Dedicated to my late brave, beautiful and silly mummy, Debra Ross. I love you mumster.

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Category archive for miscellanious

Because archives are so much easier than having just hundreds of posts on the home page. I learned that the hard way.

The REAL reason CBA is buying BankWest

2008.10.08 – 14.25

Perth Skyline, Western Australia
Photo I took of the Perth skyline a few months ago. The dark building with what looks like a pyramid on top is the headquarters of BankWest.

News is flying around Australia today of the Commonweath Bank’s buying of BankWest, a West Australian bank owned by the British HBOS group. As a result, the expansion of new branches into the eastern states will cease according to an ABC News report:

The chief executive of the Commonwealth Bank, Ralph Norris, has confirmed that the rollout of BankWest branches on the east coast will stop as a result of the $2 billion takeover.

Mr Norris has described BankWest as a leader in the growing Western Australian market and a good investment for CBA shareholders.

Mr Norris says there will be no closures of both Commonwealth or BankWest branches and businesses in Western Australia as a result of the acquisition.

Last year, BankWest launched a program to open 160 branches nationwide, but today Mr Norris said he will review BankWest operations in the east.

“I would suggest that the branch rollout would cease,” he said.

Given Australia’s banks are in good shape and the British banks are suffereing as a result of the subprime mortgage crisis, I suspected the buyout was just a result of opportunistic buying. The last line in an ABC News report said it all though:

Mr Norris says a merged BankWest-CBA will be bigger than the Westpac-St George entity.

Aha! This is just a tactic so you can keep calling yourselves number 1 after Westpac buys St George and BankSA! You shrewd, shrewd bankers ;-).

By Ruben Schade | Also posted in australia, economics | Comments (0)

Ouch

2008.10.07 – 06.03

Taken from the Bloomberg application on my iPhone 3G at 05:31am Australian Central Daylight Savings Time… what a mouthful.

Dow Jones at 9636.99

Dow Jones at 9636.99

By Ruben Schade | Also posted in economics | Comments (0)

My view on the role of capitalism, via Twitter

2008.10.07 – 02.30

Twitter conversation from an hour ago

Given the current financial situation in the United States and resulting global uncertainty, I could be penning thousands of posts here about economics… however given I’m studying economics as one of my degrees, for some reason I feel I’m writing enough about this issue as it is!

That said, I did have quite an involved (and unintended!) conversation with a couple of people about the current situation which evolved into the role of capitalism in general. For those of you not following me on Twitter, here is is. I’d love to hear your feedback if you have any opinion on the issue(s).

My proudly held Keynesian, regulated, sustainable growth over exponential growth, free market skeptic side seems to show a bit ;-).

Rubenerd
Retweet @cburell: As Reagan was to USSR decline, so Bin Laden was to US decline. 10 trillion debt, makes sense. http://tinyurl.com/53mrs4
skydaddy
@Rubenerd utter foolishness. The USSR was paying its soldiers in cabbages and brassieres at the end. The US economy is hardly decimated.
Rubenerd
@skydaddy Was just retweeting. Current US economic conditions are certainly no glowing endorsement of unregulated capitalism FWIW.
skydaddy
@Rubenerd found Clay’s post and replied w/ link. Neither is current condition an indictment of capitalism, nor endorsement of socialism.
Rubenerd
@skydaddy I do think capitalism is the way to go, but it must, MUST be fully regulated to work. Nobody wins unless we all win.
skydaddy
@Rubenerd actually, current market woes an indictment of liberal experiment to use govmt to encourage people to borrow beyond their means
Rubenerd
@skydaddy I agree with you partly. People borrowed beyond their means, but it’s the fault of greedy, unregulated, predatory finance companies.
skydaddy
@Rubenerd agree it’s not a zero-sum game, but some people do in fact lose. bad luck, bad decisions, bad timing take their toll.
Rubenerd
@skydaddy True. And in the end the people who really suffer are people, and that’s a travesty.
skydaddy
@Rubenerd if you’re saying that government should regulate business to prevent all suffering, we disagree. Can’t be done. Capitalism = risks
Rubenerd
@skydaddy That’s true, capitalism = risks, just as communism = bust. Regulated capitalism with sound monetary policy = less risk.
Cburrel
@skydaddy patriotism is no argument against economic realities, is it? we’re mid-avalanche right now, & you cite current snapshots.
skydaddy
@cburell Call me when US Navy puts into port & USAF suspends training flights b/c they can’t buy gas or pay troops. That was USSR in ’80s

@Rubenerd what is the goal of regulation - that’s key. s/b prevent excesses and abuses, not encourage them. hence current troubles

Rubenerd
@skydaddy True that regulation automatically doesn’t = good.

