Of Grave News

Grave news? You decide

If Potong Pasir was involved, i'm sure we will see news on the frontpage of almost every available paper in Singapore

From The Online Citizen:


Town Councils investments - be accountable to constituents
Friday, 31 October 2008, 12:00 pm | 777 views
Lim Chih Yang / Writer

The on-going financial crisis seems to claim victims in all shape and sizes, from all walks of life and from even the most unlikely of organizations.

Even as the various banks and financial institutions rush to contain the public anger over the failing of Lehman Brothers’ product, Channel NewsAsia (CNA) reported on 28 October 2008 that PAP Town Councils had invested in the same discredited products.

CNA’s report only says that, “Town councils said only a small percentage of their total investments were spent on those affected products.”

It seems the unlikeliest of union when one considers Town Councils’ sinking funds and a failed product from a major investment bank on Wall Street. Is this another black mark in the face of globalization? Not likely. It would nevertheless be prudent that as responsible stakeholders of Singapore, we would ask ourselves pertinent questions on the use of PAP Town Council sinking fund to invest in Lehman Brothers product.


For the uninitiated, it is perfectly legitimate that all Town Council manage sinking fund. This is common for condominium managements, for example, where they manage sinking funds to repair damages to the estate’s common areas or maintaining the elevators. In fact, from the report, it seems that the fourteen PAP Town Councils each manages between $30 million to $150 million in sinking funds. Another report back in 2007 put the amount managed by all the sixteen town councils at about $1 billion. Town Council sinking funds was previously governed by the Trustees Acts. Current guidelines stipulate that each town council can use 65 per cent of the funds to invest in government bonds, while up to 35 per cent can be invested in other financial instruments like corporate bonds and equities. Obviously, corporate bonds and equities carry a much higher risk of default than government bonds.

Re-assuring the public

When the report was first released by Channel NewsAsia, the various PAP Town Councils sought to reassure the public that despite the losses in Lehman Brothers products, the investments are minimal.

Dr Teo Ho Pin, Coordinating Chairman of the 14 PAP Town Councils and Mayor of North West District said:

“Maybe a couple of percentage out of the total investment portfolio (were used in those investments), so the exposure will not affect the overall investment portfolio or the sinking funds per se. There’s definitely no fear that any of the PAP town councils’ sinking funds will be wiped out. All the supporting PAP town councils’ sinking funds are in safe hands.”

In fact words like “conservative”, “err on the side of caution”, “guarantees the principal amount”…rattled off the mouth of the various PAP Town Councils management. Jurong Town Council had in fact stated that they did not invest in any of the failed products but had invested about 18% of its sinking fund of $85million into riskier products.

“The position that we’ve taken is really to be very cautious with our investments because we’re very clear that these are public funds, and therefore we decided to err on the side of being conservative in our investment policy. The public do not have to worry… there will not be enough funds in order to take care of their needs.” - Halimah Yacob, Jurong Town Council.

Perhaps I may be old fashion but I had always thought that Town Councils collect conservancy charges for the purpose of maintaining the estates.

When did these Town Councils start operating as fund managers?

Big exposure - to risks

Of bigger concerns are the losses that the Town Councils’ may have incurred in this current financial fallout. Words do not mean much in terms of assurance, not when even behemoths like Lehman Brothers could go bankrupt and file for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and AIG was nearly brought to its knees if not for the US $85 billion bailout by the Fed.

Assuming that a median sinking fund of $60 million is managed by each of the fourteen PAP Town Council, this will work out to a whopping $840 million in total managed by all the fourteen PAP Town Council. Now given that the guidelines stipulate that only a maximum of 35 per cent of the sinking fund could be invested in corporate bonds and equities, let us assume that only 5% of the sinking fund is used to invest in relatively riskier investment assets like corporate bonds and equities. That will still work out to a whopping $42 million that are exposed to risky assets.

In a bear market that we are facing now, losses of more than 50% in risky assets are not unheard of. Is our sinking fund held by the Town Councils safe from the ravages of the financial crisis?

Town Councils must account to constituents

In the interest of public transparency and accountability, should not the PAP Town Councils give a detailed account to their constituents on the use of the sinking funds and its investment returns – or losses? In fact, given that the sinking funds are public funds, should not the PAP Town Councils provide regular updates to their constituents on their stewardship over the funds?

Words can be evasive, divisive and worse, intrusive. While it is commendable that the PAP Town Councils had sought to allay the concern that the financial investment losses in Lehman Brothers products may lead to bankruptcies of the funds, nothing can be more re-assuring to their constituents than complete and transparent accountability to the public.

