gnatweds

Save the Cheerleader. Save the World.

In this case: Save the collapsing financial institutions of Wall Street and er. *maybe* that will save the world.

The number being bounced around is amazing: US$700 billion to buy up all the bad debt. Say that with me. 7-0-0 B-i-l-l-i-o-n

It's taken about a week for some semblance of an agreement between the Republicans and Democrats to emerge. Unsurprisingly some politicians have been slow on their feet to agree to anything. This being an election year, the ordainary man on the street is likely to vote out any incumbant who appears to want to bail out the financial fat cats. Frankly this sounds mean but hands up, who actually feels sympathy for the banker who used to earn oscene amounts, ahd all the perks, lived the fast life, had the best bonuses (and lets not talk about severance pay). Sure this is a stereotype, but hey, a Lehmann banker - being in one of the big four back then - won't have been too far away from this ideal really.

Think that the bankers reveled in that image a wee bit too much. And now, the aura of invincibility and all-powerfulness has been stripped away, the grumbles from the hoi polloi have become a roar. Marie Antoinette anyone?
But again, does it surprise anyone that the sentiment backlash is so strong?

And of course, many voices including Bono's have waded into the drama.

"It is extraordinary to me that you can find $700 billion to save Wall Street and the entire G8 can't find $25 billion to save 25,000 children who die every day of preventable treatable disease and hunger," the U2 lead singer told Clinton's fourth annual philanthropic summit in New York. "That's mad, that is mad."

Okay, the good news: $16 billion has been pledged by some rich chaps to help the poor during the time of crisis.

But what really worries me is how the heck is the US gonna actually afford the bill? I mean, this in addition to the two wars they are waging? (PS doncha think its ironic that the Americans are getting mired in the Afghan muck the same way that the Soviets got mired. The Soviets had to retreat after many painful years of learning that the locals had a way of fighting a guerilla way. Oh I also believe the US supplied the Afghans with arms... you'd know them as the Taliban today... back then as well)

It seems like a recipe for economic disaster. How and when will the balance of payments even out again? Such a huge deficit is so hard to understand. I really hope for everyone's sake that I am a really bad economist and everything will be good again.

Okay, waiting for one half of Gnatweds to call. yeah, my other half is at the f1 track! He also appeared in the papers last week (ewr, well, yeah, maybe I DID have something to do with that)they were interviewing pple who were working in the first ever Sg grand prix

Typically Kiasu Singapore has managed to get a whole bunch of consultants to man these fast intervention vehicles. ie they get there when someone crashes and they have to do whatever to keep him alive. How they managed to hoodwink so many doctors to volunteer so much of their time over so many days? I have no idea.

Oh, and yeah. About Facebook. The social phenomena that it is. It was bound to happen sometime. Some old photos of me have surfaced.
Groan.

One friend said: "You are the hope for all geeks in the world."
Another just laughed and said: "Omiiiigggaaaawwwwd".

I am trying to grin, but bah.