pull! push! Adventures in Internet land :-)
Friday, September 28, 2007
Adventures In Facebook Land
I've never been a huge fan of any of the 'social networking' sites (hi5, MySpace, Facebook, etcetera), and have generally avoided them. My how times have changed. I'm on Facebook now. I had to join in order to view some pictures a friend took during a night out on the town. But this post isn't about my FB adventures. It's about a good friend of mine. Here's his story (which he sent via e-mail to our group):
Sep 26, 2007:
Some time ago some random gyal wanted to add me as a friend on FB. I added her, because I could care less really, but only let her see my limited profile.
It seems that today she realised she could only see me limited profile, and she sent me a message about it, here is our correspondence:
Jane Doe (not her real name)
Today at 8:13am
Report Message
? Why do i only have ur limited profile?
Sent via Facebook Mobile
John Doe (not his real name)
Today at 8:43am
Mostly because to be honest I really don't know who you are I'm afraid.
Jane Doe
Today at 9:54am
Report Message
Okay that makes sense but unfortunately that is an insult so I'll just delete you.
Sent via Facebook Mobile
John Doe
Today at 11:24am
No prob.
Sep 26, 2007:
Some time ago some random gyal wanted to add me as a friend on FB. I added her, because I could care less really, but only let her see my limited profile.
It seems that today she realised she could only see me limited profile, and she sent me a message about it, here is our correspondence:
Jane Doe (not her real name)
Today at 8:13am
Report Message
? Why do i only have ur limited profile?
Sent via Facebook Mobile
John Doe (not his real name)
Today at 8:43am
Mostly because to be honest I really don't know who you are I'm afraid.
Jane Doe
Today at 9:54am
Report Message
Okay that makes sense but unfortunately that is an insult so I'll just delete you.
Sent via Facebook Mobile
John Doe
Today at 11:24am
No prob.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Blogging the MBA
Maintaining a blog (especially one that is reasonably current and interesting) is not an easy task. It can be time consuming and sometimes frustrating (people who suffer from writer's block will know what I mean).
As such, I have decided to blog the journey (where and when appropriate) towards obtaining my MBA. This will provide me with some material to post to the blog, and will also offer some insight, for those of you who may be interested, into the MBA, specifically the Caribbean MBA offered by the Durham Business School.
In addition, it will also give me (at least for the next two years) something different to write/blog about besides hurricanes, disasters, accidents and the fact that I Am Not An Economist.
As such, I have decided to blog the journey (where and when appropriate) towards obtaining my MBA. This will provide me with some material to post to the blog, and will also offer some insight, for those of you who may be interested, into the MBA, specifically the Caribbean MBA offered by the Durham Business School.
In addition, it will also give me (at least for the next two years) something different to write/blog about besides hurricanes, disasters, accidents and the fact that I Am Not An Economist.
Monday, September 24, 2007
The Coach House
A co-worker mentioned to me that The Coach House closed down, and not for renovations either, about two weeks ago. According to him, the place is to be demolished to make way for condominiums. Kind of sad I guess (especially for all of the regulars). He also told me that TCH was the third oldest building/property on the island (can anyone confirm this?) and that they will be relocating to the Baku property.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Friday, September 21, 2007
Notes From The Field: Jumbies
(DISCLAIMER: IANAR, I Am Not A Reporter.)
Jumbies was not quite Jumbies last week Sunday. The parking lot was closed off and a large stage setup in the back. Several live bands were advertised to play that night. Drinks and recorded music were also readily available. While there, I had this "brilliant" idea to write down a few notes. With neither pen, nor paper in hand (which is just as well, as one would be of no use without the other), I used my phone and typed up a few erratic notes during my short stay (I was only there for about an hour).
"Ten o clock, maybe about 100 hundred ppl in de parking lot. Dj playing music, crowd milling around. Red alarm comes on after ten, first band for the nite, Police present. Crowd growing, maybe 150 plus at at about 1015. Red alarm, guitarist in blie shirt, shades hair like a mop and a rasta, plays good guitar. Two singers, okay voices. Crowd standin around, even near the stage. Small pockets of ppl grooving. Red alarm has the tunes and the vocals, but that doesn't mean they have the crowd. A lack of alchohol? Maybe, maybe not. The entire bak end of the parking lot is taken up by a large stage, no doubt a lot of time and planning went into this event. Red alarm's singer/guitarist, in blue, with a head of hair that is a cross between a mop and drrlocks, or at least looks like that. Seven member band. Typical bar tender, serve the ladies first, even tho I asked first. 1030 crowd is twice wot it was. But still ppl looking not quite dancin, just groovin taking it easy."
