First Public Blog.

The story of Oh Kay.

2009-10-07T08:08:00.001+02:00

I was silly on Twitter yesterday and made up the following story of tweets. I don’t mean any harm to actual living persons.

That reminds me of a girl I knew when in South East Asia. Her name was "Oh Kay".

"Oh Kay" had a cousin called "Oh Noh". They both got a scholarship and ended up in Ohmaha.

At College "Oh Kay" never dated the boys. "Oh Noh" did date the boys in Omaha, but she soon find out, where they were after

After College "Oh Kay" met a boy called "Yew un Mie" and they then moved to NYC, to live in Queens.

"Oh Noh" stayed in Omaha and became a Republican. She's, you guessed it, against HCR.

"Oh Noh" is now married to another Republican "Me Me"

"Oh Kay" and "Yew un Mie" own a business in Queens NYC. They sell insurances and call themselves: "Yew un Mie Oh Kay Company"

"Oh Noh" and "Me Me" have a daughter: "Me Oh Sarah", who thinks she can write a book about rogues in Politics.

"Me Oh Sarah" writes under the name "Oh Me Sarah". She once had a partner called "Jon Mak Cane" but they fell out inside 6 months.

"Oh Kay" and "Yew un Mie" have a son: "Oh Yew un Osoh Guhd", who is now a lawyer in Queens NY. He has a partner "Noh Waay".

"Oh Yew un Osoh Guhd" and "Noh Waay" have a law firm called "Waay Osoh Guhd" next to a Queens Hospital.

"Me Oh Sarah" has a new Liberal boy friend called: "Oh Bamah". It seems they are doing well together and are getting married soon.

"Me Oh Sarah" and "Oh Bamah" are expecting a baby. They are thinking up names.

"Me Oh Sarah" and "Oh Bamah" have a dog called "Newt" and a cat called "Pelosi". The pets can't stand each other.

"Osoh Guhd" has a girl friend: "Yew Meen It", she's a surgeon in the Hospital next door. Her boss is called: Dr. "C.U.T. Finer".

When "Osoh Guhd" and "Yew Meen It" have a baby, they will call her: "Oh My Gawd".

"Me Oh Sarah" and "Oh Bamah" have chosen a name for their first child: "Yew Nite".

Maybe "Yew Nite" and "Oh My Gawd" will meet one day and have the best US public health care insurance there is!!

So far no replies via twitter.

The story about "Chew-Mi"

2009-09-06T07:10:00.002+02:00

The other day, before I went watching the Woodstock ’69 documentary on BBC4, I was reminded of something.

I started tweeting some things that some found funny and entertaining. As all tweets on the web are now not in synchronisation, I thought of putting the tweets in the right order., so here goes, without being disrespectful to any actual living person or country.

If I ever go to the Far East again, I hope to meet the girl I know as "Chew-Mi" in Hong Kong!

If I am correct someone called Moore married Chew-Mi. She calls herself Chew-Mi Moore now. They have a daughter : Slight-Li, OK, U guessed it?

Chew-Mi Moore & husband, also now have a baby boy: "Lil-Wi". Wonder if he will like Johnnie Cash's song "Sue" when he grows up to be a lawyer

Think you all now know why Chew-Mi didn't marry Sidney A.T. Home (pronounced "Hume" as in Sir Alec Douglas-Home).Moore is a Judge and rich!

Chew-Mi had a cousin too, his name is Fok-Yew, he became famous in NK as he is an adviser to the president of NK. Hence what he says to USA!

When Chew-Mi's cousin Fok-Yew came to the US, he was arrested at LAX for when the Immigration Officer asked his name, he felt he was insulted!

Guess which law office represented Fok-Yew? Dewy, Cheatum & Howe

The name of the Judge in Fok-Yew's case was: "Judge Twice A.S.S. Much"! Fok-Yew was sent back to NK. Ever since he says, his name before USA

Chew-Mi has a cousin in Detroit who has used her name for his Chinese Take-away called: "Chew- Mi More"

Chew-Mi has a cousin in Vietnam. His name is Pfuew-Knuw-Mi

"Pfuew-Knuw-Mi" is married to "On-Li". She is a very depressed woman I bet, when she tells who she is. A solitary woman in Vietnam

Pfuew-Knuw-Mi and wife On-li have a son named: "Hel-Loh". Told he is a happy fellow. Don't think he will have just 1 girl friend when a teen

On-Li Pfuew-Knuw-Mi has a Latina niece in Florida, she's a singer and has some big name and something else and is called: Djay Loh.

