New (old) job in London

Changes are coming:

Last day at work in Paris is July 27th. From 5-17 July we are travelling to the Western Cape state, mainly Cape Town and the wineland; it will be my 10th visit to SA since 2006, Emily's 2nd.

The changed plans, to forgo the permanent move to Cape Town and instead to accept the invitation to return to my old job in London, came as a delightful surprise to Emily. We celebrated last night until the wee hours today.

Disarmed and Dismissed

Britain observes Armed Forces Day today

How?

Steep cuts in the military budget, dismal housing for its low-ranked members, redundancies of thousands of returning personnel from conflict zones as a sign of questionable appreciation for risking their lives in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Cyprus, Falklands, etc...

It's a shameful saga of ingratitude, disgrace and immorality. The day should be held as a Day of Infamy

Lightning Spectacle

Travellers across the Tynebridge in Newcastle were stunned when in the midst of rush hour traffic lightning struck.

BBC Newcastle report at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18636191

Guernsey Search & Rescue blamed for death

Dismal rescue operation leaves

Swiss dead in Channel Islands

Incompetence and 18th Century-style rescue service is to blame for the death of a Swiss tourist on the Channel Islands.

The Swiss woman has died following a horse-drawn carriage crash on the Island of Sark, six miles from the "main" island of the region, Guernsey. Dora Jufer, 67, from Melchnau, was on an island tour with seven other Swiss tourists and driver, who were all injured, when the carriage hit a hedge and rolled over.

Cars are banned on the island, so a tractor pulling a makeshift ambulance took her to the port, where Guernsey's St John Ambulance and Rescue team took her on a 25-minute marine ambulance journey (!) to Guernsey. The accident happened at around 12.15pm on Tuesday, and she arrived at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital in Guernsey only at around 2pm. It would have taken a helicopter ten minutes to airlift the victim. She later died there after suffering head injuries that the hospital was not able to treat and requested assistance from Southampton.

All nine people involved in the crash were treated at the hospital, and four people injured in the accident are still being seen there. Malcolm Mechem, from Guernsey Ambulance and Rescue, said: "People were wounded with grazes, minor cuts, dislocations and fractures so it was quite bad. Unfortunately we were stretched beyond our means to assist expediently."

Guernsey Police and an accident investigator are assisting Sark constables with the investigation. Sark is the smallest of the Channel Islands and has a population of about 600, relying heavily on tourism. Tourist offices caution visitors to the island that they are mostly on their own when in troubles or emergencies.

Merkel stays the course

MERKEL - THE WOMAN'S NOT FOR TURNING

Remaining steadfast on her rejection of "eurobonds" and preventing German taxpayers to be involuntarily drafted as paymaster to the seven irresponsible member states of the eurozone (Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Cyprus and Ireland), the Iron Lady II tempts fate: "There will be no eurobonds with German participation as long as I live."

Andrea, I wish you 30 more years of good health!

Greek Debt: Health Warning

GREEK DEBT CAN CAUSE NAUSEA

Oh the irony: the designated new Greek finance minister fainted last Friday when realising the full scale of the nation's sovereign debt and the impossibility to tackle the country's hopeless problems. Just like in the Greek mythology, where Sisyphus was condemned to roll a rock up a steep incline which he never achieves, the finance minister's tragic role was to open one drawer after the next to find ever increasing deficits. The minister declared today his unwillingness and inability to assume the office and resigned.

SSS - Sad Sods at Soccer

ITALY vs ENGLAND MIS-MATCH

We at the OECD are a multi-cultural bunch of sods and sodines, and there are even a few Brits scattered throughout the 100+ offices. One with ginger coloured hair happens to work next door, and occasionally our paths cross when we need to savour on the delicious coffee served here (no sarcasm this time, it's really good coffee; Starbucks, roll over!). Needless to say that last night's implosion of the English squad at the European Championship in Poland came up.

Britquit [B]: "Close game, eh?"
E: "Huh? That was a game?"
B: "Well yeah, cud 'ave gone either way."
E: "You reckon? Must have been on a wrong channel."
B: "Wadda ya mean?"
E: "I mean to say that what I saw was a disgrace and a mockery at soccer. And I blame England for it."
B: "It's F-o-o-t-i-e, ok? Not soccer. We invented the game!"
E: "Yeah yeah, and Greece invented democracy; look where THEY are now."

