it’s money, honey

This entire nation, the entire world, is ultimately running after money. The amount of influence money has on people has always fascinated me. You forget almost everything while in its shadow.

I used to think that the world was shaped by love. I’m sorry, but that’s nonsense. It’s shaped by money. Money, avarice and greed - these are the three main constants.

Why did retirees buy Lehman certificates? Because Aunt Anna said that she had something that was earning 4 percent interest, and suddenly everyone else wanted it.

(Hilmar Kopper in an Interview end 2011)

don’t mess with us…

The Big G (Gaddafi), should have seen the writing on the wall. Since prime minister Mohammad Mossadegh was deposed essentially by the Central Intelligence Agency in Iran in 1953, the rule is that you don’t antagonize globalized Big Oil. Not to mention the international financial/banking system - promoting subversive ideas such as turning your economy to the benefit of your local population.

If you’re pro-your country you are automatically against those who rule - Western banks, mega-corporations, shady “investors” out to profit from whatever your country produces.

By Pepe Escobar

Bangkok - big Mango

This is what all Bangkok governor candidates must do before trying to sell us any of their fancy ideas on improving the Big Mango.

Day one: Wear a cast to immobilise one of your legs, use crutches to walk, then go to work or do your errands.

Day two: Try to do the same thing in a wheelchair and see how far you can go from your place.

Day three: Cover your eyes with a mask, or wear a pair of thick spectacles to blur your view. Grab a cane, and walk on Bangkok’s notorious footpaths for at least three kilometres.

Day four: When hungry, eat only at food stalls in wet markets. To relieve yourself, do so only in toilets at temples, wet markets, state hospitals or bus and train stations.

Day five: Pedal your bicycle to the Bangkok Post for an interview on how you would make Bangkok friendlier for people of all ages, including those with special physical needs and for health- and environment-conscious cyclists.

Today, one out of every 10 Thais is over 60. The number will be two out of 10 just 15 years from now. The majority in Thailand’s greying society will be women. Yet, there is little sign from the city administration to make Bangkok friendlier to the elderly, particularly the grandmas.

According to Asst Prof Trairat Jarutach, the Thai Gerontology Research and Development Institute recently did a survey to see how safe and user-friendly Bangkok buildings and public spaces are for the elderly. The result is distressing.

Government buildings passed only one criteria: the door.

pinched from BKK-Post 21.11.08

public space

QUESTION: Lots of people are putting lots of information about themselves on sites like Facebook and Myspace. What would you say to those young people?

Imagine that everything you are typing is being read by the person you are applying to for your first job. Imagine that it’s all going to be seen by your parents and your grandparents and your grandchildren as well.

The danger is when you put something into a public space in order to share it with a few friends and in fact you’ve forgotten that it’s actually a public space or that the list of friends is huge or that some of them can’t be trusted not to be put it somewhere else.

(source: Sir Tim Berners-Lee has been interviewed by Rory Cellan-Jones
Technology correspondent, BBC News)