Rants, Raves, and Germs

It’s been a while since I last posted and this will be a nice break from writing sound bytes on twitter.  Well, it is safe to say the American economy is going to have a “Lost Decade” in the coming years.  The American-engineered Global Financial Crisis has already sent shockwaves through the rest of the world by first bringing down the once self-sufficient Iceland into the EU, gave impetus to ramming through the Treaty of Lisbon, and pressuring China to develop its domestic market to offset potential losses from the global economic slowdown.

Blame it on Rio or blame it on Obama.  President Obama, Michelle Obama, Oprah, Michael Jordan have actually failed America for the first time in the world stage.  Not only did the Obamas’ speeches fail to persuade any of the IOC members to support Chicago for the 2016 Olympics, the committee decided to gave the rights to Rio de Janeiro, a city that is best known for its favelas, street children and crime.  The official IOC justification were complaints of the hostile American visa system and underlying anger at the global recession that originated in the United States.  Also, Brasil made a very persuasive argument that it was time for South America to finally have an event on their continent and highlighted its significance in her respective region.

In the end, Obama returned from Denmark with disappointing results and again shocked a country that felt it was entitled to host the Olympics in America.  First New York loses the bid to host the 2012 Olympics and now Chicago in for the 2016 Olympics.  This would have been unthinkable years before since the United States had hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, and the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.  The American-dominated New World Order that Bush alluded to was destroyed by his idiot son and his former advisers.

Today was another miserable in the NJTransit trains.  Jon Corzine slashed the budgets for the trains and there are more delays due to broken trains from lack of maintenance and endless delays from overcapacity.  Corzine also did a great job raising taxes and slashing state services based on his experiences as a Goldman Sachs CEO.  Usually when someone raises prices while cutting services is considered a ripoff and Corzine is no different in ripping NJ taxpayers off.  There was once a rumour that Corzine was considered as a nominee as Obama’s Treasury Secretary, which I am glad was just a lie.  America just doesn’t need another former Goldman Sachs CEO to fuck up the economy the way Hank Paulson did.

I only wished there were Ben Bernanke masks for sale for Halloween.  That way I could get a mask, dress up in a cheap suit and tape a sign with the words “Financial Terrorist” on my back to create the Ben Bernanke Halloween costume.

Musings on why I hate Hipsters and what they can do about it if they care

Musings on why I hate Hipsters and what they can do about it if they care

A friend wrote the following based on the recent New York Times article and related blogs dealing with the impact of the Great Recession on hipsters in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NYC:

I was going to make this a response to [my friend's] excellent update on the financial happenings of hipsters. But instead, I’ve decided to vent my spleen here. I hope you enjoy it and feel free to respond.

Hipsters……oh Hipsters…..how I hate thee! Let me list the ways:
A. Conformity. Every hipster seems to look the same. Crappy clothes (that aren’t actually crappy they just are styled that way), chuck taylor shoes, clove cigarettes, etc. etc. I believe they called it Derelicte in Zoolander—homeless chic.
B. Cheapening anything of value. They search for the authentic and then when they think they’ve found the authentic they cheapen it by making it into a style that they desire to globalize. This is not unlike their wealthy Daddies with their Italian fashions and imported cars. Or their unemployed mommies trying to save some piece of the rainforest, doing yoga, and having the Dali Lama on their shelf.
C. An insult to the working class. Their drink is Pabst Blue Ribbon, yet so many of their parents and admitted futures are with management or “designer wall paper”—whatever the fuck that is. You ask them to work an 8 hour day and they leave in a huff. “I am too good for the 8 hour day.” Good enough to drink the working man’s beer but not good enough to do the workings man job. Scuttle off “puss-cakes,” as Clint Eastwood would say.
D. Handlebar moustaches. Shave that shit off. This isn’t the 1890s.
E. “Avant garde” bullshit sessions at the local coffee house don’t make you an intellectual. I am not saying you need to go to college to be smart, though it does help. Reading and *thinking* about what you just read is far more enlightening than sitting around a hookah talking about what you’ve read without actually understanding its meaning. Reading widely and making intelligent, thoughtful conversation beats any new fix you can make on Noam Chomsky. All the fixes have been made kid.
F. Arrogance. Just because you’re from NYC or Brooklyn doesn’t make you special. I’ve been around both for quite a time. And, considering the experiences of my own travel, they aren’t special. You think NYC is the world? Dip yourself into Hong Kong. You’ll feel like the bumpkins you make fun of except you’ll lack their tact, grace, or taste.
G. G stands for Get a fucking job! Deliver pizzas, wait tables, work as a mechanic, do something with your life other than live off of mommy and daddy’s wallet. Part of the reason you have no self-respect and must act arrogant and fake is because you’ve never worked a day in your life. Work! Even if it doesn’t cover the bills entirely. You might actually learn something about people beyond your tight little cohort.