 

 

EU? FU!

Biz Trip

Off to London for 2 days, June 21 + 22

UEFA's unwitting clown

NEO-NAZI SEPPL BLATTER (UEFA) A PROPER IDIOT

For many months the retarded buffoon at the helm of Uefa resisted calls from British clubs and officials who have urged to introduce technology to record goals, as the competence level of referees in European competitions has plunged, mostly to the disadvantage of English clubs. Yesterday, England benefited from a regular goal scored by Ukraine being denied by 3(!) ref's.

This has now changed the idiot's stance and he now advocates what Brits have demanded for 3 years already, and what is in place in the US for 2 decades even on the level of college games.

Rogue Nation Argentina

ARGENTINE AGGRESSION:

ASKING FOR A BLOODY NOSE AGAIN?

30 years after signing an armistice, an Argentine leader yet again beats the drums of war, staking an irrational claim to the British archipelago of the Falkland Islands. The adventure on which president Kirchner of Argentina embarks on, while doomed from the onset, is aimed at rallying her countrymen in times of economic misery, just as 30 years and two sovereign defaults before, by another dictator.

Back then, in 1982, General Galtieri led his nation into war by invading the Falkland Islands. The days of glory lasted nine days, before Great Britain mustered her forces and started the rolling-back of the gaucho invaders. The conflict lasted sixty days, cost nearly 1,000 soldiers their lives (70% of the fatalities were Argentines), and was succeeded by the military rulers chased out of office by a popular uprising in Buenos Aires. Mrs Kirchner is forewarned ...

The Falkland Islands have been governed by London without interruption since 1833. If the Argentines have a desire to rectify history they should start with their neighbour Paraguay, and return the 880,000 square miles of territory usurped after a vicious war in 1860-1864 ("The Paraguayan War", AKA "War of the Triple Alliance"), when rogue nations Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay attacked Paraguay.

 

The Falklands are indisputably British territory, and the islanders British citizens. If anything should change in their status it can only be the result of a referendum on the islands. Argentina stands no chance to conquer the Falklands, and its crusade to rally other South American monkeys to support Kirchner's delusions bound to fail, militarily as much as diplomatically: the UN has no sway over Argentina's reach for belligerent goals. Any blabbering in front of the UN is futile, and Argentina's presentations there irrelevant and inconsequential.

Spanish "Victory"

Record downgrade of state & banks,
EU supervision and on the brink of default

The latest round of bailouts, in support of Spanish banks to the tune of $130 billion, has been called a "victory" by the Spanish prime minister. This demonstrates just how irresponsible, arrogant, mad and ignorant Eurogroup officials have become. Not one Eurozone leader jumped at PM Rajoy to chastize such flagrant impertinence, just as their response to market reactions has been muted, despite soaring sovereign bonds of Spain (hitting 7% for the 10-year bond!) and massive downgrades from rating agencies.

Spain will have to accept supervision from the "Troika" of ECB, IMF and EU commission, just as the other irresponsible debtor nations of Europe had to accept. The idea of eurobonds, the fudging of debt repayment condition and the spread of risk and debts to all other eurozone member states, must be prevented at all cost. All cost means, that the risk of countries like Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal and even Belgium to withdraw from the eurozone has become acceptable.

Lies Dictate the EU

THE BIGGEST LIE ON WHICH THE
EUROPEAN UNION IS BASED ON

Article 125
Treaty of Lisbon

"The Union shall not be liable for or assume the commitments of central governments, regional, local or other public authorities, other bodies governed by public law, or public undertakings of any Member State, without prejudice to mutual financial guarantees for the joint execution of a specific project. A Member State shall not be liable for or assume the commitments of central governments, regional, local or other public authorities, other bodies governed by public law, or public undertakings of another Member State, without prejudice to mutual financial guarantees for the joint execution of a specific project."

This Article forbids the creation of eurobonds, a banking union and a fiscal union; yet the EU commission and several member states continue to mislead global markets that the eurozone will evolve into more than it is today.

SPIEGEL Cover: Obama

German boulevard mag DER SPIEGEL is notoriously wrong and disconcerted, starting from its front page and ending on the back cover of the broadsheet.
 

 This week's cover, however, might have some traction...

