Will the SGX bid for ASX Spark an Financial Arms Race in Asia?

This 5 page report has been compiled by the ASDF – it has beeen withdrawn from general ciruclation due to Measured Response. If you want a hard copy of this essay, please contact the Internet Liaison Officer of the Brotherhood directly.

Why Finland is able to put more gold into the golden years – What Singapore can learn from Finland

This is a 3 1/2 page essay compiled by the ASDF – it has been withdrawn from circulation due to ‘Measured Response, “ mode – to gain direct access to this essay, please contact the Internet Liaison Officer of the Brotherhood.

The Question That Will Change the World!

In life – At times, I feel we expand too much energy doing things without a clear motive – at times, it makes perfect sense to simply stop and ask ourselves the basic outline of the question.

Gini Coefficient = Income Inequality

What is the Gini Coefficient? It is a measure of the gap between rich and poor – how do we make sense of it?

My thanks to the ladies of the Siglap read club.

10 things that MUST be done for the ASX – SGX merger to succeed

This is a seven page report compiled by the ASDF of the Brotherhood – due to “Measured Response,” mode it will not be published due to it’s inflammatory contents.

Is the GINI Coeffiecient Important or not?

(To increase the font on this essay – hold down the CTRL key and keep pressing +) Well the short answer is you decide for yourself – my take is simply this. The fact that the income distribution between the rich and the poor stands at an all time high should be sufficient cause to provoke many to consider whether something is seriously wrong with our society.

On a personal investment mode. About 6 months ago. I recommended a buy on URZ – http://www.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=AMEX:URZ. This is a little known company listed in an obscure corner of Nasdaq – they trade in Uranium – if you took my advice; you are looking at a 100% return on your investment – I am recommending a sell on this counter for one simple reason; hot money is coming in fast and furious from the Ukraine and the Gulf – and I don’t like it when I see funny money coming in – so me and my crew are out tonite itself.

Where will we put our money? I have no idea. All I know is investing is like a bank heist – a clean get away is everything – once we are out; then we will decide where to go. I have my eye on Dubai – things look pretty dead there.

SGX and ASX – A Bridge Too Far

The Brotherhood is on full measured response – no comment.

What about Charity? What about it???????????

(To increase the font in this essay – hold down the Ctrl key and keep pressing +) What about Charity? I am certain, it will go a long way to help the poor?

And guessed what was my reply to Montburan? – I said “Noooooooooooooooooo!”

If the whole idea of charity isn’t burnt to a cinder – let me know. I’ve give it another go. I am sorry to the rest of the ladies of the Siglap Read Club if I appear uncouth to Montburan – I promise to make it up to the rest of you. I am so sorry.

Darkness 2010

“If you are weak Darkness – invoke these words, tell the brotherhood – “by the four corners I invoke your help – and i assure you, the serious men will hear you, you will never be alone Darkness…never!”

Vollariane 2001

Silence is Golden in the Jet Stream

These days blogging is hazardous to your health, especially under the haze of “measured response.” So here goes another silent installment of Thomas Ott.

As some of you may already know – the US Federal Reserves has been deploying a monetary policy of “strategically,” devaluing the greenback to increase their global competitiveness – firms that will benefit most from this strategy are numerous; but I really only know one well enough to recommend it – check out http://www.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NYSE:BA

I bought into BA when it was way down bottom skimming at $50 / today it’s ridding the $70’s high’s. But I expect BA to continue to discover renewed heights – two reasons account for my optimism.

Firstly, I believe the sales of military aircraft will experience a boom of a century in East Asia and the Middle Eastern markets, especially India.

Secondly, civilian air travel is starting to look perky again – and people are beginning to travel – with the cheapy cheap US$ many firms out there will simply find the offers by BA too good too good to pass up.

So I expect BA to be one of the main beneficiaries of the devaluation of the dollar – and I am planning to keep my money in the US for the next 12 to possibly 18 months – that’s the game plan.

