It is absolutely bloody freezing here today. And windy as well. I've just hung the washing and my fingers are cold and numb. And there's not a child around for me to find and put my hands under their shirt. Because thats always fun. And now I have to go for a walk down the street as I don't have a car. I'm wishing now I'd saved some of the tomato and lentil soup I made the other day to have when I get home. It was so good though I ate it to the point of exploding.
I was home alone so I ate soup and watched Gladiators. Anyway, one of the reasons I'm walking in the freezing wind to the shops is to buy Betty a water bottle. Daz saw something on television last week and they suggested buying old dogs water bottles to put in their beds at night to help keep warm. And I thought that was a good idea and can't believe I didn't think of that myself. Why do we never think of those simple fantastic ideas?
Betty says - hi, I'm cold, why the hell don't you idiots get me a hot water bottle!!
Share a song that makes you laugh.
Hmm, that would be Put Your Arms Around me by Jens Lekman. Not hysterical laughter mind you, just a smile.
i was slicing up an avocado
when you came up behind me
with your quiet brand new sneakers
your reflection i did not see
it was the hottest day in august
and we were heading for the sea
for a second my mind started drifting
you put your arms around me
you put your arms around me
you put your arms around
blood sprayed on the kitchen sink
whats this? i had time to think
i see the tip of my index finger
my mind is slowly creating a link
from your mouth speaks your lovely voice
the best comments ive ever heard
oh honey you've cut off your finger
i bet thats gotta hurt
you put your arms me
you put your arms me
you put your arms around
i must've passed out on the porch
id never seen so many bright stars
when i wake up im in the waiting room
of the local e.r.
my hand is wrapped in toilet paper
and my shirts all blood red
i see you standing there like an angel
and i say baby i must be dead
you put your arms around me
you put your arms around me
you put your arms around me
As you may have guessed I have a lot to say about what is happening to all of us thanks to the idiots who run America these days. From Wall St to Main St it seems that dumbing down has its results and the more we watch Fox the less we understand.
Anyway, as a gentle re-emergence from the purdah I have recently put myself in I thought I would give you a few lessons from financial history with the hope that you will be able to determine what the fuck is happening out there.
The first lesson however is from the most backward county I have ever visited - Papua New Guinea. The title is pidgin for "Food for though". Think on my friends.
Analysis
By Steve Schifferes
Economics reporter, BBC News
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The current market jitters are centred on disturbances in the world's credit markets. Worries about the viability of sub-prime mortgage lending have spread around the financial system, and the central banks have been forced to pump in billions of dollars to oil the wheels of lending.
But what happened in previous financial crises, and what are the lessons for today?
There have been a growing number of financial crises in the world, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Among the key lessons of previous major financial crises are:
- Globalisation has increased the frequency and spread of financial crises, but not necessarily their severity
- Early intervention by central banks is more effective in limiting their spread than later moves
- It is difficult to tell at the time whether a financial crisis will have broader economic consequences
- Regulators often cannot keep up with the pace of financial innovation that may trigger a crisis.
During the late 1990s, stock markets became beguiled by the rise of internet companies such as Amazon and AOL, which seemed to be ushering in a new era for the economy.
When AOL's Steve Case took over Time Warner, the dot.com boom peaked
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Their shares soared when they listed on the Nasdaq stock market, despite that fact that few of the firms actually made a profit.
The boom peaked when internet service provider AOL bought traditional media company Time Warner for nearly $200bn in January 2000.
But in March 2000, the bubble burst, and the technology-weighted Nasdaq index fell by 78% by October 2002.
The crash had wider repercussions, with business investment falling and the US economy slowing in the following year, a process exacerbated by the 9/11 attacks, which led to the temporary closure of the financial markets.
But the Federal Reserve, the US central bank, cut interest rates throughout 2001, gradually lowering rates from 6.25% to 1% to stimulate economic growth.
The collapse of hedge fund Long-Term Capital Market (LTCM) occurred during the final stage of the world financial crisis that began in Asia in 1997 and spread to Russia and Brazil in 1998.
LTCM was a hedge fund set up by Nobel Prize winners Myron Scholes and Robert Merton to trade bonds. The professors believed that in the long run, the interest rates on different government bonds would converge, and the hedge fund traded on the small differences in the rates.
John Meriwether, a Wall Street trader, headed LTCM
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LTCM, which had borrowed a lot of money from other companies, stood to lose billions of dollars - and in order to liquidate its positions it would have to sell Treasury bonds, plunging the US credit markets into turmoil and forcing up interest rates.
So the Fed decided that a rescue was needed. It called together the leading US banks, many of whom had invested in LTCM, and persuaded them to put in $3.65bn to save the firm from imminent collapse.
The Fed itself made an emergency rate cut in October 1998 and markets soon returned to stability. LTCM itself was liquidated in 2000.
US stock markets suffered their largest peacetime one-day fall yet on 19 October 1987, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average index of shares in leading US companies dropped 22% and European and Japanese markets followed suit.
Program trading on the New York stock market worsened the crisis
|
There were also worries about the value of the US dollar, which had been declining on international markets.