How to Stop Being a Hipster and Get Real:
1. Shave and start taking care of yourself. Look the part of a decent, normal human being. Stop trying to be an artist if you’re not one. The Bohemian life is for people of true talent. If you’re a hipster you probably don’t have any.
2. Stop trying to make statements. Be your own person. Don’t be derelicte unless you think there is some value to it, which I think if you asked a real homeless person they’d say, “Shiiiit If I had the money you had I’d buy myself a nice coat and some nice clothes. I wouldn’t dress like this.”
3. If you feel guilty about your money, stop. You want to help laboring folk out? Ask your Daddy if there is another way that he could save those 20 jobs he has to cut. Don’t drink PBR and think, “I am so pro-Union.”
4. Contribute something to society.
5. Spend time with books and old people. Both will fill you with more wisdom than all the late night jam sessions at Hal’s coffee shop you can have in one lifetime.
6. Learn to enjoy the simple things in life. But don’t overdo it.
7. Have an interior life. That’s where those simple joys should go.

Finally, get the fuck off my lawn.

What a day

Today was a rather bad day that started on the wrong foot. My train was delayed by almost an hour because an Amtrak train had broken down in the stop before mine causing several cancellations and a 1 hour commute becoming a two hour nightmare. By the time I got to work, too many deliverables were piling up and it was overwhelming. This is what happens when a country has no money to fund their public mass transit networks. In Taiwan, the company would actually issue every customer a full refund if they caused any delays while in America all the passengers get is an insincere apology and no assurance that the problem will not happen again.

Around lunchtime, I heard that several of my co-workers were abruptly laid off and asked to leave the building on the same day. I really didn’t think they would be made redundant seeing that they have a strong relationship with the client and the client is strongly dependent on them to get things done. In addition, they also had intimate knowledge of custom technical specifications, solutions and worked overtime with no pay on several occasions. It was really unpleasant because there was also talk of a 5% pay cut to avoid layoffs. It looks like we are getting either a pay cut or a lay off.

At the end of the day I learned more people were being let go along with a inpromptu meeting to discuss these developments. These events really left me in a bad mood for the rest of the day and I decided to leave early even though I got to work almost an hour late no thanks to Amtrak. I need to get a drink at the moment.

Somali Pirates in Discussions to Acquire Citigroup

Somali Pirates in Discussions to Acquire Citigroup

By Andreas Hippin
November 20 (Bloomberg) — The Somali pirates, renegade Somalis known for hijacking ships for ransom in the Gulf of Aden, are negotiating a purchase of Citigroup.

The pirates would buy Citigroup with new debt and their existing cash stockpiles, earned most recently from hijacking numerous ships, including most recently a $200 million Saudi Arabian oil tanker. The Somali pirates are offering up to $0.10 per share for Citigroup, pirate spokesman Sugule Ali said earlier today. The negotiations have entered the final stage, Ali said.

“You may not like our price, but we are not in the business of paying for things. Be happy we are in the mood to
offer the shareholders anything,” said Ali.

The pirates will finance part of the purchase by selling new Pirate Ransom Backed Securities. The PRBS’s are backed by the cash flows from future ransom payments from hijackings in the Gulf of Aden. Moody’s and S&P have already issued their top investment grade ratings for the PRBS’s.

Head pirate, Ubu Kalid Shandu, said: “We need a bank so that we have a place to keep all of our ransom money. Thankfully, the dislocations in the capital markets has allowed us to purchase Citigroup
at an attractive valuation and to take advantage of TARP capital to grow the business even faster.”

