The Agonist - Agonist

Chinatown

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 03:17:24 -0700

My plans for tomorrow were to take the ferry to a nice, small, isolated beach island. Sadly, the rains intervened. It may clear up but as it looks now, we're in for some serious rain the next few days. There hasn't been a touch of sun in the last two days and the weatherman says there won't be any until next week. So, the white sands will just have to wait. Instead Mr. Ma and I will go to Chinatown tomorrow afternoon for lunch. I'll obviously have lots to say tomorrow. Until then, have a great weekend.

Today's Lesson From Asia

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 02:21:13 -0700

Consensus is everything in interoffice politics, as I learned today. A Happy Hour was scheduled for this evening and I tried everything possible under the sun (er, actually rain) to get out of it. But I failed. It's simply impossible. When everyone else is going along, consensus is everything and so, the non-Happy Hour type person that I am will go. I imagine I'll probably have fun, as opposed to sitting at home bemoaning the crap I've had to deal with the last few days.

Strange, this life in other countries. Were I back home in Austin my Friday night would consist of the following: come home from work. Eat dinner. Visit a bookstore, waste time wandering through the stacks, read for a while, come home and go to bed. But here, well, who knows. Just pray I don't end up in Malaysia, or Indonesia for that matter!

Barack Plays the Tiergarten

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:10:03 -0700

It’s only natural that Barack Obama’s speech today in Berlin is being judged in the context of the election campaign. All the television pundits are pondering deeply over whether it was wise for a candidate to give a foreign policy speech to hundreds of thousands of people who don’t vote, whether Obama looked presidential enough, and most importantly – whether this helped him in his battle with John McCain.

It struck me that all the talk about Obama-McCain and the racehorse judgments being offered about both of them completely missed the mark. If this speech was a contrast between two politicians, it was not between Obama and John McCain, it was between Obama and George W. Bush.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:29:00 -0700

I'm so busy this week (and stressed) I can barely keep my head on straight. So, if you don't see much blogging from me you'll know why. I have a few posts I'm working on, but I've already put in three twelve hour days this week, not to mention late night conference calls and have little extra time for commentary. Business, Asia-style, beckons!

I will add, just as an aside, which I have probably already mentioned, at any given moment I can hear the following languages being spoken in this office: Taglog, Mandarin, Cantonese, English, Thai, Singlish, Tamil and Vietnamese. Talk about a tower of Babel! And that doesn't included the fact that we have an Irishman here for the next week and who knows what language he speaks? He claims it's English but I dispute that, quite loudly, every day!

There is Nothing to Say to a Michael Savage

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:29:37 -0700

I’ve come to know several children with autism, and I’ve watched their parents struggle with this almost impossible condition that requires constant adult supervision merely to allow the child to function in some way within the family, much less in society. The last thing any thinking, caring, responsible parent would do to an autistic child is knock them up on the side of the head and tell them to shape up and stop pretending to be ill.

But that is the advice radio shock jock Michael Savage has given these parents, since he believes 99% of autistic children are misdiagnosed and faking it. They are “brats” that need to be disciplined, not coddled. They and their parents are victims of a medical fraternity that has invented an epidemic of autism in this country in order to extract dollars from insurance companies, and Savage believes it is time to discipline these kids the way his own father disciplined him – if he didn’t behave properly he got a swift kick in the pants.

Who is Really to Blame for the Financial Crisis?

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 19:57:44 -0700

Are we all to blame for this financial crisis?

That’s the current thinking coming out of Washington and being taken as accepted wisdom among economists and newspaper columnists. Consumers were greedy and didn’t read the mortgage documents they were signing. Banks were careless in their pursuit of profits and let credit standards lapse. Regulators sat by and did nothing while a housing boom and debt explosion raged for nearly a decade.

This doctrine of shared culpability, however, is starting to fray, as people are asking deeper questions about how so much debt could be piled on to so little equity. More interestingly, some columnists are beginning to wonder whether the banking system weighed the scales much more heavily against the consumer than anyone realized.

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Air America

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 16:59:29 -0700

I'll be on Air American shortly--I believe within the next hour and a half--to discuss the latest developments vis-a-vis Iran. If you get Air America locally please listen in, or you can always listen to it over the web. The show I'll be on is The Young Turks.

Ok, so I will be on at 930am Singapore time, which is in 30 minutes from now. I believe that's 930PM New York Time.

Update: So, it was a fun interview. About 15 minutes long. The great thing about Air America and Cenk is that I get to speak in complete thoughts, not sound bites. Go figure! Anyhow, if you get a chance and you find a podcast of the interview please let me know. I'd love to hear it.

Update: My segment is at about hour 2:08-2:10 at this link: I want to thank Cenk and Ana for having me on the show. Also, if any one is able to record the segment I would be very grateful.