A 5% loss in $100 is no more than $5, but a 5% loss in $840 million works out to $42 million, certainly not small change.

Interestingly, Potong Pasir MP Chiam See Tong was more forthcoming with his Town Council’s accounts. He was quoted as saying that of the $6 million in sinking fund held by Potong Pasir Town Council, $3 million is spent on government bonds like LTA bonds, while the other half is in the fixed deposit.

The PAP Town Councils should take a leaf from Mr Chiam See Tong’s approach to accountability and provide real figures of their investment management. Only when a thorough report of the sinking funds’ performance with up-to-date real figures can the public’s concern be put to rest.

Of Job Market

With my final paper on 20 Nov, i'll then wait impatiently for my results, scheduled to be released on 11 Dec 2008, which would mark the end of my pursue for my Bachelor of Commerce with double majors in Advertising and Marketing.

At a time of poor economic performance, the value of a part-time degree might not be fully utilised, as companies freeze headcount and try various means to reduce overheads..

In any organisation, costs are usually the main factors that affects the profitabilty of a business. Manpower cost are among the highest investments in a business, right up there with rentals and equipment(fixed assets) costs.

A hawker, for example, would worry about making enough money to pay for the store rental, fixed assets like that fridge, wok and plates are incurred as once-off. Variable cost, in the form of raw food, sauces and water raises and falls with different sales figures..if he employs someone to serve the plates, its a good 500-800 bucks.. manpower cost are high

In times like this, most companies have frozen headcount, meaning zero new employees.. if people start resigning, going for maternity leave or sorts, they are unlikely to be replaced.. this means that if workload stays the same, the remaining staff will be expected to work more for the same pay (could be lower if bonuses are not given)

comparatively, workers who are overloaded and underpaid are more likely to leave the company, but when the economy sucks, people are cautious that they might not find something better, so they stay and put up with the shit

In short, its a bad bad time to be job hunting

I'm in situation whereby my current job with E is ending in Feb09.. E serves client V, and in feb08 when i interview at both E and V, V mentioned about offering me a job when my current contract ends with E

E = MNC, more generalist work, highly educated workforce thats young and friendly
V = Subsidiary of a big local company, mixed departments with people who can be quite erm.. erm

So while E is my preferred employer, the complications are many, time are bad and its evident that E has gotten fewer jobs although there was a sharp increase in headcount over the last 3 months. An offer, if any, is also likely to be within boundaries (Recap: they didn't pay me what i wanted previously, would they do now?)

V on the other hand, is more likely to be able to pay slightly better, i'm fine working with the Deputy GM of V but i have some qualms operating under a certain manager that i would be reporting to should i then join V

Finally, there's always an escape route that i join a totally different place. But then, the short and long of it is..

In short, its a bad bad time to be job hunting

Of North London Derby

1st half review

David "the C*nt" Bentley scored the first goal of the game, a 40 yard strike that was painfully well taken that caught Alumnia off this line which gave spurs the lead the derby

Arsenal continue to play with patience with Walcott having a few good chances that should have been on target or found another player instead of smashing into defenders and straight at the goalkeeper

Van Persie tried a few shots but nothing fruitful there, Adebayor had a poor half by my standards, barely contributing to team play and not making good use of the ball when he had it

The equaliser came from an unlikely source.. after his debut own-goal in the champions league, ex-manchester united defender Mikael Silvestre scored off a corner. Scoring in the derby is indeed a baptism of fire.. he's become a real arsenal lad now and all we have left to do is to win this derby and perserve the excellent record

2nd half and game review in about an hours time
--------
2nd-half

I just had to come in 1 min after the restart.. Gallas, our other centerback, scored and gave us the lead!

Arsenal 2-1 Tottenham (SG 5.08am)

Go Gunners!
-----------
64th min in the game, good through ball for Nasri who push it pass the tottenham keeper and Adebayor followed through to poke the ball in before Hutton could reach it.. its 3 for Arsenal now!

Arsenal 3-1 Tottenham (SG 5.26am)

I would love to see Carlos Vela coming on and scoring one, or maybe two?
-----------

Geez, substitute Darren Bent came on to give Spurs some hope.. 3-2..