Darkness 2010

Disclosure: The author currently has positions in BA (Boeing Aeroplane Grp)

Bringing Back Philosophy into Economics – Minimum Wage

(To increase the font in this essay – hold down the Ctrl key and keep pressing +) I strive very hard to keep things in the right scale, right perspective and right framework – you could say I am paranoid about losing this mythical line, balance and vantage – it matters very little to me whether it it’s 4.30 am Kendo practice on a weekend or a mountain bike ride or even a boardroom session – without a right perspective – you can never make a good decision – it will always come back and bite you; because you just didn’t bother with the details which turned out to be everything and much more.

One of the things I have always been mindful of is how every discipline can at some point turn against itself and even eat it’s own tail – it doesn’t matter what the motivations are; it could be justifying imperialism, slavery or just treating people like shit – what is important here is to understand that; that sort of abuse can all too often permeate a discipline; be it engineering, economics or something as benign as child care – every discipline can turn against it’self and eat it’s own tail – especially, when it’s applied narrowly; it will at some point constrict the field of vision to darkness – and it’s ALWAYS important to keep this in mind.

That is one reason why I believe very strongly through the years; economics has been so nutty; that instead of reliably delivering the good life; it has consistently only lined the pockets of the rich at the expense of the poor – and one reason why this is possible is because economics has run away from it’s roots – it needs to go back to the creche of whence it came from – that’s to say, like a runaway, it needs to retrace it’s roots and go back to it’s history – to return to that country where it rightly belongs called Philosophy.

There I believe Economics can bring goodness.

Darkness 2010 

Welcome to the Game – New Friends

The North Koreans have entered the game via the KDD Juchen – please note our space diplomats will be entering this new sector @ exactly 0630 GMT as agreed – we will presenting the gift of two Dimitri class space stations.

Welcome!

The Brotherhood

Can we really decide on Minimum Wage by just using the QUANTITATIVE approach and disregarding the QUALITATIVE?

One of the things that I have done when I broached the issue of Minimum Wage is to move very slowly and carefully – I understand, some of the set pieces we are dealing with come encrusted with so many misconceptions and false assumptions – such as how many of us may like to believe the whole idea of the “welfare state” is based on taxing and punishing the hard working inorder to create an egalitarian society etc – so I have been very careful to move slowly. At times the pace has been excruitingly slow, but I feel it’s important that we cover this ground thoroughly and not pay too much heed to whatever goes on elsewhere.

The way I see it, this is a big geography – and it doesn’t really pay to rush through it. In this section what I want to underscrore is how the Beveridge Report was able to successfully combine two diametrically opposite ideas. The first is the hard science of economics and the second is the philosophy that makes possible the whole idea of a better world.

At the end of the second world war to rebuild a ravaged Europe the planners were able to do by relying solely on this approach.

This begs the question – why can’t we seem to find the same resolve today to broach the issue of minimum wage?

Darkness 2010

Another Day. Another Life.

Someone came up to me this evening in the supermarket. She recognized me. She asked me – if the Brotherhood doesn’t allow you to blog – why don’t you just fucking blog under your own moniker? I looked her and said, “They are the only family I have known.” She walked away shaking her head. Before doing so, she scratched my car – she doesn’t understand, I reckon. The only reason why these people do the things they do is bc they know jolly well, that I will not take the matter further!

I bet, if I was a 100 kilogram Panda none of this would happen to me.

Minimum Wage – Part 8

As many of you may already know – the Brotherhood Press is under “measured response” mode – therefore. I am not allowed to blog – a videoblog is fine – so here goes another part.

In this episode. I’ve be touching on the subject of how when we evaluate the merits of whether we should implement Minimum Wage – we tend to be victims of our own scripting. I’ve also touched on the underlying reasons for the whole idea of the “welfare state,” and how it is so often misconstrued and encrusted with misconceptions about punishing the hardworking to help the indolent etc – the subject it seems it much broader and covers a bigger geography.

I miss writing. But we may have to get used to this. Do bear with me. I used to give lenghty speeches in Primus – I guess, I have to get used to public speaking again – but not to worry; as time passes, we will get used to it.