Djay Loh, niece of On-Li Pfuew-Knuw-Mi, went for a tattoo in Miami. On her lower back she now has "All mine" tattooed!

Djay Loh says the tattoo is for her boy friend, who came from Vietnam. His name is "Ghoh Dhoun-On". Seems to me they fit together.

Just found out, Ghoh Dhoun-On his dad went in China to school with Chew-Mi's mother before she came to Hong Kong. Guess that is a round circle

Hope you enjoyed this.

The fish and the fishermen.

2009-04-17T11:50:00.001+02:00

Around the coasts of Africa and South America there are people who live from the sea. No this blog is not about pirates, but about the local fishermen.

Some time ago, I saw a most disturbing documentary about large EU fishing vessels of the coast of East Africa. If I remember correctly, they were there for they could not catch fish legally in the surrounding seas of Europe. But what those large ships did was, take away the livelihood of many local people. Those who live in Africa & South America and who try to earn a living for themselves and their family were thus deprived of their fish or caught much less than when the EU ships were around.

If it happens around Africa then it must also happen around the coasts of South America, for I believe there are, or used to be, fish everywhere there is a sea or an ocean. But my question is: “Why should EU fishermen fish so far off their own country?”

Is it due to the quota’s set by the EU countries? That is one reason I can think of. But with the quota’s come waste. I really don’t know how the quota’s work, but what I gather from recent news items is that many a fish is returned dead to the sea. It seems the fishermen are obliged to do so for if they bring those fish on land and they are caught, they get at least a monetary fine. I don’t know what happens to them when they are caught many times over.

Has anyone thought of this: Let the fishermen keep the “over catch” on board, if caught in the EU region. Register the amounts and let the proceeds of over catch, go directly into UN special fish funds. Or process the over catch and have the, I presume, canned products be sent to all African nations and distributed among the poor and needy. All without interference of (corrupt) governments. Use the money in the funds for the processing and the shipping. Should all be on the basis of non-profit.

I don’t know what happens to the dead fish that are thrown back into the seas. Are they food for other fishes or larger sea animals? In decomposing don’t the dead fish get toxic for others?
If the decomposing fish are no threat to other fish and thus do have benefits, then I guess it is another story, but in my opinion still a waste of food.

Now I come back to the EU fishermen around Africa and maybe even South America. If they want to fish there, have them pay dearly for an all Africa or South American licence and have it mandatory that the catch is brought to the shores of the country closest to the place the fish was caught. The caught fish is then partly sold on that local market at their prices so the local people will benefit. The other part shall have to be distributed for free to the poor and needy. I guess one can calculate the percentage of the poor and needy in each country.

From the local proceeds, the EU fishermen and from other non African or non South American ships may only take home, say 10 percent for their costs and no more. I guess they will then stay away from the shores of Africa and South America.

Now there has to be a solution for the fact that, I guess, fish is not caught equally along all African nations that have shores. So it could be such that not all the countries get an even part of the caught fish. Without getting into local bureaucracy and the said corruption in many countries, one possibility is a UN funded 24/7 fish distribution office. The technology on the fishing ships is, in my humble opinion, such that the captain can call in after a catch and the UN distribution office directs the captain to the port where the catch can be unloaded. He will have to give the GPS coordinates of the fishing grounds too. Without such a document, via email or fax with copy to port directed to, the catch will be forfeited and the captain and owners heavily sanctioned, like say the ship is seized. There are GPS satellites so, just like planes, every ship (should have or) has a call sign and can be checked.

The object of all these thoughts is to:
- stop the waste of food,
- have food distributed to nations that have food poverty,
- stop or curb foreign (western) nations catching fish of the coasts of Africa and South America,
- have the proceeds evenly distributed to those counties where the fish is caught and the inland countries,
- keep local fishermen in the position of earning their livelihood,
- curb or maybe erase local corruption, by keeping all in hand of a UN funded organisation,
- heavy sanctions for those captains or owner of ships, who do not comply,
and the ultimate goal should be,
- the end of starvation.

Politics in an African Country called Zimbabwe.

2009-03-22T12:21:00.002+01:00

I have never been in Zimbabwe or what was formerly called Rhodesia. I don’t know any Zimbabweans personally, nor do I have contact through mail or through the internet. For some time however, I became interested in what was going on there.

As a child I have stepped on South-African soil, but that was in the 1950-ies. I have lived in the Far East and in the Middle-East, so in a way, I have been in different cultures and have a ‘western view’ of what I have experienced.

