QE. So why the explosive growth?

Well, for one, with USA and Europe struggling with debt and unemployment, where do people put their money? Japan? China? Taiwan? Hong Kong? South Korea? Singapore? Well, pick your poison. Either way, there is always a reason not to put all your eggs in one basket.

Still, being one of the tidiest places on Earth, Singapore does make the top of many banker's place to be in. Oh, did I mention that people are generally bilingual in English and one other language, like Mandarin, Malay/Bahasa or Tamil?

Ok, so why didn't my paycheck grow as fast? Well, not mine, since I'm in USA.

Let's stop for a second and look at Singapore's population growth. Why population growth? Well, if there is only one gold bar for one person, he is rich. What if there is a lot of people? Yea, duh, everyone will fight, so no one is rich.

Now, Singapore's population has grown at least one percent almost every year over the last two decades. There are only three years with less than one percent and only one with a negative, although it is quite a strangely large drop in 2003, maybe because a few immigration law changes.

So, is most of these growth organic? Well, maybe, but that means at least a family in a hundred has a new baby every year, not taking into account deaths and aging. So no. It's because of Singapore's FT program, from actually screening good candidates to blatantly giving away free citizenships.

I have no doubt the people we scouted are smart, but how many are loyal? Productive? Blended well into Singapore's kampong culture while many upstarts are trying to get out of it? Are we treating them as part of the family? All these affect how good the society is. As a foreigner myself in USA, I know what it feels when locals are pinning problems on you, and I have absolutely no illusion than SG's version is any different.

I know at least one example where we brought over the smartest man we can get from another country, only to have him leave us for greener pastures because NUS is not big enough for him. This is uncommon, I know, but this is not rare. And this is of no fault to the man in question, or the many immigrants who came to Singapore. It is the program's fault. You cannot blame people for taking free money when MPs offer it with OPM irresponsibly. Maybe you can blame PAP, but did anyone try to advise otherwise?

Ok, not to ramble too much over something which I condemned long ago anyway. Now, with steady, if not strong, inorganic population growth, CPI will go up faster than it does in general, with or without GDP growth.

Add the foreign investments that has come into Singapore, or perhaps simply Singaporean (people or funds) withdrawing funds from foreign investments, that explains the GDP and CPI increases. Let's not forget all the well publicized problems with other countries, hurting supply streams of oil, vegetables, fish and whatever you need in your life, yea, life is expensive.

Now, how does all this affect paychecks? Well, no connection really, if you believe what I read, but of course, I don't. I love to see connection in things even if its not there. Well, I am not throwing darts into the dark for this one though.

SG have a large supply of work, turning into a huge demand for skilled workers, but wait, we're also growing our supply of workers through FT. We're also importing people to do the harsh labor work we no longer want to do, so, am I getting the best job I can get in the market?

Let's see. In 2003, I came out with just a BSc in Stats. I can't get into Department of Stats because I do not have do honors for playing around too much taking courses that I think will help me create the craziest math theory in the world, well, so I did temp work there.

So, while I was there, I found out that I am equally trained as my supervisors and I think now, I code far better than them. Oh, I also do analyses, although RCI did not give me any modeling opportunities other than simple ones, so maybe they win in that one. Still, I'm good at automating reports. I like to look at things outside the box. But wait, I'm not good enough for the Statistician position in 2003. Do I believe that has changed now? Maybe, but I have a MSc now, so it's a different scenario we're talking about.

So, can I get a high paying job in Singapore now? Probably, with my current qualifications and work experience. Would I get the same opportunities if I had stayed in Singapore? Based on my personality, probably no. I'm too much of a wild sheep. Unsynchronized with the other sheep because I like to be myself. But I am also too in tune with the herd, preparing for the worst like most Singaporeans. Not preparing for Doomsday like the funny stories but similar.

Ok, so does my experience explain why a typical Singaporean's paycheck cannot grow? No?

How about some logic now?

Good GDP growth, good.

Good population growth, good? Yea, it's good. I like more friends anyway. Ok, back to the point.

Good growing demand for work, good.

Good growing supply of workers. You decide. Need I mention that the need for MSc isn't really there in Singapore anyway? So maybe I won't really get paid as well as I am over here, even with the low tax rate. Simply, I'm not the only smart human around. And I'm not even near being smart enough in the world.

Oh and yea, SG need more PhDs to push us higher in the tech world, but we don't have that many PhDs, so we import them. Yet, we don't aggressively get them to train Singaporeans.

Maybe, it is ineffective to get them to train our citizens because they are too smart.

Maybe, we don't give enough opportunities to talented Singaporeans to learn from them.

Maybe, we brainwashed Singaporeans with Capitalism so much that learning from the smartest isn't efficient enough for most people to make a living?

Anyway, does that explain the disconnect between GDP growth and salary increases?

One thing I like here in USA is that I can fight for what I want. I can challenge myself, fail and given an opportunity to try again. If I feel I can get paid better, the only thing stopping me is myself. If I am really not as capable as I think I am, all I have to do is to challenge myself to accept the truth. Either way, I am myself.

So, am I sympathetic to the "problems" in Singapore?

Yes, because I have friends and family there. Did I also tell you how much I think it is still a good place to be in?

I always try to advise them what to do even if times are tough. Coming to USA is another big challenge and not everyone wants to take that up, and I understand that. I don't advise it for everyone but I definitely support any courageous effort.

So what do I dislike about all the "drama" I'm hearing from the internet and friends to make me complain this much?

Everything. Really. Everything. Frankly, if I learnt something in my life that I didn't know before over the past year, it would be that I am myself and I always have to do what I think is right. That is where the mind and the heart is the same thing.

Singaporeans can argue for or against PAP, from the dirty tricks LKY used to gain power, to the great work he did with Singapore, to the excess fat the Parliament has gathered over the past few years with their insanely high pay to the many smart people we still have in PAP. People should just decide on one thing. What do you want?

You can argue that you don't know it when you're a teen. You can explain you are misguided by propaganda over the past decade. But really, in GE, you only have one thing. Decide on what you want now. Regretting past mistakes is normal, but how is your past mistake affecting your current decision?

I know what I'll do.

I will whine like I have been since young about things I don't like.

I will complain like I have since young about things I don't understand.

I will listen to your problems and care for others like I have since young.

But I certainly am not stopping to think about all these nonsense more than that one minute that I need for this. I have far more responsibilities to far more people in my life since young.

If you want PAP like you have since 1965, then go ahead, vote for them. If you dislike certain overpaid politician, voice it out and make a stand. If you want a change in Parliament, vote for the opposition. Either way, its your choice. Party lines do not affect how I vote.

LTK did a good job for Hougang and I think he left a good lieutenant to succeed him so he can take on Aljunied. If he ages enough like CST and becomes incapable or simply that I worry for his health out of goodwill, I'll not vote for him. WP will decide on how my town should be run.

But I don't think LHL has done anything bad to Singaporeans, so I will continue to respect his leadership, especially with LKY mentoring him. I do agree to the fact I cannot vote against him, but there isn't enough proof of incompetence to make me do that either. If he makes a big mistake or a bad policy, I'll adjust my assessment accordingly. And I will be watching, for myself, my family and my friends.

Most importantly, I decided to work in a country where I think I can develop myself well, even if it is not where I was born. All animals move from time to time, including humans. So I did move and do I regret it? Maybe, but why think?

I have to surmise that I cannot see how PAP will remove their excess fat if they don't restructure, but if LHL tries to reinvent himself, maybe. But most importantly, no matter how much you complained, it is just words if you don't put your money where your mouth is. Unlike the many foul words a bully can throw to ruin another person's life by perception, complaining is like looking at yourself in the mirror. It is natural and it is just what it is.

As much as I don't like this line, or how it pertains to the person who told me this, or the many things I can complain about the person who told me this, it does work. "If the kitchen is too hot for you, get out of it."

As of this time, GE counts are all out, with all forms of media tormenting people I know over LTK's exploits in taking over Aljunied by delaying the inevitable announcement. That is probably why I really wanted to write about this. Really? The results is out at midnight and you can only announce it at 2am on TV?

I'm definitely glad Hougang will continue to have taller grass than other towns and I think LHL will rethink how SG looks at PAP now. Either way, I cannot predict what will happen until life comes around.

Also, luckily, I did more productive things like work, eating ice cream and blogging since midnight. And thinking how to actually not waste another trip to MVA for my license and title. And wishing all of Singapore a Happy Mother's Day because I am sure my mom will be happy.

Either way, I win, not because I won anything or outdid someone, but because I am happy. Do I really need to really do something to think I won?

Novel Reboot

2010-04-25T21:52:00.005-05:00

Ah, finally found time to look at the many things I want to do while I clean up my place. My room specifically. This time, I mapped out things I want to do, broke them into phases and earmarked to put more effort into planning them. Among the many things are: looking for a PhD program, looking for a MBA program, looking for a new car, looking for a new place and looking for a new idea. Well, didn't see a novelty here so here's an added item, completing my novel through the steps I noted above.

I was back to the drawing board, in my head, placing what and where the characters are and nothing seemed to change. I think I was sure with the setting right from the start but my style was not good enough. Of course, it is getting better by the day and I think following the track I gave myself would put it in very good shape.

Right now, I have reworked most of the main characters' roles, penned it and should be moving on to the settings next. I hope to get cracking and continue my writing soon. One thing of note is that as we get close to 2012, we are seeing a lot of movies and scripts about the supernatural end of days. Naturally, all things die, but aren't we making too much out of it? Furthermore, I was going to play a pun on that idea in my writing.

Of note is 2012, the movie, which has a good concept of what might happen, but I think it was exaggerated. Basically, it recreation of Pompeii and The Great Flood, which is indescribably bad. Yes, it is possible for one to happen, yes, it is possible for both to happen, but the idea of creating a super shocker event to show that "humanity will prevail" is probably why the dinosaurs was sunbathing when the meteor dropped on them. Well, I made that up.

The truth is, there is one line that is good and the rest of the movie is bad, even the events that came after that good line. "The moment we stop fighting for each other, that's the moment we lose our humanity". Unfortunately, like I said, that is the only good thing about the movie. Frankly, it is a one line movie and nothing else. I would rate it 3/10 for wasting too much time on graphics and having bad acting and storyline. Well, there are good movies out there, just a lot of bad ones to swamp the market of our worthy attention. Well, I will update again soon. Very soon I hope.

Axis of Powers Start to Form

2010-04-22T21:03:00.008-05:00

Well, as always in history. Lobbyists donate money to politicians, pushing them towards election who in turn favor the lobbyists when they get elected. Interestingly, Obama seemed to be starting to divide, even amongst lobbyists who contributed to him, with the recent reforms and such.

Naturally, with the financial downturn costing global citizens trillions, myself no less than ten grand, all profits going into major industries like healthcare and finance, most of all towards the 'fat cats' of Wall Street no less, one should not be surprised that Obama needed some more extreme measures to get things done, and perhaps save his re-election.

But what struck me most is that this is now happening closer to home. Perhaps I keep forgetting the fact that "Underlying problems only surface during bad times". It's probably not as bad as it looked but I do smell something suspicious...

Spring comes again

2010-04-21T18:54:00.004-05:00

As everyone knows, the season of allergies is upon us again. The chill has not completely left but there are sprouts growing in every avenue. From hair to bean sprouts and noodle eating and nine ball, it seems that spring came while I am still sleeping.

This time, I am awakened by happenings within my company that made me decide to chart out a few routes which lead to a few hard choices to be made. Ultimately, these choices are inevitable, but it is now pushed forward by what I consider unfortunate mix of misdirected beliefs and misplaced trusts. Frankly, these were within my calculations but unfortunately, everyone were dragged through the mud way too long.

Well, Spring meant beginnings and I start to look at things with an added insight of my Green Card, especially when I did not think I need to decide my future this early. I have been procrastinating and just passing time as if I'm playing a game way too long. It also meant that soccer season is nearing an end, which bores me a lot.

Amidst my planning, fresh calls of emergency came from Singapore again. Frankly, things are not on red alert yet, but we definitely do not want "casualties" , so better safe than sorry. Called a few friends, inquired for insights and advice. Quite excited actually. Short term, same company. Long term, MBA plus plus. Mid term, need more money and actual recognition.

I'm definitely trying to prevent my dad from having to join the hordes of cab drivers out on the streets trying to earn that extra bit of living. Unfortunately, I am hindered by a few arrowheads on my back. Either way, I have a direction, and I am excited to awake from my mental slumber.

Respect the elderly

2010-02-15T05:32:00.002-05:00

My trip from Singapore made me think a lot about the concept of filial piety. Well, to say the least, my grandpa was hospitalized 3 days after I reached Singapore. Of course, the main thing is that we want him to be alright but the fact that he was unwilling to listen to our advice for 5 weeks before that made things difficult for us. Not to mention the fact that he demanded my grandma to stay with him in hospital almost 24/7 while he's there. The good thing, he was healthy within a day, but the bad, he was capable of his usual mischief right after that.

Well, that's not the worst of it, with his whole life littered with issues that I always find his character questionable. Of course, at the end of the day, all his children and descendants want for him is that he is happy and healthy. He is healthy, but he holds onto many little grudges that not only makes him unhappy, but also the lives of my grandma's children and grandchildren difficult. I must make a distinction though, he tortures my grandma's branch of descendants, not so for his other "family".

Well, anyway, I checked up Wikipedia for Confucianism and its definitions of filial piety and relationships and I was pleasantly surprised that what Confucius said is similar to what I think is the right balance of family and parenthood relationship. While the children have duties to fulfil, the parents have an equal amount of burden to share. Give and take a few years of aging and it relates well to how my family is. I must say that I am thankful that my parents share the Confucian philosophy of life and tries to be worry free both for their loved ones and themselves.

Well, Mike was telling me about Strauss and Howe's theory of generational changes and I think what I see is a global thing, rather than their theory of within USA. There are times where progress lead to internal strife, especially when everyone only thinks about themselves which occasionally leads to massive conflict. That will change how people treat one another and their loved ones, but the vastness of the world means different countries experience these changes at different phases. Well, I'm just postulating, although I did have a similar idea before I even read about Strauss and Howe. Well, they're rich and famous and I'm still simple me. Where's the similarity though?

I was quite unimpressed by my visit in Singapore. Kids getting rowdier without the benefit of intellectual growth. Rules getting set when the offenders are still at large and proudly offending. General themes of competitiveness yet with a glass ceiling planted into everyone since birth. Its everywhere in the world, so why am I complaining? Well, everyone is complaining in Singapore about everything with the inert sense of self entitlement. The docile Singaporean is gone in my opinion, all now trained to run first from a fire rather than save whoever is still stuck in the fire, ready to push whoever in the way down to feed the tiger that chases them.

Ryan always complained to me that he gets bumped left and right in Singapore even as a hulky American. Right, that is because everyone dash without concern for others towards their destination, looking blankly into space either onto the ground or deep into the wall. Running for trains on the way home really got me laughing sadly at the situation. Is five minutes of train waiting worth all the hassle of squeezing with other people and running people down? Is it worth risking getting injured falling over? I wonder who these people live with, their loved ones or their creditors?

Am I right? I don't know, but perhaps if I speak my mind, it will provoke people to start looking and act properly. People usually stand up well against a common enemy. Well, not that it is not already too late. My answer to the Singapore Budget is as such, If the monetary value of Singaporeans goes up by a third, doesn't that mean that the cost of living goes up by a similar margin at least? The key to a happy life is to have a simple life. Keep cost of living down and even paupers are happy.

What is Feminism?

2010-02-06T19:26:00.004-05:00

Actually, what you see in the entire post has nothing to do with the Feminist Movement at all. It is merely a post about whatever I saw on Youtube about posters writing their stance on feminism and throwing mud at each other.

It all started when I was watching this dude called "The Amazing Atheist", which shall be referred as TAA for simplicity, slamming Pat Robertson, who I fully agree should be in jail if not worse. Actually, I have a line which I shall now use upon Robertson. "Wait, did Robertson come from the Dark Ages when everyone opposite his belief is called a heretic?" OK, that was from the line I heard in "The Librarian". Remember the line "A thousand years ago, a girl named Pandora opened this box, and that led to very bad things...An era we called The Dark Ages".

Anyway, TAA next hit out at a badly made video belittling him. Well, the funny part is, I do not think TAA attacked any other feminist, which I think is important. His anger has nothing to do with feminism. Like all movements or ideological beliefs, rotten apples are lumped together with the good ones when it gets too big, and I think he understands that from what I see of his video.

Biological roles has nothing to do with knowing to treat a human properly. In fact, from what I read, TAA was personally abused by supporters (male/female/whatever) of the woman in question. TAA might sound kind of angry, un-civil, but that's his thing, nothing to do with truth. If one argues in a video about something and you need to reply to tell him he is wrong, one should do so with grace. OK, maybe not so graceful, but at least with good points to counteract. Not like "He is a ******* *****, Waste of time, Blah Blah Blah". What gives a human the right to denounce another's right to life? Freedom of speech is TAA's life from what I can see, so saying that he should have no such freedom, isn't it trying to kill him? So, his detractors did not give any real good points as defense either.

If he's not civil, and one promotes the right thing using whatever ruler of faith and spirituality he/she/whatever uses, especially one who hold's the freedom to life as a truth, should it be correct to either (1) ignore his uncivility and counter with valid points or (2) state your points and leave in peace. It sounds ironically funny that TAA always peace out and not his detractors. Anyway, I'm the middle of the road, a road I feel is the peaceful way to life happily. Get angry, get over your anger, get your relationships and friendships where they need to and be happy spending the next x minutes/hours/days/whatever time being who you are.

I love women. I love smart women. I agree they should protect their rights. What I expect of my future partner follows that line of thought where she must be smart, capable and stand up for herself. Compromises to live together is important, but we would have to agree that our lives are as much shared with each other as they are independent. Till death do us part. That is the only promise I can make to any woman who loves me. I do, however, detest cowards who hide behind others' back and backstabbing friends and foes alike. There are many who does that and it has nothing to do with whatever movement, philosophy they follow.

Anyway, that's it for TAA's endevoours. It's his story. This blog is about my story.

One thing I do realize over the past weeks is the strength of my words. Not that they will blow people apart, but how people view my stance. I'm usually accepting, a bit stubborn at first because I want to think through everything, But the way I portray myself lead people to think I'm ultra stubborn who wants things done only my way. Well, I point out correctly that people judge me too quickly, not the other way round. I'm lazy, but I know better than a decade or two ago to jump into conclusions. Even if I do assume wrongly, I am often willing to back out from my previous stance.

Like one fellow said to me twelve years ago, I'm too soft actually, so I've been trying to learn the spiritual way of TaiJi/TaiChi, hopefully to find the truly round way of doing things, keeping the things important to me in my center while not hurting others. My teams are still hurt, losing to a ten men team from Merseyside and another scrapping the bottom of the Eastern Conference of NBA. Quite ridiculous I would say but well, what goes around comes around. If you do a good job and continue to improve, you can only get good results one day.