New Photos from Singapore, July 18-20th

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 21:40:27 -0700

So, new photos are up. Here.

The full Singapore album is here.

My favorite photos are of the big monitor lizard and the guy lighting up the smoke.

I tried to get a photo of this absolutely beautiful kingfisher, but the lighting was bad and I failed.

And for Canuck I took some photos showing off some of the conservation efforts here in Singapore.

There are also lots of photos of people, mostly candid shots, in this update to. I hope you enjoy!

Waiting

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 02:34:19 -0700

I'll have some more photos later today or tomorrow when I get some bandwidth to upload them.

But for now this one will have to do.

I assume she is Malay. She's waiting for the metro at the Chinese Garden Station on the East West line.

I was lucky to get the shot off, as in the next few a guy stepped in front of the lense--happens a lot in Singapore--and then she noticed me and shied away.

Alas, the picture is captivating. Pensive, quiet and something else I just can't put into words.

Sometimes I get lucky with photos. I think this is one of those times.

Dear Agonististas

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:10:56 -0700

I want to thank all of you. Your support for my upcoming trip to Afghanistan has been nothing short of extraordinary. For this, I owe Sean-Paul a tremendous thank you and heartfelt gratitude—without him, none of this would have happened.

Life, however, has intervened. I found out yesterday that my employer requires me to go on a work-related trip during conflicting dates, and I cannot refuse. Coincidentally, I will still be going to Afghanistan. Just with them, and for them, and not on my own or for me.

This also means they're paying for my transportation and security. Which means I don't need to raise money right now. So over the next few days—part of what made this group so extraordinary was how many contributed—I will be returning everyone's donations.

Banner Ads

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 02:59:21 -0700

I know, I know. I don't much care for the things either. But I offered up the site as a test for a week or two and prefer to keep my commitments. That being said, I doubt I'll re-up the thing. It's not 'our' style, and it's a tad bit too much and too busy. So, for now, just ignore it--but by all means click on it from time to time too, as it does help to pay the bills--and it'll be gone soon enough.

New Photos from Singapore

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 05:03:15 -0700

I've added some new photos, mostly of people. I couldn't resist adding a few more photos of kids playing at the local fountain as well, and worked out some of the kinks on shutter speed. These are a bit better, but now the lighting is a tad off.

The photos were taken this weekend and last. I'm still trying to learn how to use this fancy DSLR camera from Nikon. It's a great tool, but one with which I am still sadly unfamiliar. If I could use and old film camera I would, but times change (besides, film and developing is expensive).

I finally managed to get some decent bandwidth to upload them. The bandwidth here in my flat is execrable, but free, so who am I to complain? (Although I seem to complain a lot, a bloggers prerogative, if ever there was one.)

So, where, exactly, did I find the bandwidth?

Why, at a local Singapore muni wi-fi hotspot, is where. I won't go off on another screed about infrastructure, I promise.

Regardless, it is nice to be able to check email, surf the web, video conference or blog on the corner while sipping local Javanese coffee. An experience that is really hard to beat. Starbucks or no . . .

You can find the photos here. At the link is the official Singapore page. So, check there often for updates.

Singapore Manners

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 05:01:58 -0700

Headline news from Singapore. Passed along without comment.

Tropical Rain

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 23:22:10 -0700

The sun shines all morning.

But then, the barometer plummets, all motion, movement is sucked from the air.

The wind stops.

All is still but the clouds above swirl, growing dark, angry as the humidity rises. Air and water congeal like gelatin or melted cellophane.

The clouds grow darker yet, while sweat glistens at your temples, behind your ears, dripping down your forehead. Then, and only after heat and humidity enervate everyone and everything around you does the rain start.

Only a few drops at first sound off on the eaves and canopies across the city but slowly, remorselessly the sound builds like a crescendo.

Alas, one is always caught without an umbrella: wet, sweaty, humid and hot.

After what seems like forever the rain dissipates. The winds kick up again, sending the showers south, or east, or west or north and soon the sun is shining through heavy, tropical clouds, shining as it ever was, as if nothing had ever happened.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Nationalized

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 20:43:52 -0700

Markets will open tomorrow with news that the federal government has effectively taken over both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and extended a lifeline as well to the Federal Home Loan Banks.

The U.S. Treasury Department, through its secretary Henry Paulson, describes its rescue plan as “not a nationalization”, but let’s not be fooled here. The federal government is substantially widening its line of credit to both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, it is injecting $15 billion of new equity into the companies, and the Federal Reserve has opened the discount window to both agencies so that they can borrow at the 2.5% overnight rate.

Anytime the federal government buys shares in a company, even if it is a special type of new share created for this purpose, that company has been nationalized. The board of directors and management of the company have lost control, and in this case the Federal Reserve has been given new powers of oversight over the agencies, in yet another expansion of Fed regulatory control.

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