Selling the Singapore Brand

Walking into UOB's spacious banking hall in Battery Road as a customer is a new experience. No queue, everything a breeze. The atmosphere is like a big lounge for customers to spend a pleasant and easy time chatting with the bank officers. It is so friendly, no hassle. Banking is indeed a breeze. And I believe Wee Ee Cheong need not have to sweat to provide such a great experience for his customers. Any middle manager who cares and bothers, and put on his little thinking cap, could easily transform the procedures and processes into one that is sensitive to customer needs. Oh, I am not a customer of UOB, so I am not partial. If the CEO has to be bothered with such nitty gritties, then what the hell are the middle managers doing? No wonder UOB is number one. Customer friendly and making banking a great experience. UOB should franchise their procedures and market it to the world as the Singaporean Style of management, as a sought after product. With such quality services and processes, why the need to look further for foreign talent? The way UOB runs its banking hall operation is worthy as a case study for other banks. Good job UOB.

Chua Mui Hoong to the rescue

The spin that property prices are well managed and that there is no property bubble is given another positive take today. The high prices are good and probably planned to be that way. Chua Mui Hoong has said all that needs to be said, the govt has don't all the right things for the home owners. I remember a few days back that the CEO of DBS, Piyush Gupta, had said that there was already a bubble. So everyone can call it whatever they like, got bubble, no bubble, half bubble or quarter bubble, suit yourself. The fact is that the new buyers are going to be hanged if they don't have the money to buy a decent unit. But of course there are the affordable ones to suit their limited budget. No money don't complain, and don't expect too much. I could also presume that the state of the property market was all carefully calibrated to what it is today, prices, supply and demand. If this is the case, then I would say it is all under controlled and expected. Well done.

The great invitation by SDP

I read in the net that SDP had invited Teo Ho Pin to sign a joint letter in protest over the 30% hike in rent for wet market in Bukit Panjang. Teo Ho Pin flatly declined and said it was his constituency and he would know what to do to help his constituents. I will say nice try SDP. The invitation is as good as a still birth the moment it is conceived. How could Teo Ho Pin agree even it is a good thing or right thing to do? Anyway, the contituents in Bukit Panjang need not worry as Teo would surely come out with something to help them with the rental hike. Maybe some kind of subisidies are on the card. If not the residents going to market will just have to pay for the additional cost, all because of nothing but Sheng Siong taking over the wet market. And now it is market forces at work, for the good of the people. We need to erect an altar for market forces and pray to it everyday. The god of market forces need to be respected and prayed to for the well being of the people. Bow three times at the altar and three times a day, morning, noon and evening.

Learning from the great enlightening American experience

Goldman Sachs is being sued by the SEC for fraud, looting the innocent investors by manufacturing fraudulent scripts of papers and selling them as products. So it is now going to face the music. Wait a minute, who is Goldman Sachs? Oh it is an organisation, not an individual. So no one will be found guilty of any misdeeds. The organisation, an inanimate thing, will be found guilty and be made to pay for the losses or fine. This reminds me of the Lehman toxic notes fiasco. As usual, the inanimate thing will be found guilty. No one else is guilty. No one has done anything wrong, no decision made by anyone, it just happened. Oh, a few small guys or gals were made guilty, I think, in Hongkong. My goodness, the billions of dollars or trillions of dollars lost because of a systemic fraud created by a bunch of crooks and helped by an army of greedy accomplices across the world, and no one is at fault. This is something that we must learn from the Americans. Save and protect the individuals. Just put the blame on the organisation. And more frauds and lootings can be repeated in different forms and disguises. Kevin Scully, executive Chairman of NRA Capital said Obama's bank reform will put many banks under heavy scrutiny and regulation by the SEC and that the culprits of the fallout must be identified. But Kevin forgot that it was the SEC that needs to be placed under heavy scrutiny for allowing the looting to go on in the first place. They have been sleeping, yes sleeping with the crooks and looters all this while. And they pretend and act as if they have done no wrong and now waking up, standing up, to do the policing. What a bunch of crooks and their crooked deals.