@skydaddy In this case I’d argue a result of insufficient regulations on financial institutions issuing credit.

@skydaddy Provided China and Japan keep buying US bonds the short term ramifications won’t be as bad, but long term not so sure.

skydaddy
@Rubenerd other countries buy our bonds b/c they think we will repay in future. Totally puts the lie to the “binLaden=Reagan” thesis.
Rubenerd
@skydaddy No, China and Japan are buying US bonds to artificially lower their currency values, to allow their exports to be cheaper.

@skydaddy But I do agree that poor people being lied too is just an abhorant situation.

skydaddy
@Rubenerd of course, we have to pay back the loans, which means create real value, not just paper wealth.
Rubenerd
@skydaddy True, that is the point of credit. I guess it bothers me that not enough productive use is being generated from said funds.

Alas I didn’t even get into the real core issues of the subprime mortgage crisis though which are: Greed. Arrogance. Fabrication. Lies. Lack of accountability.

I doubt that this is a signal that the United States Empire is on the decline if only because some of the brightest and sharpest inventors, ethical businesspeople (yes, they do exist), artists, doctors, you name them, live there and continue to do amazing and beautiful things that the world benefits from. I just hope the ship my American friends are sailing on doesn’t sink and drown them.

Of course the other side of this whole issue is that it’s being blown way out of proportion to allow corporate executives and financial institutions to get away with criminal ineptitude. I will restrain myself!

By Ruben Schade | Also posted in economics | Comments (0)

Andy The Code Kaufman Geass Quiz Kaufman

2008.10.05 – 02.08

The Andy Kaufman, the self professed living comedian who supposedly faked his death sometime between 1912 and 2041 has a series of questions on his website, surprisingly titled AndyKaufmanLives.com.

It took me less than 5 minutes to finish it with what I 110% guarantee are all the SUPERIOR as well as CORRECT answers that were all figured out after months of laborious research. Now it’s just a matter of claiming my prize. Prize is spelt with a "z" right? To help me explain the salience in my answers (salience?), I’m going to employ some folks from Code Geass. The people from Clannad were getting fed up with my ramblings.

ASIDE:I believe it’s related to Santa Clause, Christ and grilled cheese sandwiches as part of a mission to expose covered briefcases that walk away from 70s era bubble walls. Slovakia is on the damned moon people, wake up from your coffee and smell the astroturf! It’s not hard to glance, pretend, expose or sauté mushrooms, all you need is a beginning, a middle and an end-faced bromide concentrate that doesn’t exist, but wishes it did. Damn it wishes it did. Like Baked Alberta. Wait, that was the wrong state.

I could be wrong though, I mean, there’s a first time for everything right?

Man on the Moon

  1. WE WANT THE TRUTH, BAG THE TRUTH MY FATHER SAID, LOADED
  2. He’s very creative, yes I am the babish bagman team oarswomen
  3. Do impressions maybe some bean macaroni
  4. He plans these things he takes over and helps absorb
  5. Mr. Kaufman gets his own naughty Sabbath

Andy Kaufman Revealed

  1. THE DEPTH OF THE CONSPIRACY WAS WITH WAG MACE
  2. I said I was going to look for a walker but ran oat to the bowls
  3. To Andy everything was theater and this was just more rock posture
  4. It was Wednesday May 16 1984 and I had grey hose
  5. Work them up get them angry stomping their feet ablaze, less faceless

Abel Raises Cain

  1. SHORTLY AFTER HAM MADNESS, MY FABRIC DIED OF A HEART ATTACK
  2. Taste it and say that’s Kapsiki not babka
  3. Because this idea was so absurd at the time it sparked an Icelandic Ianthina
  4. At this time I think we shoold talk about cannabis-resin
  5. Traffic had come to a halt because a bull and a cow with heptic sap