I have seen what can be called poverty, but the local people didn’t call it such. They called it struggle or hardship, but were still happy with their life, because they at least had a meal a day. They could make a meal from the things that was around and the smell of their food was quite nice and tasted good too.

I am now amazed by the people of Zimbabwe. It started nearly a year ago, before the March 29 2008 elections, or what it was called. I do remember some things about the previous elections held in that far away country. I also remember some aspects of Rhodesia and the time of Ian Smith. I recall that in the 1960-ies and 70-ies there was much controversy of the way his government ruled. But what I most remember is, that there was an abundance of food and goods.

It appalled me a year ago, to see how the ‘elections’ went and especially the time it took for the government of Robert Mugabe to reveal the results, eventually on May 2nd. The longer it took, the more suspicious I became. Then the world had to wait for the so called necessary run-off, that led to Mugabe being sworn in as President on June 29th 2008.

MDC opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and his party made decisions during the ‘elections’ and chose not to participate in the run-off, though his name was still on the ballot. Since then, in my humble opinion, all the delays and negotiations between the parties involved, led to what is now called a "government of national unity."

I believe the negotiations led to the distrubution of Ministries etc., but on the day of the swearing in, Mugabe showed he was not in no way to be trusted to follow up on the power-sharing agreement, he signed.

I don’t think I am the only one, who thinks the size of the present Zimbabwe Government, is one would not expect, seeing the state the country is in. I have read stories of how the size expanded and the way the offices and the Mercedeses were given to the folks who got new titles etc.

Daily I still read articles found on http://www.zimbabwesituation.com/index.html and sometimes I just think, “What a soap!” or “Where is this all leading to.” Reason why I twitter my tweets and this blog.

Many plans are now made to make Zimbabwe a better place, but I think all in vain. No matter how well planned, nothing works if there are no funds.

I must admid, I admire the Zimbabwean people. I admire how they still endure their hardship and the way Robert Mugabe, also called “Uncle Bob”, and his party friends, in my opinion, are still tolerated.

I believe it is no use to start protests like in Madegascar or start taking to the streets in Zimbabwe and start things that would become more devastating. That will give Mugabe, in my opinion, reason to do what he and his friends contemplate to do, use the veterans, the military and the police for a martial law. All Mugabe opponants will be arrested and incarcerated and many will never see the light of day ever again.

A new Constitution for Zimbabwe is far off and will never be finalised as long as Zimbabwe is in the state it is in. New elections soon? A repeat of the past elections. More people vanishing from the Zimbabwean soil.

I would like to know how the judges in The Courts in Zimbabwe were appointed and function. Are they all or mostly just not as imparcial as they should be? Are they just as scared as many Zimbabweans are, to loose their jobs or get arrested by police if they fail to sentence in favour of Mugabe and his party?

I find it amazing Zimbabwean lawyers are also showing so much endurance. Are they also waiting for the judges to come to their senses? If the judges of Zimbabwe show defiance or start going on strike, what will that bring? Are they still paid their salaries on time? Do the administrations of the courts get paid on time?

We can read civil servants don’t get paid and there can be chaos. If the veterans, the military and police don’t get paid, what will happen then? How much money is still devided amoung Mugabe people, to keep them docile? Even the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s Governor is having trouble paying the employees and it is said Mugabe withdrew some £63,000 for the five-star Asian tour of his wife and entourage.

And still, Mugabe asks his friends to give him more money, while Zimbabweans are starving or dying from cholera. How much money did Mugabe and his friends take during his regime? Where did it all go? What or which bank(s) keeps Mugabe accounts or accounts for his friends? I think most or all the money could be stashed in cash somewhere around the world. Maybe converted to gold or diamonds on the illegal markets.

Where is it all, mister Mugabe and are you willing to pay it back to the Zimbabwean people before you just . . go? They need it more now for Government Loans from other countries will not come before you and your friends leave office and maybe find a place to hide somewhere in the world.

When does that time come?

When can the Zimbabweans say: “And Bob’s your uncle!”

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-bob1.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob

It came to pass . . . by themselves.

2009-03-17T14:57:00.003+01:00

A certain terrorist group, known to have formed by or around a wealthy Saudi called Osama bin Laden, had the intention to bring down the US economy. The horrendous attack that took place on 9/11 2001 was to instigate such a downfall.

But, it looks like that terrorist group only succeeded in killing many civilians in the Twin Towers and on the planes they used.

Can we not now say that Americans brought down the US economy and in it’s wake the economies around the world?