But before i can finish this update.. Van Persie scored on the other end with a good assist from Adebayor in the box

Arsenal 4-2 Tottenham

---------------------
Dear Starhub TV,

What happened to my telecast? Its the North London Derby and a very bad time for you to lose transmission

--------------------

Transmission came back on and it was 4-3.. a Jenas goal in 89th that i found out through soccernet.. and in stoppage time, it was a damn 4-4

8 goals for the game, 4 for Arsenal and only 1 point. Crap

Real Crap.

Work in 3hrs time, double-crap

Of Tioman

Having travelled a combined 18 hours plus to travel to this island in malaysia and back over the diwali holiday.. one must wonder if it is worth the trouble to head up north and spend bulk of the journey on a coach or ferry..

well, this is what we came for:

Just 4 hours in the waters, first stop was Coral Island, then Monkey Bay near Salang and finally Renggis Island..

Snorkelling was fun, wonder if i would eventually try diving and get into some deeper waters some time later

Of Away

Sarutobi sama... has passed away...

I'll be away in tioman from saturday early morning, i'll should be back by monday evening.

Enjoy your weekend, happy deepavali to all Hindus

Of 1.13am

I think i have this bad habit of working on my school work late into the night.. perhaps its the peace and quiet that i get in this late hours that provides me with the environment to sort out ideas and arguements in my head.. perhaps i'm really a night hour that works better on a quiet night..

oh well, work is too busy in recent days to sneak any school work in.. in fact, work got so tiring that i exhaust majority of my limited brain juice for it.. its not easy when you are trying to plan an event for your client and you are told to be flexible and innovative.. at the same time, you are also acutely aware that your client and your company might not be ready to engage and implement your plan, its a cliche.. but hell its really kind of a chicken and egg story.. no guts no glory perhaps..

i know that at this hour, there's another good friend that is working his ass off for in his final push for the semester, it'll all be over soon and this guy has never given up.. effort man,  effort.. its heartening that at this age of 25, a quarter of a century, the bunch of ET4E crappers are now in different stage in their lives.. but that, is another post, for another day

now, to bed..

work starts at 9am tomorrow, ends at 6pm.. hoping for good weather, an inspiring day, lightning internet speeds and less emails please

6mins of typing for the above crap

No animals were harmed for this entry

Nites.. eh... morning.. hahaha

Of Tags

Recently, i started adding tags into my post..

So basically what i understand from this extra movement is that all post that are linked together by a similar tag will show when you click on the link of the tag.. 

but since i only started recently, that meant that only a few post would have been tagged..

so, as i took a break about from report writing(typing actually), i went on to tag a few of my older post.. and then i got tired

and decided to blog about tags instead..

okie, break is over, back to the report

Of Run

Running is 60% mental and 40% physical. Agree?

While more often than not, our feets or our legs will give up on us and say "hey you up there, stop making me run! stop stop! what if we die together now?"

but really.. how many of us have tried running till our legs literally gave way and can't manage standing up again? Basically, there's always that little bit of energy in our legs that keeps us going despite saying and insisting that we can't go on anymore..

back in the training days, we used to run from thomson road all the way to adam road hawker center or orchard road's Shaw.. the runs will typically start in the early mornings and end within the morning itself too..

i recall that once, our FI(field instructor), which was covering for our actual FI(who went for SEA games), entered our barracks at ard 5am and switched on the lights.. i awoke from my sleep still recovering from the exhaustion from yesterday and our FI, in his biking(read:bicycle) attire, declared "gentlemen, its so early in the morning, why are your still sleeping? Fall in in 10mins!"

some 10mins later, a bunch of half-awake guys in white top, white-shorts and black shoes waited for their FI.
"have your done your warmup yet?"
"No sir!"
"never mind, we'll warm up along the way"
And off we went..

That morning, we made the run from thomson towards newton, we crossed every bridge that we came across and then cross back again, so that up,down, up down and back on the same side of the road.. we stopped in weird places to do push-ups and crunches.. and we finally stopped at Shaw in orchard.. not a soul in sight, its the early morning anyways.. and then we ran back.. we hardly stopped.. it wasn't important if ppl were left behind or not.. u knew the way back and we just had to keep going to keep the person or the cluster ahead of you in sight.. traffic lights broke up the squad once awhile, that just means jogging faster to spot another white a few hundred metres down the road.. our FI set our pace, we just had to follow and not stop

amazing, we kept going and going and we made it back in time for flag-raising at 0700hrs.. coming in strong from the main gate.. we took time to regroup and form up.. joggin back into the academy as a squad.. the 39'ers!

left right left! our feets stomped in unision.. nothing could stop us from taking our place at the front of the parade square.. left right left and we came to a halt.. heavy breaths, shoulders raising and falling with every expansion of the lungs.. breathe.. breathe..

a surreal aura of smoke appeared from our shoulders.. those who were close enough would not miss it.. this emission of smoke was from the sheer exhaustion of running and running and not stopping.. the energy that was dispersing from our bodies.. our bodies that we battered this early in the morning..

what gave us that energy? what drove us to achieve?

run guys run

we're the 39'ers

Of Capsim Challenge

What is the Capsim® Challenge?

