Does Populism really mean what it is?

Tomorrow will be France's day to show the world how far the world has gone backwards or whether she will be another country to become a bastion of sanity. Things look OK going into tomorrow but like everything in life, never count the chickens until they hatch.

I am concerned by how this movement of violent attitudes towards other human beings is becoming more prevalent. Making things worse is the media's liberal use of the word "populism" on such trends. "Populism"...really?

From Google:

Yes, this is a simple meaning, "Support for the concerns of ordinary people". Or "the quality of appealing to or being aimed at ordinary people". Very simple explanations. So why am I baffled by the use of "populism" on candidates like Farage, Trump and Le Pen.

Now, it all goes down to math from here. What percentage of human beings in this world is considered ordinary? Or inversely, how many do you consider to be extraordinary?

We all like to think that we're extraordinary, but most of us aren't. We are more alike to one another than we think, but similarly, we are unique. OK, let's be less philosophical and more realistic. Let's use the 80-20 rule, just to be less populist and more realistic. Let's not use the 1% argument, because that is so cliche and make my arguments too easy.

Brexit vote, 73% turnout, 52% or 18m (both rounded up) out of 65m. Out of nearly 50m eligible to vote, only 18m wanted out. That's less than 40% of eligible voters and less than a third of UK's population. Why is the idea of UK leaving the EU a "populist" decision? What about the rest of the 15m that aren't eligible to vote?

While we're on topic, what does UK gain with the Brexit vote? Well, UKIP promised trillions, right? OK, I can't remember the exact number but I remembered it was all about money promised to them. Sure, the words used might be "jobs" but people who voted for it is just thinking about their wallets.

Sure, Cameron was ineffective but Brexit is pulling the rug from under the future citizens of UK because not only is it bad now and near future, the extra barriers it will create for itself and future citizens aren't going to be much better. All these for made up dollar amounts that probably will never be real? Seriously? Isn't removing Cameron easier? Or removing the major political parties and perhaps the age old bureaucracies that, at least to Brexit voters, think is "plaguing" the British Isles?

Next, closer to home, at least where I am right now, 2016 Presidential Elections. Trump got 63m votes (rounded up) to Clinton's 65m votes (rounded way down). Total turnout is 60%, 137m votes (both rounded up) out of 324m in USA. Less than a quarter of the country voted for the president we have now, whose rhetoric stirred up so much hateful speech during and after the elections, with concerted effort to introduce a new way of life called alternative facts.

The people who voted for him were promised jobs, tax cuts, improved economy and repeal of ObamaCare, otherwise known as Affordable Care Act, while we're in an improving economy no less. Sure, they will argue they aren't benefiting much, well, I've not benefited much, and that's not due to a lack of trying on my part, but that's no excuse to hate the system keeping 324m people alive.

He's not a scientist, he's not an industrialist, he is a media personality with riches handed to him from his ancestry. So why is he called a "populist"? For stirring up irrational fear and hatred for other human beings? In less than 25% of the country's population?

There are other reasons why Clinton lost, Democrat Party self imploding, irrational hatred for Obama, Clinton's arrogance and underestimation of her opponent, lack of traditional groundwork at key battlegrounds, James Comey and perhaps Russia. Whatever my beliefs are on the situation, she lost and 63m voters put Trump in the White House.

Then we have France. Well, we don't know what will happen since the underdog win by Trump emboldened every underdog and gave them hope against frontrunners. Personally, I like Macron, I have no comment on his skills and ability but I want to see how a young yet fairly experienced politician and professional will do for his country while hopefully listening to all of his people, not just his supporters. Of course, Macron could be bad but I can only fear the worst if Le Pen wins.

But I digress as usual.

France has a population of 65m in 2012, registered voters 46m, and assuming the crazy case of Le Pen winning by 51%, that would be at best 23m given France's current population of 66m using the same rate of participation. So Le Pen appealed to at best 23m of the population and is called a "populist"? Especially when she has no concrete plan for her promises to even those 23m? Much less any attempts to listen to the non-supporters. Are those citizens disavowed?

I mentioned how disappointed I was when I heard a French former soldier supporting Le Pen because he wanted to close the borders and spend more time "watching" citizens. Like martial law? And another supporter willing to give up 10% liberty to get more security? Seriously, why do they think math work on civil liberties?

Anyway, the numbers quoted above hopefully brings out my point. Why does less than 25% of the population make their politicians "populist"? Especially when they are just yelling their demands and trying to take away civil liberties of non-supporters? OK, the far left has not been kind either but their percentage is at best as similar to those on the far right.

That's what normal is supposed to be, where more than 50% of the people are agreeable to, not just about 25% of the people wants. Also, the 25% quoted above multiple times above is at best, because with the misinformation out there, some centrists are misguided into thinking "populists" work.

My view of populists need to (a) have support for more than 50% (b) listens to everybody and gets buy in from everybody, whether they support him/her or not and (c) no violent behavior tolerated. That might be my pacifist beliefs talking but we have to believe it can be done for it to be done. And the 50% threshold is really where I want to emphasize as being a "populist".

So journalists, real or not, please stop using the word "populist" and "populism" on people peddling fear, hatred and violence in order to get elected. They should be given a label suitable for their rhetoric. Like "hatredist" or "hatredism", because the people who peddle fear and hatred should be labeled for who they are, no matter how much they would deny it.

After all, we should not expect a lying, hate and fear peddling person to do any less hating and lying any time soon. So please France, do the right thing and not pick a fake populist, because their foreigner and minority hating tendencies can easily turn towards you when it suits her.

Novel Reboot

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

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

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

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?

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.

One way train

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.

It will be 2009

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

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:

1. Fed rubbishes all USD to save its pride by downing rate to technical zero
   
2. Hedge funds unconstitutionally, illegally and irresponsibly suspends redemption. If the fund previously allows anytime redemption and now suspends it, it falls in this group
   
3. 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.
4. Auto bailout. Enough protectionism already. Foreign companies hires Americans too.
5. 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.

Chaos Ascending Severe Heights...Whatever

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!

Obama the Next

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.

Audaciously Impetus Greed

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

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...

Wolf Pack

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

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

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.

Torment of idealessness

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.

Euro! Euro!

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

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

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.