Well, back to cleaning up my work to finally, finally go on holiday.

btw, on an artsy side, I think this Youtube video is pretty good. I will only favorite and share things I rate 5 stars and this is the only one so far. My previous rating philosophy is too haphazard to standardize.

Economists gone mad

2009-06-05T18:20:00.002-05:00

For the second time (and perhaps there was more than twice already), some inept, insane, inane, irresponsible, incorrigible, incorrect and immoral (I wanted to use the word inhumane, considering that he is obviously desperate trying to protect his wealth, but still, yeah, he is inhumane to not consider for other human lives) economist suggested that interest rates should be negative.

First, that will be uberinflation, since everyone needs to dump currency. Second, he pointedly said that people should put money into other instruments, which is...? (This creates an uber asset bubble which is the precursor of uberinflation. Third, he actually recommends to have an expiring legal tender exchangeable at the central bank. (I like having only 3 points of attack, not that I can't find more...But this g?y actually suggested such an )

The first two points are directly self defeating. Uberinflation kills all sorts of productivity and renders trade to only barter trade. Now, since he offers no useful skill other than talk, he has not value in the society he proposes.

The third is tricky. Banks can exchange the tender for you, but what about people who use cash? What about people who counterfeit money? There is a lot of administrative issues, but technically, there is a finite supply of money, and it will then be held by "elites". Yes, he is suggesting protectionism and elitism (indirectly of course). By forcing people to spend, ahem...the correct word is "invest" in useful assets, the point shoots back straight to the idea of creating an asset bubble. Basically, he is targeting savers, which defies logic to begin with.

This former central banker fail to understand economies in general. It's like a human being, it grows, it matures in whatever teachings it had from past experiences. It falls sick and gets well throughout the business cycles. And last but not least, it is indirectly dependent on its population. He should take geography 101 to know that we only have so much land space, so much useful land, resources. Oh, moral education 101 is probably needed just for him and Mankiw too.

That is why developed nations should view their socio-economic policies carefully and regularly so that the economy does not overheat badly while staying in the front end of science. It is tough, but it does not take a PhD to realise the problems. Rather than "fix" the problem to his (and many bankers') favor, why not just let the problem fix itself, like the news-less now? Is he so afraid that he will become poorer because he is wrong?

I'm not a rocket scientist, but my heart goes to people who suffer through this while myself and many of my friends are not badly affected. Printing more money is NOT a solution. It is THE destruction.

If I can survive the cold in Antarctica, I would raise my own farm there and show him what the right way of life is. Money, at the end of the day, is just paper. It has no value pre and after life. Money is the means to an end, not the end itself, and substituting it with land, gold, silver or any asset as an item for hoarding is not the correct way to live life.

One way train

2009-05-21T22:10:00.000-05:00

Well, the bears are getting run over, and from a small profit to a huge loss, that is my story for the rally. Interestingly, wise men like Roubini and Schiff have continued their rant on the worsening economy, like myself. I did find something useful.

Shiff mentioned that inflation is rendering the USD useless, and hence a more risky asset compared to stocks and other risky instruments. This is a sad state of affairs if you look at it. Bad numbers, rally. Good numbers, rally more. Here, stagflation rules, and soon will give way to uberinflation. I like coining new terms. How will Obama save USA? Or won't he, since he has all the money and power now? Or maybe he will just rob me?

Frankly, like my other posts, why do we need to continue bailing out these banks and have no control on them. Obviously, they don't want to be "backed" either. My solution at the beginning is simple. Nationalize the banks. Well, that will provide chaos right? No, since you only need to nationalize some big banks that proved to be the weakest link to the many counterpartied banks. Then, wind it down completely. Either way, we are backstopping the losers.

Now, we backstop the banks, the banks still don't lend as much, one, the demand is not as high anymore, two, they learn not to lend to deadbeats. Three, outside the banking operations, they need to wind down, thereby reducing their productivity, if they had any to begin with. So why the optimism? Green shots?

Well, in short, when I compare what is happening today to anything else, especially when USA is worried about losing their AAA rating like how UK is rumored to be, I will say, don't worry. You lost it already. When Geithner gave PPIP. When Bernanke print money to buy money. When FASB changed Mark to Market into Mark to Myth/Max. When Obama sided with exorbitantly paid UAW to give Chrysler to workers who build cars that no one wants and giving lenders nothing but death threats. When everyone allowed the banks to argue how to present the state of their financial health.

The biggest loser is not the ones who lost weight on TV. Its the Americans from age 65 and below, because retirement will disappear from the dictionary. In fact, the whole world, except for a few countries, will suffer for the cruelest of hits.

Well, like they say, "nice guys never win". Bankers and Politicians are the complete anti-thesis of nice guys. Can I be a nice guy and attain success? In fact, early in my career, I was told that I can't succeed just by being a nice guy and that is again proven by an official outing yesterday and some chitchat I heard today. Well, so much for humanity.

I do need to say, it is interesting to know that Tolkein wrote his books because he wanted to reinspire humanity. Its really great to know someone with similar aspirations being successful, but he has advantages. I don't. But like him, I know it is not easy.

Bulldozer in action

2009-04-24T18:15:00.006-05:00

Yes, the recovery is here. The bulldozer is here, fueled by the infinite dollar printing machine that is built just to bail out the banks. And what's more important, the banks don't need a bail out and now, our money is just used to destroy shorts like myself so that I will get destroyed by the same crooks twice. Now, that does not sound like the American Dream.

The pristine vision that USA gave everyone around the world is shown clearly here, corrupt and despicable. From arm twisting Bank of America to buy Merrill Lynch to allowing AIG to write down losses 60 billion dollars without failing, most of which goes to other banks like Goldman Sachs.

The wonderful thing is that Obama is still regarded highly and considered the savior by everyone outside USA. What is funny is that the market is buying it, just like the rest of the world. Here is a few points I want to note. I may be wrong, but I don't think I'm illogical. Maybe ranting a bit, but not illogical.

Unemployment is high
US GDP is consumer driven so far
US productivity goes down and hence GDP
Banks are not lending as much as before, hence, hurting businesses
Banks have a lot of bad loans which might be highly leveraged, which might render them insolvent
Small banks are failing every Friday, politically so to reduce the impact on the stock market
Small businesses lose their access to a local banking system and facilitate

As noted above, banks and businesses are suffering from the downturn, and since unemployment will not come down for a while, businesses will be affected. With all that, how is the current money printing helping? I don't know, other than propping up the market to attract investors? Isn't having a pristine government even more efficient? How does businesses and hence taxpayers benefit from all these actions? So, everything is good to news people and banks, but why are there still so many people suffering from unemployment? Why are banks happy about? Is it that their shell games in transferring bad assets to the Fed and Treasury a success and the rest of the world can celebrate?

Alpha to Omega 1

2009-04-18T23:17:00.002-05:00

I remember the Alpha to Omega that I once heard, the start to the end. I have been wondering for a while whether a truly stable society can exist. What system should it be? What structure will it take up? The fact that humans have lived through so many dark ages probably mean that life in itself is perfect, since the ones that will struggle to live will continue to create opportunities for evolution to continue. Then again, when all the animals and fish die out due to consumption from overpopulation, perhaps humans will then have a survival issue, to which the solution is cannibalism. Not a good train of though there. But anyway, I'm thinking of our worst enemy of this time of the year, bankers.

Based off what I read, though lightly, human societies started from hunter-gathering while some settled onto agriculture. Logically, if humans started from scratch, hunter-gathering plausible, with crops coming in as knowledge of survival improves. Now then, we will start to have villages, towns and cities, but lets not head too fast into the 21st century.

So based on each person's skill, people will need to band together like other mammals do to gather a variety of "nutrients", from construction materials to plain simple food. People will have to trade, bar the ruthless head pounding and rock throwing fights to decide who gets more or less. So they traded, presumably using the science of their time. This science improved over time and now we almost forget the beginning of time where our ancestors are running around bare chested, waving them off as cavemen. Hey, these guys created we guys and gals.

Anyway, back to the building blocks. People settle down, grow crops, create machinery, provided services and started trading, through barter or money as a proxy for value. And since money is needed in substantial amounts to substantiate a frictionless trade, we need someone to do accounting, and hence the banking industry. As population grew, the need to create more money for lubricating trade increases. After all, if we started with ten men and ten dollars, now, what happens if we have a hundred men? And as the facilitator of the accounting of money, banks grow, seemingly more powerful.

Over time, people forget that the real meaning of money is to lubricate the frictional transactions of trade and view them as the source of power, hence making bankers the most powerful people of all, giving them huge says over everything from politics to mere living. Living as in the economy, not just staying alive. I believe that the worst of the recession might be more cruel than any mass murdering that we have seen, since the recession is destroying livelihoods.

Let me use an arbitrary example, totally out of whack on purpose. The recession have brought a rise to pregnancy prevention awareness. I can't remember where I read this, but I know it for a fact, being one of those careful planners myself. Now, I have cruelly decided that I should not bring my baby to Earth (at least not now) because I am not confident he/she will have a good life. Since I'm sure many people made the same decision, that means many lives are "lost". Can I blame the loss of my baby's life (time) on the government? Since I am no political authority, I'm pretty sure my letters goes straight to the politician's shredder anyway.

It's a bit radical, but imagine this...With population growth dwindling, what will the future generation decide on if they think they cannot survive under the current system? Is it that the system is wrong? Did we have the wrong people with the wrong visions that led us down this path? Are we in a vicious cycle that will end humanity? Of course, not in my mind totally, since humans will seek a radical change to find a system that works for them. Haven't our ancestors survived the dark ages?

Well, its a bit of my thoughts, but I feel that given the massive technology advantage that we have over our forefathers, we should use it in important things like food and energy production and conservation. Not through laws, but through government backed research and directions. We don't need the whole world to be filled with solar panels and end up like Spain, nor be restricted like Europe in carbon taxes, but we still need a careful and calculated push into renewable energy.

Most common man do not want to fiddle with politics, but they do not want to go hungry or cold or every other inconvenience brought by the lack of food and energy either. Just like how our cavemen fathers and mothers. They progressed into what we are today driven by the need to survive. With today's crisis at hand, is that drive enough?

Hence, to conclude the essay I wrote. The Economy CREATED the banking system, not the other way round. Banking is NOT the economy. The banks should have failed with mark to market. Not all, but some at least, to create a good political foundation to redefine how they should work, and everyone HAVE VERY RESPONSIBILITY to ensure that that happens.

Also, as a bonus, the government is the same as the banks, a creation of the evolution of man and its economy, NOT the entirety of man itself. If the government are pillaging what's left of the constitution, they should be removed. Every game can be gamed, even politics and the constitution. I may not be smart enough to do it, but no one should be allowed to abuse other human beings, even with the constitution behind them.

By the way, at the time of this post, I read that the government is hiring hackers to solidify their IT defense. Pretty neat if you ask me, but what happens if a corrupt system uses such a powerful tool?

Bleached...

2009-04-18T22:52:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure how many people knows the manga Bleach. It's pretty popular, as like many manga that I read, Naruto, Slam Dunk and the like. But I think Bleach is starting to suffer from the all-too-common power race to oblivion. What do I mean?

Let's use a famous example. Dragon Ball Z (DBZ). It's popularity was unreal, to the point I would compare it to the Michael Jackson of manga, comparing peak to peak. Basically, when you have movies using snippets of the manga, you know if crazy popular. It's like a crisis-of-the-month type of comic, and the difficulty grows more and more unreal.

I vividly remember that the author repeated a few tricks to gave the protagonist victory. But, however strong a character is in DBZ, there is a rule to the manga. Every unique character can only be revived thrice. So the protagonist died twice through his many battles. Then, like always, he stepped up against his latest challenge, another godlike being.

And he died. And almost everyone else died. And no one had a way to win. Then the "gods", knowing nothing else will work, changed the "3 revival" rule and that allowed the hero to win. Then the manga instantly fell into oblivion. Well, manga enthusiasts still know the manga, just that the buzz was flatlined.

Well, back to Bleach. I read the latest part where the protagonist just won again, obviously after being killed. Note, this manga does not have a revive rule at all. Meaning death equals to death and nothing else. Zilch. No other possibility. The manga did give the hero some special powers, which has something to do with death, but not after death. Hence, when the hero stood up to continue fighting, win and then revived. Now, that sounds like nearing the end already, but here's the extra kick in the teeth. The one the hero beat was not the strongest, and the minors are starting to lose. Protracting the knowledge that the good guys never lose...Huh?! What sort of story is that?

Now...you are not expecting me to read a ridiculous way a person will win, right? I think I have enough of the almighty "invisible hand of the market"...So reading nonsense from the US politics, economy and bank "truths" is enough nonsense for me already. Oh, and for those nonsense, I would really appreciate the knowledge that a lot of the nationalization nonsense is again untrue based on what Geithner has said. With so many who just want to do the right thing, why isn't the government using these valuable data? Or is it that the government is the one that messed up?

To Quintuple Or Not

2009-04-18T20:31:00.004-05:00

Well, its about seeing a quintuple. That's from Man Utd. Because, Everton is playing them in the FA Cup semi final. Everton last won it in 1995 and even if we beat Man Utd, we still have to beat Chelsea. I think we have a chance of doing it, since Chelsea will play Arsenal again, Barcelona twice and us before the FA Cup final, while we only have Chelsea, Man Utd in this tie and nothing else to play for. So if we win, we technically can sleep for the rest of the season until we play Chelsea in the final. Still, chances are in need.

Then, if we lose, the chances of seeing a quintuple is also in need. Man Utd have to meet Arsenal THREE times before the FA Cup final, and need to beat them in aggregate in two of them, before meeting either one of Chelsea or Barcelona. In essence, they have four important games, including the game tomorrow before they can set history. In reality, I want them to do that so that Liverpool definitely have no chance to be the first to do that. Sigh, if only their UCL opponent is someone like the current Sporting Lisbon team. Or maybe Liverpool can just roll over. One thing Man Utd can be happy about is that if Chelsea is the winner of the UCL semis, they have an easier schedule running into the finals, provided they beat Arsenal.

Oh, on a side note, the UCL has a very interesting sidebar. We could see a rematch of the 2008 or the 2006 final. Of course, people have been rambling about what will happen if Chelsea wins, or that Hiddink is the hero despite performing only as well as Grant, but what IF, Arsenal beats Barcelona? Henry left Arsenal to win titles, most particularly, the UCL. After he got to Barcelona, they lost La Liga, maybe they will win this year, but what IF Arsenal nicked it from them?

The only other pairing that is interesting is Man Utd-Barcelona, though I think Man Utd would prefer Chelsea to win. We know the problems with Arsenal and how Chelsea could exploit their youthful inexperience. Like Wenger said, "When you are so close and you are 20 years of age I don't know why you would be desperate." Winning the UCL will be a HUGE bonus for his twenty year selling club, noting that they are already happy to be in UCL through a top four finish. Of course, you always want to win, and if they win, they will need to juggle between playing the top three and not letting fourth place slip. Barcelona, of course, will also have a difficult schedule. But with the two horse race as it is, its only making sure that they crank the pressure on Real and hope they slip up. I mean, so that they could break away, since they are top already. That match will be mouth watering too. Imagine, the top three young prospects playing against each other...at the biggest stage.

Ah, what should I do? If the opponent is Chelsea or Arsenal, maybe it would have been an easier decision! Not to mention that Pistons are not really a real chance for any celebrations this year. Well, there is always next year.

End Of Bear?

2009-04-14T21:18:00.004-05:00

I stumbled upon a website called dshort and came across a few posts. One was the famous bear charts. Another was the bottoming process for bear markets. According to it, we are in our sixth month, with a range of six weeks to eight months since 1950. I think it is not correct to say that we are near the end.

From what I remember favorably about USA since 1950, the people here have been very vocal and active to point out their disfavor of any form of bad policy making. I think that negated any bad interventionist approach that came its way since 1950. My impression of the 1930s is the big government effect, which is what we are experiencing now. The Fe(e)d and Treas(on)ury can pump as much liquidity as they like, all for the sake of recapitalizing badly managed banks. Furthermore, people nowadays are withdrawn from politics. Additionally, a depression is a worldwide phenomena, so unlike recessions since 1950, there is no other place to load up developed debt and write them off with the blink of the eye. That is why, I like the bottoming to be near, say another two months, but I see no fundamental truth to that.

Anyway, I want to reiterate my disgust for Goldman. Of all the tricks that a bank can use, like squeezing losses to a certain time period and raise reserves, piling losses on a "orphan" month (December 2008) is quite blatantly the cheapest trick ever to be shown in public. Sadly, the world market bought into that and rallied. Fortunately, I was enlightened by Jason that Goldman can only change reporting standards once. But then, rules are made by humans, so if they are less than responsible...

Well, my shorts probably might be killed, but at least show me productive wealth creation, not creative wealth production (think BAD movie remakes). My stand is pretty much set and will remain as such.

A stock market is an exchange for people to invest in productive companies, most often judged by the profitability of the company, thereby increasing the capability of the company to be more productive through capital infusion by selling shares. Banks already have a supply of capital and should not be reliant on third party cash infusion, hence the lack of need to be in the market. Also, being the better of balancing capital compared to industrial companies, the industrial is like a boy pitted against an adult in number crunching. Therefore, I don't see the need for (deposit) banks to be listed. Hm, I'm starting to like credit unions more...

Gold Standard

2009-04-13T19:29:00.005-05:00

I got a pretty good lesson today. I have always overestimated Gold production, even though I understood the lack of liquidity. Mike and Matt reminded me that the Gold standard is very different from Fiat money. Well, of course, what am I thinking? Too much manga. They can have quite a lot of Gold in them. Wait, that's fantasy, not real life. But it does remind me that alchemy was once thought to be science, for the same reason of increasing money supply...

Then again, my shorts got killed again, and Goldman reported FABULOUS earnings. Guess what, from what I read, they missed, on a 4 month basis rather than just Q1. So happens that their rollover from an investment bank to a regular bank will phase out December 2008, which they wrote a huge loss down, so Q1 plus December is $1.24 ($3.39-$2.15), which is way below $1.60. Even if we compare Q1 to Q1, using the same months as comparison, it points to a sharp decline over last year's Q1 and at best a Quarter-(2)-To-Date flat YOY performance.

WOW! From cook the books to cook the calendar. I wonder whether they will do the same to skip some other months? If only the real cooks are THAT creative. I haven't got the whole story yet, but I hope the tide will start turning for me. And someone...please dump these frauds in jail!

On a side note, AIG is saying that the outcry will hurt their business and damage the chances they pay back to the people. On the sympathetic note, I agree and I must say that witchhunts typically crucify the ones that are less guilty. On the other, perhaps they should open up all their books and DOJ can start hunting the REAL culprits, like former boards, CEOs, CFOs and other coo COOs. You can't blame others if you are unwilling to blow the whistle on the wolves, right?

Bulls gored me again...