The German caption over President Obama reads: "Pity. Obama's failed presidency"

Debts: Time for Spanish Inquisition

EUROZONE CRISIS &
A HOLLOW CLAIM OF VICTORY FOR SPAIN

The Spanish PM with much fanfare announced his coup to obtain $130 billion more from emasculated Eurogroup taxpayers (minus Spanish taxpayers, of course) to rescue Spain's collapsing banking sector as a victory. For 24 hours even the baffled paymasters, the governments of these long silenced taxpayers within the eurogroup, joined the self-praise of the buffoon in Madrid. All these additional funds have been promised to Spain for nothing in return, without merit and solution to the core problem (the overall debt of Spain of now $1.35 Trillion) and - most dubious and condemnable - without any legitimation from the nations' taxpayers.

Instead of shooting and hanging the responsible charlatans who squander hundreds of billions of dollars of public funds, and burning down the seat of the EU commission, the voters are numbed and pacified, unaware of the sheer scope of the massive fraud they have become victims of.

What kind of victory is that, Mr Rajoy (the Spanish PM), when you pile up $1.3 Trillion in debt, never to be repaid, and the interest rate at which you can try to refinance the debt soars to 6.48%, 0.6% above last Friday's level? That difference alone will cost the Spanish people $2.9 billion extra per year! One can only label this as victory when there is not the slightest intention to serve the debt.

On top of that infamy comes the diminished sovereignty of Spain: the creditors at least impose a watch group (the "Troika" of IMF, ECB and the top Soviet, the EU commission) to monitor the activities of the Spanish treasury. In the end, the troika will be accused of aiding and abetting the epic fraud on European taxpayers.

OOPS UBS!

FACEBOOK:

Of morons and idiots & a Swiss miss

I was dying to learn who the idiots were who bought Facebook stocks above the IPO price of $38.00 per share. Turns out some of the morons are monkeys at UBS, the reputed Swiss banking giant. They bought shares in the millions and, in fairness, encountered even greater morons at the stock exchange NASDAQ, who failed to confirm the trades to UBS traders. So the monkeys at the Swiss bank kept on buying, in the belief that previous trades were not executed. Well, they were, just not confirmed to them immediately. Two days later(!) NASDAQ caught up with the glitch-rich fiasco around Facebook's IPO, and confirmed tens of millions of shares in the hands of UBS. The damage? Reportedly these guys lost up to $350 million!

Bananas anybody?

SPAIN: A Pyrrhic victory / -2

SPAIN 5 - 0 EUROZONE
Nope, it's not the latest soccer result, but the score of Spanish debtors against the eurozone creditors. It took me a couple of hours of "eurospeak" from colleagues to understand why the Spanish PM would call it a victory to assume $130 billion of new debt. For a while even the markets celebrated and rallied, against my sceptical warnings and misgivings. Since then, however, the markets have come to their senses: the euro dropped from $1.2660 to 1.2485, the yield of the 10-year Spanish bond soared to unsustainable 6.44% (after briefly falling under 6%), and stock markets reversed the earlier stampede.

In cynical eurospeak, my colleague opened my eyes: "Look Elgar, when a country already suffocating of sovereign debt of $1.2 trillion, and which all sides realize it can never repay, it must count as a victorious coup to receive an additional $130 billion from some idiots, until a delayed and inevitable bailout will ultimately wipe out the new amount of debt!"

I guess so...

Spain: A Pyrrhic Victory

EUROZONE ABSURDITIES
The Spanish prime minister hails the $130 billion bailout for the country's banks as a victory. It shows just how degenerated the principles of responsible budgeting in the eurozone have become.

First, the banks (just like the Spanish state) have assumed debts and risks at a hair-raising speed and extent. This recklessness has now been awarded with a multi-billion cash infu...sion to the perpetrators, money taken away from European taxpayers by their respective governments in the name of "solidarity." Finally, the chieftain of the morose Spanish fiefdom calls the additional new debt, which breaches the Maastricht criterion of "no higher debt ceiling than 60% of the GDP by a whopping 115% and in theory should result in severe sanctions. But to celebrate such Pyrrhic victory, the Soviets in Brussels will yet again bend backwards to oblige the infamous and bankrupt debtor, just to keep him seemingly afloat. Voodoo reigns in Europe, and eventually the whole euro group will implode.

