Study: Last Supper paintings supersize the food

Has even the Last Supper been supersized?

The food in famous paintings of the meal has grown by biblical proportions over the last millennium, researchers report in a medical journal Tuesday.

Using a computer, they compared the size of the food to the size of the heads in 52 paintings of Jesus Christ and his disciples at their final meal before his death radiology associate degree.

If art imitates life, we’re in trouble, the researchers conclude. The size of the main dish grew 69 percent; the size of the plate, 66 percent, and the bread, 23 percent, between the years 1000 and 2000.

Supersizing is considered a modern phenomenon, but “what we see recently may be just a more noticeable part of a very long trend,” said Brian Wansink, a food behavior scientist at Cornell University.

The study was his idea. For biblical context, he sought help from his brother, Craig Wansink, professor of religious studies at Virginia Wesleyan College in Norfolk, Va., and an ordained Presbyterian minister.

The Bible says the Last Supper took place on a Passover evening but gives little detail on specific foods besides bread and wine.

“There’s nothing else mentioned. They don’t say there’s a fruit cup or carrot cake,” though other foods such as fish, eel, lamb and even pork have appeared in paintings through the years, Brian Wansink said.

For the study, he used paintings featured in the book “Last Supper,” published in 2000 by Phaidon Press. They include perhaps the most famous portrayal of the meal, by Leonardo da Vinci. Computer technology allowed them to scan, rotate and calculate images regardless of their orientation in the paintings.

Details are in the April issue of the International Journal of Obesity.

The study is “not very meaningful science,” said Martin Binks, a behavioral health psychologist and a consultant at Duke University Medical Center. “We have real life examples of the increase in portion size — all you have to do is look at what’s being sold at fast-food restaurants.”

A more contemporary test would be to analyze portion sizes in Super Bowl commercials, he suggested

[Via http://dorrato.wordpress.com]

Universities in the recession

The always interesting website University World News has put together a series of reports on how different countries are treating their higher education sectors during the recession and the resulting scarcity of public money. Taking as their starting point the view expressed by a senior researcher in Berkeley – that in a recession governments should want to protect their university systems as these represent their best bet to achieve recovery – they look at a number of countries to see whether this is borne out in each case. There is no absolute pattern, but from the reports most developed western countries are cutting their higher education budgets, while emerging countries in the east are either protecting the sector or even allowing it to grow. In Europe, the exceptions appear to be Scandinavia and France.

What also emerges from the reports is that in a number of countries the current period is being used to introduce reforms to the system.

What should we conclude from this? One possible conclusion is that the approach by some governments to higher education may serve to exacerbate their economic problems as they will make economic recovery still more difficult. Another is that this is becoming an era of reform, but that the substance of reform is not the same across different countries. Many of those going for quick growth are liberalising their university systems and promoting greater autonomy, while others (perhaps including Ireland) are restricting and bureaucratising theirs.

It is not unlikely that as the dust settles from the recession that the pattern of performance in higher education across the globe will have changed, and will possibly reflect new economic realities. And unless there is a quick change of approach, this will almost certainly not have worked in Europe’s favour. Time will tell.

[Via http://universitydiary.wordpress.com]

Homes, children and money

A couple of short news items illustrate how the state of the nation’s economic health affects some of us.

More than one in four mortgage holders (26%) say that a drop of up to £300 in their monthly income would mean they couldn’t meet their mortgage repayments. A Callcredit Information Group survey revealed almost one in ten adults (9%) overestimated their income when applying for credit, rising to 13% of those aged 35 – 44 years.

29% of parents say they talk to their children about money more because of the recession. Research commissioned by HSBC and the Personal Finance Education Group (pfeg) shows that children have been strongly impacted by the recession, with a quarter having reduced their own spending as a result. Over a third (34%) see their mobile phone as a necessity, whilst iPods, trips out and new clothes are seen as luxuries.

[Via http://nwsheffield.org]

A Cliff-Notes Version of the Healthcare Bill

I just received my weekly newsletter from my Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen. I am proud to say he is voting against the healthcare bill that is going to the floor tomorrow.

In his newsletter, he listed what I consider a “cliff notes” version of the new taxes and what the IRS will be up to if this little gem passes. I have posted it here. I think you will find it interesting.

Here is a partial list of the tax increases in the Pelosi health care bill:

• If you don’t buy health insurance (as dictated acceptable by a new federal czar), you will be fined up to 2.5% of your income even if you pay all of your medical expenses yourself. If your company does not provide “acceptable” health insurance to all workers, the company will be fined up to $2,000 per employee. (This proposal alone may require the hiring of 1,600 new IRS employees.  See attached data sheet from the House Committee on Ways and Means);
• An additional Medicare tax on self-employment income and wages.  This removes the current cap on wages subject to this tax and it will effectively move the top income tax rate from 35% to 43.4% within a couple of years;
• For certain taxpayers, the bill increases the Medicare FICA tax from 2.9 percent to 3.8 percent and for the first time, this tax will be extended beyond wages to include interest, dividends, capital gains, annuities, royalties, home sales and rents.  This new tax will be particularly damaging to New Jersey’s seniors, many of whom depend on their interest, dividends and annuities to cover their monthly expenses and potential nursing home costs;
• There is a 2.9% tax on all medical “devices”, which basically means everything used in a doctor’s office or hospital. Including gowns, syringes, wheelchairs and the like.  This will increase health care costs for everyone who does not get free government insurance;
• The deduction for medical expenses is currently limited to those expenses that exceed 7.5% or your income. This will be raised to a threshold of 10% of your income. This means that fewer people will get any tax relief from medical expenses they pay for themselves;
• There are various taxes on anything a person might do to pay for their own medical expenses. Things like Health Savings Accounts, Cafeteria Plans, and Flexible Savings Accounts are ways for people to save their OWN money for their OWN medical care on a pre-tax basis. Under the bill, they will be limited and taxed;
• A 10% tax on tanning services;
• A tax on self-insured health plans. This is another penalty on those who try to pay for their own health care;
• A new tax on pharmaceutical manufacturers, an important employer in New Jersey. This will raise the price of medicines for everyone who does not get them from the government for free;
• A new tax on “Cadillac” health plans. This is a tax of up to 55% on any health insurance that costs over about $800 per month including employee and employer contributions. This tax does not apply if you are a union member or your plan is from AARP or Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan;
• There is a new tax on all “for-profit” health insurance companies (except for a few favored ones).  This will also raise the costs of premiums for everyone not getting free care from the government.

Combined, these new taxes will cause medical costs to go up and private sector job creation to go down, increase budget deficits and national debt, and force physicians to stop seeing Medicare and Medicaid patients. It will cause fewer people to pay for their own care, and more to seek government care.

In the end, the Pelosi health care proposal adds up to more taxes, more spending, and more deficits.  This is a bill American cannot afford.

Highlights of New IRS Authority

Under H.R. 3590 – the Senate-passed health bill

(Source: House Ways and Means Committee Minority)

• IRS agents verify if you have “acceptable” health care coverage;
• IRS has the authority to fine you up to $2,250 or 2 percent of your income (whichever is greater) for failure to prove that you have purchased “minimum essential coverage”;
• IRS can confiscate your tax refund;
• IRS audits are likely to increase;
• IRS will need up to $10 billion to administer the new health care program this decade;
• IRS may need to hire as many as 16,500 additional auditors, agents and other employees to investigate and collect billions in new taxes from Americans;
• Nearly half of all these new individual mandate taxes will be paid by Americans earning less than 300 percent of poverty ($66,150 for a family of four).