Jumbies was not quite Jumbies last week Sunday. The parking lot was closed off and a large stage setup in the back. Several live bands were advertised to play that night. Drinks and recorded music were also readily available. While there, I had this "brilliant" idea to write down a few notes. With neither pen, nor paper in hand (which is just as well, as one would be of no use without the other), I used my phone and typed up a few erratic notes during my short stay (I was only there for about an hour).
"Ten o clock, maybe about 100 hundred ppl in de parking lot. Dj playing music, crowd milling around. Red alarm comes on after ten, first band for the nite, Police present. Crowd growing, maybe 150 plus at at about 1015. Red alarm, guitarist in blie shirt, shades hair like a mop and a rasta, plays good guitar. Two singers, okay voices. Crowd standin around, even near the stage. Small pockets of ppl grooving. Red alarm has the tunes and the vocals, but that doesn't mean they have the crowd. A lack of alchohol? Maybe, maybe not. The entire bak end of the parking lot is taken up by a large stage, no doubt a lot of time and planning went into this event. Red alarm's singer/guitarist, in blue, with a head of hair that is a cross between a mop and drrlocks, or at least looks like that. Seven member band. Typical bar tender, serve the ladies first, even tho I asked first. 1030 crowd is twice wot it was. But still ppl looking not quite dancin, just groovin taking it easy."
Thursday, September 20, 2007
And In Other News...
Mammoth dung, prehistoric goo may speed warming
"For millennia, layers of animal waste and other organic matter left behind by the creatures that used to roam the Arctic tundra have been sealed inside the frozen permafrost. Now climate change is thawing the permafrost and lifting this prehistoric ooze from suspended animation."
A Floating Solar Island for the UAE
"Here in America we've got several vast deserts that are perfect for installing gigantic solar thermal power plants. But not every country has so much free space. At the end of the day, most of the sun's light hits the oceans, because most of the Earth is ocean, but the United Arab Emerates has just contracted with a Swiss firm, CSEM to purchase a floating solar island." [via EcoGeek, Digg]
Paying dearly to hear Gore's climate story
"In a passionate attack on the climate policies of Prime Minister John Howard and US President George Bush, the former US vice-president, addressing a very expensive lunch in Sydney yesterday, called Australia and the US "the Bonnie and Clyde" outlaws of the global environment for their failure to ratify the Kyoto Protocol."
"Mr Gore made his comments after reporters were asked to leave the lunch venue. Despite the cost, lunch in the 700-seat room at the Sydney Convention Centre was a sell-out, as is tomorrow's event in Melbourne. VIP packages, which included a spot close to Mr Gore and a meet-and-greet with him, cost $25,000." [via theage.com.au, DRUDGE REPORT]
Darth Cheney
"Vice President Cheney came up to see the Republicans yesterday. You can always tell when the Republicans are getting restless, because the Vice President’s motorcade pulls into the Capitol, and Darth Vader emerges," Hillary Clinton said just now at a $100-a-head fundraiser at Town Hall near New York's Times Square, referring to Cheney's efforts shore up Republican congressional support for the Iraq war. [via Ben Smith's blog, DRUDGE REPORT]
"For millennia, layers of animal waste and other organic matter left behind by the creatures that used to roam the Arctic tundra have been sealed inside the frozen permafrost. Now climate change is thawing the permafrost and lifting this prehistoric ooze from suspended animation."
A Floating Solar Island for the UAE
"Here in America we've got several vast deserts that are perfect for installing gigantic solar thermal power plants. But not every country has so much free space. At the end of the day, most of the sun's light hits the oceans, because most of the Earth is ocean, but the United Arab Emerates has just contracted with a Swiss firm, CSEM to purchase a floating solar island." [via EcoGeek, Digg]
Paying dearly to hear Gore's climate story
"In a passionate attack on the climate policies of Prime Minister John Howard and US President George Bush, the former US vice-president, addressing a very expensive lunch in Sydney yesterday, called Australia and the US "the Bonnie and Clyde" outlaws of the global environment for their failure to ratify the Kyoto Protocol."