It was just a matter of time:

Bernard Madoff:
Accused of running a $50 billion Ponzi scheme, Bernie Madoff may have masterminded the biggest fraud in Wall Street history. But he’s not alone. Over the years, people from CEOS to traders have tried to take advantage of the system. Here are some of the notables from the past two decades.

Hunt Brothers :
Oil executive Nelson Hunt and his brother William Hunt tried to corner the market on silver. The market eventually crashed in 1980, a day known as Silver Thursday. The Hunts were convicted in 1988.

Ivan Boesky:
Boesky pleaded guilty to insider trading in 1986, and said that he amassed much of his $200 million fortune using illegal information. He served two years in jail before being released.

Michael Milkin
Junk bonds pioneer Michael Milken was convicted on securities charges in 1990. He was released from prison after less than two years.

Charles Keating:
Keating was charged with fraud, racketeering and conspiracy in 1993 over the 1989 failure of Lincoln Savings and Loan. He spent more than four years in jail before the charges were overturned in 1996. The failure of Lincoln cost the government an estimated $3 billion.

Nick Leeson:
The British investment bank Barings collapsed after massive currency market losses were incurred but hidden by trader Leeson in 1995. The fraud cost the company about $1.4 billion in losses. ING bought the company for one British pound, and assumed all of its debt. Leeson is now out of prison.

John Rigas:
Once the world's largest cable company, Adelphia filed for bankruptcy in 2002 amid allegations of corruption among the company's founders and leaders, including CEO John Rigas. Rigas was convicted in 2005 and is currently serving a prison sentence.

Bernie Ebbers:
Ebbers, the former CEO of WorldCom, was imprisoned on charges of fraud and conspiracy for falsifying the telecommunications company’s finances. It’s estimated that the fraud cost investors about $11 billion.

Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling:
Enron filed for bankruptcy in 2001 following massive accounting fraud and a run on its stock. The two CEOs, Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skillling, were convicted in 2006. Lay died before sentencing. Skilling is in prison.

Dennis Kozlowski:
The former Tyco International CEO was convicted in June, 2005, for misappropriation of about $400 million of the company’s funds. He was sentenced to a prison term of up to 25 years.

Jerome Kerviel:
The French trader was charged in January, 2008, of abuse of confidence and illegal access to computers for losing a reported $7 billion for Societé Generale. His case is still pending.

The above mentioned names and data taken from: http://www.cnbc.com/id/28282110?slide=1

And today we have AIG at the centre of scandals as we had nearly all the UK banks all to do with bonuses, while the taxpayer’s money is used for bail-outs!

In a cave somewhere, one Saudi guy is moping that he and his friends didn’t succeed in the intention. Americans did it for him.

Irony?

How would “An Officer and a Gentleman II” start?

2009-02-18T13:10:00.002+01:00

You see the legs and shoes of a man in US Navy uniform walking a polished hall and enter an office. When behind a wooden desk the man takes out a silver photo frame from his satchel bag and put it on the empty wooden desk.

In the picture is a woman between a teenage boy and girl: Paula Pokrifki.

The eyes of the man are then shown, to zoom out to be the grey haired US Navy Commander Zack Mayo.

In the background you can’t hear a familiar voice shouting: “The only two things from Oklahoma are steers and queers, and I don’t see any horns on you boy.”

What I did today, I should have done yesterday! Meaning:. . too late!

2009-02-18T07:40:00.000+01:00

So. . with the Banker's Greed and the lack of control mechanism: It’s all too late and the taxpayers pay the bills.

All 2005 through 2009 global banker’s and traders bonuses should be paid back in full and into the public domain: their own tax account.

Did the US and UK war-expenses (A. & I.) also not make the way for the present credit-crunch?

L’histoire se répète.

2009-02-18T07:39:00.000+01:00

Do you remember who came after the French debacle in Vietnam? You’ve guessed it. And how did the US end up in 1975?

Well, history seems to repeat itself, for from 1979 to 1989 the Soviets were in Afghanistan. The Soviet occupation resulted in the killings of at least 600,000 to 2 million Afghan civilians. Do you remember the way the Soviets ended up and finally left?

So, since 2001 again the US (and other forces) are there and has there been any progress? The loss of life on both sides, the money spent and the amounts that 'vanished', can only - in two more years time - 2011 lead up to one line: “History repeats itself.”

Many people dead and countries in financial debts due to a war not carefully organised and properly executed.

The UK has a new law: Photographing Police officers or the military may get you arrested.