Fall Challenge 2008

Capsim Management Simulations Inc.® has created the Capsim® Challenge where you can compete using our business simulation games. This challenge is designed for students who have used our business simulation games. Here is more information on the Capsim® Challenge.

What is the Challenge?

Twice each year, Capsim Management Simulations Inc.® invites students to compete in the Capstone® and Foundation® Challenge. This is your chance to play again and see how you rank globally.

Who is eligible to play?

All students who have a paid registration for Capstone® or Foundation® after Aug 01, 2007 and were enrolled in a 2 year undergraduate, 4 year undergraduate, or MBA course and have not participated in a previous Challenge are welcome to participate. There is no fee.

Who wins?

The six teams with the highest Balanced Scorecard for Capstone® and the six teams with the highest Balanced Scorecard for Foundation® will move on to the Finals. Please Note: For each section, only one team per school can play in the Finals. If two teams from the same school end up in the top six, of those two, the team with the higher Balanced Scorecard will compete. The team with the seventh highest Balanced Scorecard will then be invited to the finals. In the Finals, the team with the highest Balanced Scorecard wins!

Can I compete by myself? Maximum team size?

Individuals can play without a team. 5 person team maximum.

When is registration?

Registration for the Fall Challenge starts Oct 06, 2008 08:00AM ET and ends Oct 31, 2008 03:00PM ET.

When does it start?

Qualifying Rounds begin Nov 03, 2008 11:00AM ET and end Nov 13, 2008 11:00AM ET.

When is it over?

Finals begin Nov 14, 2008 03:00PM ET and go through Nov 16, 2008 05:00PM ET with the winners being announced Nov 17, 2008 11:00AM.

Game: C9_00265

School: Curtin University of Technology

Participants: Me lor :)

Of 迷惘 Lost

你知道我的迷惘
You know i'm lost
=============

一个人在孤独的时候
in the times where one is alone
走到人群拥挤的街头
and one ends up on the crowded streets
是在抗议过分自由
is one protesting over this freedom
还是荒谬的地球
or mocking this absurb world

一个人在创痛的时候
in the times where one is hurt
按着难以痊愈的伤口
trying to help that wound that wouldn't heal
究竟应该拚命奋斗
should one fight with one's life
还是默默的溜走
or silently walk away from it all


只有你会理解我的忧
only you would understand my sorrows
让我紧紧握住你的手
let me hold your hands and never let go


我们曾经一样的流浪
we were both once wandering
一样幻想美好时光
both dreaming of the good times
一样的感到流水年长
both awake to the limits of time and life

我们虽不在同一个地方
though we are not at the same place now
没有相同的主张
and without that direction
可是你知道我的迷惘
but only you know how lost i feel

Of Screw-up

sometimes when things happen.. you just wish its all a bad dream that you can wake up from.. then reality hits.. what's done cannot be undone.. a broken glass will always show its crack even if its pieced back together again.. if it ever is pieced back together

i screwed up and i'm paying the price for it

don't screw up

Of I'm with You

I'm looking for a place
I'm searching for a face
Is anybody here I know?
Cause nothing's going right
And everything’s a mess
And no one likes to be alone

Isn't anyone tryin’ to find me?
Won't somebody come take me home?

Why is everything so confusing?
Maybe I'm just out of my mind

It's a damn cold night
Trying to figure out this life
Won't you take me by the hand
Take me somewhere new

I'm wana be with you

Of Strag Mark

Strag Mark stands for Strategic Marketing, my final module as i have completed Business Capstone 301.

So what does Strag Mark entails?

This advanced course in marketing is primarily aimed at developing strategic decision making skills with particular reference to marketing. Modern companies in their efforts to cope with an ever changing and challenging environment use two key processes to build their future.  The first is strategic planning which enables top management to determine what business direction it wants to achieve. The second is the marketing planning which enables the company to proceed in a systematic way to identify and turn specific opportunities into profitable business. This course presents the conceptual idea of integration of marketing planning into the strategic planning process.