Shandu added, “We don’t call ourselves pirates. We are coastguards and this will just allow us to guard our coasts better.”

*CITI IN TALKS WITH SOMALI PIRATES FOR POSSIBLE CAPITAL INFUSION

*WILL REQUIRE ALL CITI EMPLOYEES TO WEAR PATCH OVER ONE EYE

*SOMALIAN PIRATES APPLY TO BECOME BANK TO ACCESS TARP

*PAULSON: TARP PIRATE EQUITY IS AN `INVESTMENT,’ WILL PAY OFF

*KASHKARI SAYS `SOMALI PIRATES ARE ‘FUNDAMENTALLY SOUND’ ‘

*Moody’s upgrade Somali Pirates to AAA

*HUD SAYS SOMALI DHOW FORECLOSURE PROGRAM HAD `VERY LOW’ PARTICPATION

*SOMALI PIRATES IN DISCUSSION TO ACQUIRE CITIBANK

*FED OFFICIALS: AGGRESSIVE EASING WOULD CUT SOMALI PIRATE RISK

* FED AGREED OCT. 29 TO TAKE `WHATEVER STEPS’ NEEDED FOR SOMALI PIRATES

——————————————————————————————–

THIS IS SATIRE!

Wu-Tang Clan – CREAM

[Intro: Raekwon the Chef, Method Man]

What that nigga want God?
Word up, look out for the cops (Wu-Tang five finger shit)
(Cash Rules) Word up, two for fives over here baby
Word up, two for fives them niggaz got garbage down the way, word up
KnowhatI’msayin?
(Cash Rules Everything Around Me
C.R.E.A.M. get…)
Yeah, check this ol fly shit out
Word up
(Cash Rules Everything Around Me) Take you on a natural joint
(C.R.E.A.M. get the money) Here we here we go
(dolla dolla bill y’all) Check this shit, yo!

[Verse One: Raekwon the Chef]

I grew up on the crime side, the New York Times side
Staying alive was no jive
At second hands, moms bounced on old men
So then we moved to Shaolin land
A young youth, yo rockin the gold tooth, ‘Lo goose
Only way, I begin to gee off was drug loot
And let’s start it like this son, rollin with this one
And that one, pullin out gats for fun
But it was just a dream for the teen, who was a fiend
Started smokin woolies at sixteen
And running up in gates, and doing hits for high stakes
Making my way on fire escapes
No question I would speed, for cracks and weed
The combination made my eyes bleed
No question I would flow off, and try to get the dough all
Sticking up white boys in ball courts
My life got no better, same damn ‘Lo sweater
Times is ruff and tuff like leather
Figured out I went the wrong route
So I got with a sick ass click and went all out
Catchin keys from across seas
Rollin in MPV’s, every week we made forty G’s
Yo nigga respect mine, or anger the tech nine
Ch-chick-POW! Move from the gate now

[Chorus: Method Man]

Cash, Rules, Everything, Around, Me
C.R.E.A.M.
Get the money
Dollar, dollar bill y’all

[Verse Two: Inspector Deck]

It’s been twenty-two long hard years of still strugglin
Survival got me buggin, but I’m alive on arrival
I peep at the shape of the streets
And stay awake to the ways of the world cause shit is deep
A man with a dream with plans to make C.R.E.A.M.
Which failed; I went to jail at the age of 15
A young buck sellin drugs and such who never had much
Trying to get a clutch at what I could not… could not…
The court played me short, now I face incarceration
Pacin — going up state’s my destination
Handcuffed in back of a bus, forty of us
Life as a shorty shouldn’t be so ruff
But as the world turns I learned life is hell
Living in the world no different from a cell
Everyday I escape from Jakes givin chase, sellin base
Smokin bones in the staircase
Though I don’t know why I chose to smoke sess
I guess that’s the time when I’m not depressed
But I’m still depressed, and I ask what’s it worth?
Ready to give up so I seek the Old Earth
Who explained working hard may help you maintain
to learn to overcome the heartaches and pain
We got stickup kids, corrupt cops, and crack rocks
and stray shots, all on the block that stays hot
Leave it up to me while I be living proof
To kick the truth to the young black youth
But shorty’s running wild smokin sess drinkin beer
And ain’t trying to hear what I’m kickin in his ear
Neglected, but now, but yo, it gots to be accepted
That what? That life is hectic