2009-04-09T19:12:00.003-05:00

Today, I saw my stocks basically half. Frankly, the volatility was expected, but I do not understand why there is much to cheer for WFC's "better than expected" earnings.

If WFC did not want TARP money, took it anyway, made more money than they used to from its TARP money, how is it surprising. Bears are merely betting that weak banks that are "Too Big To Fail" will get crushed by their own weight rather than have weak earnings.
WFC consistently made 0.55+ per share for the past 2 Q1. (Specifically, 0.60 and 0.66) In difficult times and coupled with reason 1, 0.55 cents per share is a wonderful thing? Even if they performed above par, that is on the back of unrealistically lowered expectations (50% drop YOY for a "strong" bank?), (artificially) "improving" environment and oversimplified "bank robbing taxpayer" game.
They have a sudden turnaround in fortunes, a record loss and record profit. How many times does that happen for a company? I'm sure AIG can now churn up 60 billion of net profits. Its more of a hunch reason than the first two but whatever.

Frankly, even as a resident alien, I feel cheated by the bankers and politicians. After all, if one follows the progress of a society, these two professions are the least productive and most destructive. When will everyone realize that banks are using over leveraged dollars to squeeze more money out of taxpayers? When will people make a stand for it?

Optimism Question

2009-04-05T19:24:00.003-05:00

Basically, over the past month, when everyone was thinking "When will the rally end?", the rally continued to kill the bears with much vengeance. The thing I don't understand is, what is the basis for optimism? Because Citi and BoA are profitable? Because they can avoid writedowns since FASB loosened M2M? Because Geithner created PPIP using taxpayer money on the backdrop? Because the market was overdepressed?

Frankly, I think all the points above are invalid. The core businesses of the banks are made to be profitable without the risky betting, collecting deposits without extensive lending. If they are profitable, they should be able to handle writedowns based on M2M, even if they have assets that are unjustifiably depressed. Why? Because these assets are the same assets that make them money when the wind is behind their back, which is when the assets mature. If they overpaid for it, they ought to lose money. That is why I say FASB and the banks have cheated again.

As for PPIP, why should it be a cheer? Geithner basically did the same thing as Paulson, except Paulson created a "holding" rather than a casino like Geithner. The problem now is that the banker is the banks, because the good ones will not be sold and the bad ones will be overpaid for. So just like my previous comment against FASB's ridiculous changes, if I writedown 1 million when the market is down and make 10 million when the market is back up, why should I worry? The solid banks should have done enough homework to prevent the writedowns from bringing them down. Its like the logic of "not investing more than you can spare". So the big firms are like the typical overspending American? I must say, overspending in not an issue isolated to USA, though it started here, that's for sure.

Well, the market is depressed, but I don't think they are at the fair value level, so overdepressed, no. GDP will fall because the government spending is falling into the pockets of the rich. What will the jobless do now? Why should one buy a home they cannot afford? If they want to increase social benefit, then they should have created more grassroot programs rather than a blanket money spray. I may not be the best educated person on economics, but I don't feel my logic is far off.

Banking Debts

2009-04-04T17:02:00.002-05:00

Well, not really a post, but here's an article comparing GM's and Banks' debt holders.

Based on the article, which I must first say I would only agree with mostly on what is going on currently, the government and the banks are definitely immoral. While I don't sympathize much with GM, but this discrepancy between an actual productive industry and an imaginary productive industry is pathetic. It is a scam, and the world is paying the rich few for their lifestyle with their own lives...Its only a matter of time before The Great DePonziScheme goes down in flames. I will coin it "The Great Ponzission".

What should we call our crisis?

2009-03-12T23:13:00.005-05:00

Suddenly, people have given up all hope that something right will happen and that will correct the market. Suddenly, there is a market rally. Suddenly, my longs regained some lost ground.

But the question remains...What is the magnitude of our crisis?

Not-A-Depression
Depression-Lite
Depression-Make-2
The-Greater-Depression
Armageddon Lite
World War 3
Apocalypse

I personally coined it number 4 back around March 2008, and it turns out to be heading straight for number 7. Frankly, comparison is difficult and obscure, but all of which sends a bleak outlook for life after the crisis. Deflation. Hyperinflation. You name it, its possible with Bernanke and Geithner. What baffles me is why hard working people of this country have not stood up to the nonsense out there. China and EU have spoken up. Soon, words will become action. I wonder what Volcker would have done...Maybe he is just like Bernanke...Maybe not.

Geither's plan is essentially to use taxpayer's money to totally write off all the bank's debt. Not to mention Bernanke and Paulson had already opened the floodgates. Now, all the money is with the house, so who's left? It is the same as Paulson's TARP. There is one difference though, the administration, and I find it ridiculous that people are lauding it already. Debators need to be more objective like Shedlock, Krugman and Denninger. Even when I don't agree with them all the time, at least I find them objective and straightforward.

Frankly, it is interesting to see how everything goes on here but it is like a horror show with no known ending. I don't mind being part of the show, but what worries me is my family, and I hope more people will realise that the lunatics at in the House, Congress and now, unfortunately, White House, are doing to common folks. When USD is useless because USA does not produce meaningful outputs like food and energy, then the nightmare will start. My main concern so far is the the import/export ratio of necessities are not within self-sufficient levels, so can someone explain to me why we should not be worried if a more self-sufficient country (even if moderately) starts to decline USD?

Wac A Bia...

2009-03-03T22:54:00.003-05:00

Well, try to rhythm the heading to a bank, yes and its the one Buffett is in charge of indirectly now. Why do I want to rhythm it with so many possibly bad sounding things?

Well, I reached my last straw with Wachovia. Just because I tracked my transactions automatically online with a software, I get charged six bucks. I mean, dude, I need to pay to look at my own transactions? And I do not get a notification that I signed up for such a pay service? This is a complete scam. Ok, maybe not really a scam, but definitely BAD service.

I read that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae need to ask for more government loans. 12% of mortgage owners are behind schedule. 5.4 million. Let's work some math. 12%=5.4 million, so that means there are 30 million mortgage owning families. Slice and dice, dividing some duplicates for flippers, multiply for families and more, that perhaps 100 million Americans under the contractual binding of a mortgage?

Now, to satisfy perhaps 10 million people (based off some random number pulling), we are sacrificing 300 million people's future for 10 million people. What is Pelosi thinking? More stimuli? She should resign from her seat as well as Dodd and Frank. Oh, and take Grassley with you.

What we need now is more Cuomo action. Clawbacks, charges against irresponsible, perhaps fraudulent actions. Why should the CEOs of yesterday take billions when their actions cause trillions of today's money get vaporized? How can the economy recover if there is no definitive action to correct the problems?

Despite some of the bailouts having worked to paving the recovery, I think any recovery is hampered by the genuine lack of confidence. No job creation since no money is really flowing to the commoners. No big sustained rally because there is no confidence that money can invested in a properly defined asset. No pouring of more investments since no one can be sure if the markets are just being manipulated. Simply put, no confidence whatsoever.

Inspire confidence? There is no way to inspire confidence if only rogue traders are prosecuted. Some big shots have to take the big fall. Clawbacks, maybe not complete but to the maximum possible. If someone can be punished for a wrong tax return filed years ago, why can't they clawback money?

There are retroactive punishments for most other crimes, so why not failure of leadership for businesses? Must the only way bad leaders are punished to be the day they get themselves overthrown and brought to the brink of death by revolts? A bit far fetched, but let's not say that social unrest is not present.

Anyway, it might be another rant, but I think this is good food for thought. Seriously, if confidence is the preultimate requirement that the economy needs to see job creation, revery or whatever, why is there only talk? Talk the talk, walk the walk. The Congress and House are full of talkers, now, where are the walkers?

I do want to leave with one more food for though. Gold standard or not. Dan and Mike were discussing this and I would agree with both sides of the coin. One is that Fiat money is good for financial stability but bad for economic stability. Two is that the gold standard has brought the opposite effect. Hence my proposed solution is to fluctuate between the two with a point of social stability, just like breaking from the Gold standard to pull the economy together and unplug from the standard to reorganized the numbers. What are auditors for?

Wave 5 of the Elliot Wave...or my Ranting Wave

2009-02-11T18:56:00.011-05:00

Well, that's the one. Or so I heard. The grand finale where the market will crash into oblivion, the world will end and there is nothing Obama can do whether everyone realizes that he is just another human, a politician and grandeur ideas of his (associates) that will do nothing more than run the world into abyss, or not.

Frankly, Obama had been the market's nemesis and it fell whenever he spoke. OK, I don't really care, but his plans doesn't help the current situation. Throwing money at the unemployed doesn't help the economy. In fact, it hurts the economy because the employed, regardless of class, which he wanted to expand, is forced to pay for unemployment benefits. Its a good charity when everyone has a job, but a bad spiral when you don't stop the job hemorrhaging.

I rather they start a meat packing factory right now and help in pushing unemployed out of the system into this low-pay high production work. He can also start compulsory federal education for the poorly meat packers if he wants and they will soon move out of unemployment with the right jobs they want in life.

Well, I'm probably reflecting the sentiment in the market. I have not been lucky recently in the stock market. Long on the short stick, and short on the rally. Huh...Anyway, its kind of funny that even the best, or better than mes, make similar mistakes so I don't feel that bad after all. One thing though, I hold oil and that was my killer, now it subsided so now it is the financials that suck...But really, they are the culprits, weren't they? The problem is trust, and so far, no new trust is generated.

I remember Srinidhi talking among us about the true value of currency, and frankly, there is no value in the paper if there is no trust in it. It is after all a lubricating agent to facilitate trade, and it is at most trustworthy as the distributor, in this case the government. Now, which government looks more likely to force their way out of this problem?

With trillions of debt, what is there for the future to look forward to? More bailout money? Stash gold? If there is war, gold does not feed your stomach. So frankly, there is no way to re-inspire the market of greed other than to re-inspire the fundamentals of that greed. Trust, among leaders, subordinates, common people alike.

As for other ridiculous stuff, AIG needs another bailout. OK, that was expected, but where are the chains and locks? You can't give heroin to a heroin addict and hope he kicks the habit. AIG is a joke and their executives, past and present need to be punished, worse off than Enron's, to provide relief of trust to the world. And in doing so, please claw back some money. My pocket is thin, so I can't give the feds more money to do what they want. And frankly, I don't really want the "marginally" rich people to run away because they have to pay for someone else's mistake.

Truthfully, I hope someone will step in and claw back the multi trillion of dollars spent on bonuses in Wall Street, Detroit and many of these money addicted companies now struggling for cash. Just because the problems did not appear in their rein doesn't mean these CEOs are perfect. I like Cuomo more and more, but then, he's not doing enough. Or maybe he's shorthanded?

During my visit to Singapore, I was educated on this trend of greed that started way back in the 80s. Most of my friends are now real estate agents, bank associates and whatever that gets you the most money out there. But truly, what do they get in life? Satisfaction? I hope so. I'm not immune either. I remember the days in my grad school where I'm forced out of school because I can't finance my studies. What did I choose? Happiness, and I'm glad I did.

It's everywhere in the world but as the forerunner of all, USA, should be the first to punish the bad too. Wouldn't you agree? The idea of retroactive punishment should be instilled so that people look further down the future than they have now. Why should one who worked hard in all the positives be punished by the negatives of others? The honest are always punished and when this oppression reaches the limit, people start using pitchforks rather than pens.

What makes me sick is the cowardice shown by these useless big shots (politicians and other goofs) in admitting their fault and take the quick exit. Unless they want to fix things, I don't see a reason why they should remain, and I'm being nice here. A bailout for politicians?

If you go the full circle of realising it is the bailout of the people who chose the politicians more than the politicians themselves, I think its much better than a bloody civil war, riot or whatever. Besides, its repetitive incompetence that leads to all the bloodshed in history. My only concern is that I don't want to see one in my lifetime.

For me, I just want to retire in my own farm, watch my grandchildren catch crabs by the seaside and enjoy their life. Hopefully their great grandparents are there to play with them too.

By the way, if you want to know about a bridge to nowhere, perhaps you can read this. I'm bored, but that is because my new laptop broke...and I'm wasting too much time fixing it.

Myopic way of life

2009-02-05T06:02:00.005-05:00

The fruits of labor. No pain, no gain. Those are the "so-called" wise words from the past, yet the easily forgotten in the present day. It is after listening to life back in Singapore that enforces the view of myopia in life.

Leaderships should always have a vision, one for the welfare of the country. In the US, a president takes office for only 4 years a term, 2 terms max for each person. To be remembered as a good president, each has done all they can to instill wealth in people, wealth that can be felt but adds no value to the person involved. An example from Srinidhi, giving a million dollar estate to the common folk does not add any value to the person or his productivity in society other than the person has a million dollar estate. Big house, trucks, whatever there is, it drills down to the same issue. How to satisfy greed in the short term while keeping one's political career? That is what I fear about Obama's presidency.

But, that is not why I wrote this post. Discussing on the real estate bubble across the world, I heard that there was once that the Singapore government stepped in to apply downward pressure to housing prices by enforcing a down payment of 20% among other safety checks around 1997. Of course, that meant that less people can speculate and would in turn bring housing prices down. It is like purposefully bursting the real estate bubble, albeit a small one. But now, the government has not taken any steps to keep prices from going through the roof. The condo prices have come down, but the HDB prices are going up. Of course, lending is tighter due to the natural forces of the market, but it is only affecting the private housing sector. I may be wrong, but I think the zero (or low) down policy is still unchanged.

That doesn't sound very different from USA, does it?

Singapore Dra-g-ma

2009-01-28T08:49:00.003-05:00

If I have to reiterate my disgust at the lack of depth and talent in the Singapore showbiz, I think I have to say it is WORSE than Armageddon or Apocalypse, whichever you are more familiar with.

There is this 9pm show which is supposed to be "family" entertainment which is obviously the epitome of lousy scriptwriting and directing. So tell me, why is viewership dropping faster than a rock? Oh! It's the economy! Yeah right.

Ok. I shall list the bad points below like a bullet presentation.

Script: In order to show the EVIL of people, the bad people always have to be the WORST a man can be. Hello, which era are we in? Do we need periodic brainwashing that tells us, yes, this attitude is bad, that attitude is good? So all hell must always break loose until heaven punishes the evil in dramas. Erm, in that case, would the Gods not be busy? No wonder people are idling in their footsteps and not working for the good of man like God or the Gods really wanted.
Dialogue: 10 year-old talking like a grandmaster of life. Huh? Ok, Buffett started investing at 11. 11! I am still playing football at that time and looking at the young girls across the street at 11. Maturity may vary, but if you tell me Buffett talked like a centurian when he was 11, I would say either you are nuts or Buffett is an alien. Geniuses exist, but the show is obviously using the most impossible scenario ever. There are many instances of advanced maturity in showbiz, and obviously, this is an insult to the smarter scriptwriters.
Directing: Ok, you can say that I'm picky on this one, but your scriptwriter is already in the dumps and if you don't use commonsense to maintain the balance of the show as a director, you really are wasting people's money taking that fat salary as a director. Ed would be laughing his butt off once he sees these shows. One example, screaming, fighting in public places always attract little or no attention. No fight watchers, no good will people, only the characters in their small world. Wow! What an enclosed world!
Attraction: Non existent. Singapore shows have followed Taiwan's example of showing fights and screaming dog fights between people who are supposed to be our everyday nobodies. Are you saying that Singaporeans fight and scream at each other every day? Which part of Singapore are these guys from? Even punks have little time to fiddle in everyday fights.
Attitude: Nobody believes in chivalry. Men will always like to hit women and women like to scream for no reason. Huh? Either the scriptwriters have very poor manners or they believe that others always have poor manners. Poor souls. They should hang around with my lot more. We may not be the richest people around, but we are happy and forward looking. Maybe I am the only one left in the world to believe in chivalry and justice, but I'm sure that others are not on the evil side of life. Man, these shows are bad for kids.

Frankly, I always believed that Singapore is a decent place to raise kids. Fast pace of life to bring out the competitive edge, insanely strict governance to maintain the absolute safety of the people, but perhaps the opening up of the media have allowed the media garbage to spill over a bit. Well, it doesn't really matter really. If you believe in free market, believe it till the end. Weed out the bad and bring in the good.

Name brands do not always deliver. Just because everyone subscribes to the channel doesn't mean everyone watches it. I think SPH should wield the axe on the redundant fats they have in the broadcast section. One, why do you need 2 Mandarin channels in Singapore? Two, how can you keep the ineffective for so long? Three, why is this money losing company still allowed their excesses?

All in all, the television channels, from planning to production, have lost their value significantly. You don't need sleaze to attract. You just need quality. Other than the often boring news, I think I don't have much to watch. Especially when the companies are too poor to increase their purchases of quality shows. If you can't attract the masses, how can you be the tool of Singapore's always effective communication?

I do hope they improve, at least for Singapore's sake if not for my viewing pleasure.

Lots of buildings...All the wrong ones...

2009-01-28T00:57:00.002-05:00

There is this report in Reuters that mentions the amount of money needed for Obama's infrastructure plans to work. Like 2.2 trillion? Its definitely an astronomical number based on the high cost of building any architecture, but it also show how much infrastructure is neglected, even if we take a 10% cut from the figure.

But there has always been a Chinese belief that if you build your infrastructure well, you tend to invite prosperity. Many sayings compare good architecture to good moral founding. Of course, its always a stretch, but I think this is a good direction to go. Do note the point on roadworks' cost to every motorist. And then add that to water plant repairs. Consider ease of traffic's effect along with possibly contamination to health...

What destroys a nation is unusually rare of a foreign threat, but almost always a imploding factor. Even if you consider foreign threats, if there are not internal leaks, eg information, defence is always easier than offence.