Bullying the young upstart

We are still waiting for the green light to watch the World Cup. Why is Fifa making it so difficult and expensive for us to watch the World Cup? Should there be an equitable formula like on a per head basis? Or are they saying since we have so much money to throw around, they want a bigger share of our money? Did we bring this to ourselves? To Fifa we are just too small a market that they can afford to lose. They probably says take it or leave it. The coverage of the World Cup will still be available live to Singaporeans through other channels, at different cost of course. Now it has become a poker game and see who blinks and who is the big winner. The people who suffer are the innocent consumers. Actually we shall just go and tell Fifa, 'How much?' and dump the cash on their table to show that we have the money. And when they name another ridiculous price, just take the money from their faces. There is no need to waste so much money under a situation not much different from being robbed at knife point. But we must also learn our lesson. Don't go around throwing our money at everyone.

Honouring the gangsters

There is this big exhibition going on at the National Library about a William Farquhar who was the first Resident of a pre colonised island which is now Singapore. He took over control of the island as a stand in for Stamford Raffles who claimed to have founded this island for the British Empire. Uh no, for the East India Company. Yesterday a Teresa Lim wrote passionately about rediscovering and remembering this great Resident and even naming a few places in his honour. Now what is a resident and what was East India Company? We have more than a million permanent residents here today. There were several hundred residents here before the arrival of Raffles and the appointment of the first Resident. Funny usage of the word. I think first Resident meant that he was the top dog in the island then. And what was the East India Company? Was it a state company, an extended arm of the crown, or was it a privatised company of the state just to make profits for the state? How could a private company went around and claiming pieces of land as theirs? It seemed that the British separated the state from the running of profit making organisations then. The choice would allow the state to be free from the ugly dealings of the company. The company could schemed, connived, stole, robbed under whatever pretext, even grabbing lands and countries from the natives and their rulers, often at gun point. The state stood at a distance and was not tarnished by the unscrupulous doings, above the dirty deals. The state only came in like the Opium War in China to help the merchants on some fabricated excuses like protecting the interests of its gangsters, drug lords or subjects. The East Asia Company was nothing different from organised crime dressed up as legitimate businesses. They wielded tremendous powers and every warlord was literary a mafia boss. Raffles or Farquhar was no different. They were gangsters of the old days, protected and given legitimacy by the crown of England. Some of the knights of the British Empires were actually pirates, not much different from the Somalian pirates today. Whatever they did, it was for their own interests and the interests of the British crown and the British Empire. What happened after the years of occupation when we were given independence to run the island was a necessary convenience of the day. What and how we came about was not of design by these gangsters. We made it what it is today. Reading the history of yesterday and understanding how things were in the correct perspective would help to increase our knowledge of past events. Maybe there were no victims and no sufferings under the control of the gangsters, maybe it was ignorance, we seem to have a romantic view of our colonial history and their exploits, and remember them fondly. I think they make a good collection as the myths of Singapore.

What is realistic pay?

Our model of high pay for ministers was given an airing in an American TV channel, the Chicago Tonight, hosted by Phil Ponce and guest Lee Hsien Loong. The merits of our case against the demerits of the American case were discussed and defended. One example quoted was the American judges presiding in their courts and listening to young lawyers who were paid many times more than the honourable and distinguished gentlemen sitting at the top bench. Kind of funny really. How could the judges sit there listening to young boys telling them about the case and knowing that these young boys are being paid so much more than them, and could buy them dinner on every outing? What would be going on in the minds of the judges other than the cases being read? The conventional wisdom here will say that the judges were grossly underpaid and needed to be realistically rewarded for the responsibility they were holding. Or are the young lawyers being grossly overpaid while the judges are being paid reasonably? Which is which will depend on who and how people look at the issue. Look at the numbers again. A CEO being paid $10m pa versus workers being paid $20k pa is equivalent to one man doing 500 men's job. That is how productive or valuable the CEO is to the organisation. He carries the weight of 500 men's wage bill. Does he really do the job of 500 men? Oh, big responsibility. His decision, just saying yes or no, could mean millions and billions being made or lost, and hundreds of thousands of people's lives being affected. This is what they are being paid for. Responsibility. Could the little worker's responsibility be in that scale? A terrorist, with little skill or professional qualification and training, could unleash a vial of deadly chemical or biological material that could do untold damages to untold number of people. The impact of his action surely must be greater than a $10m CEO and should rightly command such a pay. And the little soldier or custom officer manning the checking counter must be shouldering the same kind of responsibility and deserve more than what he is being paid currently. So is the security guard to a high value vault or premise. It reminds me of one very highly paid security guard. The cook in a top notch restaurant where all the big shots eat better be paid more than the big shots as their lives depended on him not poisoning them. His responsibility is enormous. So are bodyguards to Presidents and Prime Ministers. So are all the arseholes. So what is realistic pay? According to what and who?