SPECIAL EXEMPTION: The Senate-passed bill prohibits the IRS from imposing these taxes and penalties on illegal immigrants.

[Via http://ihaveagripe.wordpress.com]

Industry Analysis: Asian Trade Shows Report Good Traffic, Price Resistance

This article is published courtesy of  Gemological Institute of America Author: Russell Shor,   Senior Industry Analyst Intellectual property: GIA Reports from trade shows in Bangkok (Feb. 26-March 2) and Hong Kong (March 5-9) were generally positive, citing strong traffic. Price resistance for diamonds and colored gems was also quite strong. By the close of the latter show, however, buyers accepted diamond prices that were some 20% above last year’s show. This gives some relief to manufacturers squeezed between rising rough prices and static prices for polished goods.   In Hong Kong, Alrosa, the agency that markets Russia’s diamond production, held a tender auction of 145 polished stones — several of more than 10 carats — that was expected to total $8 million.   At the Jewelers of America Show in New York (Feb. 28-March 2), exhibitors reported light traffic. Serious buyers did show up, but they were cautious and bought primarily to replenish post-holiday season inventories.   DIAMONDS: The speculative spikes in rough diamond prices appear to have eased following sales of some $2 billion worth of goods into the market during the first two months of this year. The 7% to 9% price increases that the De Beers Diamond Trading Company imposed in February were also quickly absorbed. Secondary sellers, however, did not tack on their own increases as they had for the previous nine months.   This, plus steadily recovering demand and firming prices for polished diamonds, has given the diamond industry hope that rough and polished markets are stabilizing.   Rough prices are higher now than they were before the economic crisis; the increases stem from renewed credit lines, particularly in India, and perceived shortages of rough. Last year, rough sales totaled $5.5 billion to $6 billion, half of 2008 levels.   COLORED GEMS: Gem Fields, the London-based colored stone mining company, intends to take its time in evaluating the 6,225 ct emerald its Zambian operation unearthed last month. The company’s chief executive did say, however, that preliminary indications are that “it should yield a number of cut gems of significant size.”   MACRO: Favorable weather and improving consumer sentiment helped push chain store sales to their largest gain since July 2007. Sales rose 3.4% the first week in March over the corresponding week last year, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and Goldman Sachs. Major store sales for the first week of March were also up 2.9% from the previous week.   Michael Niemira, ICSC’s director of research and chief economist, predicted that with this strong start, March sales would increase by 2.5% to 3.5%.   – Russell Shor     Senior Industry Analyst

[Via http://gemmanews.wordpress.com]

Healthcare: Forced Upon us All

Fees, taxes, prices have increased steadily for as long as I’ve been alive.  Government takes more and more of my paycheck to fund many things I don’t even agree with.  With this Healthcare bill being rammed through Congress, the government is about to take even more.  You and I will be forced to purchase health insurance if this bill passes, just the same way that Californians are forced to purchase auto insurance.  Think about that.

I cannot afford yet another bill.  Are not my finances my own?  Can I not in America decide as an independent man what expenses to take on and what expenses to avoid?  Do I not have the right to NOT get insurance, taking the risk upon myself to live without it?  Automobile registration fees are exorbitant (mine due this month is over $300).  I either pay the government, or my truck will be impounded.  So what of those who cannot afford another bill forced upon them, like health insurance?

Obama’s answer: those who cannot afford to pay the forced purchase price of the forced insurance will have to petition the government for ‘tax credits/subsidies’…  go to big government… kneel before the throne of our magistrates… beg for aid.  Is this America?  Is this your government?

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Not only is the take-over-healthcare-we-force-you-to-pay-and-buy bill unconstitutional, contrary to the fundamental principles of liberty and personal freedom (not to mention state’s rights) upon which this country was built, but this is the way in which it’s being rammed through Congress:

Congressmen and women being bought and sold…

Haven’t the Obama-care advocates said time and again that this is about helping American citizens, about doing the right thing?  Didn’t Obama promise his supporters that he would bring Change to Washington?  With his Presidency were not the old ways of doing business on Capital Hill over?  Is this the Change you hoped for?

Is this your government?

[Via http://oddnotunusual.wordpress.com]

Environment: does capitalism play a role in global warming ?

Years ago I had a girlfriend that played a game known as “6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon”, a game where kids would try to link something with Kevin Bacon through a series of direct and indirect associations.

This, to me, is a lot like the association between a capitalist’s drive for profit and eco-destruction.

The set of decisions that gives way to eco-destruction can be accounted for within one understanding: there is built into capitalism the necessity to please the consumer in order to survive ( this is not the same thing as the necessity to create good products in order to compete ).

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Take as an example grocery bags, whether paper or plastic. Both of these products are rendered to the marketplace for the purpose of convenienc-ing me which is a course towards profit for the store.

A store would lose my business to a competitor if it did not provide to me bags to carry my groceries ( unless no stores offered bags … hmmm ). The damage of billions of bags is documented: the production of, the delivery of, and the disposal of.

Compare that to the common practice in Europe where folks bring their personal grocery bags with them. This practice is a sensible consequence of their pre-1990 communism. However, from my understanding stores have begun offering plastic bags earlier this decade.

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Take as another example, automobiles. I lived in Atlanta for nearly 15 years. For 5 of those years I drove a 50-mile round-trip commute … even though MARTA was available.

Chevy did not have to try hard to convince me that having a car of my own is a good thing. They, in the name of profit, built a product that appealed to me, regardless of the repercussions of pollution, etc.

And again compare this to Europe, where until just recently nearly everyone used buses and trains without humiliation.

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[Via http://goodflagbetsy.wordpress.com]

Health Care Reform

Clear as Mud

Health care reform

Single Payer

Nancy Pelosi hates Democracy?

By poetryman69

Now that Nancy Pelosi knows her side would lose, she was to violated the constitution with a pick axe and let a money bill originate in the senate.

Passing Commie Care without voting on it

Commies want to avoid direct vote on Marxist Medicine.

Oh Really Obama?

By poetryman69

Even when they’re not lying:   They’re lying

The Limbaugh deception

Bankrupting Medicare

By poetryman69

What happens when a financially strapped Government program is stripped of half a trillion dollars?  It goes bankrupt.

The logical result of Obama taking $500 Billion out of Medicare when it is underfunded as it is, will be bankruptcy.

Has anyone told those who are sick, poor and old that the rug is about to pulled out from under you?

How do you know Obama can do it?

By poetryman69

How do you know Obama can save half a trillion dollars on Medicare?

You don’t.

In fact you know he probably can’t.  After all, Obama just presented the 2011 budget and it was in deficit by $1.2 trillion.  In the entire federal budget there are dozens if not hundreds or thousands of programs.  Obama says he can save half a trillion in just one government program.  He should have been able to save at least one or two trillion with that many programs to cut.  But he didn’t.

So Obama fails the test by not balancing the budget.

One can almost see little Barry with big crying eyes blubbering that little Georgie never balanced a budget neither!!!

Barry, Barry, Barry.

Is this the standard of excellence they teach at Harvard?    What the other guy did on the test?

Is the standard of excellence in community organizing.  Wait a minute, there is no standard of excellence for community organizing.  You could phone that in!  In fact, that explains everything.