Does anyone on the planet think that the problems surrounding the credibility of the euro have been solved by the $130bn bailout of Spain’s banks? Does any overseas investor believe that a corner has been turned, when the German government continues to set its face against the mutualisation of debt?

We can only hope that Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy and European Commissioner Olli Rehn are, as politicians are wont to do, treating the public with contempt in trotting out these bromides. The alternative explanation, that they really believe the problem has been solved, is far more worrying.

Blacked-Out for Dinner

PARIS RESTAURANT BLACKOUT
 

It's my turn to invite Emily for a dîner extraordinaire, and I decided to replicate an experience I enjoyed two years ago in London already. It's feasting tonight in pitch black darkness: no lights, no candles, "no nothing" - even patrons who dare to use mobile phones are met with a hissing noise from all corners of the restaurant, and repeat offenders are escorted outside by alert waitresses. Imagine the fun and suspense to indulge in a 4-course menu decided by the restaurant and unknown to you. Your senses (smell, taste, feel) are being tested to guess your meals. Not cheap, but highly entertaining, we'll be four this evening.

BizTrip

At BIS
Basel, Switzerland
June 7+8, 2012

Sickening Facebook

FACEBOOK INVESTIGATED

FOR MURDER LINKS
The US Dep of Justice has been alerted to cases of targeted murders in Mexico, Colombia and Guatemala, where death squads use Facebook links to track down their victims. Especially Facebook's facial recognition application has been described as the biggest threat to people in the region. The DoJ reportedly prepares a lawsuit against Facebook, and criminal charges, for complicity in at least 16 such murder cases to date.

Police in the US and Britain urge people to replace buddy icons on their Facebook site with avitars hiding their faces, as Facebook disseminates facial depictions across the Internet to often dubious and criminal websites without the knowledge of Facebook users.

 Authorities in dictatorial countries, like China, Syria, Libya and Sudan are also utilizing Facebook member sites to track down, apprehend and detain opposition figures.

FB shares have come under pressure again, falling 4% and through the $26.00 floor today, some 37% below its opening price 12 days ago of $43.00.

Men's World

Home Front News [HFN]

BEDROOM WHISPERS, last night

Emily: "'Transit of Venus' - is that something out of the Kama Sutra?"
Elgar: "Dunno; I think it's something out of space."
Emily: "Have you lost your marbles?"
Elgar: "No, that was Elgin."
 

[Lights off]

Night-night!

CALL FOR AUSTERITY FROM A HIGH EARNER

The head of the International Monetary Fund, who has (rightfully) attacked Greeks for failing to pay their taxes enjoys a tax-free income of £350,000.

Christine Lagarde provoked a furious backlash after blaming Greece’ economic plight on citizens ‘who are trying to escape tax all the time’. Now it has been revealed that the divorced Frenchwoman, 56, earns a salary of £298,926 (£24,910 per month) which her contract states ‘shall be net of income taxes’.

Part of this is paid for by British taxpayers, as the UK contributes 4.5% of the IMF’s resources. The IMF also pays Lagarde a top-up tax-free sum of £53,490, designed to enable the Fund’s leader to maintain, in the interests of the Fund, a "scale of living appropriate to your position as managing director and to the Fund’s need for representation."

In addition, she is entitled to expenses for entertainment and travel and hotel costs for her and her partner when the IMF meets in Washington DC. Her five-year contract also entitles her to a pay increase every July.

A Green Piece and Cream

"Greenpeace" against chocolate ice cream
The self-righteous do-goodies frequently go on the rampage to justify their hilarious subsistence to the world. For me they never overcame the trauma of the sinking of their vessel Rainbow Warrior in July 1985 in Auckland Harbour by French agents. At the time I interned at Bank of New Zealand in Los Angeles, and could see for myself the Kiwis' reaction after what they called an attack on New Zealand by France - ridiculous as it sounds. I rubbed my hands of joy (tempered by the fact that one person died in the incident).

And now the goofballs want to stop the production of chocolate ice cream, for reasons of "ecology, ethics, animal rights(!!) and sociology." Apparently they either believe that cocoa beans are living things, or that the pickers are animals. In any case, I say, "to hell with them!" I loooove chocolate ice cream, and if the blackies in the jungle get paid a cone of vanilla ice cream per day, that's fine by me too.