[Outro:]

[Chorus -- 4X]

Niggas gots to do what they gotta do, to get a bill
YaknowhatI’msayin?
Cuz we can’t just get by no more
Word up, we gotta get over, straight up and down

[Chorus -- 3X]

Cash Rules Everything Around Me
C.R.E.A.M.
get the money
Dolla dolla bill y’aauhhhaaaauhhhhahhhauhhhhll, YEAH

Ok…Its been a long day

Where to start? The commute from NJ To LIC still sucks. 1.5 hours there and 2 hours back. The economy has been going to the shitters since the start of this year. It’s only now that people are dealing with the harsh reality.

President Obama isn’t in a position to get his team in and work his magic just yet. Bush still have another 2-3 months left to fuck up the country and then hand over the entire mess to Barry. Just recently Bush spoke about World War 2 on Remembrance Day and couldn’t even properly say “Yamato” was the ship that caused the Navy so much grief in the Pacific Theatre.

America has redeemed itself after allowing a man who is a disgrace to special needs people take power for 8 years. According to comedian Russel Brand, the UK would not even dare to let someone like George W. Bush run around with scissors in his hands; yet Americans gave him the nuclear launch codes for 8 long years. Only another 2-3 months before Barack H. Obama is the 44th President.

In other news, Chen Shuibian has finally been arrested by the authorities he helped reform after being accused of misusing secret government diplomatic funds for personal use and money laundering. The only means of defence Chen employed are making claims that his arrest is a KMT-CCP conspiracy against Taiwan independence and implied that his past record as a human rights lawyer from a poor family entitles him to such money. The good news is Chen will actually get the due process he fought for on behalf of real Taiwanese dissidents and these investigations actually began during his second term as president.

The world is in a recession and dreams are being flushed down the drain. Frugal is the new chic, and the credit crunch has become a great excuse to not do anything. These 3-5 years will be a good time to focus on fixed income and broad-based index funds with low expense ratios. This is something to keep in mind when rebalancing the 401k or IRA accounts.

Commodities are another possibility with the still-ignored food crisis assuming one knows how to read trading patterns for futures contracts or understands the fundamentals or the significance of the commodities being traded. The easiest way to get into the commodities game without learning about futures is through an ETF.

What else? Since we’re in a major recession or quasi-depression, it would be best to start paying down those debts and increase savings if possible. It’s going to be a very rough and emotional roller-coaster before any of us see light at the end of the tunnel.

“Godzilla: Final Wars” was a really bad and campy movie. The best actors were the Japanese-American (Kane Kosugi) and the American MMA fighter. The rest of the cast seemed to be there for their role in previous Godzilla films or for the money. The worst actor was the villain who looked like a Japanese Ben Stiller as Zoolander with makeup…

President Barack H. Obama, the 44th President of the United States of America!

America has proven that they are sane enough to vote for reason instead of tribalism and anti-intellectualism. I hope Obama can assemble the right team to tackle the economic, and foreign policy mess created by the Bush Administration and their lesser-minded quislings.

Thank You America: the world can sleep a little easier tonight.

Halloween Dinner Party, Lost in SoHo

Friday night was a bit wild with the Halloween Party and lots of crazy costumes running around in the Union Square-Soho area. After getting off work, I wound up walking from 23rd street all the way to Bowery for a dinner party and making some random stops along the way.

The thing was after walking down 6th Ave with repeated roadblocks, I started taking a few detours to get to Bowery. Along the way I think I got myself into SoHo without realising it and resorted to the iPhone’s map to triangulate my position to Bowery. Along the way, I found myself looking around the UNIQLO store, where I got ideas for Fall/Winter clothes, and went to kill time by eating at a place to “Rice to Riches”.