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Obama Breaking the Law?

By poetryman69

Is President Barack Hussein Obama breaking the law?  If he knows exactly where to find $500 billion of waste, fraud and abuse in the Medicare budget and he fails to take immediate action to stop it  isn’t he aiding and abetting violations of law?  Isn’t he engaged in a conspiracy in furtherance of a criminal enterprise?   Doesn’t this meet the test of “high crimes and misdemeanors?”

If, on the other hand, Obama relents and says he only kinda, sorta knows where  half a trillion dollars is…Well…hmmm.   With the exception of Bernie Madoff, have you ever known of anyone who said he kinda, sorta knows where $500 billion is?

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Saving $.5 trillion?

President Barack Hussein Obama claimed that he could save half a trillion dollars on Medicare.  But Medicare is only one government program.  In his 2011 budget Obama dealt with dozens if not hundreds of government programs.  If he really is so good at ferreting out waste, fraud and abuse then surely there would be a multiplier effect when dealing with the whole budget.    In fact, if Obama can really save  $500 Billion on one program he should have been able to save over a $1 trillion on the federal budget as a whole so why didn’t he?  Why was Obama’s 2011 budget $1.2 trillion in the red?  Where did that deficit come from?

Perhaps there was no waste, fraud or abuse in the rest of the government.  In fact, maybe Obama inherited from George Bush a federal bureaucracy that was so sound that it runs like a Swiss watch with 100% efficiency.  In fact since, after a year of looking,  Obama could find no waste, fraud or abuse in the non-Medicare part of the budget one wonders why we needed Obama or that much ballyhooed change at all.  Surely a third installment of that movie  Revenge of the Shrubbery:  When Bushes Attack starring John McCain would have done just as well as Obama.  That is,  if there was no waste, fraud or abuse that Obama could find and cut out of the entire government apparatus.  After all, George Bush ran the government for 8 years, surely he left some shoddy workmanship somewhere in federal government.

Makes you wonder if that $500 Billion that Obama claims he could save is vaporware, smoke and mirrors, illusory.

Obama’s Budget in the red before Health Care

If you like the Post Office you’ll love ObamaCare

No Wealth

How to Bankrupt a Nation

President Karl Marx…A Love Story

Creating Wealth

Wishing Well

Constellation of Idiots

Whose fault is it?

Post Consumerism

How to Plunder a Nation

Selling Zero

The Most Corrupt Politicians in Washington

Dictionary of Dreams

It is better to be Drunk than Wasted

MARXIST MEDICINE

COMMIE CARE

ENEMY OF THE STATE

Online Job Search

Government Work

Job Search

Job Search for the Older Worker

[Via http://waitingonthenewmoon.wordpress.com]

House may try to pass Senate health-care bill without voting on it

After laying the groundwork for a decisive vote this week on the Senate’s health-care bill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested Monday that she might attempt to pass the measure without having members vote on it.

Instead, Pelosi (D-Calif.) would rely on a procedural sleight of hand: The House would vote on a more popular package of fixes to the Senate bill; under the House rule for that vote, passage would signify that lawmakers “deem” the health-care bill to be passed.

Read more from The Washington Post.

[Via http://thewillandersonshow.wordpress.com]

Conservation-Of-Madness Strikes Again

All the rain in the world (and it seems like we got, in fact, all the rain in the world) was unable to long dampen spirits of equity traders. Although the market started off with a small slither lower, the upward momentum remains in place although to be fair the last couple of days’ worth of flirtation with the January highs of the S&P hasn’t exactly blown away the skeptics. Stocks today closed roughly unchanged after a soft open. June 10y Note futures gained about 2 ticks in a quiet session.

It appears as if the March-Lack-of-Madness has already hit the bond market (under the conservation-of-madness principle, NCAA March Madness seems to be mirrored by lethargic trading every year – at least in the fixed-income world), but there is a lot on tap this week that could change that. Not standing a chance, though, were today’s slightly stronger-than-expected Empire State Manufacturing Report (showing that last month’s jump in the index wasn’t entirely fluke) and slightly weaker-than-expected Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization numbers (overall strength in the numbers masked the fact that most of that strength was from utilities output – the cold weather giveth, and the cold weather taketh away).

I like looking at seasonally-adjusted electricity use. Although over a long-term chart it muddies the question of productivity improvements, over the short-term it’s pretty interesting. It’s hard to make a lot more output without some more input. And here the picture is decidedly less rosy than the Industrial Production data. I wonder whether this indicates a movement of the production away from products that require high energy input (autos? raw steel?) to less-energy-intensive stuff. I don’t know the answer, but I find the divergence of this series from the Industrial Production index series to be curious.

Going Green The Hard Way!

Tomorrow’s release of Housing Starts (Consensus: 565k versus 591k last month) has a somewhat better chance of rocking the boat, but only if those Starts convincingly break above 600k – where they haven’t been for more than a year. The chart below (Source: Census Bureau) illustrates that even an annual pace of 600,000 units started…about three months’ worth at the peak…wouldn’t exactly, um, ‘break new ground’ so to speak.

Wouldn't 600k be really great? No?

Although such a figure wouldn’t exactly trigger paroxysms of joy, I think it would have an impact as the “second derivative” crowd would be excited at the improvement. Face it, the level isn’t going to be exciting. And the rate of change (first derivative) over the last couple of years is pretty ugly; over the last year or so it has gotten flat. A 600k would excite people who put a lot of importance on the mere transition from declining, to flat, to rising (even though, within the usual variance of the data, it would be hard to make such a pronouncement).

More important – and at least the source of more nervousness – will be the Fed’s post-meeting announcement late in the day. Here, again, we have a Fed in a transition from very easy policy to something close to neutral to something tighter; at least, that is what we are supposed to believe. While some of the more vocal hawks on the Fed are supposedly agitating for tighter policy, I think last month’s snugging of the discount rate was a bone thrown to them to keep them at bay for a bit. I doubt very seriously that the Committee feels like experimenting with a dramatic new statement, especially since there is already a pending experiment at the end of this month when the Desk stops buying mortgages. I don’t expect anything of significance out of this meeting (for example, a change in the statement to suggest that the time of low rates is drawing to a close), but even minor changes in the statement will likely lead to some post-release volatility.

The Fed’s first move toward tightness, when it does come, will be a good test to see if the conditions in the equity market are bubbly or just reflecting improved conditions over the last year. A bubbly market, such as the one we saw in the late 1990s, tends to take news that the Fed is hiking rates as “evidence that the economy is strong,” which is absurdly inconsistent with the notion that equities are near fair value considering the level of interest rates – that sort of absurd inconsistency would itself be an indication of bubbly conditions. A more rational response to the eventual hiking of rates would be a decline in the equity markets of a few days to a few weeks, as some marginal owners of equities shift to interest rate vehicles that are suddenly more attractive.

As I say, that musing is likely to be out-of-place on Tuesday, as I don’t expect the Fed to do anything significant. (It may take a little while to figure out that it isn’t significant, however!).

[Via http://mikeashton.wordpress.com]

The Sham "Recovery"

Robert Reich is  Professor at UC Berkeley, a former Secretary of Labor, and one of the very few who have reached such heights and are still concerned with the lives of the non-super-rich. His recent article in The Huffington Post is a must read:

The US economy grew at a 5.9 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2009. That sounds good until you realize GDP figures are badly distorted by structural changes in the economy. For example, part of the increase is due to rising health care costs. When WellPoint ratchets up premiums, that enlarges the GDP. But you’d have to be out of your mind to consider this evidence of a recovery.