Is it so difficult?

Is it so difficult to forecast the number of doctors needed here? Hospitals are not built overnight. I think it takes much longer time to built hospitals than HDb flats. Why is there a sudden shortage of doctors when the numbers can easily be calculated with a pocket calculator? We don't produce enough doctors from our universities, not enough capacities. And many of our brightest have to get their medical education overseas. The sad part is that these students who went overseas were not part of the planning process to meet the demands of our hospitals. They went completely on their own motivation and may not even want to return if they can find jobs elsewhere. In the meantime we went on a recruitment blitz, grabbing anything that comes by while many of our best were scattering away from our shores. Is this another jamban case?

A different role for internet or new media

Obviously a new role has been developing for the internet media vis a vis the old media. The forte of old media is news reporting. They report news. Once reported it is no longer news and not worth reporting a second time. In the case of internet news, it is not merely reporting news per se. It is an expression of the people, begging for action, demanding for action over issues or cases of injustice or a cause etc etc. No doubt the plea may completely be ignored and nothing could come out of it. But ignoring a case or issue raised will reflect badly on the parties where action is needed. There is no escape. Not doing anything when an issue becomes the talk of the town can be embarrassing or even seen as being irresponsible, callous or aloofness or arrogance could also seep through on those responsible. Whatever, there is a price for being seen in a negative light. An example of old media and internet reporting is that of a fire. The old media will report the fire when it first came to notice. Whatever happens after the first news break is often not reported. No follow up unless the fire keeps burning for a few more days. In the case of internet, the fire will be reported. And if the fire fighters did not turn up in time, it will be reported. If the fire fighters did a bad job, it will be reported. If a good job, it may also be reported. And the fire can be reported everyday if there are other consequences resulting from the fire. An exception is the rogue diplomat case where the old media keeps pushing and covering the case. The old media is pursuing and hounding this case for justice that has never been seen before. The repeated reporting of the case should at least shame the Romanian govt for appointing a rogue as its representative to the diplomatic world, and now more disgusting is trying to protect him in all ways possible. It is not willing to face the court of common justice that a serious crime has been committed by a poor specimen of its govt and that it should do all it can to bring the animal to justice, that any honourable govt will do. In this case, it is good that the old media uses all its resources to keep reporting on the case to bring the criminal to justice, and the Romanian govt to its knee if it has to. It will be great if the old media could pursue issues in this way, tenaciously, without letting go. Maybe they should continue to report more on the high property prices and how badly it is affecting the citizens and emptying their pockets. For everyone who makes a handsome profit, some poor citizen is going to pay for it for a life time. Is it a good thing? The internet or new media has a job cut out for it, to pursue issues tenaciously, without letting go.

Myth 220 - The Myth of under consumption

Rich people will want to stay in C Class hospital wards. So it is necessary to have mean testing as C Class wards are highly subsidised. Rich people will want to buy 3rm or 4rm flats so there must be an income ceiling to bar them from buying HDB flats or else they will deprived the lower income from buying smaller HDB flats. I shall go on to say that rich people will want to drive China or Korean made cars and not Mercedes, BMWs or the more exotic brands. Oh, this is not true as these products are not subsidised. Is it true that rich people will want to under consume? Is under consumption good? Let me address the first question first. For every rich patient who wants to be admitted into C wards, there will be 10 less rich patients who want to be warded in A wards. And for every rich man who wants to buy a 4 rm or 3 rm HDB flat, there will be hundreds or thousands of less rich men who want to buy bigger flats or private properties. So what is the problem? The problem is the supply. If the people want to be admitted into C wards, why don't they build more C wards? If there are more people who want to buy smaller flats even if they earn more than $8,000, why don't they build more smaller flats and let them buy? Unfortunately restaurants are not subsidised. Otherwise they will have to conduct mean testing to make sure that the rich customers order only sharks fin and abalone and nothing else. And the second question, what's wrong with under consumption? Is it not prudent for people to spend lesser and save more? And this is very important to young people who have not much savings to start with, and that they should not be forced to buy properties that will eat up their incomes. It is crazy and irresponsible to demand that young people must buy expensive properties. And then later complain that people did not have enough savings for their retirements. This is real cock. Only fuckheads think that way. Be prudent, spend within your means, but dictated that if one has some money, they must spend it. Then complain that they don't have enough for retirement, then start to grab more money from their CPFs under all kinds of schemes for retirement. Are the fuckheads making sense or talking nonsense? To me it is full of contradictions, full of holes in the reasonings.