The O Make 2

2009-01-23T18:00:00.005-05:00

After reading Ryan's comment, I thought I need to table my views specifically to the points the Obama administration has given so far. They are as below:

Doubling the production of alternative energy in the next three years.
- This is the best idea of all, yet the most overhyped and undercalculated. Example, Spain. Their green industry is mostly zombiefied right now by both cheap oil and lack of credit. Hence, it suffice to say that it needs to be a national effort rather than a carrot and stick corporate effort. Still, even as a national program, this is a better way of giving unemployment benefits to the masses out there.
Modernizing more than 75% of federal buildings and improve the energy efficiency of two million American homes, saving consumers and taxpayers billions on our energy bills.
- Similar to the above. The key point is the long term cost savings, but generally, I fear myopic activism to push where technology cannot keep up with. In my view, green tech should solely be onesthat has a complete recycle of byproduct. This technology is not current right now, of course, but well, if you don't strive for it, you never get there.
Making the immediate investments necessary to ensure that within five years, all of America’s medical records are computerized.
- Actually, I kind of like this idea, if it is added to the fact that it is interlinked nationwide. However, it will be like having a national identity card, isn't it? For one who cannot live without my Singapore identity card, I think a national identity card is a must actually, for personal and national security. Of course, there are many arguments against it.
Equipping tens of thousands of schools, community colleges, and public universities with 21st century classrooms, labs, and libraries.
- I like the thought, but I think this will open up big financial loopholes like points 1 and 2. Let's not forget, the amount of activism and pampering in USA has made it easy for any device to be allowed by "enough complaints". One such rub is my constant advocate against gun ownership. At least not in schools. Yet, arguments that they feel their child is safer with a weapon is not unheard. Really? It does make me, a foreign student before and a customer of US education feel really threatened about my safety. People who are out to kill will kill, carrying a weapon doesn't reduce the chance of getting hit by one. Hunting is another category though.
Expanding broadband across America, so that a small business in a rural town can connect and compete with their counterparts anywhere in the world.
- Right, I do hope to get my email messages when I'm at the top of the Rockies. The cost of delivering broadband to such an entity would be equivalently higher as in delivering supplies to such areas by foot. Of course, it does add a competitive edge, but the long term cost issue should not be underestimated. Clearly, if green tech is mass produced with low cost, it can be done. Still, cheap green tech...
Investing in the science, research, and technology that will lead to new medical breakthroughs, new discoveries, and entire new industries.
- This is too broad, but generally as a scientific person, I like it. Still, letting the taxpayer undertake the cost of research might not be a good idea. The dislocation of funding will occur as a fact of life. How is the tuition fees I paid spent? Can I have a say to it? It's similar, be it invested by the government or the corporate. It's unfortunately the lack of funding that forces people to be smart with their money. I think that is probably what I fear Obama most as much as with accolade for his call for responsibility. It is easy to forget responsibility when you have power though.

I would prefer to think of most of these ideas as building infrastructure. If you have good tech everywhere that is maintained and subsidized by taxpayer money like the roads and government buildings, there are more funds for everyone to allocate to whatever they wish. Of course, this is idealistic, in my opinion is more efficient in regulating wealth within society than pure cuts and subsidies.

Assume everyone with any amount of money, taxed roughly in similar proportions. Now, hopefully this money goes to building the infrastructure as said, which without assumption always fails. That should bring average cost of living down, like shorter times at the traffic, shorter times running endless errands and cheaper public transport. Of course, cheaper trips to golf courses and cruises are less likely, but the cost savings by companies may spur reductions in premiums paid for services rendered too. Specifics vary.

While the savings as per wage tier differs and concentrates mainly on the middle tier who will use more daily functions of the infrastructure more, such as travel time. This goes to populist agendas of keeping the bulk of the population happy. Next, keeping the infrastructure up to date makes it easier to implement broad scale changes when the need arises. Of course, the list goes on, which is why I'm pro build-infra. Constant vigilance and responsibility is what keeps a society healthy, not bandaid fixes. Well, at least that is what I think of the current situation right now.

Oh, and I read about Charles Grassley's note to Microsoft. I understand some of his points but either way, it is the same for Microsoft, if his advice does not actually make things worse for Microsoft. Naturally, it saves Microsoft more money now to axe foreigners, but I'm sure they did their fair share of homework on the labor issue. I read it as an obvious systematic persecution of foreigners, and it is never good for business. Frankly, I felt Grassley is robbing foreigners of a fair trade of labor. Foreigners pay taxes to USA's unemployment benefits too. Minus 50 respect points.

On another more lively note, Singapore's stimulus plan is pretty interesting. I think it actually works well fiscally and will be cyclic on the budget. It is also not dependent on emergency fundings. Then again, that will need a full reserve. Now, Bernanke and Paulson look more and more like war criminals.

The O

2009-01-09T15:06:00.004-05:00

For any Gundam fan who watched the Zeta series all the way, you would have remember the bad guy's machine called The O. Of course, I'm talking about Obama, and I'm not referring to him as a bad guy, just rather, just that the halo on him is like he is the messiah. Of course, there are detractors, but the supporters are now at fever pitch to the point where he's a hero even before beginning his term. Which of course created the Obama rally.

The thing I don't understand is that he has said that he will solve the problem. So far, the solutions he suggested are not going to help. Bail out homeowners means that many young people like myself would be denied the chance to get a house at the correct price with the correct loan. It is populist at best and suicidal in truth. When the government forcefully becomes a pseudo landlord, basically, we do not have democracy anymore. And printing anymore money recklessly means that lender countries like China have more reason to dump the dollar, creating the end of the dollar.

Of course, what make or break him are his associates. None have really impressed so far, and ideas are just being spun around. From the trillion stimuli to TARP 2.0, things just keep coming. Of course, they are good efforts and one should realize that the reason why they are not able to pull the stimuli through as of now is due to TARP being passed so easily. Yes, it got shot down once. Yes, it crashed the market. But one would wonder, who benefits from a bullish stock market when everyone else outside than Wall Street loses their jobs?

That brings TARP 2.0. The good, it shifted the focus away from Wall Street. It has been proven that dumping money to the banks does not save the economy. If you lend money to your drug addict friend, and never got back any, what is the chance you will lend him again? It simply saves Paulson's friends.

The bad about TARP 2.0 so far? Barney Frank wants to spend some of it on commercial real estate. Why is this man in Congress, much less the head of the Housing board or something? I understand saving municipalities, saving automakers for their jobs, but commercial real estate? I suspect Frank merely copied the words "automaker" and "municipal" from other scrips like that from Obama.

Ok, Mike told me of the construction workers, but here is the scenario.

You hire a factory load of autoworkers to make a car, the car can be sold cheaper, maybe at factory cost, and the workers get lesser pay based on the market. The velocity of money is relatively slow compared to other products, but manageable. At least there is a relatively weak but existent market for cars.

Imagine the skyscraper, which no one wants right now, being built because real estate moguls are bailed out. The workers? Yeah, how is the money being given to the rich developers going to save these poor workers. Not to mention that they are already poorly paid and facing the sad truth of the lurking hyperinflation. Will the money reach them? Will the money be recycled back into the market when the product doesn't even move off the shelf? Oh, and then the deficit Frank created with his demands won't be paid by the next generation, because there isn't a next generation because the current is too poor to feed them when inflation kicks in once velocity of money picks up.

So frankly, I rather see a plan to reshuffle these workers with only labor skillsets to municipalities related construction workforce than building more skyscrapers. Build better transport, better networks, not skyscrapers for Frank.

I think "The O" should start by ordering the entire Congress and House be re-elected. The entire idea of the Democrats holding the majority of all three pillars of USA is sickening to say the least, having people like Frank that still seats in great authority. Obama made the good move of having Republicans in his cabinet. Now, he needs to weed out people like Frank, who's ideas are either populist or bad for unknown, and perhaps suspect, reasons. The sad thing is when Ryan voted for Obama, but was unable to support a capable Republican in Connecticut who got unseated, I knew that the system is flawed.

Anyway, this week, the Obama factor took a hit at the end, and my shorts recovered some of its losses. It's one thing to hope for armagedon, its another to see the market and capitalize on a weakness. One thing for sure, the market must correct itself, with or without intervention, and time has proven that intervention has often made things worse.

So far, nothing about the USA government inspires me. There are lots of great people, but often, in the struggle for power and money, these great people are drowned by the desires of the masses. Yet, the thoughts of that ONE can move the masses. So even when I truly feel Obama can change a few things for the better, he is not making the best moves. Or perhaps my judgment was wrong, that he is only another mediocre politician. Perhaps only time can tell.

It will be 2009

2008-12-31T10:37:00.005-05:00

And soon, it will be 2109. That's a hundred years from now, but assuming that earthlings does not nuke itself out of the world, the sun will rise again over the our heads. Probably not literally our heads, but our children. Then again, Fred Thompson had this video. Sad but true, because the media, the government, the leadership who represent

Each day that we pass working for money, each day it gets worthless because the biggest counterfeit partnership called "Hank And Ben" keeps crediting incompetent companies with bailout money, all at the expense of taxpayer money. Thinking backwards, who benefits more by working? The unemployed or the employed? If Obama doesn't get this right, then indeed USA is going down in fire. Well, I always heard the 80s are the years where people are afraid they need to learn Japanese. Now, they should start worrying whether they need to learn Mandarin, and "Hank And Ben" basically sold everyone off to them. Luckily, I knew the language.

Then again, I am not very optimistic about shorting either. For one reason, everyone on any piece of land anywhere can only be as safe as its governing country want them. If USA defaults, half the world goes, the other half struggles and then everyone else in USA loses. Even if you make a million in one day, that may only be enough to buy a loaf of bread. Impossible to happen? This is USA, anything is possible.

Well, my wishes for 2009 is to keep my job or get a better one, which ever doesn't involve a pink slip, get my green card and then complete my personal projects. Currently, I have a few projects and as some know, there is story writing, there is stock market and then there are others, which does include keeping an eye for a car and a house.

This entire market rally during numerous bad news is just sickening in my opinion. One can say that people should be optimistic, but optimism does not feed the needy. Actual work does, and I'm definitely sure that the world as a whole needs to really take out the trash before the rot swallows us all. Of course, my personal goals has no bearing or dependencies on whatever happens.

I realize what I realized like when I was a kid, that being HAPPY is the best way of life regardless of the world around you. Funny that I can forget such an easy thing, but if one considers that people project their images on others, and the people I mixed with previously are not the happiest bunch, the worst was when I was in elementary school, its easy to realize the meaning of life. My current friends are more easy, even if they struggle financially, they have some happiness they look forward to. I think this also have something to do with their savings rate. (So Obama, PLEASE promote higher savings rate.)

All in all, if I'm happy just because I am, not that I want or need to, I think life is fulfilling everyday. Cool stuff huh?!

Smash and .... smash some more

2008-12-17T13:22:00.003-05:00

Just a quick update from my online absence. Actually, just blogger absence.

I'm out of breath from my latest new low in stocks. Down near 30% after the market defied the downturn. Still holding though with the few points of note:

Fed rubbishes all USD to save its pride by downing rate to technical zero
Hedge funds unconstitutionally, illegally and irresponsibly suspends redemption. If the fund previously allows anytime redemption and now suspends it, it falls in this group
Madoff, enough said. I actually admire his guts and realization that he pulled off something a lot of corrupt officials have not been able to. Only bad is that the charities are hit too, which is TOTALLY the charities' fault. I would recommend legal action against the misuse of charitable funds.
Auto bailout. Enough protectionism already. Foreign companies hires Americans too.
Obama's mystical powers at work. His wow factor is killing me more than helping me. Then again, I will thank him if I still have continuous income ten years from now.

Well, not all are gloomy for shorts, but I'll rather focus my creativity on my story book. Stuck and stuck, and too much action. I need more substance in the story, which I have but cannot really express it in words. Unfortunately, formulae don't work here.

Dirty game

2008-12-12T22:31:00.006-05:00

Politics and finance that is. So much for the airy fairy "play fair" propaganda. As long as the politicians and the big money managers win, it is fair. Even if Main Street suffers for it. What do I mean? Look at TARP, the financial bailout and the automaker bailout.

Well, the automakers did not get their bailout but frankly, they will eventually, because the politicians are too weak to make good decisions. This shows that if you don't have friends in Capitol Hill, no one cares about you, not even the press who are supposed to by fair and unbiased. And typically, those with friends are the ones who cry wolf most.

While it is true that the automakers are asking for only 10% of the current TARP bill, it is still atrocious. Here is a quote I saw and it explains why the automakers MUST fail.
Quote from seekingalpha.com comment on a news line post:
1: Legacy costs. The foreign transplants have not been operating in this country as longs as the little 3 and therefore don't have as much future liability. Additionally, their benefits are not nearly as generous as the little 3.
2: The UAW did renegotiate the wage structure for future hires that puts the new hires more in line with the foreign transplants, but all those on board before the renegotiation just a few years ago will not see a cut in pay and will still be eligible for cost of living raises as long as they remain with the companies. This is most of the employees.
3: The UAW still has written in their contracts that all workers from idled plants must be paid 95% of all wages they would earn working full-time. This ties the hands of the little 3 as they need to either make a permanent decision to close a plant, pay idled workers 95% or operate the same plant with full capacity and thus produce a glut of vehicles when buyers aren't readily available. The foreign transplants don't have this and are much more flexible.
4. When a UAW employee is laid off, they receive $105,000 in lump sum above and beyond any other benefits that they have accrued and are eligible for. The foreign transplants don't do this.
5. There are all kinds of additional union rules which don't take the form of a wage but negatively affect production and thus are best summed up as a benefit with a cost.

Frankly, after seeing this, I'm very convinced that everyone who supports the bailout is either an autoworker under the UAW. While I sympathize with the autoworkers in general, I have no sympathy for the workers in the three beggars, especially the older contracts.

Explain to me this, a group of scientists who pay so much tuition fees to study and invent new tools for the future only to get spit in the face for their idealism with receiving much lesser pay than a autoworker who does not create anything new. There is no birthright in life. If you feel you are special, then prove you are special, including unionized workers. I can recall the defeat the union pilots had in SIA a few years back. Bittersweet to know that SIA is surviving well. Then again, they are government backed, but with a lower cost structure, they are sustainable even without government funds or backing.

Now, the newest deathnote on the financials is the Madoff scam. Frankly, reading what he had confessed, I feel some sympathy for him. He cheated, and he confessed when he owned up. The worst part is the "smart money" that are suing him confessed that they know he cheated and still invested with him. Unfortunate but true.

What inspires you when you are doing everything right but still lose because someone simply rules that you must lose? What if you are persecuted for doing something right? This is what it has become. A world economy at the edge of a simplistic answer that it has too much corruption that a simple zero-sum game is now being twisted beyond recognition. Yet, bailouts only prove to be more denial. Companies will take the money and pocket it, like AIG. Nothing will change, nothing can change with bailouts.

It's like giving a candy to a child who robbed and bullied other children. I've seen that before, and I'm seeing it now. Obama has not done anything yet. His announcements are in the right direction but so far, actions are in the wrong direction. GM will cut all their jobs even with the bailout. UAW will not change if the bailout passes. If a bailout is not passed with the future in mind, then there will be no future, and children will grow with all the wrong teachings.

The end of the world is not a truth that we know. All things die one day, just like suns and black holes. End of days is and end only for those who can't see past the present and forget that the sun rise tomorrow even without the if selfishness of today all die. Obama's presidency will be judged, in my mind, on how much future USA has, not how much he can save of today's mess.

Sometimes, it boggles me to know that losing some today is good for tomorrow, but I have a good example for it. Like losing shedable weight.

Bailout Mania

2008-11-25T07:46:00.002-05:00

An interesting history of the bailouts. Not a long history of data but interesting circles...

Chaos Ascending Severe Heights...Whatever

2008-11-16T20:01:00.005-05:00

I spent the week pretty listless. For some reason, I can't sleep well. Maybe it's because Ken (Low) told me of a girl that I used to like being on Facebook. She has not accepted my request yet. Maybe she's angry still, or whatever. The problem is, I am as disinterested as I'm interested. The thing is open dialogue, and I can't seem to get it out directly. I've been more vocal since I'm in US, not because of training, but because of sheer disparity.

Anyway, its not a big deal. I'm out of the market, mostly. Made a small step to recover my losses. Jammed the brakes on my story writing. Man, I just can't seem to get the right stuff together.

But most important of the week is work. Seems like even my company is scrambling for the financial fracture. Not that we have not warned against it, but there is a thin line between optimism and being wishful, and a thin line between realistic and pessimism. My take is to take everything and plan diversifying routes to consolidate the foundation.

Oh, I read a lot about the automakers this week. I'm against the bailout and most of the week, I'm very angry by the unrepentant autoworkers demanding a piece of the bailout that went to the financial sector. Financial sector is where all the liquidity comes, so they have a stronger case for help than any other sector. Automakers in that sense has less argument, the "Beggar" Three has no argument. But I must say, I'm not unsympathetic for the workers, except that there are always bad sheep who are no different from robbers and pirates demanding their ways of life to be the same without regards to the rest of the world.

The "Beggar" Three must fail, but probably not as a total collapse. Some point that business will cease completely, I don't see it as that. To go out of business immediately, they will have to go through a lot of paperwork, lawsuit and usual shenanigan that has brought this chaos. Then factories get sold, business units get sold and all those money will fall back to the company books to clear off the debt. Of course, the unfortunate part is that workers will get cut.

But here's the part that makes their failure a must. Sustainability. Right now, live or die, they need to pay for the legacy contracts to UAW. They can cut the new workers easily which they will do mercilessly even with a bailout. Now, we want to save the jobs where people are willing to work hard for, not the ones that people won't. With the Jobs Bank by UAW, we are practically paying for no productivity. As much as UAW did well in the past regarding safety and income for the workers, they have not done themselves any favor with the lack of productivity in recent years.

Regardless, the problem will continue one way or another. People get ahead and happy for themselves and let the foundation rot under them. Like the saying I like about forebears growing the tree for us? A good portion of these people are now sitting under the tree, enjoying and not growing more trees for their children. Naturally, that indicates that the bailout is definitely NOT the solution. Letting GM going under its own folly and weight IS.

Here is another perspective that I looked at. In Asia, the three companies are doing well. The image of lower quality did not seem to have affected them much. BUT, if the bailout happens here, what will the disparity be between the workers here and the workers in other countries building the same machines under the same company. No one can say the machines built overseas are worse, because it has always been known to be opposite. Assuming that the quality thing is reversed, what will the bailout add to their productivity overseas. Negative, since HQ always gets better stuff, why work harder? Also, the other companies will ask the respective companies to bail them out when they don't need to, and the three automakers will still DIE from fierce competition, simply because they are that bad!

That is my hunch, but it has not worked disastrous so far. Bad maybe, but mostly in the ballpark.

Anyway, I read that Goldman Sachs has renounced bonuses for their executives, citing from the executives themselves that it is the right thing to do. In fact, IT IS! See, Goldman is the best of the bunch, and they will put weight on others not to follow suit. Think of it as brand and confidence building. Now, that us see where "Actually Infectious Greed" will do. I'm sure they will do the same "see, no bonus" trick but announce the annual salary to by twice that of Goldman's people. I rather trust Goldman. Sachs I mean.

Last but not least, sport. Everton...Draw. Pats...Lost. Pistons...Won a few but may lose the Suns game...Not a lot to be happy about, but I did turn green in my investments. Now, to add more productivity in office. I rather have my job two years from now than simply ask for bailout, but improving the company's sustainability!

The story about the beggar

2008-11-11T21:25:00.003-05:00

This is an edited version of the story I heard. It's one of the supposedly boring stories that are supposed to teach you something, and yes, while many others also hear it, only a few knew what it really meant.

Once, there was a merchant (I prefer to think of a farmer) who made a good living. To and from his work, he always passed by a beggar every day. Taking pity on the beggar, every once a week, he would give the beggar enough money for food. Over the years, the charity became a routine.

Unfortunately, disaster (think a drought) struck and business was bad. The merchant barely made a living and decided to cut back on his charity, and being the nice man he always was, he decided to let the beggar know.

So he said "Business has been bad. I'm sorry but I have to give you less from now on."

The beggar reacted by grabbing the merchant's collar and yelling "What did you do to my money?"