Part of the perceived growth in GDP is due to rising government expenditures. But this is smoke and mirrors. The stimulus is reaching its peak and will be smaller in months to come. And a bigger federal debt eventually has to be repaid.

So when you hear some economists say the current recovery is following the traditional path, don’t believe a word. The path itself is being used to construct the GDP data.

Look more closely and the only ones doing better are the people and private-sector institutions at the top. Many of America’s biggest companies are sitting on huge amounts of cash right now, but that says nothing about the health of the U.S. economy. Companies in the Standard&Poor 500 stock index had sales of $2.18 trillion in the fourth quarter, up from $2.02 trillion last year, and their earnings tripled. Why? Mainly because they’re global, and selling into fast-growing markets in places like India, China, and Brazil.

America’s biggest companies are also showing fat profits and productivity gains because they continue to slash payrolls and cut expenditures. Alcoa, for example, had $1.5 billion in cash at the end of last year, double what it had on hand at the end of 2008. Sounds terrific until you realize how it did it. By cutting 28,000 jobs — 32 percent of workforce — and slashed capital expenditures 43 percent.

This is yet more evidence for something I’ve been trying to convince people of for some time. GDP means nothing.

[Via http://pavanvan.wordpress.com]

a (short) Quicken Update

Ok

not too long ago, I decided to try and use QUICKEN

again.   Since I really wanted to track my [poor] spending

habits.  And in general to try and improve my [very poor]

finances.

Well, so far, I am learning it is a big “pain in the butt”

This is probably why I am an engineer instead of an

ACCOUNANT.    ugghh

Now, after only 3 months of recording, my family bank

account balance is off by about $238.17″.  hoy

And my personal account, which I only opened 6 months

ago, is off by a similar (although seemingly non-disclosed)

amount  HA

So, for ease of getting your transactions from your bank

and other financial institutions, I give Quicken an A++

BRAVO   vastly improved over the 1998 or so version

But it still is an accounting program, so you still have

the meticuosly drudgery or going through all those

[although be it easily-downloaded] transactions

And furthermore, you may have to increase your

skill in finding the mistakes, etc.    That part I seem

to be short on skills or patience therein……

But i will stick to it for as long as I can,  I am finding that

There are mistakes in the banks, and credit cards transactions

And on occasion, if one fall out of my favor, I will be able

to challenge it, or at least be aware of it.

Also, we have some pretty frequent charges for medical expenses

As we grow older and require more health care.    Also, my

wife has type II diabetes, so there are some significant recurring

costs to cope with that

The point being, that quicken can easily flag these type of expenses

And record them.   The final yearly costs may be enough to

get itemized on our taxes.  So that is a good incentive to track

them

Overall, the software is much better, but you still have to

put a lot of time and effort into tracking it all.  Hopefully

I get my balances straightened out before TOO LONG

Since the longer it goes, the bigger mess it is to go through

hoy

CM

[Via http://millerc360.wordpress.com]

Diantara Ali dan Baba, siapa?

13hb. Mac, 201o

Diantara Ali dan Baba: Mungkin Ibrahim Ali dari PERKASA

oleh Zaid Ibrahim

Saya bersetuju dengan Ibrahim Ali yang mengatakan tak ada salahnya bagi beliau selaku Pengurusi Perkasa untuk berkerja dengan tauke Cina yang terkaya Vincent Tan, atau dengan mana-mana tauke lain yang membuat projek perumahan atau jambatan atau projek lain di Kelantan. Orang Melayu sepatutnya berkerja dengan siapa saja yang boleh memberi manfaat dan keuntungan kepada orang Melayu sendiri. Yang penting dia betul-betul berkerja atau berniaga secara aktif. Yang penting Melayu ini bukan “sleeping partner” atau bukan Ali kepada Baba. Yang penting Melayu yang tahu harga diri.

Malangnya ramai pemimpin Melayu/Bumiputera yang ada kabel dengan Perdana Menteri atau orang atasan lain dapat peluang hanya untuk jadi Ali kepada Baba. Maka dilantiklah Ali ini sebagai pengarah syarikat yang tak buat apa-apa kerja. Ali ini juga diberi saham. Maklumlah, Ali ini kan orang Bumiputra yang ada kedudukan istimewa dan peruntukan khas, walaupun bapa atau datuk dia lahir di Kerala atau Madras, atau di Aceh dan sebagainya. Orang yang benar-benar putera bumi di negara kita seperti Senoi, Negrito dan Proto Melayu di samping kumpulan-kumpulan etnik Semelai, Jakun, Temuan, Temiar dan sebagainya, tak pernah pula kita lihat dapat jawatan pengerusi syarikat-syarikat besarMereka tak ada perlindungan dibawah Perkara 153 yang ajaib itu.

Jadi bila wira Perkasa dan pengikut-pengikut UMNO Baru ini mahu pertahankan “keistemewaan” mereka, apakah sebenarnya yang mereka mahu pertahankan. Tak ada siapa pun yang bercadang nak ambil balik hak Bumiputera di bawah Perlembagaan. Tak orang bukan Melayu dan tidak juga Pakatan Rakyat yang mahu buat begitu. Lagi pun mustahil ianya dapat dilakukan dengan jumlah kerusi yang dipegang di Parlimen oleh kaum Bumiputera. Kadang-kadang ada di antara kita yang lupa bahawa di Sabah dan Sarawak, kaum Bumiputera merupakan kaum majoriti. Jadi apakah yang dibisingkan oleh “pembela hak Bumiputera” ini.

Sebenarnya, yang mereka mahu pertahankan ialah “sistem rentier” di mana nama Bumiputera UMNO itu ada harga untuk mendapat saham percuma atau elaun percuma atau jawatan pengarah dalam sesuatu syarikat. Mereka mahu Baba sentiasa perlukan servis dan nama mereka. Jadi Ali jenis ini sanggup terus mempertahankan elit Baba ini walaupun syarikat-syarikat Baba inilah yang menjadi persaingan dan mengurangkan peluang kepada peniaga Melayu yang tulin ikhlas yang mahu berniaga dengan erti kata yang sebenar. Inilah hakikatnya

Sepatutnya Ali ini perlu sedar diri dan benar-benar berjuang secara ikhlas. Apa yang perlu diperjuangkan oleh Ibrahim Ali dan Utusan Malaysia ialah supaya Model Ekonomi Baru yang dilaung-laungkan oleh Perdana Menteri Najib Razak itu dapat membanteras fenomena ekonomi pajakan nama Bumiputera Ali kepada Baba. Selagi Ali mendapat elaun murahan yang mudah dan percuma dari Baba, selagi itulah ekonomi orang Melayu akan dikawal oleh Ali yang ada kabel untuk kekayanan Baba. Baba ini pula bukan sebarangan Baba. Orang Cina pun tak suka mereka kerana bolot segala-galanya.

Tapi saya rasa adalah mustahil Najib akan membersihkan ekonomi “rentier” ini kerana para pemimpin UMNO akan marah, ketua Bahagian UMNO akan marah dan Ahli Parlimen UMNO akan marah. Mereka akan marah kalau Model Ekonomi Baru ini bersifat adil dan memberi peluang saksama kepada rakyat Malaysia.