These fears grew when Germany raised a key interest rate, boosting the value of its currency.
Newly-introduced computerised trading systems exacerbated the stock market declines, as sell orders were executed automatically.
Concerns that major banks might go bust led the Fed and other major central banks to lower interest rates sharply.
"Circuit-breakers" were also introduced to limit program trading and allow the authorities to suspend all trades for short periods.
The crash seemed to have little direct economic effect and stock markets soon recovered. But the lower interest rates, especially in the UK, may have contributed to the housing market bubble of 1988-89 and to the pressures on the pound sterling which led to the devaluation of 1992.
The crash also showed that global stock markets were now closely linked, and changes in economic policy in one country could affect markets around the world. Laws on insider trading were also tightened up in the US and UK.
US Savings and Loans institutions were local banks which made home loans and took deposits from retail investors, similar to building societies in the UK.
Under financial deregulation in the 1980s, they were allowed to engage in more complex, and often unwise, financial transactions, competing with the big commercial banks.
By 1985, many of these institutions were all but bankrupt, and a run began on S&L institutions in Ohio and Maryland.
The US government insured many of the individual deposits in the S&Ls, and therefore had a big financial liability when they collapsed.
It set up the Resolution Trust Company to take over and sell any S&L assets that it could, including repossessed homes, taking over the bankrupt institutions.
The cost of the bail-out eventually totalled about $150bn.
However, the crisis probably strengthened the bigger banks by weeding out their weaker rivals, and laid the groundwork for the wave of mergers and consolidations in the retail banking sector in the 1990s.
The Wall Street crash of 1929, "Black Thursday," was an event that sent the US and indeed the global economy into a tailspin, contributing to the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Franklin Roosevelt became US President after the crash
|
Despite efforts by the stock market authorities to stabilise the market, stocks fell by another 11% the following Tuesday, 29 October.
By the time the market had reached bottom in 1932, 90% had been wiped off the value of shares. It took 25 years before the Dow Jones industrial average recovered to its 1929 level.
The effect on the real economy was severe, as widespread share ownership meant that the losses were felt by many middle-class consumers.
They cut their purchases of big consumer goods such as cars and homes, while businesses postponed investment and closed factories.
By 1932, the US economy had declined by half, and one-third of the workforce was unemployed.
The whole US financial system also went into meltdown, with a shutdown of the entire banking system in March 1933 by the time the new President, Franklin Roosevelt took office and launched the New Deal.
Many economists on both left and right have criticised the response of the authorities as inadequate.
The US central bank actually raised interest rates to protect the value of the dollar and preserve the gold standard, while the US government raised tariffs and ran a budget surplus.
New Deal measures alleviated some of the worst problems of the Depression, but the US economy did not fully recover until World War II, when massive military spending eliminated unemployment and boosted growth.
The New Deal also introduced extensive regulation of financial markets and the banking system through the creation of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the separation of commercial and retail banking through the Glass-Steagall Act.
The failure of a key London bank in 1866 led to a key change in the role of central banks in managing financial crises.
The Bank of England was at the centre of the world financial system
|
Overend and Gurney was a discount bank which provided money for commercial and retail banks in London, the world's financial centre. When it declared bankruptcy in May 1866, many smaller banks were unable to get funds and went under, even though they were otherwise solvent.
As a result, reformers like Walter Bagehot advocated a new role for the Bank of England as the "lender of last resort" to provide liquidity (cash) to the financial system during crises, in order to prevent a failure of one bank spilling over and affect all the others ("systemic failure").
The new doctrine was implemented in the Barings Crisis in 1890, when losses by a leading UK bank, Barings, made on its investments in Argentina, were covered by the Bank of England to prevent a systemic collapse of UK banking.
Secret negotiations by the Bank and London financiers led to the creation of an £18m rescue fund in November 1890, before the extent of Barings' losses became publicly known.
The bankers also organised a committee to renegotiate the outstanding debts owed by Argentina, but a banking crisis engulfed the country and foreign lending to Argentina dried up for a decade.
Do you live in or around Cincinnati, Ohio? If so, you're in luck because Scott and the Queen City Voxers Group have organized a Vox user meetup!
WHERE: Ault Park Playground. 3600 Observatory Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45208. "We'll look for each other at the playground marked by the red X below. If it's raining, head for the shelter to the north of the [red] X."
To RSVP (which is not essential, but is appreciated), reply to Scott's announcement or send him a private message. All Voxers, as well as their friends and family, are welcome to attend.
If you do attend the meetup, have a great time and please take lots of pictures and send them to me so I can post them in Team Vox for everyone to see!
Thank you so much to Scott for organizing this meetup. Wish I could be there!
In Canada, that's where I live and work and play, the worst hits in the stores on Friday- July 11. We will be rather disappointed to hear our only service provider may not meet our expectations. Remember in Canada, you have to pay Wi-fi, (with some expections)
Other links and iPhone info:
openmoko.com
iPhone prices in 21 countries
Canadians hoping for iPhone salvation may be disappointed
iPhone=pricey
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)
"Often war is waged only in order to show valor; thus an inner dignity is ascribed to war itself, and even some philosophers have praised it as an ennoblement of humanity, forgetting the pronouncement of the Greek who said, "War is an evil in as much as it produces more wicked men than it takes away.": Immanuel Kant
What question do you hate being asked?