“Rice to Riches” is this expensive specialty rice pudding desert restaurant somewhere in NoLiTa. They serve a variety of flavours in quirky tupperware containers and spoons.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/rice-to-riches-new-york

The only boneheaded move I did was trashing my container and learning later that they are willing to clean the containers for the customers as souvenirs. That was a bad move on my part and I think I will keep that in mind next time I find myself in that part of town. The thing is SoHo and NoLiTa actually use street names instead of numbers in addition to have very narrow alleys. This makes the area a bit more confusing compared to the streets and avenues from downtown to upper Manhattan.

The dinner party was held at Congee Bowery and we had a typical Chinese dinner. AFterwards, there were plans to go to a Aura, but the traffic was just a nightmare so we called it a night. Tonight is another night out.

Nore feat. Daddy Yankee – Oye Mi Canto

If You Latino Right Now Stand The Fuck Up!!!

SBK…(SBK)
Alive…(Alive We Comin’ Up!)
With Nina Sky…(Nina Sky Wassup Girls?)
N.O.R.E & Tego…(N.O.R.E., Tego)
Gem Star…(Gem Star) Big Nato..(Ah Big Nato)
C’mon,..C’mon

Whoa…Whoa…Whoa…Whoa
What U Say?

Boriqua (HA!) Morena (HA!) Dominicano (HA!) Colombiano (HA!)
Boriqua (HA!) Morena (HA!) Cubano (HA!) Mexicano (HA!)
Oye Mi Canto

You See This Is What Whey Want,
They Want Reggaeton,
WHAT? WHAT?
They Want Reggaeton,

Esta Lo Que Quieren,
Toma Reggaeton,
QUE? QUE?
Toma Reggaeton,

You See, I’m N.O.R.E. Keep My Story,
My Story I Always Kick It QUE?
When I Bone Shorty I Slap Culo And Listen QUE?

Soy El Gem Estrella Cuando Canto Lo Que Dicen, (WHAT?)
Una Nalga En El Culo Ella Grita, (WHAT?)

See Her Booty Gotta Rep For It’s Own,
I Be For Auto San Juan, Biamon,

Sol En Campo Santiago, Tabacco Y Rome,
Aya En Puerto-Rico Con Bacardi Y Rome
Ahh This All That
Creme Cheese & Baggel On It
Toma Reggaeton,
Remix Wit’ Tego On It
Este Un ??
Con N.O.R.E. On It
Un Reggaeton Con Gem Star Y Big Nato On It

[Chorus:]
Whoa…Whoa…Whoa…Whoa
Boriqua (HA!) Morena (HA!) Dominicano (HA!) Colombiano (HA!)
Boriqua (HA!) Morena (HA!) Cubano (HA!) Mexicano (HA!)
Oye Mi Canto

Al Dormir Cuando Suenan Venden Como Pan Caliente
No Se Me Duerman Con Aquella Gente
Si Quieren Comprar Vendale La Muerte
Y Contarle La Consencia Por Que No Le Encuentren
Digo Ayuda, Pero Si No Tiro La Sulla
La Jaula Esta Segura Antoja La Caulla
So Pica La Cuasahita Especialmente El Dia De Visita
Que No Llego Mi Viejita
La Muerte Corre, Se Sufre En Doble
No Llego El Sobre Que Cosa Pobrable Pal Puro
Investigarlo Mejo Creerlo Sin Verlo
El Que Se Enfreteria No Le Paso El Freno
Oye No Inverstigarlo Mejor Creerlo Sin
El Que Se Enfreteria No Le Paso El Freno
Ay Dios..Ay Dios
Caldejo..Caldejo..Caldejo

[Chorus:]
Whoa…Whoa…Whoa…Whoa
Boriqua (HA!) Morena (HA!) Dominicano (HA!) Colombiano (HA!)
Boriqua (HA!) Morena (HA!) Cubano (HA!) Mexicano (HA!)
Oye Mi Canto

MAMI! Venga Ver Lo Que Tengo Yo PARA TI!
Ya Siento Que Sin Ti No Puedo Vivir
Ay MAMI…(MAMI)…MAMI…(MAMI)
Hey..(Hey)..Hey..(Hey)
Oye Mi Canto
Mira Con Mundo Linda
Yo Le Canto Mira Asea Norte Ami Hermano
Yo La Mando…(Mando)
Hey…(Hey)…Hey…(Hey)

[Chorus:]
Whoa…Whoa…Whoa…Whoa
Boriqua (HA!) Morena (HA!) Dominicano (HA!) Colombiano (HA!)
Boriqua (HA!) Morena (HA!) Cubano (HA!) Mexicano (HA!)
Oye Mi Canto

[2X]
SBK Da Beast, Gem Star & Nato, Nina Sky (Wassup Girls)
Better Make A Call To The Big Homie In Puerto Rico
Tego Calderon (Wassup Boi!)