Of course, this is a age old story, meant to advocate smart use of resources, even with maximum social benefit in mind. But, what GM, Ford and Chrysler are doing now are no different from the beggar. The fact that the cash burn started from poor management for a few decades now makes bailing out the "Wheeny" three even more futile and merely suicidal on the cash perspective. It's one thing to feel angry about being scammed, its another to be angry at others for your own doing. Oh, did I mention their arrogance years before to lobby against the US government?

I think emigrating the entire state of workers to start drilling in Texas would cost less. Also, the UAW has always been hardlined about their worker's welfare. They want the automakers to take care of everything, even when the workers are no longer with the company. Now, how is that money earning the company more money? Did the worker build something great? Are the workers in the company benefitting from their predecessors?

It's one thing to be responsible for your workers, but its another when the company cannot survive taking the stab to the gut. Ultimately, reward should only come after work is done, not before. I always believe people have to work for their food, where the poor and willing workers of many other countries do not have a chance to.

However, if one does and is unrewarded, then many others will be unrewarded too. Motivation will be lost and that will hence bring about the downfall of the empire by its rotten leadership. UAW has done a great job. Too good in fact. Policing rewards is a tricky job and in this case, UAW made it unsustainable for the automakers. Of course, they can always say the automakers are not competitive enough, but they are ultimately part of the team in the automaker.

I would feel the sincerity of the workers of the three companies if they asks their union to cut back on their welfare demands. Afterall the crew sink with the captain and the ship, as long as the captain is not Jack Sparrow, or Paulson. Anyway, even a cutback in benefit will need to be in black and white to protect the workers. We know unscrupulous capitalist industrialists and their sneaky lawyers will backstab the hardworking workers once the "war against depression" is over. Then again, you can believe I'm being optimistically utopian, but I do advise ward against harm. Better be safe than sorry. Hardworking people should always be rewarded, merely pen pushing lawyers shouldn't.

Still, like what I believe from the story above, bailing out the automakers will mean that the taxpayers' money is worthless. Even the workers at the automakers. How much will you pay for a worthless product? Now, imagine your money is taken to put into junk, how much will it be worth? I sincerely hope my argument is put in good perspective, and that the people of America where freedom is believed to be everywhere will stand up and oppose any more unnecessary bailouts, and Obama has not inspired confidence that he will do the right thing yet. Please don't waste my vote of trust, Obama.

Get to work...

2008-11-08T11:31:00.004-05:00

I saw this more socio-philosophical article in WSJ and I think every American should see it, even Obama. In fact, everyone around the world should see it. It is not about being responsible, the best way to have a socially beneficial society. I wonder what parents are teaching these days...

Edit: Now, we're talking. This article is conceptually what I feel should be the "change" element of Obama's campaign. Fortunately for him, his charisma will bring more willingness out of people.

Obama the Next

2008-11-07T21:30:00.005-05:00

Obama is the president, starting 2009. How long will he be there? No one knows, yet people are starting to compare him to previous presidents. I find this comparison pointless to some degree. I rather him do his work and save the economy. But today, I read a different comparison, one that is touted a few times but not a popular leaning, Jimmy Carter. Well, I'm not sure of his era, but at least he hired Volcker and "fired" the useless politicians. Could be worse.

Anyway, ever since the crazy downward March to Dismember (December), I am staring at a recession, at least and I would like to tout it the Greater Depression. Well, being optimistic, of course, I think the chances of it happening is slim at best, unless Obama continues the lax to spend trend. If that happens, let just say, Armageddon is not far.

Well, what about being the next Next? Obama have to raise taxes more or less, so I think his promise to me and many others is not far from being impossible. Of course, he can still do it, but I wonder how much I will need to pay for other stuff. Hopefully not. I don't want to pay for the unemployment benefits of those who doesn't want to work. Frankly, I'm sick of hearing all the human rights arguments of free healthcare and what not. I believe the true things that should be free is transport. The motivation and need to get work done.

Healthcare is a necessity and a responsibility of everyone, not a right or previlege. Is the state not a collection of everyone? Poor countries can't afford free healthcare, so why should rich countries waste their money on it? Making it accessible to the needy is more important than making it free. Technology advance will take care of the price. Anyway, my take on why the medicare is not effective. Too much politics. How can one negotiate the price of a treatment? Doesn't that mean monopoly by the medicare agents? Doesn't that mean money is siphoned from the system to needless logistics?

If medicare is a free market, the technology has a price of its own, and the poor will be able to get some aid regardless of the price. Yes, the cheap types, but with medical advance, are you telling me the generics are dirt compare to the "supposed elixirs"? If generics are useless, then why are pharmeceuticals cutting throats to extend patents and shooting generic companies to increase profitability. Brand name is worth something, but not everything.

Anyway, the article raised a few good points about what the next president needs to do. Most of it needs to be like a strict father who lived through poverty and hardship, educating citizens to spend within their means and finally setting up a stable infrastructure that will prevent the gangsters of the economic world from succeeding. Hopefully also, he can do it and get re-elected. If he does the necessary, I'll stand as always have for a hero of times. That is, if he does. The article is critical of him, but I have a more optimistic view of his methods.

Then again, I'm pretty annoyed to have lost $200 today. All because of his speech. My shorts got killed despite all the bad economic data. A speech cannot change history in a single day. People still starve and remain jobless. Making money and jobs out of thin air will only destroy the already weak economy, further flushed by the weak currency. Frankly, I think the liquidity trap is in place, and we are going nowhere until that big crash comes. Everyone can inflate the system, but the amount of air, food and water are finite and so is economic expansion. But anyway, no matter how critical people are of Obama, I'll only judge him on his actions, not his political leanings.

Obama is chosen to make tough decisions, not easy and populist ones like keeping people in their homes for what they can't afford. In fact, I have posted before that housing should come down further. JPM and Bank of America had started some change to keep owners in their homes, so I don't see why Obama needs to worry to much about that. Afterall, let the banks decide which of their businesses will be good.

If you want to hit the restart button to end all problems, you need to make the hard choice of admiting defeat. Admit defeat that a perfectly working scientific system is ruined by corruption, selfishness, hypocrisy and wanton for power, which was credit and cash. In short, humanity itself ruined the perfect ecology of free market that it created.

No matter the game, changing the rules in the last minute just to win like the Fed, SEC and Treasury in the bailouts, the rate cuts and the short bans meant uptmost corruption and hypocrisy. Also, beggars don't get to choose, so why were the "Big" wheeny three get to choose their terms? Are they not begging now like AIG had? Where was Paulson when the problem started one year ago?

So Obama, no more halo effect. It does not work on me. I prefer Obama over McCain on ideas, but do the work you are chosen for. Be the President that will feed the sick patient called USA the bitter pill to cure the ills that plagued it. Don't play goody two shoes follow populist ideals which lead to nowhere. In the end, the cycle of evolution will weed out the bad leeches. People have to evolve with time. If not, we will all die like dinosaurs. I don't get to be ruled by many presidents and prime ministers, but I know a good one when I see one.

Sullibanned

2008-10-22T18:55:00.004-05:00

Well, populist justice and demands are served today when this news came out about AIG freezing the executive payout, but does it really matter now? The world economy is in ruins, the rich hang on to their money while the middle class still have to try to ride the market, either in having a job or having a stock. Now, tell me which is fair. Politicians crucifying the first sheep they can catch for populism or prosecute only the right people.

The thing was this, the problem did not start with him. Yes, he's the leading man in the collapsed company, barring my tax money, along with many other people's, that saved them. He's going to get his fat paycheck if we do not stop it. But haven't the real culprits already gone from the face of the "public" earth now? And those who had not left are so rich and powerful that no one can get a penny off them.

Rather than doing that and confusing the world more, put in structuring stops to prevent that from happening. Like executive option pay being only exercisable after a lengthy period of time. Fractional exercise of options, which I think is good. Tie down to profits, which I'm sure is what comes to mind to many people, still these are only a few things I thought of. I'm sure the entire cabinet of Obama or McCain can think of even better ideas, and I'll support them as long as they are not creatively suicidal.

Basically, what I'm saying is this. There are a galaxy of methods to restrain abuse, but it must be understood as a restrain, not another bloody law just for the sake of the law. A law is nothing more than a rule or code of conduct by the state, and hang the rules when social stability and security is threatened. I hate the simple answer of "it's the law". When games end, they can be restarted, but when people die, they don't get a restart.

People should start looking around them at the hurt that was passed around. Everyone is hurt and if one can only think of himself, then the problem will never be solved until everyone is wiped out. I really think we all should just do our part in making this problem go away and not make this someone else's problem. Because, all the politicians are doing now is witchhunting. If politicians pick the easiest solution every time we need them to do something, why do I need them? I rather have someone which I curse for five years only to be grateful he put me through hardship to have a better life than one who can't make better decisions than myself, asleep.

Oh, and about Global Warming...Who left the freezer open?!?

Losses aplenty...but hasn't it rained already?

2008-10-19T18:33:00.002-05:00

Economic analysis seemed more associated with my work than any other things recently, and frankly, my losses never seem to narrow. Stocks, football, market sentiment and more football. Nothing but red all over. The thing is, the storm has started long ago and only now have the people realized that the governments around the world, most particularly in USA, has been sleeping on their job?

Hedging losses and building a solid financial foundation through savings and physical asset management is probably the thing for the long term. Irresponsible actions such as lending and borrowing has been the root of the current crisis. Not to mention that, people are allowed to say things without proof. The "right to offend" is what I tend to hear more than I like. I prefer the right to defend. If a financial analyst thinks a stock is bad, then he/she should back it up with economic reasoning, with a bit of sentiment on its future and not just 5 sentences to sum up the upgrade/downgrade. That is what CNBC is notorious for, but well, there are also many others.

The thing is not to pile on pessimism and pray for the end. Rather I think people should go out and work to the end. Frankly, doomsday can come any day anyway. Who can say that earth will not cease to exist? I tend to hear more pessimistic people shouting for others like myself to be more optimistic. I feel that talking and not doing makes them nothing better than what Linda in "Burn After Reading". It's a hyperbole, but films like that tend to mock what people does in real life. That's why I think these films are pretty good reflections of human behaviors.

Anyway, I'm not going to do a morality related speech. Everton lost to Arsenal, which is more expected than not. My corporate soccer team lost to Quintiles and their cute chick goalkeeper. My friends said that the cute chick goalkeeper is good, but my back is bad so I can't test it myself. Anyway, my form has not returned. Neither has my fitness so I'm not going to blame myself playing badly on anything else.

That is what I feel is what should be how people should deal with things. Act responsibly and solve the problems. I also found the line "The Buck Stops Here". That is how leaders (and eventually heroes) should be known for. Not some one play plus trashing talking overpaid sportsmen. If the world starts acting responsibly, most problems will end. Not all problems, not especially the most interesting ones about life.

Audaciously Impetus Greed

2008-10-15T21:46:00.004-05:00

I had a hard time coming with good words to describe AIG. I do hope this explains my disgust for them. To have provided poor customer service and selling bad investment products at a ridiculous premium, hence comparable to extortion and fraud, AIG has gotten itself as a perfect lamb for the slaughter.

Cuomo requested that they compensate the taxpayers with the free and luxurious lunch they audaciously took after being bailed out by the government and I think while it is ridiculous to limit CEO pay, hence not rewarding truly good CEOs, I think AIG employees should be prosecuted to set an example for this mess.

My experience with AIG. I was sold an investment product that devalued over 40%, and losing most of my retirement money. Of course, I'm young so I am not that worried, but that loss includes my dad's losses. Worst of all, it was sold to him by his childhood friend with ridiculously misleading charts showing explosive growth. While I was unable to advise my dad, I can't believe his friend would do that to him and me. And as easy as it is, one can guess it is an AIG product. I'm gullible, yes. So cheating me is easy, but if I get killed for nothing, tell me what you would do if you are the victim.

Now, that is not all to the story. To right the wrong and do my own research, I emailed them to get the disclosure of the full holdings. If something loses 40% and it's not your money, I think it is ethically responsible to give full disclosure. It is a law in USA especially with quarterly and annual reports, and why should it be different for Singapore? Such abuse must end if Singapore is to get to be a great financial center.

Although it is not fraud by law, it is definitely technical mugging of the innocents. And do I have proof of their acts? A prospectus printed recently and the emails. I wish I can find a lawyer to put this grieve to rest. Of course, I did not do that because the fees would be worth more than my loss...

And why should they have a luxurious vacation? I have not heard of a bankrupt company being able to do such a thing so it is travesty. I can't believe that one would be so disgusting as to go for such a trip knowing its taxpayers' money. And I don't think they are that good to be spared from the law.

I would say that there are always good AIG employees, but the ones that are known to public and myself are not the ones. Neither are they decent enough.

My Epiphany

2008-10-06T15:50:00.003-05:00

I was sleepless with my back ache and suddenly I had an epiphany. It probably came about with my frustrations that I have always been punished by the system for being right. Well, what do I mean?

In army, being just does not always win. The one who wins is just. In society and work, nice attitude is right, but it does not win you promotions and pay rises. And now, in the stock market, being right does not mean you can profit from someone's mistake, it just means as a small investor, you are not alone in losing money. You probably lose less, but you still lose a lot to the dirty politicians.

So it came upon me after rounds of debate on how a country should be run, it came upon me that I have finally have a few phrases I can call mine. Well, I'm sure someone else will have thought of it, but I dare say it in my own voice and context, and know what I'm talking about, as always...

Human (Greed) is inflationary.

Hence government intervention should be slightly deflationary yet not detrimental. Before I get shot, I hate taxes, and multilayer regulations like in USA. I do a lot of paperwork in Singapore, but once past that, no worries!

And since greed has no limits, government intervention, however subtle, is a need to protect innocents. Sometimes, innocent people get into trouble because of greed too, but the call on the scale of guilt should not be zero or full, but partial. Again, bailouts are bad, but rules to ascertain bankers can't write their (check) way to billions is important too.

Actually, with that, I found a very good piece of news which even as a bear, I think it will help the market recover in the long run. Here it is. It may not be big or helpful to all, but the hardest step is the first step. If homeowners can take the hit they got themselves into, and banks are willing to admit their fault and share their burden, I see no reason why we need the 700 billion bailout which now lands all of the world's money in the worst hands possible. The people in charge had a track record of being bad decision makers and bad problem solvers, so I do not see how their tendency to support their own alumnus helps, even if they are "cream of the crop" based on academia.

Politicians are needed to make difficult decisions. I make a lot of difficult decisions myself, so if they don't help me with some of the tougher questions in life, why do I need them?

If USA can redo the primaries and elect Ron Paul, I will support it even as a resident alien. Now, that is not to say that my philosophy and his are the same, but we probably agree that the rules to run a house is different from family to family, and cultural diversification helps the smarter societies get stronger, as long as they don't pick the bad habits from each other of course...

The Coming...

2008-10-05T22:23:00.002-05:00

Of the no-Europe year.

The first years of David Moyes have been yo-yo years. Fourth-Seventh every year, except it is from the top one year and from the bottom in another year. And good riddance for the past few years since we stabilized the team. We moved away from that trend and constantly beat bad teams and lose to good teams. Well, give or take a few unexpected performances.

Today, we drew with Newcastle, possibly the worst team in the Premier League that had not played in the Championship in the last few years. Well, maybe with the exception of a few others like Fulham who improved this year. Else, I expect a top five team to beat it comfortably...barring the surprisingly toothless Man U in the first game. Championship contenders tend to stutter sometimes. But they don't concede an average of two goals every game either, so that will be proof that Everton really needs improvement right now.

Anyway, it was a defensive disaster. How did Everton concede goals within one minute from each side of half time, I'm not sure. I'm just happy they survived. My only concern is, Moyes, get back to basics. Probably that will help. Long term success is build on defence. We can score goals now, but that will not win us the games if we don't defend well. The biting midfield is lacking I guess. The old dogs of war are gone...I always prefer to work with players we have so instead of buying, Moyes probably should just get his old scratch book back and redo the defence strategies...

Well, a few things doesn't change at least. Like Cahill having his extensive collection of cards...

The poisoned Apple

2008-10-04T21:57:00.004-05:00

I finally got my shares in Apple! And it went down further!

Well, first I got it before the first House vote, then I added more on Friday after the second House vote. I think Apple has great products that will be flashy enough to survive the recession. Well, it is true that people will spend less, but like I said, the ones hit worst by the credit crunch are those who doesn't live within their means. That means the people who continue to buy stuff are the ones who live within their means. In fact, I think Apple will be one of the best of all the companies who will survive the trench. Anyway, just my thoughts, so don't take that as analyst comments. I don't want to associate myself with those self-serving cheats.

Anyway, SEC is trying to punish the rumor monger who lied about Steve Jobs' health. Well, great. As in sarcastic great. Cox has done nothing to oversee the market and now he intervenes on these? A bit too late to save his image, isn't he? First, he stamps out only rumors that drive the market down, and not those that potentially artificially inflate the market. Next, he bans shorts. If he doesn't monitor naked shorting by the big monies and banks, why would we need an SEC chief then? The common people cannot naked short, so what he did in his "inaction" is social segregation in the investing world, only the rich can short, small timers can't. I'm not sure how safe banks are now, but we are all robbed by these people, namely Paulson, Bush, Cox and Bernake.

Anyway, I am going for broke, trying everything and I'm not too hard up about the results, but I do hate losing. Everton better start winning, or else...whatever...They bought Feliani and I would prefer them not to sign young star players anymore. Now, the average age is decent, so what we really need is solid foundation which Moyes has eluded for a few seasons now. Free signings and body counts in the team will probably add some stability. The team have substance, they now need wins, and without a team, we can't win.

Oh, I did a search on my sitemeter, and I saw people reading my post on the ridiculous politicker Nair. Pretty surprised to even get a hit on it. Anyway, I find myself discussing more and more politics since I left college, and I wanted to do Public Policy if I can, part time. I think the societal evolution around the world should leave an impression on how affluence, again in history, has led to negligence that could destroy the societal and financial foundation that our fathers worked their lives to build. Unfortunately, not many people understand still. Or they easily forget.

Bailout = Burst Bubble

2008-10-01T20:11:00.003-05:00

Well, with all the "optimism" that the bill will go through the Senate and turn the House over from the "No" region, I decidedly got more pessimistic. As a lot of economists said, it will only slow the inevitable. For me, that's bad. For Buffett, he will gamble a future he does not have, a future I am fighting for, in that the bailout will keep his billions intact at the expense of my dollars. Fantastic.

Well, to be frank, unless the politicians and the finance officials have an alternative plan to completely deleverage the financials as much as possible before next year, I sincerely could not help but fear for the worst. Adding liquidity is a good thing, but where does it go? Productive companies? What is productive? If the "great" minds of Wall Street did not figure them out over the last decade, how can I be sure they will figure it out now?