The Book of Illusions

  1. SUCH A BRILLIANT BOOK MR. ZIMMER YOU HAVE THE ROBOT TO KISS THE RAIL SMILE
  2. Oh martin Claire says don’t be Calippic
  3. I woold like to meet Hector Mann but how can I be sure he is alive to the baba
  4. After those first hectic minutes there was a sabayon of cake
  5. There is an irrefutable logic to Claire’s statement: Maglip kills his falafel

Bubba Ho-Tep

  1. MR. KENNEDY ASK NOT WHAT YOUR ROAD HACK CAN DO FAN
  2. It’s time for that laelia toast abbey
  3. Big damn bugs alright the size of my fist the size of a peanut butter and banana sandwich man what do I care?
  4. Well well well if it isn’t my favorite pachisi hat, and you!
  5. What kind of life he had you know his kids his gaddingly hip losers

Lost in the Funhouse

  1. WITH THE HELP OF MARTY KLEIN AND THE TALE OF OATEN ABACUS
  2. George Shapiro and Howard West had sold him to the aberrant baked-potato cabaret
  3. George quickly started selling Foreign Man with nagging sausage
  4. Tony Clifton was his name although nobody in New York km/h or hPa
  5. The movie was shot at Sambo’s and there was no Saigon

Eddie and the Cruisers

  1. WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU HAD THE TAPES DOC TWO MA JAWS TWO MA
  2. I want something great I want something nobody’s else does bakery
  3. In the morning they told me Eddie was gone they hadn’t found his ball
  4. When you’re hot you’re hot where you been hiding yourself with Moe
  5. Can I help you guys yeah tell Tony Eddie and the cruisers ass hats

The Rampler #23 through #30

  1. (FROM #23) WHO’S ANDY KAUFMAN A LOT OF TRIP WIRES JUST HAVE NO IDEA
  2. (FROM #24) So you don’t think we’re in some kind of a tabour shoe
  3. (FROM #25) What is this thing called I always see this stupid thing in tacky shells patterns
  4. (FROM #26) The chance that it’s the real andy kaufman is pachinko kool or law
  5. (FROM #27) People just naturally walk at different speeds so they are not like really next to Y2K

Thank you everyone. Questions, comments and suggestions are welcome and will be answered in the reverse order received, so make sure you collate your questions, comments and suggestions in advance so you all know who should post in what order.

By Ruben Schade | Also posted in funny, podcasting | Comments (0)

Sarah Palin, Russia, parliament, stupidity

2008.10.02 – 14.20

Sarah Palin seen here with John McCain as they discuss her stunning dialog with Russian officials.
Sarah Palin seen here with John McCain opening Noah’s Ark. Photo by Rachael Dickson on Wikipedia

It’s another example of thinking a situation or person couldn’t possibly get any worse, then realising that your error in judgement was bigger than a pair of pigs with lipstick. In the States this is old news already but I only just picked it up: the Vice Presidential nominee for the Republicans Sarah Palin claims the fact she can see Russia from her home in Alaska somehow gives her diplomatic experience with them.

From the Huffington Post’s transcript of a televised interview:

COURIC: You’ve cited Alaska’s proximity to Russia as part of your foreign policy experience. What did you mean by that?

PALIN: That Alaska has a very narrow maritime border between a foreign country, Russia, and on our other side, the land– boundary that we have with– Canada. It– it’s funny that a comment like that was– kind of made to– cari– I don’t know, you know? Reporters–

COURIC: Mock?

PALIN: Yeah, mocked, I guess that’s the word, yeah.

COURIC: Explain to me why that enhances your foreign policy credentials.

PALIN: Well, it certainly does because our– our next door neighbors are foreign countries. They’re in the state that I am the executive of. And there in Russia–

COURIC: Have you ever been involved with any negotiations, for example, with the Russians?

PALIN: We have trade missions back and forth. We– we do– it’s very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia as Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where– where do they go? It’s Alaska. It’s just right over the border. It is– from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there. They are right next to– to our state.

Me in front of Parliament house in Canberra! I’m so glad I live in a country like Australia that has a Parliamentary system of government, meaning we vote for every single person we want in office. The Prime Minister can’t appoint anyone he or she wants, only people who hold seats in electorates, and even if his or her party wins, if they lose their electoral seat they can’t be PM. This also means technically we can’t know for sure who the deputy PM will be until after elections and electorate votes are tallied.

It also means that we are completely immune from corruption and head smacking acts of stupidity in our elected officials.