"Mr Gore made his comments after reporters were asked to leave the lunch venue. Despite the cost, lunch in the 700-seat room at the Sydney Convention Centre was a sell-out, as is tomorrow's event in Melbourne. VIP packages, which included a spot close to Mr Gore and a meet-and-greet with him, cost $25,000." [via theage.com.au, DRUDGE REPORT]
Darth Cheney
"Vice President Cheney came up to see the Republicans yesterday. You can always tell when the Republicans are getting restless, because the Vice President’s motorcade pulls into the Capitol, and Darth Vader emerges," Hillary Clinton said just now at a $100-a-head fundraiser at Town Hall near New York's Times Square, referring to Cheney's efforts shore up Republican congressional support for the Iraq war. [via Ben Smith's blog, DRUDGE REPORT]
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
And In Other News...
Drift into war with Iran out of control, says UN
"I would not talk about any use of force," Mohamed ElBaradei told reporters at the International Atomic Energy Agency headquarters in Vienna. "There are rules on how to use force, and I would hope that everybody would have gotten the lesson after the Iraq situation, where 700,000 innocent civilians have lost their lives on the suspicion that a country has nuclear weapons." [via The Guardian, Digg]
Indonesia's big one 'on its way'
"An international team of earthquake specialists says Indonesia faces another potential "giant" quake in the near future" [via CNN.com]
Virtual worlds opened up to all
"We are out to democratise virtual worlds and bring them to absolutely anybody," said Mr Koster, founder of Areae, the company behind Metaplace.
"You can come to the site, press a button and have a functioning virtual world that supports multiple users in about 30 seconds." [via BBC NEWS]
"I would not talk about any use of force," Mohamed ElBaradei told reporters at the International Atomic Energy Agency headquarters in Vienna. "There are rules on how to use force, and I would hope that everybody would have gotten the lesson after the Iraq situation, where 700,000 innocent civilians have lost their lives on the suspicion that a country has nuclear weapons." [via The Guardian, Digg]
Indonesia's big one 'on its way'
"An international team of earthquake specialists says Indonesia faces another potential "giant" quake in the near future" [via CNN.com]
Virtual worlds opened up to all
"We are out to democratise virtual worlds and bring them to absolutely anybody," said Mr Koster, founder of Areae, the company behind Metaplace.
"You can come to the site, press a button and have a functioning virtual world that supports multiple users in about 30 seconds." [via BBC NEWS]
Labels: earthquakes, Iran, Iraqi, military, news, politics, technology
Sunday, September 16, 2007
And In Other News...
Clue search after Thai air crash
"At least 88 people were killed when the aircraft, operated by a Thai budget airline, skidded off a runway in heavy rain on the southern island of Phuket." [via BBC NEWS]
Family tribute to (Colin) McRae and son
"Mr McRae, 39, his son Johnny, friend Ben Porcelli, 6, and Graeme Duncan, 37, died following a helicopter crash in Lanarkshire on Saturday." [via BBC NEWS]
Alan Greenspan claims Iraq war was really for oil
“I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil” [via Times Online]
Oil industry 'sleepwalking into crisis'
"Former Shell chairman says that diminishing resources could push price of crude to $150 a barrel" [via The Independent]
World's Worst Polluted Places [via The Blacksmith Institute]
Why old rockers are back on stage
"DINOSAURS might be revived in one of two ways. Fiction suggests applying the techniques of genetic engineering to DNA extracted from bloodsucking prehistoric insects trapped in amber. To resurrect the dinosaurs of rock, however, all you need is a fat cheque and a block booking at a vast stadium." [via Economist.com]
"At least 88 people were killed when the aircraft, operated by a Thai budget airline, skidded off a runway in heavy rain on the southern island of Phuket." [via BBC NEWS]
Family tribute to (Colin) McRae and son
"Mr McRae, 39, his son Johnny, friend Ben Porcelli, 6, and Graeme Duncan, 37, died following a helicopter crash in Lanarkshire on Saturday." [via BBC NEWS]
Alan Greenspan claims Iraq war was really for oil
“I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil” [via Times Online]
Oil industry 'sleepwalking into crisis'
"Former Shell chairman says that diminishing resources could push price of crude to $150 a barrel" [via The Independent]
World's Worst Polluted Places [via The Blacksmith Institute]
Why old rockers are back on stage
"DINOSAURS might be revived in one of two ways. Fiction suggests applying the techniques of genetic engineering to DNA extracted from bloodsucking prehistoric insects trapped in amber. To resurrect the dinosaurs of rock, however, all you need is a fat cheque and a block booking at a vast stadium." [via Economist.com]
Labels: accident, death, environment, Iraqi, music, news, oil
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Parking Lots And Food And Drink Establishments
(DISCLAIMER: IANAE and/or IANAA, I Am Not An Economist and/or I Am Not An Accountant.)