Sure, most are cash generating assets, but most of them are mortgage backed. Once they default, there is no value. Ultimately, the problem comes down to that people borrowed too much to handle. Yet, we are letting them get away with it by letting them get priority to be rescued, as written in the bill to prevent more foreclosures. If one makes a mistake, why not punish them? And we punish the good with more national debt? Wow!

Anyway, McCain lost my respect with the appointment of Palin. Obama then lost my respect with his political support for the bill. Great leaders make bold and often difficult decisions. I rather Volcker be the president. He brought a recession and USA back down to Earth. The best medicine are often bitter, yet only few understands it.

I was talking to my friend about warnings of Singapore being ready to take the hit, and he agreed that he, as an American, rather take the hit now too. Jokingly, he said he could use the time off. Naturally, I doubt it will be that bad if it happens now. He also mentioned that Singapore will be a good candidate to be a futue finance leader. Come to think of it, maybe that is why certain "deserters" are flooding back into Singapore while the others continue their attempt to pelt it down.

Frankly, I feel that one should be happy wherever he is, and clearly, I'm trying my best to work my way out of this mess. Even though this is brought by many people who are too greedy to admit their mistake, particularly the ones, who happen to be Americans in USA, or Singaporeans in Singapore, who own mortgages they can't afford and wants us to pay for them. I have friends with mortgages, but I always said, live within your means, and they believed me.

Start of End

2008-09-30T01:00:00.001-05:00

Today, I bought Apple. Well, I was playing a bounce so maybe I took too much risk. Anyway, everyone know that today is -777 for Dow. Some say it will go to 8000 without intervention. I think that will be next week. Think of it. If that happens, we won't need a bailout since the entire thing will wash out all the weak companies, which naturally means that the companies that survive are ones that the banks will lend to anyway.

Which comes to mean what we have left to solve is the fundamental problem. The hubris of bad companies and unrealistic borrowers are gone. As a realistic borrower, I'm not even benefiting. While I agree that some are "duped" into borrowing something they can't pay, I think that is a stretch on the long haul. The attitude of borrowing for now should be eradicated. Yes, take a bit of risk, but right now, there is no sense of risk aversion.

The market will probably soon force companies to reveal the assets by financial companies, since that is what is hidden in the pyramid scheme by the banks. Whatever it is, being marked to market means that it should be zero by now, since no one wants it. So rather than writing down by the minute, they should either, write it to zero or rewrite all the underlying debt.

It sounds kind of crazy, but I can't imagine myself buying the CDOs if I know the structure. Like my email to AIG for the complete equity list being refuted as "not required by law", I think many people have the right now to sue these companies for not explaining how the securities work.

Yes, I take risk and can lose money, but how dare you not tell me why I'm losing money. Now, that is a scam, even if it is legally backed. Note, my belief is that laws need to evolve as well, to protect people. Evidently, most of these bubbles are built on the ignorance of people and capitalized by the "evil" ones. The problem, what happens when its revealed?

So, we should punish the "evil" ones, yes, but what about the "scammed". Surely they are driven by greed too. I taken the bitter pill and wrote my loss off. I implore people to do that too so that we can move on. I never believe one should live above his means. But now, many in USA is living way above their means. If the US government really want to help people, they should immediately look at the underlying assets and rewrite them, especially those that are sold overseas. No customer, no business. Simple as that. I might be wrong but I know that if more mortgages defaulted the entire bond packaged around it will be worthless. Why aren't anyone from the government attacking the problem then? Each party, the lender, the borrower and the bond writer and thier entire hordes of accountants, take a bit of loss through negotiation and zip, the problem is solved.

Of course, I'm ranting, probably nonsense to most, but just food for thought. I'm sure my idea is raw, but someone as smart as Obama should be able to package it better to lead the world out of this mess.

Edit: Interesting link about the Dow and the president. Other than the unfortunate fellow who happened to be president in 1929, I think the rest have their reaons.

Some garbage I found online

2008-09-29T23:32:00.004-05:00

I Googled "Low Thia Kiang" and "email". The first I see is Gopalan Nair. I was trying to email MPs in Singapore to ask about ways to protect my family who are less "equity-trained" than I am. Not to mention I have been burned as well. And I can't imagine I'm stuck with this garbage.

To be frank, if my American friends are thinking this guy is a waste of time, I really think it says a lot. And I'm in the tri-state area, so that tells you a lot that the political philosophy here is further from Singapore, especially on capital punishment and censorship, than Nair is from Pluto.

To be frank, democracy and freedom of speech is all the rave here, but where is democracy in these times of panic? CNBC is labeling Obama with all the less democratic terms and then, Paulson took the country by its nose with the blank check solution. Everyone who ever believed in the idea of a "free market" knows that this is not a "free market", much less a democratic and capitalist system.

I'm sort of relieved that the bill did not pass and put good money after bad money, so that explains that my alignment is not far from the democratic people in USA. They tend not to favor big governments, yes, but many times, the majority might not be right. The only thing they do not see eye to eye with my belief is that censorship is sometimes good and stabilizing. Had they censored CDOs and CDS, probably this mortgage thing would not have hit us that bad.

It really confuses me why people have the time to rage about political system in Singapore when unemployment is 6% in USA. That means the global economy is bad! I'm already disgusted with people "talking and not doing" in good economic times. I must say, I hope Google will remove such bad content from the internet totally.

I'm still working my way out of this mess with a lot of my friends in America. And frankly, I think Worker's Party is what is displayed here. Solve the problem, leave the talkers out of the process. We need good debators, yes, but a debator who can't do any work is as negative as fully pumed tires to a car with a broken engine. I hope people will keep trying to find work and make a living. I really hate the culture of sitting and getting unemployment benefits in USA. I agree to government aid to find jobs, but not government back "big-baby-sitting".

And, I am concerned that I'm seeing racist comments on his blog. I have friends from all avenues of life and racial backgrounds and I can't imagine anyone saying that one blogs. I really implore Google to reveal the identity of these bad people who posts flames like this.

In fact, if Google does that, I think pedophiles will have nowhere to hide. Privacy is a power, can be said to be a right, but a power nonetheless. With greater power comes greater responsibility, and now, a lot of people are abusing it. (It comes with societal evolution, I know Ryan, but sometimes a boundary is needed to prevent people from getting ahead of themselves and hurt others, at least for the time being until a safer alternative is found.) Prevention is better than cure.

My blog may be the least Googled blog on Earth, but if someone reads it and learns something about their life, I'm always ready to hear comments. Of course, with sound reasoning.

Wolf Pack

2008-09-25T19:04:00.004-05:00

I wouldn't really imaging that I'll use that tagline. I hated that name after my grad school, but ironically, the current mess reminded me of that name. Why?

I must say I'm impressed by the reviews of my friends on Bernake regarding his role in the Bear Stearns rescue, but still, he ranks low among the people I have an opinion of. Pumping credit into a broken credit system is like having a blood transfusion on a patient with a gunshot wound, shotgun size, without treating the wound. It's more inhuman than killing the person outright. btw, Srinidhi, I happened to use this expression last night explaining the current economic scenario to Ryan, so we used similar metaphors, but lots of thanks for adding insight to my under informed mind. Anyway, he has not done anything right.

My stance is the same, raise rates or let the recession run its course fast and you might see the necessary correction the economy needs. Half my property and I probably need some financial assistance, but I'm sure half Buffett's property and he can still enjoy life around the world more times than I been driving. Just a comparison, but I'm easier to help than rich people in terms of money. And I'm sure rich people can easily earn their money back faster when the economy regains its polarity.

Then below Bernake is Paulson. Yes, we need rich people, but rich people are not rich if poor me and many others die and can't work for the rich. This is a downward spiral. We can't punish the rich because...whatever...but we don't have money to give either. So basically, it is a lose-lose situation not to take the hit now.

Then after Paulson comes Bush. Enough said. I'm on the opposite site of the philosophical field right now, so I think I really need God to tell me what he did right so that I can see his path. Anyway, drop it.

Lastly, the entire day's rally is all due to the news that the 700 billion bailout is coming. Guess what? There is major contradiction! Some say yes, some say no, but whoever is wrong, they should be put in jail. I hate Comscore for misinforming me about Google in March, but equally I hate reports that are just for spreading pump news. And guess what, SEC is only after people who spread "dump" news, not "pump" news. Well, if it's financial stocks in question, of course. The rest of the scams is, of course, targetted, sparingly. Cox should not be the SEC chief at all.

So who else do we have? Well, Ron Paul. Do I hate him? No. In fact, I was amazed by his wisdom. As much as I'm disillusioned by the three above, I think this guy should have been the nation's leader. Probably the only thing I disagree with this dude, gun ownership and regulation. Well, one of the things since I don't know all of his positions in philosophy. But here is one video of his comments on the "mother of all bailouts". The dollar destruction...Reminds me of banana dollars. Woo...bad memories...especially when it immediately succeeds The Great Depression.

Hank (Hell) Broke Loose

2008-09-19T23:15:00.007-05:00

As much as I am already dissatisfied with the Fed and Treasury on the current circumstances, they moved a step toward global chaos with Bush amongst them. Well, technically only USA but since USA is consuming, they basically are messing around with the life of billions of people.

First Bear Stearns. Well, as some said, its necessary, and JPM got a good deal. Next, Fannie and Freddie. Then AIG. Well, I can understand the AIG rescue, but now, they have created a "bailout" center using the money I, and many other taxpayers, give to USA from my paycheck. Didn't Henry Paulson earn enough at Goldman Sachs already? Why does he need my money, or anyone else's to be truthful, to clean up his mess? It may sound like I'm only interested in the "I" scenario, but I always believe in this, if it can happen to you, it can happen to me, so I will try to fight injustice even if I'm not the victim, for social and personal reasons.

Well, for one, I did not benefit from him, so he has no value in terms of my sentiment. Next, he recklessly piled in dollars to the big hole the financials created with their fancy instruments like CDS and many more eye candy. Now, the taxpayers pay. "Profits are personalized, Losses are Socialized". The problem, I think his moves not socialized in benefit a single bit. Talk about robbery. I seriously think the financial industry is ladden with crooks, not "cream of the crops".

So, no more shorting, which does not affect me directly. But I can't hedge my losses. So right now, Paulson create a vehicle with everyone's money to buy useless "paper" and tries to find another buyer for that. Great. I wonder how he can sell this to someone else?

So the market is up higher than the week started. I lost money thinking it will tank further, not make any money for the rally, and now I have to lose more money in the form of my pensions and taxes for this?

The capital losses is fine, but the second set of uninitiated losses is not. And the best part, they are not helping the hands that feed them. Foreign banks will probably not be included in the plan to dump dirty paper. Wow, great customer service. No wonder the country is falling apart. Maybe not totally, but its definitely a mess created by the elite few who is enjoying their vacations which they always say they deserved (for creating this mess).

Logic one of any business, no customer no money. Paulson is truly a genius in throwing others under the bus, even the one who feeds him. He has one thing that I don't think I can ever learn. Shove the knife on everyone else to save one's own life.

I'm not an Economics expert, but simple logic, yes. Complicated logic, alright. Useless complexity, no go. By the way, I think I mentioned this to everyone before. Unless necessary, I seldom address a person by his last name, since that will define lineage. When I do, my level of respect for a person is marginal at best. If I can't find a reason not to define one other than by his full name, that means that tiny bar of respect and tolerance is probably running, on empty.

Another thing...this article is a decent read about Singapore. Not politically correct in Singapore terms (note some of the words used...although I feel neutral when reading anything anyway), but a few praises for the system which I grew up in and one which kept me sane. I don't think I will be that sane if I grew up in USA, but maybe because I didn't grow up here.

The American Dream/Nightmare

2008-09-17T22:54:00.004-05:00

When I first got here, USA was in the middle of a decline, people started to act ruthlessly indifferent, tolerance level was nowhere near acceptable or marginally receptive. That is the truth of life. When push comes to shove, a lot of people will kill to even breath another second of air.

Yet, besides all this, there was still the notion of the "American Dream". Cheap credit which does not exist for people like myself, I feel cheated by the system that sweet talked me into coming here. But, that is really just one of many things that is wrong. The fact that the sentence "You will be considered for funding" has been sung into my ears for two whole years, yet only the chosen ones get the cheese. That example in education system turns out to be representative of the country as a whole, despite many efforts to change. Well, mostly lip service.

What is the same. Simple, Wall Street. Banks can afford to pay even the least productive of workers fat bonuses where smart people need to slog in the area of science to get mediocre wage. Indeed, money attract flies, but the system's lack of proper regulation make it possible for the most obscene things happen. Now, the world has to pay for the greed of a few.

Today, Dow Jones sank for a third straight day, my equity fund made a 40% loss before I can pull out. Partly due to the indifference of my father's friend towards his friends and clients. After all, making money is everything he cared about. Losses made by my father and me, and many of his other clients, are none of his business. The banking industry has gotten way over its humanity and disregards the important pieces of business, customers and trust.

In my mind, these crooks should be severely punished and the banking industry heavily regulated. I do not know which model works best, but Singapore's less than perfect democratic stance for its favoritism of stability over freedom is what I believe many people prefer in times of need. Would you prefer freedom or a bowl of rice? Only those with money would prefer freedom. Before any argument is added, would you starve your loved ones for freedom? That is what I respect of many parents who worked through poverty to see their children succeed.

Anyway, if the "American Dream" is to continue, then a lot of people will suffer. To date, young Americans have a tough road ahead and the ones that created the situation might have been their parents. I'm not a parent, but I have not seen one who does not have a loved one. Even for an egoist, to ruin the future of others equates to ruining oneself.

The unfortunate thing about the current scenario is that house ownership is a top priority of US presidential candidates. Why? That earn votes. I definitely want a free house, but nothing is free. Most probably someone else pays for it. Why should someone else pay for it? I'm anti-luxurious unemployed benefits. Benefits is used to take care of needy people, not people who want to be in need. The abuse is ridiculous.

But may I say one thing. Why is someone living out of his/her means, living in a house that is worth more than a century of his current take home salary? Yes, its hard to give up one's dream house, but is that more important than the future of the nation? The fact that all the market is doing now is delaying the true bottom of the housing market. Excess supply meets near extinct demand. Since the house will be worth zero anyway, its more like a natural retribution on one's greed, except that "profits are personalized, losses are socialized". Unless USA can snap out of this cycle, take a step towards cleaning the mess, I, like many, believe that this "not" a "recession" will be comparable to the Great Depression.

"The Guilty Shall Be Punished". Unfortunately, that's not true, yet.

Disaster Season

2008-08-31T21:46:00.002-05:00

While I hope Gustav is not giving the poor people of New Orleans too much trouble, my disastrous streak seemed to be kick started by Gustav. Not in terms of weather, but in terms of everything else. Seems irrelevant, but I always like to build on coincidences, or so some others perceive.

Well, in short, my portfolio of stocks and such are down the drain after hitting a new high. I missed an exit point and my high was never reached again. Not even 75% close. Now, that's the daily news part. The weekly news part came back as a disaster as well. Everton, fourth from bottom, two losses, one to Portsmouth and one to Blackburn. Well, bad starts are common, but both are at home! At least get a draw. That is bad enough for a top four seeking team.

Anyway, the main part of my agony is the portfolio part. Everton can survive without starting well. Oh, and I'm getting a weird irritation in my nose. A scar is not healing so its like me having both a nose bleed and a flu at the same time. Now that the bleeding subsided, the scar remains as a roadblock for my air. Bloody...

Well, one should not wish for too much. The first thing I wanted is the EPL season to start and now, I rather it was delayed. One thing I felt ok about was the Obama speech. He mentioned about "ownership". I guess he hit the nail on the spot. Since I've been here, that had always been the case. I wonder how much that can change though. Tolerance and altruism is not something that can be induced overnight, not to mention so much garbage to dish. Still, I'm not sure if McCain is that similar to Bush, but its always a worse bet than Obama for a change. It might well be that difference in party name.

Torment of idealessness

2008-07-13T21:55:00.003-05:00

Weeks away from the blog. Why?

Football season is over. Basketball season is over. Not to mention the hike in gas prices made life a bit uncomfortable. The worst part I'm losing money in the stock market. Well, I have come to the conclusion that my conservativeness is not conservative enough. Unfortunately, I'm feeling upset that my richer friends can't see the problem.

You see, like when I was studying my Masters, I'm worried that my family will need help paying for the house. So, while they can afford to lose money with enough backing to go back to in their family, it's a different family upbringing for me. As the eldest, I see it as my duty to remain the flag bearer who needs to stand even when everyone else is beaten down. So while I might whine a bit like a kid, I feel I genuinely can't afford to lose too much ground. And it's not personal. Not me directly at least.

Anyway, for whatever reason, these few weeks is also a downturn in my ideas. I'm also finding my expenditure for my apartment is getting unnecessarily high. Maintenance fees, cleaning, space, whatever. I think the "Sometimes I don't really care" attitude from my roommate is probably a mitigating factor as well. It's easy to say I'm being negative, but if I put in effort for stuff, I expect people to put in something as well.

Ah well. It's funny that bad things must always happen together. Like above, my ideas is also running into a dead end. There is a skeleton for my little trial novel, but I'm just running dry for a while. To make things a bit more edgy, I contacted a friend to see if her husband can help. Not in terms of idea, but in terms of experience. Her husband published a fantasy book before, so I thought I could get some idea what I need to go through. I'm not sure if the shut door I got was because they thought I wanted more help that experience pointers.

Of course, these aren't really the only bad things happening. So to top it all off, I decided to declare myself broke. As in, no fun, no excitement, just plain Joe from step one. Well, I'm living pretty cheap actually, but I suppose I can find excess fat to rid myself of. And as the flag bearer statement, I think precluding my savings for my parents' house is the best I could do to ensure that they have a backing right now. Well, that probably means I definitely won't get married anytime soon, but I did not have a girlfriend to begin with, so that was easy.

What a bear...

2008-06-20T18:25:00.007-05:00

Actually, there was quite a few exciting things these week, but the bad overwhelmed the good. While I have been losing money in stocks, this is the worst week. Well, to be frank, I had a good run that upped my little gadget expenditure a bit. Made about 100 dollars.

I even got myself a new laptop due to come by first week of July. I wanted to make preparations to give my laptop to my parents. I can give them a new one, but they always say they don't need it...Well, I'll still give them mine, since I doubt tech will go any faster and fatter at this rate...

What made it bad?

Of course, the bear market! This is a heavy losing week. I'm only playing percentages, but heck, I should be more careful! Anyway, I probably erred on the side of being too careful...But unlike Singapore, they are only starting to jail the finance executives that created the bad funds to get money for themselves, and one even managed to become a fugitive...MEANING HE ACTUALLY GOT AWAY...

Well, we don't really get to punish a lot of these people in Singapore, but regulations and laws are supposed to make things work for general economy. The rich can get richer, the poor may get poorer, but if no one gets to work, who gets the money? Even the rich won't. Those people who wants less regulations can go ahead and cry all they want, like Kudlow. They messed up so many people's lives, they deserve worse than jail time.