Darkness 2010

Temasek Review Blues

This conversation takes place in a club called Ithaca located on the East side of Primus – Ithaca is well known as a place where foreign journalist hang out to ferret information in the virtual.

“So Darkness… how does this square with your whole idea of TR being a govt site?”

“Someone in Govt is getting cold feet?”

“Why should they be afraid Darkness?”

“They’re no longer swimming in a pond; they have suddenly found themselves in the wide open seas. That can be scary don’t you think so?”

“For God sake don’t speak like a fortune cookie all the time. What’s really going on? How’s the doctor involved in all this?”

“Doctor ain’t involved. He is just like one of those monkeys that found themselves blasted into space – sure, he may have been even there in the very beginning – but he was just there for the ride – he just got himself sucked into this shit storm something and they just sacrificed him as a way of fleshing out their cover story.

That’s what happens when people are desperate and they feel as if they are running out of time – they panic and do very stupid things. “

“That’s a start, but you’re still telling me nothing.”

“OK. I will tell you plainly what’s really going on. When I say the govt is getting scared. I mean to say someone really high up is getting really concerned about TR. You see TR was originally designed  to handle sandbox politics in the internet. It was supposed to be a small scale enterprise with very little risk of fall out if anything went wrong. Now it’s becoming something like Chernobyl. The problem with TR was it grew and grew and grew. And now it has such a huge digital footprint; it has even attracted the attention of the foreign press corps. So that takes them right up there to the major league – and over there if you screw up – the penalties are going to be very high. And let’s face it; you guys are really good at digging out skeletons….now if you happen to be someone at the very top….how will it all look if some nosey parkey reporter breaks the news govt is really behind TR?”

“That’s why they are frantically disassociating themselves from TR?”

“Yes, but it’s too late.”

“Why is it too late Darkness? Why?”

“It’s time to go to the next level of the game. You will understand why.”

“How can you be so sure about all this Darkness?’

“Look around you. Do you notice that not a single blog has actually come out and defended TR, have you asked yourself why?”

“Have you watched the movie the American?”

“No, I don’t watch TV. Or the movies. Does it have a good ending?”

“Well, let us just say he takes flight.”

Why we should structure the question of Minimum Wage as a moral and not an economic question –

Is Minimum Wage = Welfare state?

Is this the end of TEMASEK REVIEW?

(To increase the font size – hold down the CTRL key and keep pressing +) Some of you seem to have great difficulties in understanding – how things have to be, if they are to go down smoothly.

As I mentioned previously; the question is not a factor of five why’s, four what’s, three if’s or even two who’s or one how – it really revolves around only one question: do you believe that Temasek Review is a kosher site? Or do you believe that it is a site that is operated by the govt?

In my mind this is the ONLY question; there may be other questions after this question, but you cannot proceed to them before you answer this very important question first – questions like how did a physician get embroilled in all this? What is this? –http://www.raviphilemon.net/2010/10/tr-and-sdps-allegations-about-singapore.html – or is online anonymity good or bad? if this is a wolf site why is it suddenly shutting down etc? These questions are not important at all.

As I have always said – calm down – take a stress pill – just because everyone is jumping like a headless chicken doesn’t mean you have too do the same – remember there is really only one question.

As for me, it’s as clear as day how things will turn out after this- nothing is ever a mystery when you’ve got it figured out from the inside out from top to bottom – and we all know, the otherside cannot win without mystery.

AIB in BA out!

We all dived into AIB and we are out of Boeing Aeroplane Grp tonite.

I am always thinking how it would have turn out Sarah – I tried to write again this evening – but nothing really came out, so I decided to take my bike out for a spin instead.

Darkness 2010

Temasek Review a real or fake?

Oh….I am so sorry….you mean to say some of you are still thoroughly confused as to whether I think Temasek Review is a kosher site or simply a fox in a sheep’s jump suit site….I understand….maybe this will clear up the confusion