A good suggestion for Khaw Boon Wan

Khaw Boon Wan is terrified by the escalating medical cost in his hospitals and is still not able to control them. And since the escalating cost is unavoidable, the next best thing is to make sure that the people can afford to pay the hospital bills, or have money to pay the bills, through the money locked up in the Medisave of course. At the moment the minimum sum is slightly more than $30k and this could go up and up. In Boon Wan's view, this is simply not enough. He toying with the idea of pushing for legislation to transfer more funds from the people's CPF Ordinary Account to the Medisave Account to help the people so that the people can afford to pay their hospital bills. But with the HDB eyeing 30% of the people's income, the bulk coming from CPF, and other uses, touching the Ordinary Account again is going to hit the wall. The people will be angry if they cannot pay their HDB mortgages especially when HDB prices are so sure of going up and up as well. But have no fear. A blogger here has a brilliant suggestion. Just let every member of the family of the patient be allowed to share the medical bills. If there are 4 members, then it will mean at least $120k to take. Not enough? Did I hear not enough? Did I also hear that this is already done? Wow, if this is so, then $120k is truly not enough. In that case, this brilliant suggestion would not work and more money from the CPF Ordinary Account must go to the Medisave Account. This is the only way, the best way, to help the people pay their hospital and medical bills.

The mad rush has begun

Another 4 residential sites up for tender. This will add another 2000 homes and bring the total supply of new homes to 10,550 since the mad rush began. And the message from the govt is to say that there is enough land. So nerves are calmed and problems solved? The 10,550 figure appears big but how is this related to the demand? Is it just a number that is thrown up to appease the outrage of homebuyers, or is it a well thought out number based on statistics. There must be enough statistics to show what is the demand and how many more homes are needed. It cannot be a suka suka number or guesswork. What is the real demand or estimated demand for housing today and how does this number stand to satisfy the demand? Too much or too little. Or have we reached a state that no body really knows how big is the demand and how many more flats should be built to meet demand? I somehow got this kind of funny feeling. Then the next point is that if the demand today is for 10,550 flats or more, how could the demand be satisfied when they are, mind you, just tendering the site to contractors. In other words all these launches are at the preliminary stages and would take at least 3 more years to fruition. Or is this the best way to solve this housing problem? I think this if officially the best way. So, with all this last minute launches the home buyers shall now be happy, no more complaints. It must be quite a big relief to know that the jamban will be ready in 3 years while the shit is about to burst free. Just hold on, never mind if the face is red from squeezing and the hands and feet are cold. Hang on! The jamban will be ready soon.

What if there is no Medisave?

We have a first class hospital system that can meet the best in the world. This is something we can be proud of. The point in question is what if there is no Medisave? Why is Medisave such an important element in our health care system that such a question needs to be asked. For without Medisave, many will not have the money to pay. Without the patients paying and supporting the system, can the system continue to operate as it is? Can the system charge the kind of fees if the patients cannot afford the fees? Who shall be thankful for the wonderful healthcare system that we are having? My fear is that if cost is not managed, or if people think that Medisave is the ATM with unlimited supply of cash, or the cash can be increased by passing of legislation, the healthcare system will continue to be world best with world best fees and with the Medisave depleting rapidly.

The relevance and irrelevance of the Thai crisis

Let's start with the irrelevance first. The monarch is increasingly becoming irrelevant as he lies in the hospital bed. And with each breath fading, Ahbisit and his elitist party too are edging towards irrelevance as well. The Army which has pledged loyalty to the king may find it unnecessary to do so as minutes tick by. The signs of support from the Army for the elite will soon be no more as the Army knows that change is inevitable. What is so relevant about the happenings in Thailand? An elite or elitist party cannot survive without the ordinary people supporting it. The real support for a govt in a democracy must be from the people. This is also applicable in a fake democracy. Once the people is politicised, there is no turning back. And the elite, by nature a minority, cannot cling on to power for long. The king, the one that is holding everyone together, the one that can pull the strings, will one day be too feeble to do so, and may not be around to do it. And when that day comes, the pretenders will have a hard time staying in power. The true leaders, those with the support of the people, will be shoved into the seat of power. The elite may resort to all kinds of things to stay in power, including the Army. But the soldiers are not idiots. They will have a mind of their own. And when they perceive that the people is not in favour of the elite, they will change sides. Unless of course the Army is made up of cartoons or unthinking inanimate soldiers. Ahbisit is seeing the real stuff for the first time. His days in power is numbered without the Army that he thought would always be there. A new order is in the making the moment the king is out of the picture.