Last Sunday, while on my way to Jumbies, I took the south coast road and drove past TGI Friday's, Bubba's and Cheffette. As I drove past these establishments, I stole a quick glance at each of their parking lots. Most of them were full. Big deal, right? Maybe, maybe not. If we assume (yes, I know what they say about the word 'assume' and about assumptions in general) that the cars parked in each of the establishments' respective parking spaces belonged to patrons of said establishment, then a casual observer may quickly conclude two things: 1) that people have money to spend, that is, they have disposable income (better yet, discretionary income) and 2) that business is booming for these particular establishments.
The problem with both of these conclusions is that they may be somewhat misleading. Regarding the second conclusion, unless you had direct access to the sales figures of the establishment for a particular day, like Sunday, there would be no accurate way to tell if the establishment was making money (as in a profit). Even with these figures, it doesn't reveal much. The establishment may do ten thousand dollars in sales that night, however, this figure might only be representative of gross sales (the figure before overheads and expenses, etcetera, are deducted) and may not immediately show how much was pure profit (the figure after overheads and expenses, etecetra, have been deducted).
As for the first conclusion, just because people are spending money, it doesn't automatically mean that they can always afford to do so. Some people live beyond their means and, according to an old saying: "Have champagne tastes, but mauby pockets." Other people may have been invited to dinner by someone else and therefore do not have to pay for the food/drink they are consuming. It may also be a special occasion and people are celebrating by going out for dinner. It may even be a once-a-month kind of affair where a family, a couple or friends treat themselves to a night out on the town.
Thus, we can see that just because the parking lot of a food and drink establishment is full, it doesn't always mean that the business is making money (profit) and also, just because people appear to eat or drink out alot, it doesn't always mean that they can really afford to.
Last Sunday, while on my way to Jumbies, I took the south coast road and drove past TGI Friday's, Bubba's and Cheffette. As I drove past these establishments, I stole a quick glance at each of their parking lots. Most of them were full. Big deal, right? Maybe, maybe not. If we assume (yes, I know what they say about the word 'assume' and about assumptions in general) that the cars parked in each of the establishments' respective parking spaces belonged to patrons of said establishment, then a casual observer may quickly conclude two things: 1) that people have money to spend, that is, they have disposable income (better yet, discretionary income) and 2) that business is booming for these particular establishments.
The problem with both of these conclusions is that they may be somewhat misleading. Regarding the second conclusion, unless you had direct access to the sales figures of the establishment for a particular day, like Sunday, there would be no accurate way to tell if the establishment was making money (as in a profit). Even with these figures, it doesn't reveal much. The establishment may do ten thousand dollars in sales that night, however, this figure might only be representative of gross sales (the figure before overheads and expenses, etcetera, are deducted) and may not immediately show how much was pure profit (the figure after overheads and expenses, etecetra, have been deducted).
As for the first conclusion, just because people are spending money, it doesn't automatically mean that they can always afford to do so. Some people live beyond their means and, according to an old saying: "Have champagne tastes, but mauby pockets." Other people may have been invited to dinner by someone else and therefore do not have to pay for the food/drink they are consuming. It may also be a special occasion and people are celebrating by going out for dinner. It may even be a once-a-month kind of affair where a family, a couple or friends treat themselves to a night out on the town.
Thus, we can see that just because the parking lot of a food and drink establishment is full, it doesn't always mean that the business is making money (profit) and also, just because people appear to eat or drink out alot, it doesn't always mean that they can really afford to.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Kite Soars High
(DISCLAIMER: IANAEOM, I Am Not An Expert On Music)
I've been hanging out at Jumbies the last two Sunday evenings, enjoying a drink with some friends and listening to Kite. Some of you may remember that JJ and Brian were originally part of Desire, a band that played Thursday nights at McBride's ages ago. Back then, Desire had their own original songs and played a few covers, including "Fly Away" by Lenny Kravitz, an old favourite of mine, and Beautiful Day and Mysterious Ways by U2. In fact, it was through Desire that I discovered U2. Trust me, my musical education is woefully inadequate and far from being complete!
Fast forward to the present. On Sunday nights at Jumbies, Kite soars high with their own music as well as songs by others. A few clips of their original tunes, like "Nice To Finally Meet You" and "Up In The Air," can be downloaded from their website. I personally think that Kite has the talent to be just as big as Rihanna, or Rupee. So if you've got nowhere to go this evening, or nothing special planned, head on over to Jumbies in The Gap and spend an hour two listening to Kite, an original Barbadian alternative band. Don't blame me if Kite isn't your thing. Like I said earlier, IANAEOM. I just listen to the music and go with it. If I like it, I like it. If I don't, I don't. Don't bother trying to explain tunes, pitch, instruments, timing or anything like that to me. Musical ignorance can be quite blissful.