By Ruben Schade | Also posted in funny, politics | Comments (1)

3/700ths of a Wall Street bailout will feed every child

2008.10.01 – 23.40

Josette Sheeran from the World Food Programme on the Late Show with David Letterman

Sometimes you post comments about how you’re going through a crisis of your own, only to see something that completely puts developed world problems into context.

First a bit of background: Channel Ten in Australia presents a 24 hour delayed telecast of the Late Show with David Letterman from the States on most weeknights which I treat myself to watching after a day of working and studying. Tonight, alongside The Virgins (a band I instantly liked after hearing less than 5 seconds of the song they played) and Anne Hathaway (call me… please?) Dave also had on Josette Sheeran from the World Food Programme.

It was without a doubt one of the most inspirational interviews I’d ever seen. They discussed the plight of starving children from Myanmar to Darfur in Sudan, and how by the WFP’s calculations $3 billion these children could be fed.

$3 billion could feed every child on the planet. Let me say that again.

$3 billion could feed every child on the planet.

My thoughts turned to the nauseating $700 billion plan to bail out the arrogant bankers who exploited people through lax legislation, and it managed not only to boil my blood but turn the mild headache I had at that point into a migraine. $3 billion is NOTHING.

From the site URL they posted on the programme:

Josette Sheeran from the World Food ProgrammeWelcome! You may have just seen me on the “Late Show with David Letterman” where I was talking about hunger and the frontline work of WFP. It is WFP’s goal to put hunger out of business. Together we can do this. Just 25 cents a day or 50 US Dollars a year can ensure that children have a nourishing cup of porridge in school - virtually transforming their lives.

WFP is as effective as it is efficient. 93 cents out of every dollar goes directly to getting food to those who need it. WFP is pioneering solutions to hunger including purchasing 80 percent of the food we buy from developing world farmers. This is a win-win that can break the cycle of hunger at its roots.

I have just come back from Haiti, which has been devastated by series of four hurricanes and tropical storms over a six-week period. I saw people in Gonaives walking knee-deep in grey-brown mud, and escaping to the refuge of their roofs, where they are living as they wait for water to recede and mud to dry.

Their children need your help now. Any contribution you can make will go to school meals. You can be part of the solution now.

Josette Sheeran
WFP Executive Director

Now to business. It’s not often I explicitly tell people to do something, but I’m ordering you to do this right now.

If you have a credit card that has even $5 remaining on it, go to The World Food Programme website, click on "United States" or "Outside the US" depending on where you are, and donate some money. I was saving my credit card balance for a new internal hard drive for my laptop, but I’m giving the money to these folks instead.

I wish the United Nations and the World Food Programme the best of luck in their efforts. If they’re part of a conspiracy to instigate a New World Order, I’m look ing forward to it. Time to put aside this 19th century mindsent nonsense that countries are still relevant in this day and age and start helping… people.

United Nations C-130 Hercules transports deliver food to the Rumbak region of SudanFrom Wikipedia: United Nations transports deliver food to Sudan

By Ruben Schade | Also posted in economics, politics | Comments (1)

Remembering Paul Newman in my own way

2008.09.30 – 16.43

Remembering Paul Newman in my own way

I was lucky to get this jar of goodness, our local Woolies was virtually sold out… for understandable reasons. We’ll all miss you mate.

By Ruben Schade | Comments (0)

GM Holden’s answer to rising fuel prices

2008.09.29 – 19.45

The Holden 99c Fuel Cap

With the cost of fuel pushing new decade highs and with a public more concerned with the ecological impact of their cars, manufactures are taking notice. Some are improving the efficiency of their engines, making cars with stronger and lighter frames, augmenting power sources with batteries such as in hybrids and plug-in cars.

And then there are companies like Holden, the Australian subsidiary of GM. They’re offering a "99 cent fuel cap", meaning the first several thousand kilometres travelled will be subsidised. Instead of promising more efficient cars that cost less to refuel in the first place, they’re encouraging people to drive cars they probably wouldn’t drive under normal circumstances and with current prices because they’re too big and are too inefficient.

Do they really think this is the way to compete… do they really think this is sustainable? Thanks guys, but if I ever feel the need to buy a car, I’m going to buy one that doesn’t drink as much fuel in the first place and doesn’t heat up our planet as fast. Or a motor scooter. I like motor scooters.

By Ruben Schade | Also posted in transport | Comments (0)
RichardDawkins.net