In the present marketing environment characterised by unparalleled technological developments and intensifying competition there are no simple correct solutions to marketing problems.  This course is therefore aimed at presenting a set of normative procedures, which may be utilised to generate a varied range of innovative strategic options and a basis to choose a rational programme for action.  For the purpose of this course, understanding the process of identification is more important than any particular solution. (Prof Ram, 2008)

I'll be really surprised if you bothered to read the whole 2 long paragraphs, i never really read the whole thing ever, that's why i'll be surprised. Haha..

Alright, its 2.20am, time for bed, work is on later as usual.. i was working on the Strag Mark report thus this weird and pointless post at this hour before i sleep..

I think i might be addicted to typing.. my fingers seem to move by themselves.. 

Of Final Show Review II

Presentation Tips:

(1) DO NOT read every digit in your profit or any other figures that go before 4-digits or even 3 for that matter.. For example, for 93mil, do not read 8 freaking digits out one after another, instead, say something simple like "ninety-three million".. cause when you do, you look really stupid and you affect the morale of the folks who are presenting after you..

(2) DO NOT appear unenthusiastic when your team is the best performing team in the industry, that probably shows why you are least likely to score well for things like peer appraisal (i regret giving you decent scores, i really do, how i understand why peer evaluations in polytechnics are done at the end of the last day, thats to keep people like you in check)

(3) DO NOT make slides that read "WE ARE CHAMPIONS" when you have done well, you are supposed to be presenting to investors, not students and lecturer (well, this little problem was removed as soon as i saw it so i guess its ok).. so "WE ARE CHAMPIONS" make no sense to anyone.. instead, you should explain what you have done to deserve the being champion..

(4) DO NOT say that people have planned for you in a very very bad way.. e.g "we did not have to sell as many as our competitors in order to bring in the profits" in a impassive, detached manner, the sentence was supposed to make you and the company look smart and add that little cheekiness into your presentation, instead, you screw it up by delivering it flatly it almost sounded like we were arrogant and insulting towards the others.. selling less and making more is a strategic benefit that was developed because the team did enough to reduce cost... be proud of that move! You could have done this better! you just didn’t bother!!!

The old me would have blasted your head off for not caring, for not trying.. you suck big time mate, you are the weakest link and i regret treating you with too much respect.. you suck! May our paths never cross again..

But this new me is way nicer to do that to you scumbag.. this new me will try to keep harmony, to keep things going, to ensure that my fuse gets longer over the years and becomes less of a fire-hazard..

Alright, i had unleashed my frustrations at the final show.. the curtains did come down, but it fell straight on my face.. it didn't really matter if i presented well or not at the end.. it was quite a disastrous team outing.. 3 folks did the job, 1 didn't.. and that worse one had to start and kill whatever momentum we ought to have.. and it leaves people like me cold.. out in the cold over a presentation that could have been much much better.. out in the cold over a presentation that should have been a farewell to raeburn park

I took the weekend off, i had my rest, now its time to focus on the strag mark report and that final paper in november.. ORD loh!

Of Final Show Review

So its finally over, 35% out of 35% in the bag, 10% group presentation, 5% for the individual presenter..

Was i a happy man?

It could have been better, it should have been much much better, it just show how much a team matters, a good team show creates that energy that lifts the entire presentation and leave people with a wow, i think these guys are good..

Alas it was not too be..

Bygones? Maybe.. maybe..

Sometimes i really hate slackers and those who can't be bothered. (Vulgarities ensued which i decided to keep out of this post for now)

PS: I'hv decided to go on a short weekend retreat, you won't find me online,  i won't be replying emails, buzz me on my mobile if you really need to, yep, need is the word

Of Final Show

The feeling is almost surreal. Tonight.

Tonight tonight.

Tonight, i finish my last ever show in MIS.

What show you say? 

Since my polytechnic days, i have always enjoyed doing presentations. Perhaps my experience in speaking to masses in a position of power in secondary school provided the backbone to my ability to speak at will in front of other people, i actually enjoy doing presentations that has more people, people that i don't know, people who have never met me...

Tonight, my presentation is for Business Capstone 301, in which readers of my blog would be familar with from previous postings. Our role in the presentation is to convince investors that we are the best company in the industry and it would make the best sense to invest in us.

4 of us are on show out of the original 6, one is in Japan for work while the other would be flying to Finland. I'm sorry to say this, but this sort of presentation would not require 6 presenters, more cooks spoil the soup and i like my soup to leave a good taste in my customers' mouth and wanting for more..