Mereka mahu kepentingan mereka dipertahankan. Mereka akan marah kerana akan hilang peluang mendapat elaun murahan’ peluang jual nama Jadi mungkin Model Ekonomi Baru ini sebenar tak ada apa yang baru kecuali tabiat lama yang akan terus mementingkan UMNOputra. Tetapi kita sedia teliti dan meneliti dasar baru ini dengan adil..

[Via http://dinmerican.wordpress.com]

Experts say US doctors overtesting, overtreating

CHICAGO – Too much cancer screening, too many heart tests, too many cesarean sections. A spate of recent reports suggest that too many Americans — maybe even President Barack Obama — are being overtreated masters degree in psychology.

Is it doctors practicing defensive medicine? Or are patients so accustomed to a culture of medical technology that they insist on extensive tests and treatments?

A combination of both is at work, but now new evidence and guidelines are recommending a step back and more thorough doctor-patient conversations about risks and benefits.

As a medical journal editorial said this week about Obama’s recent checkup, Americans including the commander in chief need to realize that “more care is not necessarily better care.”

Obama’s exam included prostate cancer screening and a virtual colonoscopy. The PSA test for prostate cancer is not routinely recommended for any age and colon screening is not routinely recommended for patients younger than 50. Obama is 48.

Earlier colon cancer screening is sometimes recommended for high-risk groups — which a White House spokesman noted includes blacks. Doctors disagree on whether a virtual colonoscopy is the best method. But it’s less invasive than traditional colonoscopies and doesn’t require sedation — or the possible temporary transfer of presidential power, the White House said.

The colon exam exposed him to radiation “while likely providing no benefit to his care,” Dr. Rita Redberg, editor of Archives of Internal Medicine, wrote in an online editorial. Obama’s experience “is multiplied many times over” at a huge financial cost to society, and to patients exposed to potential harms but no benefits.

She also took issue with another test Obama had which uses radiation — a heart scan to look for calcium deposits in his arteries. She said the test isn’t recommended for low-risk men like Obama.

“People have come to equate tests with good care and preventio

[Via http://tvidter.wordpress.com]

Forbes 2010 list of wealthiest people is released

Warren Buffett, Bernard Arnault and Jeffrey Bezos move up from previous year positions By: Diamond World

The Forbes magazine list of the world’s richest people in 2010 has been released, identifying Carlos Slim Helu of Mexico as the wealthiest man in the world, having an estimated fortune of $53.5 billion, higher by $18.5 billion than the previous year. The 2010 list consists of names of 1,011 billionaires and a combined net worth of $3.6 trillion, while in 2009, the total net worth identified was $2.4 trillion. This year names of 218 new billionaires have been added.

Featuring in the list are some names of executives associated in some manner with the gem and jewellery industry. Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway has been placed on number 3 with fortunes worth $47 billion; he was named the second wealthiest man last year. Ranked at No.7 was Bernard Arnault of LVMH with a net worth of $27.5 billion, while the previous year, Arnault ranked at No.15. Jeffrey Bezos of Amazon.com was at No. 43 with a net worth of $12.3 billion, rising higher by 25 spots than last year. Francois Pinault and family (retailer PPR) stood at No. 77 with a net worth of $8.7 billion.

Nicky Oppenheimer and family stood at No. 154 with net worth of $5 billion, lowered by 56 spots from 2009. Laurence Graff was at No. 374 with a net worth of $2.5 billion, dropping by 69 spots. Beny Steinmetz of the Steinmetz Diamond Group stood at No.488 with a net worth of $2 billion; Lev Leviev was down 187 spots to No.655 with a net worth of $1.5 billion and Jack Ma of Internet retailer Alibaba Group was placed at No. 828 with a net worth of $1.2 billion.

[Via http://gemmanews.wordpress.com]

Brazil-Russia bilateral relations

In a multilateral world unfolded after 9/11 terrorist attacks, the United States have lost their preeminence over the international agenda. The turmoiled incursion in Iraq and the virulent domestic crisis were reasons for questioning North American dominance. In that scenario, emerging countries for instance Brazil and Russia gained leverage, which have exposed a changing global arrangement. These two states, notoriously known for their continental territories and enormous populations, were depicted as developing markets with geopolitical substance. Nevertheless, they do not have enough power to change by themselves the agenda; in reason of that, they need to cooperate to assure that their common demands will be part of the current order.

When President Lula came into office, he asserted that Russia was one of the pillars of Brazil’s foreign policy. He portrayed the bilateral contact as strategic and affirmed that the partnership should be intensified and the complementary features deepened. Russia matches Brazil’s interest to become more respected because it has important credentials. Besides being a permanent member of the United Nation’s Security Council and having the capability to craft the nuclear bomb, Russia has advanced technology, a well-known science expertise and impressive hydrocarbon reserves that could be compared to Brazil’s pre-salt layer.

The recent oil discoveries along the Brazilian coastline represent a great opportunity for the two countries to cooperate on energy and to widen collaboration between their state-owned companies, Brazil’s Petrobras and Russia’s Gazprom. Moreover, Brazil’s macroeconomic stability and proficiency in biofuels and in ethanol production attract the attention of Russia. The Brazilian influence in Latin America and its positive contacts with the peripheral world, for example with the African Union, are also other triumphs perceived by Russia. Mr. Medvedev, who came to Brazil in 2009, has also noticed that the partnership should be broadened.

South-south cooperation is the relations’ core and the two states usually combine opinions in multilateral affairs. They are classified by some scholars as system affecting countries, needing to merge in order to achieve their objectives. That happened when Brazil and Russia joined China and India in the BRIC group, aiming to gain greater political bargain, and when the subprime crisis affected the economy. The two countries, coping with other emerging actors, pressed the more powerful economies for market regulation and to an even distribution of International Monetary Fund’s quotas.

It is imperative that Brazil and Russia improve their bilateral relations to grant a more important role in a complex world. Both countries have valuable appeals that can be shared and deepened in order to permit them a paramount position in the actual scenario. Common interests and an effective alteration in the international agenda can be assured by an organized approach in multilateral talks.

[Via http://nonrefoulement.wordpress.com]

JOBS ADS JUMP, BUSINESS CONFIDENCE LIFT AUSTRALIAN SHAREMARKET

A SURGE in job advertisements and improving business confidence data boosted the Australian sharemarket today.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose for the eighth consecutive day, closing higher by 12.2 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 4820.1 on light share-trading volumes, after an extremely quiet night on Wall Street.

The index bounced from 4791.1 to 4828.1 as confidence in the domestic economy was bolstered by economic data. ANZ Bank said job advertisements surged 19.1 per cent in February from January and National Australia Bank said its business confidence index rose 4 points to plus 19 points in February from January.

But the index failed to break through the seven-week high of 4828.5 struck yesterday.

“The domestic situation looks good in isolation,” said Wesley Legrand at Grand Private Equities. “But we have to see what global influences come to bear.” Mr Legrand remains concerned about the level of sovereign debt in Europe.

For the full article: The Australian

[Via http://jollygoodnews.wordpress.com]

Secret documents, obtained from the the CIA, paint "a very clear picture of what members of Congress knew about so-called enhanced interrogation techniques and when they knew it"

- So, when to we start the treason courts?

These people have DELIBERATELY put this country in harms way.

We should apply some penalties that make sense with these horrible crimes of Treason!