Housing, keeping the issue alive

Sue Ann Chia keeps the flame of unhappiness in housing alive by another article in the ST today. She calls on the govt to rethink and find sustainable answers to this problem. But should the govt when it does not see any problem? To the govt, or to Mah Bow Tan, the problem is with the choosy and hard to please flat applicants. Accepted that we have a good public housing system to start with, but are they flawless? One of the flaws that the system has morphed into is the application procedure. Apply when there is a new launch. If the applicant is unsuccessful, reapply and start anew. This procedure seriously affect the young professionals as their salaries could quickly got out of the $8k ceiling imposed by HDB within a few years from graduation. They are then forced to buy from the red hot resale market or private housing. Without much cash savings, they are hard put to foot the deposit. The new system in a way deprived these young professionals from buying their first flat from HDB if they did not quickly grab one that comes along. And this ignores those they were slow in courting a spouse and could not even apply in the first place. So it is their fault, or so they are high income earners and must buy more expensive housing. But many are prudent young people who are contented with just a 4 rm HDB flat. They are not demanding, just want to buy their first home without killing themselves with a big mortgage. So what's wrong with that? Their fault or HDB's fault? The most badly affected is this group of young professionals and rightly they should kick the arse of HDB and its procedures. In the old system, the application stayed with the HDB while waiting for the flat, using the income on registration. Maybe HDB may want to reconsider the first bite of the HDB cherry to all NS men regardless of their income. They have done their national service.

Would the next GE be different?

Last week we have heard some of the familiar responses to the opposition walkabouts. We are ready, we will keep in the touch with the people, we will not be complacent. Last Sunday Eng Heng spoke and welcomed the effort put in by the opposition to engage the voters early. Is there any difference in his comments? My first impression is that he appeared to be earnest in what he said about the opposition. No signs of wanting to fix them up. And no one upmanship comments. Is this the first indication of change, that our political culture is maturing and the abrasive style of the third worl is passe? I hope so, but would need to see what the other ministers and MPs have to say as we close in on the GE. Then of course we still need to see the real stuff during the campaigning and election proper. It would be nice to see the two camps engage in a contest of ideas to win over the people, and less of those nonsensical vitriol of the past. The people deserve a higher level of democracy, a political culture that they can be proud of. If after all these years we are still sticking to the styles of the past, then we are not progressing. The electorate has matured and will not tolerate monkeys and gangsters any more. Respect the electorate by showing them your best and not by knocking down the opponents by unfair and unethical means. The politicians owe it to the people to raise the level of political contest and to make themselves respectable and highly regarded by the people.

Myth 219, The myth of free market forces

Shall I call it the legend of free market forces now that myth has been elevated to the status of honouring our heroes? Our national heroes and their myths! I think I shall still stay with myth as what most people understand. Is our environment and life govern by the so called free market forces? I think 'astroturfing' has been working overtime all these years to get the people to believe that what happens to our lives is all governed by market forces and we can do nothing about it. From the number of babies born, school fees, housing, cars, population growth, medical fees, ministerial salaries, and yes, even our economy, boom or bust, are dictated by market forces or external forces. Lao Tzu must be smiling in his heavenly abode. I told you so 2,500 years ago. No need to do sweat, everything will just go on by itself. History has actually manifested itself in these ways, it is always boom and bust, according to the mandate of heaven. No amount of super talents will change the course of destiny. In a way, Hongkong is more subject to free market forces than us. In Hongkong, everything goes, with little govt intervention. The Hongkong govt knows that it is not that brilliant to be able to decide the fate of its people from cradle to grave. And they leave it as such. To each his own, the govt just provide the infrastructure and the system, and the people make the best of it. So we have the multimillion dollar villas in the mountains and the 300 sq ft dog kennels for the losers. And the best part is no one is complaining. Those living in the 300 sq ft homes accepted that. And the developers gave it to them, knowing that that is all these people can afford and are fit to live. No moral persuasion, no arguments of good or bad. No one claiming to be on moral high grounds. No rebellion or revolution as it is the order of things in a free wheeling enterprise. Do we have that kind of free market forces to determine our lives? No. If there is, our people will be living in 300 sq ft kennels as well. We plan carefully, every step and every inch. Our free market forces at work is as good as a myth to be served on the platter when needed. But in many ways we are better than Hongkong. Our people still got something like 600 sq ft to 900 sq ft of space to live in and at very affordable price. But there is danger that this may not be if we allowed astroturfing to get a free hand. If we keep talking about the 300 sq ft homes in Hongkong as an acceptable way of life, soon this will quietly sink into some silly heads. Then statisticians and smart people will use this as a justification and say it is ok. And when that song is played, we gonna get it. As things are fairly acceptable, let the myth of free market forces remain as a myth. Let not it becomes a legend.