2009-02-18T07:37:00.000+01:00

Even tourists can now get in trouble while visiting London. Looks to me it has to do with the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes. He was shot by Police Officers in a tube and his family was done wrong by the verdict.

Now in any police situation, be it just or wrong, anyone photographing or filming the incident can be arrested and the film confiscated. So there the proof goes into Police archives or worse “is lost”. The evidence of their wrongdoing will then not be available and makes it very hard for those affected to sue and get justice.

Don't think the UK tourist industry will survive this.

Does not the name George Orwell come to mind and what he once wrote?
Big Brother is watching you already, but little brother can’t watch big brother!

Television still entertainment and information?

2009-02-13T10:35:00.001+01:00

When I turn on the knob of the television it is either for getting informed or for entertainment. I get information about what’s happening in the world or in my country. Where I live there are news channels in the major European languages, some two to three US news channels and one international Arabian channel. So I can get different views of what is happening around the world and get updated almost daily.

For entertainment there are the licence fee stations and the commercial stations. In my country there used to be a licence fee, but that has been abandoned some years ago. The - now through general tax subsidised - TV and radio stations, general and local, get extra monies for their programs through commercials. All the commercial stations need for their programmes income through the advertisements they show. I acknowledge that nowadays advertisements are just a fact of entertainment life, but the frequency of ad blocks are to me quite a bore.

I don’t know how it is in your country, but here a 50 minute series like “The West Wing” has a minimum of three ad blocks of 6-7 minutes. Nearly all 7 commercial stations now have around the same time the ad blocks. Even the Discovery channels and the National Geographic channels insert them blocks at the same time, so zapping seems to be no use anymore.

The only way to avoid those boring ad blocks is to watch Hallmark, TCM, MGM and the BBC channels for entertainment and that is what I look for when I turn on the TV set, not for the advertisements.

I especially dislike the money lending ads for the same ones come so frequently on every commercial station and non-commercial station. I think many households have taken loans too easily and now in these days, are getting into financial problems. I hope the European Community will set some rules about those advertisements.

But, as we all know, the television and radio stations need to pay their staff, their presenters and for their own productions. In my humble opinion the amounts paid to some people is just outrageous. For example the BBC. There have been quite a few controversies lately due to these highly paid people. A three months ban for one seems not to have helped, but still the licence fee payer has to pay for his “work” and still he is kept on the BBC payroll.

I believe there is talent enough to take over from the high salaried folks, for they will still be able to earn a living after they leave the BBC. The BBC must have made them famous, so they will get offered a gig somewhere else. That then leaves more of the licence fee left for more people to employ at normal wages. Even more will be left if those in management earn much less than they bring home each month. Who does the real work anyway?

If Commercial stations apply the same, i.e. pay them TV and radio diva’s less, more talent on normal wages will make a difference. I find so many programmes a ‘me too’ variation of a success show. Just take a look, commercial stations are nowadays just copy cats, for creativity is less to be found. Their advertisement income should not be spent on those over paid ‘talents’ whose faces you see nearly every day and become boring at one time or another.

Same as for instance the present day football players. The people who pay large amounts every time they come to see them play, come for entertainment and the thrill of the match. On the pitch are so many highly paid players, but do they perform 100% their salaries worth? How many fans keep on spending so much of their hard earned money to see so many millionaires play a game?

Will one day also the top of FIFA or UEFA also fall on their knees and say “Sorry”, for I think they are also there only for the greed of money.

And that folks is what it all comes down to: “greed”.

Extinguish or at least Curb greed and there must be a better life for many who have lost their jobs, homes or even family, due to the greed of still too many.

So there I am, getting information from around the world just via television and it makes me think and take time to write this blog on the internet.

There must be a different way, for “man is equal” no matter where on the earth you are.

Children should be taught better

2009-01-24T21:58:00.000+01:00

by their parents and teachers to pronounce the words and sentences in their language distinctly. It is in my humble opinion in the best interest of children to be taught the best way to communicate and will always be an advantage later on in life.

I find it amazing that, for example in many British television series - be they BBC programmes or from the commercial stations - the writers in many cases choose for the performers to speak some city accent/dialect, rather than have the correct pronunciation of English recorded.

One should be proud of one’s language. Is that an utopia?

Poll is on!

2009-01-23T13:56:00.001+01:00

Thought I had a good poll, and it seems to work.

2009-01-23T13:10:00.000+01:00

Just joined today 23rd January 2009. I can think of a topic for today: Do you feel like a “Twit” on Twitter? Well I do, as I can’t figure out how it all works. Must be my age. BTW I am on CET Time, Central European Time.