Washington, DC

(Washington, DC) — Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has received a Memorandum from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) marked “Top Secret” that includes a detailed report of a House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) closed hearing regarding the subject of enhanced interrogation techniques.  The CIA produced the document pursuant to a previous court order in Judicial Watch’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the CIA (Judicial Watch v. Central Intelligence Agency, Case: 1:09-cv-01352).  The court order stipulates that documents pertaining to congressional briefings for Speaker Pelosi and other members of Congress on “enhanced interrogation techniques” must be provided to Judicial Watch by April 15th.

The following are excerpts from the Memorandum, dated July 14, 2004:

• Summary of testimony by DOD Official, Lt. Gen. William Boykin:  “At this point, General Boykin read a prepared statement to the Committee in which he asserted that interrogation is a critically valuable tool, and, citing observations made by service personnel at Ft. Bragg, said that the most [imp]ortant factor in the capture of Saddam Hussein was interrogation.”
• Summary of testimony by member of the CTC (Counterterrorism Center), name redacted:  “…Even today long term detainees like Khalid Shayk Muhammed and Zubaydah are providing good information because their histories go back a long way and often a tidbit they provide, while not initially operationally significant, ends up being the piece that completes the puzzle; DC/CTC closed by noting that he was personally persuaded that detainee reporting has saved lives.”
• Rep. Jane Harman:  “What do you think of the value of enhanced techniques?”  John Pistole, Witness for the FBI:  “In my view the benefits are huge and the costs are insignificant.  Very few detainees don’t provide us with good information….”
• Rep. Ruppersberger:  “Are there procedures that we have stopped that should be resumed?”  Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander, the Army G-2, [now Director of the National Security Agency (NSA)]:  “Yes.  Diet and sleep management.  Those, plus segregation which is still employed, are key…”
• General Alexander also testified that field commanders wanted more “97E’s” (interrogators), “even to the point of trading off some of their combat troops.”
• Saddam Hussein was not subjected to enhanced interrogation techniques, but “friendly discussions with an eye to future public prosecution.”

The document also recounts an allegation by Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) that the CIA had not been giving the committee “full and candid testimony on the detainee issue.”  Testimony also suggests that interrogators at Fort Bragg believed that “unobtrusive forms of interrogation are the best.”

“We are now beginning to get a very clear picture of what members of Congress knew about so-called enhanced interrogation techniques and when they knew it,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.  “Intelligence officials repeatedly informed members of Congress that enhanced interrogation techniques are effective and save lives.  It is little wonder why the Obama administration would try to keep these documents hidden, given the administration’s ideological hostility to these effective interrogation techniques”

In February, Judicial Watch released documents, previously marked “Top Secret,” indicating that between 2001 and 2007, the CIA briefed at least 68 members of Congress on the CIA interrogation program, including so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques.”  The documents include the dates of all congressional briefings and, in some cases, the members of Congress in attendance and the specific subjects discussed.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who previously denied she was briefed by the CIA on the use of these techniques, is specifically referenced in a briefing that took place on April 24, 2002, regarding the “ongoing interrogations of Abu Zubaydah.”

http://www.judicialwatch.org/news/2010/mar/judicial-watch-obtains-top-secret-memorandum-detailing-closed-congressional-hearing-en

[Via http://txlady706.wordpress.com]

Like pulling teeth

George Washington's teeth, between ca. 1910 and ca. 1915. (Library of Congress)

It’s been a long year but the final votes to pass this godforsaken health care reform bill are coming together. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi needs to wrangle 216 votes out of 431, and there are now 50 senators “open to using reconciliation to finish health reform.”

Back a couple weeks ago I was encouraging my readers to call their senators and request they support passing a public option via reconciliation. There are apparently now 37 senators willing to do that. Unfortunately, I think it’s pretty clear that is not going to happen this go, but the current bill is still a vast improvement over the status quo.

Even if you have already, call your senators and representative to ask for their “yes” vote on health care reform.

[Via http://knowyourgovernment.wordpress.com]

--Three Equivalent Standards: Gold, Euro and Dollar

An alternative to popular faith

A gold Standard, indeed any Standard, consists of two parts: An asset (gold) and a system. Of the two, the system plays the leading role.

In any Standard, the system requires that for every unit of currency a country issues, that country must own a fixed amount of the chosen asset. The fundamental purpose and effect of a gold Standard, or of any Standard, is to restrict the ability of a nation to issue money.

Gold has been a popular asset with attractive attributes. It’s consistent, malleable, permanent, pretty and scarce. But, other assets can be part of a Standard, for instance: silver, platinum, copper, wheat, the euro. The euro?

Yes, nothing says the asset in a Standard must be a physical substance. The only necessary attribute is some degree of scarcity. Today, much of Europe is on a “euro Standard.” This means that to spend money, each nation first must obtain euros. The fact that the money and the euros are identical is irrelevant. Rather, the necessity of owning euros restricts each nation’s issuance of money. This restriction is the key to any Standard.

The United States abandoned the gold Standard in 1971 because it restricted the issuance of dollars. The U.S. found itself unable to obtain enough gold to fund its growing economy. It easily could have been unable to service its debts, i.e. gone bankrupt. With the elimination of the gold Standard, the U.S. government demonstrated it is able to service any size debt, while creating unlimited money to fund economic growth.

Today Greece finds itself in the same restricted position. Being on the euro Standard, Greece is now unable to create sufficient currency to fund its growth, and having been forced to borrow, now faces the (unlikely) prospect of bankruptcy. The EU has ordered Greece to reduce its debt supply (aka money supply) by raising taxes and reducing expenditures – a prescription for recession and depression.

Any political entity that cannot create money eventually will be unable to service its debts, and faces economic stagnation. American states, counties and cities are on the “dollar Standard.” Unlike the federal government, they cannot spend money without obtaining dollars. Over time, all must obtain money by raising taxes and/or cutting expenditures, both of which have a depressing effect on their economies.

To save the state, county and city economies, the U.S. federal government increasingly must support local spending. Roads, bridges and dams are local initiatives, that might have been the financial responsibility of local governments, will need to be funded by the federal government. Education, local transportation, health care and anti-poverty programs also will require federal support.

The federal government, because it can create unlimited money without taxation, ultimately will fund the vast majority of local programs, the key political question being: Who will have the power to direct these programs, local agencies or the federal government?

Just as the American states, counties and cities can, must and will be supported by the U.S. government, the members of the EU can, must and will be supported by the only entity with the unlimited power to create money: the EU itself.

Eventually, it will become apparent that forcing EU nations to raise taxes and reduce spending only will serve to make economic growth impossible. At that point, the EU will assume the money-creation role for the euro. Thus, the euro will force a de facto “United States of Europe,” well before formal treaties are ratified.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

http://www.rodgermitchell.com

[Via http://rodgermmitchell.wordpress.com]

Foreclosure Tsunami Off Coast

For the last two years, real estate experts such as Jeff Adams (www.realestatemillionairecode.com) have been predicting the existence of a second wave of mortgage defaults and foreclosures closing in on the US economy like a tsunami due to strike this year.  So far we have only seen the meltdown from the failures in prime loans and option-arm loans.  The tsunami that is coming will include more prime and option-arms, but also present a new crop of subprime and ALT–A loans that were put into motion by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and their love child Ginnie Mae, oh and lets not forget the FHA.  In addition, the FHA is changing the rules on purchase money loans, making it more difficult to qualify, and therefore limiting the number homes that will actually be purchased by owner occupants.