I've been hanging out at Jumbies the last two Sunday evenings, enjoying a drink with some friends and listening to Kite. Some of you may remember that JJ and Brian were originally part of Desire, a band that played Thursday nights at McBride's ages ago. Back then, Desire had their own original songs and played a few covers, including "Fly Away" by Lenny Kravitz, an old favourite of mine, and Beautiful Day and Mysterious Ways by U2. In fact, it was through Desire that I discovered U2. Trust me, my musical education is woefully inadequate and far from being complete!
Fast forward to the present. On Sunday nights at Jumbies, Kite soars high with their own music as well as songs by others. A few clips of their original tunes, like "Nice To Finally Meet You" and "Up In The Air," can be downloaded from their website. I personally think that Kite has the talent to be just as big as Rihanna, or Rupee. So if you've got nowhere to go this evening, or nothing special planned, head on over to Jumbies in The Gap and spend an hour two listening to Kite, an original Barbadian alternative band. Don't blame me if Kite isn't your thing. Like I said earlier, IANAEOM. I just listen to the music and go with it. If I like it, I like it. If I don't, I don't. Don't bother trying to explain tunes, pitch, instruments, timing or anything like that to me. Musical ignorance can be quite blissful.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Brother, Can You Spare A Couple Of Billion Dollars?
After reading this article: "Clive Thompson Explains Why We Can Count on Geeks to Rescue the Earth," I started thinking about how difficult it is for some of us to process large numbers and quantities.
Every other day we hear a "hundred thousand this," or "a million that," or even "a billion," this and "a trillion that." But can we really appreciate the true size of these numbers? In particular, can we appreciate and process large numbers like these when it comes to something that, as Barbadians, we should all be concerned about, like our national debt?
Maybe some of us can (like economists or those of you who are numerically inclined), but for the average man (or woman) on the street, how do we help him or her, process and appreciate how much money our country owes? Simple. We must try to use terms and figures that the average man or woman on the street can easily understand and appreciate.
But before we do that, remember IANAE (I Am Not An Economist). Next, let's make sure we understand each other: If I borrow five dollars from you, I am a debtor and sooner or later, I have to pay you back (maybe with interest). From your perspective, you are a creditor. You have extended credit to me and you hope to collect your five dollars (the debt) sooner or later with interest (if you were smart). Now look at the big picture. Governments borrowing and lending, IMFs, World Banks, central banks, commercial banks, so on and so forth.
Okay, so what exactly is our current national debt? I haven't a clue. However, I did find a web-based article from The Nation newspaper, dated August 19, 2006. In it, the writer mentions that the national debt was almost $5bil ($5,000,000,000) at the end of December (2005 presumably). I also posted a comment on BFP asking if anyone knew what the current national debt was, or at least, a figure that a lay person could use, I recalled $4bil as a figure from somewhere and a "Jerome Hinds" seems to be in agreement with my guess. I also asked another source, and he/she told me, that as of March 2007, our national debt (internal + external) was OVER $5bil.
(Let's temporarily forget 'hard' and 'soft' debts and concentrate on the fact that a debt is still a debt no matter how hard or soft it is. Let's also put aside party politics for the time being.)
So, back to putting things into perspective for the benefit of the average man or woman on the street (and for whoever else is interested):
What Can You Get For Five Billion (BDS) Dollars? I'll tell you (hopefully my figures are reasonably accurate):
1) At $2.00 each for a plastic bottle of Coca-Cola (the price I pay at the canteen at my office), you could buy 2.5 billion bottles of the stuff. Divide that by the population of Barbados (280,946 July 2007 est.) and that's about 8,898 bottles of Coke PER PERSON.
2) The same canteen at work charges $1.50 BDS for a Pine Hill Dairy "box juice." So, with $5b, I could buy around 3.3 billion of these box juices. Again, using the population of Barbados, that's about 11,864 box juices PER PERSON.
3) At $2.25 each for a cheese cutter (a Barbadian classic and readily available), I could buy 2.2 billion cheese cutters! (CHEESE ON BREAD, MAN!) That works out to about 7,909 cheese cutters for every man, woman and child in Barbados.