If there is no regulation, there is no moderation, nor consideration to human life if needed. No one wants to hurt others? From what I see, since most people don't care about what happen to others, they don't really care if they hurt others as well, as long as they don't "know" it. Even if it is obviously morally wrong.

The other side. Italy beat the French toast left behind by the Dutch. Now, that's kind of sickening to me. I rather Romania in the quarterfinals than the Italians. If they cut down their diving and focus on making goals with open plays, I'll have been more friendly towards their game. Unfortunately, class, skill and flair aren't the basic elements of their game. I did tell an Italian-American, Baggio was the last great player they have. Well, maybe with Di Canio, but Di Canio was not a national team regular.

One more destabilizing piece of news. Promotions. They come, but they went to the wrong people this time round. My company have the knack of giving people promotions in the wrong manner. Skillset, timeframe and whatever you can think of. That's out of the window. It's about favoritism. Well, not exactly that all the time, but if a more capable person has to take the elevator up with the rest of the crew, why should one be allowed to take the helicopter at others' expense? My boss probably need to answer this question of mine soon...There are some unfair things I can take, but not those done in a gross manner.

Now, the good part. Germany beat Portugal fair and square. Russia beat Sweden with enough time left for a smoke break. Turkey displayed the passion for the game. Hey, soccer is a low scoring game most of the time, but if people play it correctly, it is way better than most other sports. The only problem? It has a high inertia in terms of its rules.

Anyway, I'm into Chapter Eight. That's like one every month with a spurt of two more this month. If my production increases more drastically and get the level of help I need, maybe I can publish it before 2010!

Euro! Euro!

2008-06-08T17:15:00.006-05:00

The European Championships started! Finally! Some decent international competition!

Unfortunately, Mike, my boss, is still not convinced that it will provide enough entertainment. Well, at least he's not using the "macho" excuse. America has occurrences of worse excuses.

I actually missed Ryan's birthday. As his roommate, I feel obligated to buy him a drink or something. And I did, of course, after the fact of missing it. I don't feel that bad actually, since most did only slightly better. Mine was an everyday thing. I wish I can charge him extra maintenance fees.

Anyway, this Euro was pretty bad from a refereeing standpoint. Atrocious! So many bad calls! Even if perfection is not the deal breaker, blatant bad calls are still sickening. Of course, I wouldn't mind it happening to Italy, but well, things do go around, so either way, its bad, even on Italy. The Dutch turned out fantastic. I wonder if their stomach can go the stretch. The last they were that fantastic, they fizzled out as suddenly as they starred.

Of course, the stock market is always my downfall. I just seem to eat scraps. I need better ways of income. Unless Buffett manages my money like his, I probably won't even earn a pinch of his total.

Oh, since I'm on this topic, I have a very simple question for CNBC haters. I hate the Kudlow show, as like many viewers, for its insensitive opinions and shouting. But if everyone boycotts his show, ratings go down the drain, would we not be saved from his over opinionated, unfeeling, insensitive and incompassionate assessment of the true economic status. So why bother watching Kudlow and Company? I think that is a waste of CNBC airtime. Fast Money and Mad Money may not be spot on to help people, but it gives a healthy debate which I can watch with a pinch of salt. Jim Cramer's antics is also a bit silly though, but on a scale of 10, I'll put him as 5 for entertainment and 7 for information, so he passes.

Sigh. What a rush. Too many things to write, but too little time to filter the good ones. I'm continuing hard to complete my trial story though. Maybe the pent up ideas I have finally have a place to stay. Hopefully, I'll do better than pass on my "harmonic power generator" idea like ten years ago. Well, I just need one crazy idea to work, but which one will?

Peak Oil

2008-06-06T20:04:00.004-05:00

Or Oil Geyser. Oil went from 135 to 125 in a week and back to 138 within 3 days, well, I can't remember but you probably hear everyone talking. I lost a bit, based on my micro-small portfolio of mostly cash and little stock. Based on some of the best advice, I even lost money to begin with and got back through a lucky pick.

Well, two, one was SKF which is Proshares Ultrashort Financials which went through the roof, but I was not good enough to capitalize, cause I sold too early! So, I'm upset. Well, not as upset and most I see. Until I strike a billion, I'll keep working to earn money to stay alive. If I strike a billion, I'll probably retire myself to a little island by the equator and fortify it with missiles and build a orphanage and school there.

Anyway, things were not going well recently. Business is bad, economy is bad, people are getting worse. Like what? It's a recession, more politically correct, economic slowdown, except is like hitting reverse rather than the brakes. I would have rather worked through it but people are getting so negative that I think its not a Bear market, it's a grieving market. I'm not a CNBC guy. Well, I watch Cramer for entertainment and some info on things I never heard off. I watch Fast Money, but NEVER more than 1 minute of Kudlow. Info is free, interpretation is proprietary. (Thanks Shravan!)

Why is that? Well, people are just like its going to end and all that. I get that feeling when I lose money, but I know my friends lost more money than I have. And I have my job which I work hard to keep. Well, as hard as my work needs me to be. And with that, even if I worry for my job, I need to work hard and keep myself alive. So? Need a moment? Take a fresh deep breath of air and wait for the next sunrise, run until you drop on the next sunset. I think that will be a nice way to do things. And happy. And fun. And not recessionary. And not inflationary. And peaceful. And considerate. And courteous. And polite. Well, whatever.

Now, I enrolled myself in Discover Card, and I got this deal to sign up for 5% gas back. Now, I think being a miser is wrong, but scrimping or living a modest lifestyle is good. So, goodbye oil. I'll start walking when I find a decent place from my workplace. Oh, and I'm still in America. Not the best way to work, but I'll work things out! I can't trust the government here to provide decent public transport anyway.

Home Records

2008-05-25T18:32:00.003-05:00

It never was about records. It's always about hype.

Boston beat Pistons away. Out rebounded, out defended and outscored. Now, Pistons lost the initiative that they fought hard to get and now, they handed it back on a silver platter. Isn't that sad?

Well, sadder to be is to be a Chelsea manager. Avram Grant is no longer Chelsea manager. He is a decent manager, but Mourinho is the special one. Well, not too special since he did not get another run in the Champions League. Then again, Chelsea now needs a lot of rebuilding. Maybe Roman will become manager himself!?!

Vani was here for the morning, but time was limited. Kristen is expecting. Maybe I'll be visiting in September. And I'll probably be seeing Luciano before he graduates. Then again, lots of things to look forward in the recessionary near future.

How To (Fail To) Teach A Road Rageress How To Drive...

2008-05-06T22:12:00.011-05:00

Today, I met the the worst type of civilized driver I have ever met. Even the punks I met before act better. It's a driver, so needless to say, it's on the road. And from the header, it's a woman. I've seen many good female drivers, so she definitely sullied their good name. That good name is an important view I maintain despite this incident and, of course, many bad remarks I heard about female drivers.

I regard safety as rule number one of driving. Something I learned before my ten years of driving. That's more than a third of my life. Dude. That sums up everything about me obeying traffic rules. But there is a second one, respect. Being a public property, I definitely respect other drivers when I am on the road, like giving way, allow pedestrians to cross.

So for me, I decided to whine a bit here because of one thing. I am nice. Too nice. I allowed the offender to tell her story and she decided to bark at the top of her voice at me and disrespect me. Guess what. She did not bother to see what I saw. In fact, she refused. Now, that is a brute and crude way of doing things. As a man who believe that chivalry exist, I must say, chivalry does not seem to be something treasured by women nowadays I guess. Strange. They always say there aren't too many good men. Of course, this woman was one of a few of the entire planet that gave me that view of course. I know of women who like and have nice guys, so seriously, I am just letting out a bit.

If traffic rules was her reason, this was what she said. "There is the stop sign". "I saw you trying to pass me". "There are kids around". This is what I saw. No signal light. Repeated hard braking. She goes to the right. Sudden hard left turn, it would have to be a ninety degree left turn to nearly enter a right entrance and come back to the left. Stop in the middle of the three way junction. And the best part. My car was always behind hers, behind the stop sign. Near my apartment!?!

Maybe she did not see that I also turned left after she parked her car. Maybe she is frustrated after a day of work and wanted to bark at someone. Maybe her pet dog was not so obedient. So, she decided to start barking from her car, came all the way to my car and continue barking. I definitely would rate her a man in terms of ferocity and threatening. Given I don't ever want to own a gun, I definitely fear for my safety. I was considering calling police for road rage and harassment for getting bitten for my kind intentions of teaching her what she should consider first. Safety. No signal. Blocking the road. Hard braking. Hard left turn. I don't know what she saw as overtaking, but if my car was behind hers (and the stop line) before and after she saw me and stopped, what's her point? She is from Speed Racer? Now, that movie is bad for teaching safety. I feel funny eSurance is actually having an advertisement for it. Talk about irony.

Well, that's it. I saw Boston beat Cleveland in Game One. I'm pretty satisfied. Of course, I want Boston to go to Game Seven so Detroit can get a lot of rest if they beat Orlando early. And I hope San Antonio and Utah will force Game Seven too. I'm just a fan. A fanatic fan. But I still have my brain and eyes on the road when I drive. All the time when I am on the road. Safety. Now, that is what traffic rules and stop signs are for. Saving human lives from reckless and unreasonable people and not to ruin another person's day.

Burn, burn, burn

2008-04-23T22:56:00.004-05:00

After exiting my first ever position in Pfizer and taking a 20% loss from my input, my view of how the "helpful" tips from the investing world is really helping me lose money instead of making them is, of course, more negative than positive. Of course, I have been aware that there is always a conflict of interest if the investment bankers are always spot on. Still, I can't help feeling misguided, if not "cheated", by the information that lead me to making that "BUY" decision.

I took the less taken path and got some back, but still, I recovered about less than half of it. And the stock markets are as volatile as usual, but I'm happy, my testosterone level was not inflated by that mere dollar I make after losing more than a hundred of it. It does show that I can't make a little money out of a little money. I didn't play big, so perhaps that why? I think that will be a bad excuse if the "help" is supposedly as good as it should be.

Anyway, Pistons burned into the Sixers today. That is a bit too late since now they have to play two games away. Burning them again in Philadelphia is a lot harder than in Detroit. Flip either needs better help come playoff time or Joe needs someone else, which I always disagreed. But I do agree with Flip shooters, Flip's playoff record does not do him well, especially after three season. I do like his regular season record. Hope he translate that into playoff wins fast.

Menacing Phamtoms of Luck

2008-04-20T20:20:00.009-05:00

The week started with Everton 5th, 5 points from Liverpool. Midweek match with Chelsea, Everton rolled over, and Liverpool is now 8 points away. Realistically, I know Champions League is a dream ticket for Everton, but by chasing them, Everton will at least be 5th. Now, we have to watch the chasing Villa, assuming Portsmouth wins the FA Cup. That does not give a competitive edge to us.

Come Thursday, I was eyeing Google. I probably should have kept faith in it, but a report that morning came saying Google's ad-click business is down. Well, needless to say, Google ended the day down after that report. And as history came to be, Google recorded a 20% share's price increase in a night. Well, thats how news affect the market. Well, is that ad-click report for real? Hmmm...Of course, I'll just consider it a missed opportunity. My friend did inform me that the credibility of the "reporting" company is bad with its numbers. Well, their share price didn't go down that much. At least, I'm almost breaking even now, after a small bullish run. Not too good if you look from my perspective.

Now, if things could get worse, it will be a bad weekend. No stocks, no work, Everton does not play, Liverpool's win is expected. What can be worse? Pistons lost to 76ers. What?! They did not trail by more than 5 points and LOST! Now, explain how that can happen if the coach makes right changes in time...And a championship seeking team could not have done worse. At least there are 3 more games to make it right, if they still want to win. Garnet...darn, the only player I wanted in Pistons ever. Now, I can only admire Boston for their great steal, and turnaround. If they win, I could at least say, he did go to a championship team. Just not the Pistons.

Good Sundays, Bad Sundays

2008-04-13T21:03:00.006-05:00

This Sunday is the opening of a few items that I decided to work on. A lot of house cleaning when my roommate disappeared again for the weekend. The fact that he had not reviewed my writings had not gone unnoticed. I had two sets of reviews, plus I had some pre-planned items to work on.

Actually, the writing went better than expected. In the sense of speed, since I planned to be only at two chapters at best by this time. But! I reached number four! In fact after my first trial, so that's like five times the speed, so I got so distracted from other things as well!

One other thing I did was watch Star Wars. I never liked it, but well, at least the 70s version is much better than the recent ones. Plus, I think I saw some materials that might be useful for my writings later. Not bad for a "classic". It's not my favorite, but I must admit Lucas did well back then. Not now, obviously.

One other thing I did, GRE Math. Bad. I got about half wrong from the trial 20+ questions I had. I was watching TV with writing my fourth part of my twenty-six parts, but I definitely have quite a long way to go for this. Not to mention the GMAT.

Stock wise was not too good. Some good turns did not give me complete recovery. I'm still down quite a lot despite some recovery. Not very good news for next weeks, but some fun so far. Hopefully it does not go too bad. I probably will get a decent idea of my progress over the next few months, and hopefully it is good.

Definitely not so well for football. NBA next?

Good stories don't always need good endings

2008-04-01T20:54:00.003-05:00

As I probably let some people know, I'm trying to write a story book. For one that doesn't read, that is tough. In fact, my auditors have admitted to having problems with my essay. As least its not the topic, so it could be worth selling. In fact, my originality has been given the thumbs up, so the only things left is to put the two hands firmly into making it.

Today, I saw "CSI". Well, everyone knows I watch "CSI", but the rerun of "The Unusual Suspect" does add to my entertainment. The problem with a long story is that all good things must end. I peeked at the episode where the genius girl came back into the scene and, it was just a typical end, and often not very "reality" reality. It would be interesting to see if intelligent plots can be made out of her. Of course, that's a long shot. I'm also very interested to see how they are going to end up with the miniature killer, but well, I read everything on Wikipedia. Darn, quite smart but not beautiful of an act. I do have to say that other than "Monk", I watch "CSI" most and I don't have any complaints other than watching reruns.

Anyway, I think it is quite impossible to create a repeating villain like the comics. One, reality does not really permit it. Two, it does get boring over time. But I think I'll have a few recurring villains in my story. Time to induce some fun, since I'm very bored and angry about losing money in the brokerage. My portfolio is amateur but no one likes losing money over nothing, especially when one and only one brick fell off.

Of course, my story, which started some time ago was not at the first chapter. In fact, I have two chapters and going into my third! I even thought of a prologue, but I can't find a way to connect the prologue to the first chapter. Well, things will work out! I need to get a book agent and marketing plan first.

My depression and recession...

2008-03-19T21:28:00.003-05:00

So far, I'm making about a 10% loss on my investments. All based on Schwab's A stock. Actually, only Pfizer is losing me money, and most of it. Considering my investment of a bit over a thousand, each dollar loss is a bigger percentage. Actually, the transaction fees are also a pain. I should have factored that into my test. Anyway, with a bear market, I think I have more to lose than gain. Not to mention that many lost more than I did.

I wanted to attach a funny, slightly vulgar toned slideshow as to why this happened, but the link is in my other computer, but well, I'll leave a placeholder first!

http://www.slideshare.net/roguemonk/the-subprime-crisis-primer/

The only thing I worry more than my losses is my parents'. Damn, bad timing to hit the market.

My Jump into Broke Rage!

2008-02-28T23:14:00.003-05:00

Some time since I posted, but since then, I had to deal with negative inertia, as Ramos put it, about Patriots predictable "shock" loss to Giants. And then watch Everton getting caught up by Liverpool. And then watching Detroit go on a losing streak. Not too bad actually, since most of them got somewhere, like Champions League?

Anyway, I bought my first stock. In fact 20. In fact a slight miscalculation as I keyed in a higher value than I wanted to bid. And its for Pfizer! Well, I am not too worried, but its price dropped way below my bid price...boo hoo! Then again, based on the numbers I'm seeing, its not that bad. Just not too healthy. Sigh. Next stop, Microsoft. I'll definitely appreciate if Bill give me a hand or two!

Oh, tonnes of my colleagues are going to Singapore. SINGAPORE! Why?! I want to go on that business trip! Boo hoo!

Movies, Screenwriters and Holes

2008-02-22T23:33:00.004-05:00

I was watching Terminator 2 with Ryan, and I am always cynical, spotting plot holes and logic stuff that would have worked out in another way in real life or in the sense of the . And after the show, it got me thinking, why am I like that? I probably don't laugh a lot even if I felt a show is at least a bit funny. I tend to look at things in plain form for artistic beauty. And I tend to think of myself as a mathematical person.

I kind of remembered how the shows I saw in Singapore got me sick. Like the shows that was revolving the same things over and over again, societal issues with the ends of the income spectrum even though it was supposed to be about common people, which is like the people with mid ranged income. The stereotyping, the fanning of common emotions, and the many repetitive idiosyncrasies. I think many directors and screenwriters should and could do a better job. Duh!

Anyway, I was chatting at the offsite I had yesterday about media censorship. Well, it worked well in some cases for Singapore. We definitely don't have McCain's gossip plastered all over our newspapers. Political nonsense if probably something bad for every country. Wisdom and common sense is so uncommon. You win some with a strategy, you lose some with it too.

Anyway, here is an "un" interesting thing about generosity.

Breaking the duck

2008-02-09T21:55:00.000-05:00

Everton finally won after a few games of not scoring. The thing is that Everton has also not lost in the EPL yet in 2008. It's interesting to sit in the last Champions League spot but continued success is always better than a one-off season. But anyways, with Capello around, I'm sure people will start to take notice of the quality of the team. It is not formed by big money buys, but it is still Champions League quality. I should have kept a picture of the post I made correctly predicting Everton's entry to Champions League years ago. Not such a good thing though if you knew what happened the year after. I'm sure they made it out well now, so it's going to just be trying to get in rather than worrying about strength in depth.

I'm pretty bored by NFL though. I sort of realised that free-agency is the same as the transfer market in Europe, but the season ended and yet the free-agency thing is still nowhere near. Anyway, that is what I suppose is the bummer part. With clubs in Europe restricted by only the windows, they can still sign pre-contracts if free agency is guaranteed. Looks like I'm going to be bored for a while.

I was measuring the sports calender and it seems I'm in a lull period between June and August after NBA ends and before European football starts, minus the fact that there will be the European Championships. So for this year, probably Mid July to Mid August, assuming I do not pick up watching baseball. Not too bad this time round. Anyway, I do hope the transfer season start soon for NFL. It's always nice to be able to look forward to the next game if not the next team title.

Sunny Shaq

2008-02-06T22:58:00.000-05:00

When I saw Gasol to Lakers, I thought that was crazy enough, but to see the Suns give Marion for Shaq...Unbelievable, unbelievably bad choice.

Shaq is a great player, but Suns should have made it as a team decision. It sounds more bubble than ball to me. Other than the huge presence based on his size, what would Marion be unable to give that Shaq could? Plus age. Plus speed. Plus versatility. OK, I wasn't sure of the last one, but I'm sure many agrees with me.