All of this spells difficult times for those who are struggling to pay their mortgage, are out of work, or trying to purchase a new home.  However, for those ready to move on this investment opportunity there will be opportunities abounding – especially for those willing to hold the property as a landlord or provide seller financing through Contract for Deed, Sale and Leaseback, or even a traditional rent to own.  If you are ready to capitalize on this “fire sale,” then simply place your name, email, and areas of interest in the form on the right hand side.  We can help you enter the real estate investing market or grow your portfolio of properties.  We do not sell products, systems, or courses.  We work with you in contractual joint ventures to provide for a successful relationship.

[Via http://freedupinvestments.wordpress.com]

China's Workforce is 2.3 Billion People: Are you Working?

“China and India have a combined workforce of 2.3 Billion people. If you include the rest of Asia, then you are looking at a workforce of 3 Billion.  China, India along with other Asian countries are in the beginning of an economic revolution that will go on for many years.

 Do not over-look the fact that 1000’s of American companies have opened manufacturing plants in Asia. China will be known as the manufacturing country of the world and truthfully, they already are.  We are in the beginning phase of a massive Global Economic Expansion. 

 …. And no one is talking about the new purchasing power of the Asian workers

 Oh, you may hear a story here and there, but no one is really talking about the fact that we will witness, in our lifetime, an Economic Explosion that could ultimately be so strong and so monumental, that fortunes will be made and lost many times over.  

Soon the newfound wealth for the Asian workforce, two-thirds of the world’s population  in China and India alone, will increase their purchasing power, and in turn, they will develop a taste for what money can buy.   A middle class is evolving in China.  This middle class is developing a desire for electronics, autos, clothes and better housing and this will turn into epidemic proportions. 

According to an article in the Deccan Herald, dated 8/24/2004, from D RAVI KANTH,  “China and India are set to overtake the United States by five times in their combined purchasing power by 2030 subject to implementing investor-friendly policies, says UBS, the Swiss-based banking behemoth.”

 China may become the manufacturing capitol of the world but the USA has always been the Innovators of the world.  Do you want the chance to be a part of this economic expansion?

 Or will you be mumbling to yourself, something about the “road not taken”? 

So,   what about the opportunities for the average American worker?

 This Global Economic Expansion will last for years.  It presents an opportunity of a lifetime, for those who wish to participate, but participation comes with a price.  That price is our time, the time it takes to educate us about the world markets and understand what makes the foreign economies grow.  Well, they work the sameway overseas as they do here in America, thru “Supply and Demand”. 

We need to take the time to educate ourselves.  There is much to consider if we want to eventually be employed by a company that will actually need our expertise, and not just hiring us with Stimulus money, for a week, 5 weeks or 3-4 months, on an hourly wage.  An hourly job is not the way we want to live the rest of our working lives, this will not help make a future for us and our family. We will need a job that has a future so we can grow financially.  What will we need to do?  We need to Educate ourselves.

 If we are unemployed, we need to get off the couch and get to work deciding what we want to be when we grow up (again) and hopefully that will be TODAY.  We have already been out in the real world long before we lost our jobs, so we have an idea of what type of work we are interested in doing.  Or maybe we want to change careers.

 Where there’s a Will there’s a Way.

 We can’t let, not having money stop us from educating ourselves.  Many unemployed can get government assistance right now, for school.   Go apply,  the money won’t last forever.  There are private grants we can apply for.  If we have savings there is no better way to spend it than by educating ourselves for a financially secure future (except on food).  We may need to borrow money from a family member, if we can, or sell something that we have that is worth some extra cash.   If we know what we want to do, then maybe we can find someone in the same field who will let us be an apprentice, with or without pay.  If there is no other way, then we need to go to the library and read, study, and give ourselves tests.  The more we know the more ahead we are. We need to keep doing this, and if we really work hard at it we may be able to take some entrance exam and still get a job in the field we want.  No matter what happens knowledge always comes in handy.  We need to use our imaginations. 

 Now, that we have an opportunity to start over, though it may sound like it will take a lot of work on our part to re-educate ourselves, lets face it, what else do we have to do, sit on the couch and watch all the misinformation on cable news, with the exception of Fox News, of course?   

All that learning, going to school, reading and studying will prepare us for what lies ahead.  And in the long run we will be ahead of everyone else, maybe 20 Million some unemployed potential workers, in the USA alone.  Yep, starting over will take quite a bit, of initiative on our part, but in the end we will be equipped to compete on a global basis, which is what we will need to do in order to survive.  Let’s face it what is the alternative, do nothing?  That’s the attitude that got us into this mess in the first place.  Wake up, America.  

[Via http://snappysandy.wordpress.com]

Wynn Resorts (WYNN) and Wynn Macau (1128:HK) (I): the worst and best of times

The WYNN story

WYNN is a story of two casino complexes:

–one is in Las Vegas, and consists of the Wynn Las Vegas and Encore hotel/casinos,

–the other is in the Chinese Special Administrative Region of Macau, and consists of the Wynn Macau and soon-to-be-opened Encore (414 rooms), plus a third hotel planned for Cotai (at a cost of roughly US$2 billion).

This is really a tale of two cities–or rather, one city and one SAR.  The former is mired in recession, the latter is booming.

I recently listened to the WYNN fourth quarter earnings conference call and have taken at least a glance through the 10-K.  In this post I plan to make some general remarks about WYNN and then write about the US operations.  In tomorrow’s post, I’ll write about Wynn Macau.  For what it’s worth, I own both stocks.

A Chinese company

If we judge by Earnings Before Interest Taxes Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA), which is a common measure of the cash generated by operations, WYNN has been a Chinese company for the past couple of years.

—————————-Macau—————-Las Vegas     (EBITDA in US$ millions)

2009                                     $502                               $244

2008                                     $486                               $253

2007                                     $364                                $417

If the first two months of 2010 are any indication, the percentage of the total generated by Macau this year will be even larger.

The contrast is even more stark if we compare pre-tax income:

————————–Macau—————-Las Vegas (in US$ millions)

2009                                 $272                       -$230

2008                                 $254                       -$105.

This difference hasn’t been lost on Wall Street or in Hong Kong (where investors nevertheless continue to be dubious that US-style casino-hotels will be successful in China).  The market capitalization of WYNN is $8.2 billion, that of 1128 is $6.8 billion (all the figures in this post are US$).  WYNN’s 72.3% interest in the latter is therefore worth US$ $4.9 billion.  This implies the stock market is currently valuing WYNN’s Las Vegas holdings at $3.3 billion.

WYNN’s assets

How do WYNN’s physical assets stack up in each place?

————————Macau               Las Vegas

hotel rooms                  600                      2,450

casino space        222,000 sq ‘           186,000 sq ‘

table games                 390                        220

slot machines          1,200                      2,710.

Which is the cheaper stock?

That depends (another way of saying I don’t know).  The two stocks, WYNN and 1128, exist in different markets, offering different alternative stock choices and catering to investors with potentially sharply differing risk preferences.  To state the obvious, neither will do well if Macau falters, and diversification of Las Vegas probably won’t help WYNN all that much.

Las Vegas is bouncing along the bottom at present and offers the possibility of surprisingly positive earnings results as and when demand returns.  The implied valuation of WYNN’s Las Vegas assets is about the same as the market cap of MGM, a company that I think is significantly weaker than WYNN.  WYNN is the value investor’s choice, I think.