I'm sleeping this late and bloggin about this as i'm making extra effort to brew this soup, i do expect certain standards from myself and it is always easy to expect the same from others, the difficult is actually motivating others enough to take action. For the show later, i'll not be taking what i believe is the most important portion, someone has already volunteer for that. Thinking back, i could have seized that part if i wasn't sure it was someone i could trust presenting it

Having said that, i'm quite certain that the group should score a good 8-9 out of 10% for the group presentation, my standards are high and what we have produced deserve some recognition, but more importantly, our company has done very well in the stimulation and that has made our job easier.. but on the downside, people do tend to discount the top performer and sympathise the underdogs.

This is my last show

Hope i can be satisfied with myself when the curtains come closing down

Of Business Capstone VI

In a short span of a few months, Business Capstone blog post has hit a total of 6 editions, and i promise this won't be the last...

Earlier on:

Business Capstone I
Business Capstone II
Business Capstone III
Business Capstone IV
Business Capstone V

Was too busy to post every round's result

Today, the result from the final round of stimulation is out, a brief cap that was not posted, in Rd 7, our business slipped to 2nd place, 5mil behind the leader in terms of cumulative profits.

What can happen in a year of Business Capstone?

A more detailed post when i have more time, for now, I present the final results:

Of Weddings

SS's Wedding Lunch - October

SS's Church Wedding - November

Cousin's Wedding Dinner - November

VL's Wedding Dinner - November

EG's Wedding Dinner - November (same day as VL, not attending)

Wife's Friend Church Wedding - November

Weddings, a celebration of a union, the next big stage of a relationship between 2 people, 2 families. It takes 2 and many friends to make the wedding work

I'll be soaking in endless joy in the coming months i guess, including reception for my cousin's wedding

Is November a great time to get married this year? 

Got to save up for the angbaos 

Of Sick

I have a sickening feeling, thats because i'm sick.

Of Financial Market

I bring to you a piece of news that you might already be aware of, yet choose to pay a little attention to. This week alone, news on this issue from the US has impacted shares locally and worldwide. What's the big deal? A big deal of USD700billion rescue plan from the US Governments is being placed through the Senate and the House of Representatives for approval

This rescue package, USD700billion, is some SGD1Trillion.. 1trillion, 1trillion, yes yes.. let it sink it. So who, where and what is requiring 1trillion Singapore dollars worth of rescue?

"Hero" : US Government
"Victim" : US Banks and Financial Institutes on Wall Street

Ironic isn't it, that a bank, a traditional source where one could borrow money legally or put money in as deposits or investments is now requiring such a big rescue plan. In the states, this rescue plan is also termed as a "bailout". I'm not sure what your idea of a "bailout" is.. but to me, think of monopoly "get out of jail for free" card and i guess its about there.

Basically, banks are laden with huge debts, both from sub-prime mortages and other forms of bad debts. So while the bankers are rolling in their BMWs and Ferraris, slipping fine wine and indulging in fine dining, its all bad now and the luxurious lifestyle are in threat..

Lehman Brothers in the US has declared bankruptcy, while others are either being rescued or bought over by other companies.

So it all sounds pretty, government steps in, rescues the banks and financial institutes and thus saves the economy from a meltdown. Everyone keeps their jobs and the world is gay once again. Everyone associated with the banks keep their jobs, people bring home salaries, continue to spend and businesses can sustain once again.

Not. The men on the streets are not convinced that the scumbags on wall street are worth the rescue, they made mistakes, profited from mistakes and now are on the verge of paying for it, till the government steps in. The rich gets protected to continue to be rich they say. This massive USD700 billion is coming from taxpayers money, taxpayers money that could have be used better elsewhere.

1 billion = 1,000,000,000
7 billion = 7,000,000,000
That's USD19,178,082 a day worth of rescue dollars. USD19mil a day. Wow. WOW. Taxpayer money. Rescue Plan Dollars.

Just days ago, the house of representatives voted against the USD700billion rescue by 228 votes to 205 votes. 13 votes made the difference and they should have another go at it once the revised bill gets past the senate.

What's in the revised bill? That's another headline for another day

Of Arsenal 4-0 Porto

After the horrid show against Hull which left the boss saying that he was "physically sick" at the performance, the players have answered well.

Yes, we could have conceded a goal or two, but if we took the chances, we would have 7-8 goals at the back of the goal...

Arsenal vs Porto 4-0 Highlights 30.09.08 Uefa Champions League