Anyway, no more NFL, so NBA and EPL for the next few months. Yipee! Chinese New Year!

Biggest win/loss of the year!

2008-02-03T23:29:00.000-05:00

Win/Defeat comes big in 2 ways, the score or the moment. This weekend, it was the moment that mattered. 2 minutes from 19-0, sitting among a group of mean-spirited Patriots haters and three particularly eager Giants fans, Giants made the game I was waiting for, well, in some sense. I also happen to find out that 30 minutes is too much to ask of someone sometimes, too, especially in a cold night.

In a sense, I was disappointed, I wanted the Patriots to lose in a more spectacular fashion, like 36-35 or something like that. Instead, it was a shootout in 4th quarter, which is OK, except the first 3 quarters was bad offensively. Game highlights probably agree with my version of the story, even Ryan, who I'll definitely congratulate for his team's win.

Anyway, I was left to get a lift from another friend after my intended lift refused to head home early so I can have a good night sleep. Just great, huh? Not to mention the unnecessary and unsporting taunts. I sure know that EPL is worried by that type of fans too. Anyway, good win for the Giants. So 2 Manning wins in 2 years, which is great for them.

Things will get interesting from here on. Well, good athletes get on with losses, so we'll see if the Patriots can bounce back. In sports, you win some, you lose some. In some ways, I think there will be some reinforcements coming in for them.

Anyway, this week is particularly bad because of the Everton disallowed goal that set us back by one week. Else, I'll head to get some rest. And finally support a team that has lost and going through a rough patch since I watched them.

Finally a Brady vs Manning in the Superbowl!

2008-01-20T22:31:00.001-05:00

I thought it might never happen. Anyway, its not Peyton, so perhaps a bit disappointing for some. Still, going into the game, I had wanted the game that would be pretty historic. Either Patriots go 19 games with a SuperBowl or the biggest win for the Giants by winning with a young team and a fairytale away run. Anyway, its going to be exciting! At least from my point of view! Come to think of it, I nearly lost my foot for Ice Bowl 2. Its only 16 degrees Farenheit or -9 degrees Celcius with some more room to go lower for the night. Freaking......

Everton scores everything with a win!

2008-01-20T22:27:00.000-05:00

Everton scored all 3 goals against Wigan! 2 for and an own goal. Anyway, by the looks of the report, it seems like a boring match, which I didn't watch. Anyway, its good to be fourth, even for a day or two. Let the good run continue! Luck counts, even more so for championship chasing teams!

Another Manager, Another Magpie

2008-01-09T19:32:00.000-05:00

It probably sums it up. Allardyce is gone before I knew it. It came as a shock since I felt he is pretty good. Of course his football bores me but he's a good foundation maker. Anyway, it's not my team, so I'm not too upset about it. Sickness time. Everyone is with one bug or the other. I hope I recover soon.

That jinxed feeling

2008-01-09T07:36:00.000-05:00

Well, my company sponsored an indoor football team. To be simple, we have football games, and in a recent match, we lost through some bad luck by an own goal in the final minutes, since most amateur games do not have injury time.

Well, what does that relate? Everton lost at Stamford Bridge due to a Lescott own goal in injury time! Both are from headers! One was from the back and Everton's was from the front...

And now I'm nursing a cold. Drats...

I'm not going to watch any sports this week.

It's another day

2008-01-06T00:52:00.000-05:00

Today, both my teams lost. Pistons lost to Celtics and Everton lost to...Oldham! What the heck! Of all teams Oldham. I wished we lost to a EPL team. To be frank, losing early helps the team concentrate on a top 5 spot, but we should do better. As for Pistons, it is discouraging to lose at home. Anyway, both losses are at home, which makes the losses worse than it should be. Home advantage is something I believe determines the stability of the team. Well, it will get rough for Pistons since they will play the top teams in the West in the coming week.

On another item, I haven't been adding to my ideas. I'm editing my current work in writing so I spotted a few loopholes and needed to round it. Anyway, I also visited Writing.com, so I'll be trying to see if I can see anything useful...
Hopefully I can finish my trial passage smoothly.

2008 Resolution

2008-01-02T00:59:00.001-05:00

Well, I have started on some new ideas. In fact, I wrote what they are in the post "X'mas thoughts..." Anyway, the thing about it is that my friend and colleague suggested a good idea on it. Erm, I hope it's a good idea actually.

I have an idea for a story book. The main characters, the main plot and concept is there, so I just needed to add meat to it. Shravan suggested that I start a online collaboration or something. I'm thinking about it, but I'm always on the line for the wizardry stuff, mixed with science.

Maybe my idea is a bit far fetched or even a used idea, but I thought it's probably worth a try. I've not finished reading a story book before so it's interesting if I can even finish this idea, so the online collaboration stuff is definitely interesting in my case. I'm probably going to find out more about this and even start on it! Of course, that is not all in my wish list, but getting to them one at a time definitely helps!

Good footballing start to the year

2008-01-01T20:32:00.000-05:00

Everton won! Finally. We won only like 3 times out of the past 6 new year's game. Anyway, its like half the games won and half lost. Not too bad anyway. Without Arteta and Cahill, I guess this is a good result. It is going to be the testing time, so if performance stays this way, top 4 should be reachable. It's not expected but a target.

Anyway, NFL regular season ended, so mass axing has started. Miami, Baltimore and others. I think if season changes is always like that in other sports, I think there will be a more systemic way to adjust the team to the season. Well, it is a bit tricky for football. There is no relegation, so the only loss to be bottom is poor revenue returns...but they could go bust. So I think for a long season like football or basketball, the best times is one month before the transfer windows starts. Maybe that is a good suggestion!

After the Superbowl, it is all football!

Everything is good except for just one

2007-12-30T00:19:00.000-05:00

Today, all my favorite or favored teams played. All except one won. In fact, it is my favorite that lost! Everton lost to my favored champions team Arsenal. I always like Concept Wenger, but today isn't the type of days I liked. The worst part is we probably will miss Arteta through suspension. Well, there you have his flair and flare!

So Arsenal won, and they were in luck. Man U got stunned so they lose top spot. Well, the other teams are not that close. Chelsea is about 2 games, which is about a month of competition behind. Liverpool, nah. They will need at least 2-3 months of work to catch the top 2. It probably is shorter with a good turn of results, but I'm not assuming a twist of fate like 3 losses in a row.

Basketball was fine. Detroit trailed a while before winning at the Pacers. That's the best double win over the Pacers. Not to mention that the Pistons now have a good advantage over them in the division. Celtics will pose a threat though. Or the other way round, since Celtics are incredible at the moment.

Lastly, Patriots. They won. Perfect season and set a new best offense record. Brady got 2 more touchdown passes, new record. Moss and 2 more touchdown receptions, and another new record. It is a good end to their season. Let's hope they fulfill their potential and win the Superbowl. I think it is unfair to say that they need to win the Superbowl to better the 1972 Dolphins, but I can understand the counter example. So I think Patriots should win it to prove it without a shadow of doubt that they deserve it. The mere fact that the Brady contract restructure to get Moss scenario has already won me over.

Well, it will be a boring Sunday, since there are no more games that I'll be particularly interested in. Not even in football...

Pistons beat Pacers

2007-12-28T23:41:00.000-05:00

Yep, the good news today. I was totally drained from work and beating the biggest city rivals (I'm thinking like football derby games) by a good margin is definitely good. I think Pistons is keeping a good distance from the Celtics. To be frank, I think New England is having a good year in general. Red Sox won the MLB. Patriots doing unbelieveably well along with the coups of the seasons. Celtics got the coups of the seasons as well, and doing remarkably well. I really mean seasons. I wanted to write history, but there might be better. Of course, there is still some way to go for Patriots and Celtics, but I never wish good teams to lose. But heck, Pistons beat Celtics at Boston, so that's even better. I do really feel that KG would add a lot to Pistons, but well, game lost on that trade.

Patriots is having too much hype...

2007-12-26T23:12:00.001-05:00

I hate it when the team I wanted to watch is "over" hyped...cause they might lose when they start getting airy fairy. But here's one video about Brady I found that is nice. I thought number 10 should be number 2 or somewhere near, but they definitely got number 1 right. Here's Brady's Top 10 so far this season...hopefully he'll have lots more...the more the media makes of such new the more it sounds like an eulogy...touch wood...

A different Boxing Day

2007-12-26T20:27:00.000-05:00

I don't remember that I am typically happy on Boxing Days. Like, when Everton gets pitted against weak opponents, their team is not performing and lose. When their team gets good results, they get top draws. For once in 3 years, we finally beat someone on Boxing Day. The better news is that we got 10 out of 15 December points! Excluding the rather through the roof 2004-2005 year, we have barely took more than 50% of the points. So we beat Bolton, with Anelka, and they are on the rise after the Sam brothers left. So what better things to expect? Beat Arsenal? I'm sure Sean and Mike will be hoping for this.

X'mas thoughts...

2007-12-25T19:58:00.000-05:00

Well, I have been researching ways to increase my income. Well, not exactly fighting for a pay rise although I do expect it more or less. I'm talking about passive incomes. Like investing, finding internet resources and others. I do notice that I am a lot later than most internet inhabitants in terms of finding such income streams, but like a lot that I have seen, most aren't realistic ways of creating income. Anyway, I have started a few projects which I hope will be successful, like the below...

Write a book
Create an informational website
Get good real estate
Have a good investment stream

I must admit that most of the ideas I have are not very applicable. Like story, I'm thinking of a fantasy story. Website? Not enough information and traffic. Real estate wise, money is an issue, even if I consider borrowing from my aunt. Then again, I do think I need to try at least. If not, I'll be letting my 2005-2006 really go to waste. It's in the dumps already, its just how rotten I perceive the experience to be. I made a lot of friends, but simply, my dreams effectively got dashed there for no reason.

OK, one last thing. I'm going to write just one more post about Brady before the last Patriots regular season game. I happen to see his interview on 60 minutes, after wasting 40 minutes on 2 other rather irrelevant sections. One is about a pastor making money...which is explained by helping others...well, there is a limit, just don't break the greed limit. One is about genetics linking families...yeah, but with a long history of migration, anything can happen. To be frank, I always believe happiness is the most important, not the knowledge that it is out there.

So back to Mr Brady. He sounds down to earth, decent and definitely overhyped in terms of his personal life. There are tonnes of other people out there doing worse stuff, so just let him do his work on the field. So he said, "There got to be more out there. If not, that will be too easy." Yeah, some people are lucky and get what they want for trying. I didn't. But then again, I felt happy that there is one adventurous guy like that. The limelight he fought for and gained. Anyway, he is the type of guy I believe I will support as a fan or friend, although I am neither actually. But he does get my attention with what he does in the game, and seriously, I really hope the fairy tale tune ends with another ring. Good teams should be rewarded for their hard work. Unfortunately, Colts won't meet them in the Superbowl. They will probably meet, but in the conference finals. What a downer. The final before the final. Anyway, that's done, and next year, maybe I'll watch Tony Romo more. I knew the guy is good, except in New Jersey, I tend to get more guys hating Cowboys than not. Like my roommate.

Party Poppers 2...The revenge of the team owners

2007-12-25T00:48:00.000-05:00

I always thought it is always nasty to fire someone during a major streak of holidays. Like that period in time during Thanksgiving and Christmas. Or announcing no bonus right before the Chinese New Year period, hypothetically. Either way, I think it is bad, though bonus or raise is not as bad as losing a job! News could be spread earlier on to avoid a downpour of coldness during the supposedly happy occasions. What a downpour for Skiles. He said he's not too upset about it, no matter what, its a downer.

Lon Kruger, Atlanta Hawks, 2002, Boxing Day
Jeff Bzdelik, Denver Nuggets, 2004, after X'Mas
Glen Hanlon, Washington Capitals, 2007, Thanksgiving Thursday
Steve McClaren, England, 2007, Thanksgiving Thursday
Lawrie Sanchez, Fulham, 2007, within one week of X'Mas
Scott Skiles, Chicago Bulls, 2007, X'Mas Eve

To be frank, most of them are forthcoming before the news but it probably could have been done better. Like after Christmas? The Christmas schedule is usually a tight one anyway, so getting rid of the coach/manager during such a hectic schedule? OK, let me see. If a team performs bad before the holiday squeeze, you could sack and probably get a good replacement soon, during the schedule...well, maybe, but think of it, how are you going to get a replacement?

In Fulham's case, the team rebuild can't really get into place fast. The manager has to see a few games, get an idea what players to get or rid of, so that's like...mid January? The problem probably started way before December. Remember I said how Sanchez probably could not keep his job even after he impressed me with what he did at Northern Ireland? Yes, that's the time point. If he got the axe like two week earlier from my post, which is like 2 games, probably there is enough time to get something. Whoever comes next is just going to try to survive. Bilic? Forget it. Croatia probably wants him much more than Fulham can afford. Plus with the timing issue, he's not going to take it.

As for Chicago, I'm not too sure of the reason, but its like the first quarter. Usually, one can turn the team around for a playoff, yes, but that would not really go down well since Chicago is not a strong title contender. They probably could have waited till mid season when all the dust has settled. I don't think fans are boycotting the games cause they lost with Skiles on it, so I don't think it is really necessary. But you know, life is very harsh in USA. Things like that happen, especially so in sports. Anyway, will Ben Wallace come back to Pistons?

Party Poppers

2007-12-23T22:55:00.000-05:00

Well, to begin with, I don't really have much to do during this time of the year in USA. I'm single, not anywhere near single women, and among other things, I need to do my chores. Of course, I did get to do something on my own. I actually did some "tang yuan". They are of course manufactured. I can't possibly make them on short notice anyway. I lack one ingredient so it was not perfect. Pandan leaves. Where can I find them here?

Anyway, the build up after my little festive dinner is bad. The next day, Everton lost. To a 90 minute penalty. You remember the tale about Man U always getting that penalty that they needed? Well, this is it! It can be said to be a silly foul, but it could have been a free kick, whatever, so anyway, its a penalty. Well, at least they didn't say it was a Ronaldo dive. That would have been worse, plus the fact I don't remember opponents getting penalties at Old Trafford. Anyway, I would have been happy with a draw. Next is Arsenal. Well, things could be worse...
** Bolton, not Arsenal...Well, easier game than expected

The next would be to watch New England miss their targets by that little bit. I was hoping the fairy tale to start materializing, like Brady breaking the passing marks, Moss breaking that receiver marks. All needed one more with one more game. Not that bad but think of it, although I would think it would be the icing on the cake if that had happened. Anyway, I was always going to try to watch the last match though. I'm sure Ryan, a Giants fan, would not mind me going to the game now. He probably wants the entire Giants first team rested!

Rolling Sweets

2007-12-20T23:43:00.000-05:00

Everton is on a roll. It is probably one of the rare times that Everton can go 10+ games unbeaten. To be frank, I was expecting some tough matches, especially today's match against AZ. Moyes rested Arteta, Cahill, Yobo, Howard and Yakubu. To be fair, the team on field today is not much weaker, though Arteta, Cahill and Yobo do make a big difference together. Howard is getting stable performances due to the defensive cover. He's good to begin with, but he's not super-good. Of course, I am more than happy he is good replacement for Martyn. Yakubu...well, he's good. Difference maker? Not always, but he does make it easier.

Anyway, I always felt Van Gaal is overrated as a coach. He's decent, but not a top tier coach. Of course, managing to score two against Everton is good enough already for an offence. Anyway, Man U next. I better not see my boss, Sean (Man U fan), not my friend, Mike (Man U) fan. Then again, I probably won't watch it either. Probably won't even be up for it... I do think there is a chance to beat Man U. Being on a roll is one thing, playing better football compared to "last time" is different. We actually score more than one goal! Now that is different! Maybe we can score two against Man U. So its either a 1-2 to Everton or 2-2. Top four~ top four~ top four~

Company Christmas Party

2007-12-18T20:29:00.000-05:00

The work place is lethargic today. Since knowing two colleagues going to jump ship, I just got to know the third leaving, and it is a senior with a cool reputation of being nice. Darn. My company probably needs to do more to retain people. Like a raise? Or more benefits? Some of the benefits are pretty lousy to be frank.

Anyway, the party today was way short of fun. Some casino style games with food and drinks. Loud music and DJ urging people to dance like a disco. Sounds...not my style. Casino and disco don't mix in my philosophy. Anyway, down to the ruffle draw, I think they missed my number. They didn't bother to even re-announce the number like others. Must be a conspiracy...

But still, way stuffed over my tummy limit. A bit tired. Probably in bed soon...still no news from Google...

Holiday shopping at the speed of light...

2007-12-17T19:36:00.000-05:00

It probably is late for anyone to realize the difference, but just now, I bought my own PS2 console, memory card, FF X and FF X-2 on Amazon which free shipping. The best part. They expect to ship it by tomorrow. I'm not sure how accurate that it, but hey, it should be about this week or else! It's definitely because of the holiday season! Keeping my fingers crossed though. I almost fell off my seat when I noticed that the one day shipping wasn't better though.

I'm applying for AdSense, hopefully I get it soon as well. I sent a few emails and they got bounced back. Google doesn't work like Amazon I guess...

Gunners Wins, Man U Wins, Pats Wins and Ryan Loses

2007-12-16T17:33:00.000-05:00

Today is supposedly a good day in terms of results for me. Arsenal win against Mourinho-less Chelsea. Fantastic, especially that Gallas scored and they kept a clean sheet. Arsenal is playing fantastic football and it is always nice to see them rewarded for their trouble. Hopefully they can get more British players just in case a rule comes along to save the ailing English team.

Man U win. I don't really care about them that much. I have a lot of Man U fan friends, so its good for them, but Liverpool...that is where the good news is. I'm sure Rafa will keep his job but now Everton are level on points with them. With about 10% or less of their investment and performing an equal of them even for half the season, it is a good thing for me. I still kind of felt edgy though, with a relatively tread thing line of creativity. Yakubu is scoring, but the source is always Arteta. He should really be in the Spain team by now. What a bad coach they have...

As for American Football, Pats win by a mere 10 points. That is quite discouraging, especially that Brady did not have a single TD pass today. Well, off days happen and he probably could make the cut in the last 2 games for the record. Of course, no one expects him to make that record to begin with. I think I like the down-to-earth style they have. They expect to lose some games and forgets all the hype around them to find the win, now, that is hard to beat for any team.

The sour time of the day was when I realized the score of the Pats game. Ryan, my roommate, had taken a bet with one of our colleagues for the Pats game. All is well with the hype. Not the snow. Nor the wind. Nor the fact that the Pats are favorites with a huge predicted margin and they only won by 10 points. Thats not a lot in a NFL game. That is like 2-1 in a football match since each touch down is 6+1 points. So he lost, but he still gets some joy from it. Local rivalry probably. Now, since I'm waiting for a fairy tale to finish with a similar fairytale ending, Tom Brady needs 5 TD passes to break a record, and they need to win another 5 games to be undefeated. A lot of stats, but hey, just play something sensible and beautiful. That's good for any game.