Whats for dinner? - that one always sucks.
What did you do today? - This is one your husband asks when he gets home from work and you've spent the day with three kids under the age of four and although it seems like you've been flat out all day doing things, when you think back over the day you can't think of a single one of them. Not one worth discussing anyway.
How long until we get there? - never soon enough.
Where's my school uniform? - usually in the bottom of the dirty washing basket when they ask this about 20 minutes before they're due at school.
Are you wearing that. Out? - usually from a daughter.
The list could go on.
This cruise had been recommended to us by English friends, and I have to say I'm very glad we did it. The running commentary on trip was excellent, and many interesting historical sites were pointed out to us. We left Westminster Pier where the view included Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.
And this rather odd looking building which looks as though they ran out of money half way through building it.
And then further on this view of the Thames itself. Apparently much of this area was docklands, but is now mostly apartment buildings. That's the dome of St Pauls Cathedral on the left.
And The Grapes" where Dickens wrote much of his work. I think it's a pub.
And then on to Greenwich. There is much to see at Greenwich, but unfortunately, it is not permitted to take photos of much of the interesting stuff. There is a very interesting display of the early clocks which were invented to enable accurate navigation. Probably the most interesting item in the Royal Naval Museum is the bloodstained breeches that were worn by Lord Nelson when he was shot, and also the jacket he was wearing where the hole is still visible where the bullet entered. We were to later see that bullet on display at Windsor Castle. It looked suspiciously round to me. I would have thought it would have flattened when it hit Nelson's spine. Still, who am I to argue with the Queen of England....
Not a bad weekend overall.
Polywog came in on Thursday and I managed to navigate the chaos that is known as IAD, in a car that is not my own.
We went into the city on Friday.
I will say the highlight was the Hard Rock Cafe - before you say anything, I happen to really like HRC. All of them. About 5/6 years ago I decided that my goal in life was to get a picture of all of them. A bizarre goal, but one that would take me everywhere. So far I have only seen about 10. About 5 years ago I joined their All Access club, which was $20/25 and at the time the perk was for every so much you spend, you get $20 off your next purchase. I figure if I am going to be visiting a lot of HRCs I might as well get some cash back. But there was one little perk that, while didn't go unnoticed, didn't seem really relevant. It was what they called "Love All, Serve Me First", a pun on their "Love All, Serve All" slogan. Basically it meant that if there was a wait at a restaurant, you could flash your card and move to the head of the line. I've never used it, because I have never had much of a wait before.
So back to Friday. We knew that Hard Rock:DC would be busy. But we went anyway, I gave the hostess my name and she said it would be about an hour. I am reluctant to wait an hour at any restaurant. So I asked her "Do you do All Access?" Blink. Blink. "Are you All Access???" Yes. I said. She scratched my name off the list and told me to stand on her other side.
The short of it: We we seated in less than 5 minutes. 60 minute wait reduced to minutes.
Maybe I should feel a little bad about all of those who had been waiting, but sometimes its about who or what you know. And I for once, happened to be in the know.
And to top it all off, their French fries were made of Awesome. Perfectly hot and seasoned. and the waitress screwed up and swiped my All Access twice, so I go double points. Yay!
Things that were not as wonderful. We went down to the Navy Yard, where I expected to see sailors - in uniform - and ships! What we found was ghetto, the Nationals Stadium and a ship which was so far away it might as well have been in Guam. So that was a complete waste of an hour.
We went to the Newseum, um. We made it through security only to find out tickets are $20 and we weren't paying that sort of money this weekend.
Then when we went to the Mall, about 6 it started to rain. We managed to find what could have been really fantastic seats, but the rain turned from a sprinkle, which I was fine with, into a steady light rain. After a half an hour I was really wet. We didn't have a blanket, poncho, or umbrella. I had a headache and I was exhausted. By then, I didn't care if I saw a firework or not. Polywog was a little more torn than I was. Her goals for the day were fireworks and Hard Rock. I had accomplished one for her, I wasn't sure I could make it to the other. We had no idea if it was going to stop raining in 20 minutes or we were going to sit there only to get rained out. So she finally called it a day and we left.
By the time we got back to our end of the Line, it had stopped raining. If we had stayed we would have had a really amazing view. But you just don't know.
We did learn a few things for next year: bring a blanket, umbrella and maybe a poncho - even if the weather calls for Sunshine and strawberries. And pack your All Access card.
We settled for pizza and going to bed at 11 and sleeping for 12 hours.
Who wants to meet me for lunch at the El Cubana.
Looks like a funky kind of place. I think it was in London. Not sure if its still around.
Another of papas slides that was begging for some attention. Love it.
Sigh - I want to drive around in a red sports car in a pretty dress with a guy in a suit.