Macau is booming.  1128 is gaining market share (I’ll elaborate tomorrow).  On the other hand, the heavy hand of government regulatory tightening can appear at any time.  Wynn Macau is the growth stock investor’s choice.

WYNN’s Las Vegas strategy

Aggregate statistics for Las Vegas in 2009 make grim reading.  Visitors were down by 3% year over year, but overall gaming revenues were down almost 10% and room rates were off by 22%.  Conventions held in Las Vegas were down by 14%, and the number of convention attendees was off by 24%.

Steve Wynn doesn’t expect recovery in Las Vegas any time soon (more about this below).  In hindsight, the decision to build Encore (cost:$2.3 billion) was a mistake.  Wynn expected it would generate $250 million in annual ebitda, but the way I read the figures it ended up only making WYNN’s loss bigger.

bouncing along the bottom

My guess is that Las Vegas is starting to bounce along the bottom.  Two reasons:

–the last of the new hotels, MGM’s City Center, has come on-stream, adding the last 6,000 rooms of (over-)capacity to the market.  So all the bad news is out there for everyone to see.

–the economy is gradually recovering, and Las Vegas has become really cheap.  Visitor statistics are starting to reflect this.

So Steve Wynn’s view may turn out to be too pessimistic.

WYNN’s strategy for Las Vegas?

Even though the profit figures are very ugly, on a cash flow basis WYNN is in better financial shape than competitors LVS and MGM.  Wynn’s idea is to plow money back into upgrading the Las Vegas properties so they offer increasingly better value for money, that is, new amenities and better customer service. than rivals’.  For example, the company is converting the porte-cochere in front of Encore–which looked at the skeletons of abandoned casino projects across the street–into an inward-facing beach club/night club complex.  It’s also beginning to refurbish the rooms at the Wynn Las Vegas hotel.

This is probably the best (read: only sensible) WYNN can do.

A small move back east

Last month WYNN also announced an agreement to develop and run a restaurant/casino complex on the Philadelphia waterfront.  It’s hard to know what this means for the company other than establishing a potentially powerful marketing outpost for the Las Vegas properties in a part of the country that the Golden Nugget used to dominate.

The sources of Steve Wynn’s pessimism

1.  recession and overcapacity in Las Vegas

2.   disfunctional Washington, implying slower recovery than otherwise possible

3.  President Obama’s frequent lambasting of Las Vegas, which, putting the best possible face on it, gives corporations an excuse to locate conventions at cheaper venues.  To Wynn, this hostile attitude toward a world-leading, employment-generating industry contrasts sharply with the rescue from bankruptcy of GM and Chrysler, firms that are not technologically competitive and that have inferior performance records over long periods of time.

4.  Casino customers are not, by and large, employees or executives of large corporations.  Instead, they’re entrepreneurs, professionals or small business owners.  Washington policy is hurting this group’s confidence in two ways.  Health care reform will likely mean higher expense for providing medical benefits for employees.  The idea of increasing personal income taxes for “rich” Americans hits this group as well.  Many structure their businesses so their results appear on the owner’s individual tax returns.

If I ran a Las Vegas casino complex, I’d be upset, too.  But Wynn may be too close to the problem.  My guess is that Washington may delay recovery a bit, but it won’t stop it from happening.

Of course, the latest figures from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Bureau are for December, which showed a continuing mild uptick in visitors.  Steve Wynn has figures, for his properties at least, for January and February 2010, which we don’t.

The conference call

It was one of the odder I’ve experienced.  The analysts on the call ranged from very savvy to some who didn’t appear to know basic accounting concepts (welcome to post-recession research departments).  There was even a retail broker, apparently a big fan of Steve Wynn, who had a lengthy chat–something I’ve never heard before.

A large dose of political views (another first for me) aside, the company appeared to be very bullish both about Macau and about WYNN’s ability to create the same market niche there that it has established in Las Vegas, and once had in Atlantic City.

Trying to focus on what WYNN is doing in Las Vegas, rather than railing about, the company message seems to be that it isn’t depending on movements in the general economy to bring it back to profitability.  Unlike rivals, whose casinos looked distinctly shopworn last time I was there (admittedly, months ago), WYNN seems to be concentrating on improving its properties and waiting for the day when it can raise room prices.

What WYNN needs most is time, I think.

[Via http://practicalstockinvesting.com]

Quick, Alert the Media!

It’s a good thing the mainstream media and the federal government are all over the Toyota recall efforts.  Yes, I said “efforts”, in plural.  We all know that Toyota stunk up the joint with their recent issues.  Their President publicly took the blame for the problem.  The company has halted production to fix the slew of problems.  And they are having to give account of themselves to Congress.  Anything to keep the company honest, right?  After all, they assemble cars and trucks, right here in America.  They need to do things the right way, and the MSM is making sure the story gets out.

In showing a shockingly high level of consistency, the MSM, the Obama administration, and Congress are also showing disdain for another auto company who has just quietly recalled a number of their models.  Consumer complaints deal with power steering lock-ups.  If the driver cannot control their car, the problem is significant.  Harry Reid is all over this story, as are David Axelrod, Nancy Pelosi, and the union leadership country-wide.

Oh, I’m sorry.  That last paragraph is just not true.  Not when Government Motors is the company issuing the recall.  We wouldn’t want the truth to be known, would we?

Oh, I need to do an about face on the MSM involvement.  Depending on the search terms used, MSM coverage of this event does not occur until the second or third page of search results.  Everything else is either related to auto industry publications or blogs.  HuffPo ranked higher than other MSM outlets in covering this story.

Who says we don’t have a government, controlled media?  Idiots!

[Via http://somanyidiotssolittletime.wordpress.com]

Business Cards And Marketing Have Come A Long Way

Public Domain

This is a business card for one of the many attorneys specializing in pension claims, circa 1895. SSA History Archives.  This attorney specialized in Civil War pensions in Wapello, Iowa.

It’s amazing that business cards have stood the test of time as a reminder of those we have met and the services they offer.  Although paper,  printing and design have changed over the years, many parts of the business card remain the same.  Notice how Mr. Wright has his photo and information about his company on his card (phone numbers were obviously not around at the time).

Now, check out a more modern business card.  Hollywood Icon Magazine needed to refresh their business cards and it was done with a flashy, yet understated logo that emphasized the focus of the publication.  Jen Brookman Graphic Design did the logo and the business cards.

If your company needs a change to perk up business in this tough economy, Refresh My Business Cards is the place to go.  The combination of a re-design of your cards and full-color printing and state of the art marketing expertise are sure to make your cards the talk of your town.  Leave your contacts something they can remember you and your employees by.

Refresh My Business Cards

Email: refreshmybizcards@gmail.com

Phone: 310.502.9877

[Via http://refreshmybusinesscards.wordpress.com]

Kyl “Supports” Our Troops Just Like The Unemployed

Smart move, Arizonans, to keep sending this clown back to the U.S. Senate; a shame he’ll pay no price for this until maybe 2012 at the earliest (and wouldn’t it be nice to give Kyl the opportunity to test his theory on himself?).

Actually, I’m kind of getting second thoughts about showing this video. You never know; Kyl may say next that it’s better to shoot the unemployed as opposed to trying to revive our seemingly-forever moribund economy and spend the money to create jobs for them.

[Via http://liberaldoomsayer.wordpress.com]