How objective are the media

Astroturfing has been pointed out for booting recently as a deviant way of promoting a position through false or manipulated inputs through the internet. This in turn gives a skewed impression of the real issue at stake, the supports behind it and even the truth. Astroturfing has been singled out as a methodology used to influence and pressure the govt to act in a certain way. In other words, astroturfing is simply a manipulative way of conveying a message by a group of people for their own interests. Is this something new? All media, new media or old media, are they so innocent, so objective, so truthful, that they never intentionally push a position by bending backwards, with twisted logic, selective logic and even manipulating statistics to support a position? I am saying this in general, not directing at anyone. How many old and new media are guilty of the things astroturfing are now infamous for? None? Did I hear none? I think everyone knows the truth and how media, old and new, manipulate views, opinions and try to influence the way people see or look at an issue. The old and new media are just as good as astroturfing. Nothing more nothing less. Then there are worst forms of influencing the minds of people by state media and propaganda. Much more deadly and effective than what astroturfing is deemed to have done. The people of America, the free world, and the people of dictatorship and the authoritarian states, are all victims and targets of official media to think in the way the state wants them to think. So, what is new?

What comes after COE hike?

The surge in COE prices must have brought smiles to many people and to the state's coffer. Maybe some will filter down to help the needies. But what else will be affected by this COE good news? The car owners will be affected immediately and positively with the resale values going up. On the negative side, taxis and buses, I think they need COEs too. So be prepared for higher taxi fares and maybe bus fares. Hopefully the MRT is not affected by COE hikes and would not raise MRT fares. But their staff travel by cars and vans. So the hike still affects their cost. All transport agencies or businesses will be affected if the cost of vehicles goes up. And this will just trickle down the line for sure. This is one thing that must be passed down to the consumers. School buses? The cost of living will move up nicely.

270% interest rate per annum

A blogger asked me for my view on the 270% interest rate that was raised by a forumer in the ST forum. The writer said that this is a possibility provided by the Money Lenders Act. I did not pay too much attention to such numbers as I have been desensitised by the greed in the financial system, where exploitation for quick profit is now seen as a merit and deserving great rewards. But since I was asked, I took the question to the cesspit for a little discussion. The PhD holders in the cesspit thinktank, all bought of course, were very adept in this kind of issue. They have all made their millions doing the same thing, and their only conscience is their own pockets. So what would they say? No issue at all, all corners are covered. In the first place it is legal. Period. Anything that is legal is legal, faultless and blameless. Only those who do not know how to exploit the legal road would kpkb about such things. The beneficiary will just laugh their way to the banks. The next point is that it is completely transparent. The fine prints are made known to the borrower, and the seller representatives were well trained to tell the borrower all the risk involved. No cheating, no undisclosed information, no misrepresentation. This leads to the third point. Willing buyer and willing seller. No one is being forced to take the loan. And yes, this is covered under caveat emptor. And this is a legit business. Business means making profit. The higher the profit the better the business. And this is good for the economy as well. How else could people make so much money to buy so many million dollar properties? The whole thing generates wealth and a vibrant economy. These are what the cesspit thinkers came out with and all very reasonable, logical, legitimate. I am quite surprise that they could think so clearly. So where is the problem? No problem at all. In all business transactions, there must be the suckers and the big winners. Somehow I feel so nice reporting their findings. I think I have been infected by the E1U1 flu bug. Maybe a few more practices I can start to apply to join the Elite and Uncaring class.