4) At $4.00 each for a flying-fish cutter, I could buy around 1.2 billion cutters. That works out to about 4,449 flying fish cutters for every man, woman and child in Barbados (by then, T&T and BDS would've hopefully sorted out all of their fishing issues, although, there may not be enough fish to go around!)
5) At $2.00 each for a "bread-and-two" (two fish cakes in a salt fish bun), I could buy 2.5 billion bread-and-two's. That works out to about 8,898 for every man, woman and child in Barbados.
6) Tonight, I had a beer (Heineken) at Jumbie's in St. Lawrence Gap. With $5 billion, I could buy 714,285 beers, or (using the population of Bim) about 2,542 beers PER PERSON.
7) How about a new motor vehicle? No problem. Let's say a pick-up (I like pick-ups), a Mitsubish L200 costs around $90,000 BDS. (DISCLAIMER: I don't work for the local agents, this is just a rough figure). With $5 billion, I could buy 55,555 of them.
8) Better yet, how about a nice house and land deal? Nothing west coast-ish, something comfortable with at least 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and a nice yard for the kiddies to run around in. Let's say it costs around $450,000 (DISCLAIMER: I Am Not A Real Estate Agent). With $5 billion, I could buy about 11,000+ of these.
9) What if the entire population of Barbados had to pay off $5 billion in national debt? It means that every man, woman and child would have to pay $17,797.
Why does any of this matter? After all, the debt collector isn't going to go knocking on your door asking you to pay up (don't forget those interest payments!) The debt has to be paid by the Government (be it BLP, DLP or XYZ). Where will Government get this money from? Simple, YOU. Your children. Possibly your children's children. How? (Remember IANAE) Probably via taxes, duties, etcetera.
What does the Government do with all this money? I don't work for the Government, so I don't have specific details. However, the Government has to provide and pay for education, police/fire, roads, infrastructure, transport, health care, water utilities, subsidies and host of the other services. These services cost money. So, can you spare a couple of billion dollars?
Every other day we hear a "hundred thousand this," or "a million that," or even "a billion," this and "a trillion that." But can we really appreciate the true size of these numbers? In particular, can we appreciate and process large numbers like these when it comes to something that, as Barbadians, we should all be concerned about, like our national debt?
Maybe some of us can (like economists or those of you who are numerically inclined), but for the average man (or woman) on the street, how do we help him or her, process and appreciate how much money our country owes? Simple. We must try to use terms and figures that the average man or woman on the street can easily understand and appreciate.
But before we do that, remember IANAE (I Am Not An Economist). Next, let's make sure we understand each other: If I borrow five dollars from you, I am a debtor and sooner or later, I have to pay you back (maybe with interest). From your perspective, you are a creditor. You have extended credit to me and you hope to collect your five dollars (the debt) sooner or later with interest (if you were smart). Now look at the big picture. Governments borrowing and lending, IMFs, World Banks, central banks, commercial banks, so on and so forth.
Okay, so what exactly is our current national debt? I haven't a clue. However, I did find a web-based article from The Nation newspaper, dated August 19, 2006. In it, the writer mentions that the national debt was almost $5bil ($5,000,000,000) at the end of December (2005 presumably). I also posted a comment on BFP asking if anyone knew what the current national debt was, or at least, a figure that a lay person could use, I recalled $4bil as a figure from somewhere and a "Jerome Hinds" seems to be in agreement with my guess. I also asked another source, and he/she told me, that as of March 2007, our national debt (internal + external) was OVER $5bil.
(Let's temporarily forget 'hard' and 'soft' debts and concentrate on the fact that a debt is still a debt no matter how hard or soft it is. Let's also put aside party politics for the time being.)
So, back to putting things into perspective for the benefit of the average man or woman on the street (and for whoever else is interested):
What Can You Get For Five Billion (BDS) Dollars? I'll tell you (hopefully my figures are reasonably accurate):
1) At $2.00 each for a plastic bottle of Coca-Cola (the price I pay at the canteen at my office), you could buy 2.5 billion bottles of the stuff. Divide that by the population of Barbados (280,946 July 2007 est.) and that's about 8,898 bottles of Coke PER PERSON.
2) The same canteen at work charges $1.50 BDS for a Pine Hill Dairy "box juice." So, with $5b, I could buy around 3.3 billion of these box juices. Again, using the population of Barbados, that's about 11,864 box juices PER PERSON.
3) At $2.25 each for a cheese cutter (a Barbadian classic and readily available), I could buy 2.2 billion cheese cutters! (CHEESE ON BREAD, MAN!) That works out to about 7,909 cheese cutters for every man, woman and child in Barbados.