….Oye Mi Canto,
….Oye Mi Canto,
….Oye Mi Canto,
….Oye Mi Canto,
….Oye Mi Canto,
…Canto
…Canto
…Canto

My Open Letter to Congress

Here is what my friend wrote about the American financial meltdown:

Dear Congress:

Chances are most if not all of the major commercial and investment banks are insolvent. Not one of them is opting out of the do-not-short list, and they don’t seem to have the confidence in their survival to opt out of the Level 3 asset swap program Secretary Paulson is proposing.

It is also very likely that acutely dangerous systemic risk already exists, not merely from direct lines of credit among the banks, but especially from credit default swaps, which if activated by more than one large bank default would probably bring down many others. Remember, though, that this systemic risk is highly concentrated in the top 25 or so banks in the world, and does not jeopardize the 6,000 other community banks in the U.S.

Third, it is also highly probable that as this recession worsens, and as housing values continue to sink, forcing more foreclosures, the large banks will be even closer to collapse. Having worked for several years as a derivatives trader as well as having an MBA in Finance, I can tell you that it looks like catastrophe is already here.

What Sec. Paulson wants you to believe is that catastrophe is approaching, but it can be averted if only Congress acts urgently to give him the extraordinary authority he is requesting. The implication is if you don’t give him $700 billion in borrowing authority within a week, markets will collapse and it will be all your fault.

We’ve seen this drill before, with the Patriot Act and with the Iraq War authorization. The scare tactics, the urgency, the implied threat of blame for any failure – this is what the administration does.

If insolvency is here now for the big banks, the last thing you want to do is throw $700 billion of money that is not yours at bailing out the banks who created this disaster. You’ll need every bit of that money to protect the taxpayers and their deposits in these banks when these financial companies are thrown into the bankruptcy courts. You’ll need that money to make sure consumer deposits are protected with insurance.

And forget about comparing Paulson’s plan to the RTC. These Level 3 assets aren’t homes, condos, or commercial real estate that can be easily sold at the right price. They are bits of paper giving the bond holder the right to some small portion of thousands of mortgages, a right that is shared with all the other investors, who are required to agree on what is done with foreclosed properties in the pool. This is one of the reasons no one wants to buy this stuff, and no one will for many years until it is crystal clear what the final losses will be.

Paulson is basically scaring you and the rest of Congress into giving him unprecedented power to protect his friends on Wall Street. This decision you are making is probably as momentous as the Iraq War resolution. Don’t fall for this bailout disguised as the only way to prevent Armageddon. Armageddon is already here – at least for the big banks – and it needs an entirely different solution. Spend our money protecting us, by ensuring the FDIC is properly funded, by throwing these too-big-to-fail banks into bankruptcy if they truly are insolvent, by preserving the healthy parts of these banks while in bankruptcy, and bringing them back out again so they function under much better safety and sound regulations. We’ve had airlines functioning properly and safely for years while in bankruptcy, and there is no reason we can’t do the same with banks.

Please do not fall for some useless compromise or bipartisan agreement that gives the administration what it wants in the end. Kill this proposal here and now, protect us from this bailout, and deal with the real problem – the insolvency of the major banks, not the paper that is supposedly blocking their lending capabilities.

Please feel free to contact me anytime, regardless of hour. I will fly to D.C. if I have to in order to lay this out in front of you and your economic team. It means that much to me that you are fully educated as to the ramifications of this bill before you are allowed to saddle the taxpayer with the systemic risk inherent in our current financial system.

Sincerely,

J. Clay Waliski
(501) 454-4967
(870) 552-1047