4) At $4.00 each for a flying-fish cutter, I could buy around 1.2 billion cutters. That works out to about 4,449 flying fish cutters for every man, woman and child in Barbados (by then, T&T and BDS would've hopefully sorted out all of their fishing issues, although, there may not be enough fish to go around!)
5) At $2.00 each for a "bread-and-two" (two fish cakes in a salt fish bun), I could buy 2.5 billion bread-and-two's. That works out to about 8,898 for every man, woman and child in Barbados.
6) Tonight, I had a beer (Heineken) at Jumbie's in St. Lawrence Gap. With $5 billion, I could buy 714,285 beers, or (using the population of Bim) about 2,542 beers PER PERSON.
7) How about a new motor vehicle? No problem. Let's say a pick-up (I like pick-ups), a Mitsubish L200 costs around $90,000 BDS. (DISCLAIMER: I don't work for the local agents, this is just a rough figure). With $5 billion, I could buy 55,555 of them.
8) Better yet, how about a nice house and land deal? Nothing west coast-ish, something comfortable with at least 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and a nice yard for the kiddies to run around in. Let's say it costs around $450,000 (DISCLAIMER: I Am Not A Real Estate Agent). With $5 billion, I could buy about 11,000+ of these.
9) What if the entire population of Barbados had to pay off $5 billion in national debt? It means that every man, woman and child would have to pay $17,797.
Why does any of this matter? After all, the debt collector isn't going to go knocking on your door asking you to pay up (don't forget those interest payments!) The debt has to be paid by the Government (be it BLP, DLP or XYZ). Where will Government get this money from? Simple, YOU. Your children. Possibly your children's children. How? (Remember IANAE) Probably via taxes, duties, etcetera.
What does the Government do with all this money? I don't work for the Government, so I don't have specific details. However, the Government has to provide and pay for education, police/fire, roads, infrastructure, transport, health care, water utilities, subsidies and host of the other services. These services cost money. So, can you spare a couple of billion dollars?
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
The World Bank Meets Wall Street
(DISCLAIMER: IANAE, I Am Not An Economist.)
They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. So it should come as no suprise then that Robert Zoellick, the new World Bank president, would like the bank to behave more like a Wall Street investment firm. After all, Mr. Zoellick was once vice chairman of Goldman Sachs.
Most of us, if not everyone, have heard of the World Bank and quite possibly, the IMF (International Monetary Fund). Especially those of you living in developing countries. Both entities are sometimes referred to as the Bretton Woods Institutions.
The About Us page of The World Bank has the following to say:
"The World Bank is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. We are not a bank in the common sense. We are made up of two unique development institutions owned by 185 member countries—the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA).
Each institution plays a different but supportive role in our mission of global poverty reduction and the improvement of living standards. The IBRD focuses on middle income and creditworthy poor countries, while IDA focuses on the poorest countries in the world. Together we provide low-interest loans, interest-free credit and grants to developing countries for education, health, infrastructure, communications and many other purposes."
Thus, after taking Mr. Zoellick's comments into consideration, it should be interesting to see if he will still be able to accomplish what the bank has stated on their About Us page and still make itself more Wall Street-ish.
If I may risk making a connection (and an extremely poor one at that) it appears to me (remember IANAE), that we may be seeing the beginning of a subprime type problem/situation with regards to his new vision.
From what little I know, subprime lending was the type of lending geared towards borrowers who had poor credit histories and found themselves in murky financial situations (sounds a bit like developing nations to me). Despite these factors, lending still occurred. This was good for the borrowers and good for the lenders. However, it appears that this fell apart around July 2007, during the subprime mortgage financial crisis where (among other things) home owners failed to meet their financial commitments and foreclosures ran rampant.
Enter Mr. Zoellick and his vision to make the World Bank more like Wall Street. In particular, offering developing nations and/or countries with poor credit profiles, financial products that they cannot get in the private market. So, what happens if and when these countries default?
However, Mr. Zoellick appears, at least on the surface, to have something interesting to offer to some Caribbean countries. He cites an example relating to hurricane insurance whereby several Caribbean nations formed a group, pooled risk and cut their premiums by 40 percent . That's not bad, is it?
As I said earlier, I Am Not An Economist (IANAE). My post focused on only a small part of the IHT article. Do your own research, draw your own conclusions and form your own opinions.
[World Bank mimics Wall Street as it looks for a new role via International Herald Tribune]
They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. So it should come as no suprise then that Robert Zoellick, the new World Bank president, would like the bank to behave more like a Wall Street investment firm. After all, Mr. Zoellick was once vice chairman of Goldman Sachs.
Most of us, if not everyone, have heard of the World Bank and quite possibly, the IMF (International Monetary Fund). Especially those of you living in developing countries. Both entities are sometimes referred to as the Bretton Woods Institutions.
The About Us page of The World Bank has the following to say:
"The World Bank is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. We are not a bank in the common sense. We are made up of two unique development institutions owned by 185 member countries—the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA).
Each institution plays a different but supportive role in our mission of global poverty reduction and the improvement of living standards. The IBRD focuses on middle income and creditworthy poor countries, while IDA focuses on the poorest countries in the world. Together we provide low-interest loans, interest-free credit and grants to developing countries for education, health, infrastructure, communications and many other purposes."
Thus, after taking Mr. Zoellick's comments into consideration, it should be interesting to see if he will still be able to accomplish what the bank has stated on their About Us page and still make itself more Wall Street-ish.
If I may risk making a connection (and an extremely poor one at that) it appears to me (remember IANAE), that we may be seeing the beginning of a subprime type problem/situation with regards to his new vision.
From what little I know, subprime lending was the type of lending geared towards borrowers who had poor credit histories and found themselves in murky financial situations (sounds a bit like developing nations to me). Despite these factors, lending still occurred. This was good for the borrowers and good for the lenders. However, it appears that this fell apart around July 2007, during the subprime mortgage financial crisis where (among other things) home owners failed to meet their financial commitments and foreclosures ran rampant.
Enter Mr. Zoellick and his vision to make the World Bank more like Wall Street. In particular, offering developing nations and/or countries with poor credit profiles, financial products that they cannot get in the private market. So, what happens if and when these countries default?
However, Mr. Zoellick appears, at least on the surface, to have something interesting to offer to some Caribbean countries. He cites an example relating to hurricane insurance whereby several Caribbean nations formed a group, pooled risk and cut their premiums by 40 percent . That's not bad, is it?
As I said earlier, I Am Not An Economist (IANAE). My post focused on only a small part of the IHT article. Do your own research, draw your own conclusions and form your own opinions.
[World Bank mimics Wall Street as it looks for a new role via International Herald Tribune]
Labels: Barbados, Caribbean, economics, life, money, politics
Monday, September 3, 2007
Barbados: Fires
UPDATED Sep 3, 12:49 PM: The Bajan Reporter has a short write-up and pictures of the smoke/fire, as well as a short video clip.
Also, according to a post on Barbados Underground, McBride's Caribbean Limited is the source of the fire. Residents are being urged to evacuate the area (especially downwind) as McBride's is a manufacturer of, among other things, pesticide related products. Still nothing further on the fire in St. Peter.
ORIGINAL POST:
Just heard this via a co-worker: Two fires. One in Lowlands, Christ Church. The other, somewhere around the Speightstown area(?) in St. Peter.
Also, according to a post on Barbados Underground, McBride's Caribbean Limited is the source of the fire. Residents are being urged to evacuate the area (especially downwind) as McBride's is a manufacturer of, among other things, pesticide related products. Still nothing further on the fire in St. Peter.
ORIGINAL POST:
Just heard this via a co-worker: Two fires. One in Lowlands, Christ Church. The other, somewhere around the Speightstown area(?) in St. Peter.
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Accident At Bushy Park
Barbados Free Press posted a report on the accident at Bushy Park that ocurred this morning.
I called a friend of mine who is an avid motor sports fan, and who is, at the time of this post (1653 hrs) at Bushy Park. Details are still sketchy as I could barely hear him over the sound of the passing race cars. From what I could understand, sometime around 9 AM, a ten-wheeler dump truck rolled down a hill (to the left of the spectator's stand) and injured eight people, two of them suffered serious injuries. The ten-wheeler also struck a few motor vehicles on the way down.
Judging by the background noise while speaking to him via cellphone, the races were not called off and got underway by around 10:30 AM.
I called a friend of mine who is an avid motor sports fan, and who is, at the time of this post (1653 hrs) at Bushy Park. Details are still sketchy as I could barely hear him over the sound of the passing race cars. From what I could understand, sometime around 9 AM, a ten-wheeler dump truck rolled down a hill (to the left of the spectator's stand) and injured eight people, two of them suffered serious injuries. The ten-wheeler also struck a few motor vehicles on the way down.
Judging by the background noise while speaking to him via cellphone, the races were not called off and got underway by around 10:30 AM.
