Shana Tova for the Jew Year

Happy new year furry little jewish friends!

Love from Borat.

Vote for your choice of American president!

The Economist is running a global electoral college for the US Presidential election. Go here to check how the world is voting. Cast your vote if you have access to the Economist site. So far literally everyone except Belarus and Slovakia seem to want Obama. No surprise really.

This is pretty cool.

The Alternative

Jeezus! If these clips don't make you scared shitless (right after you have laughed your ass off) then you weren't paying attention. If the good Doctor McKrekin is right, and I believe he is (mostly because he is not the only person saying it) and Obama does lose, then may the good lord help us all. The western world is gonna get served! SON!

Care of analoggiant.com...

Watch CBS Videos Online


Watch CBS Videos Online

Hold onto your saddlebags

The resignation of 11 ministers and 3 deputies today, including the top two at the National Treasury, follows the resignation of their boss, Thabo Mbeki, two days ago. They say that they will formally vacate their posts on Thursday, when Thabo formally vacates his. Apparently this is no more than protocol - when the President resigns his cabinet is 'duty-bound' to tender their resignations too. The incoming President then has the right to refuse those resignations. So only those resignations that are accepted would actually come into force. The head of SARS wrote a memo to his staff telling them this was the case with Trevor (it's on the Business Day website).

Fine. But then why have only 11 ministers tendered their resignations? Surely, if it is just protocol, the whole cabinet should do so at the same time?

All 11 have said they will be available to help with a smooth transition to the new administration, and serve in it if asked to do so. Methinks Kgalema will ask them to do so. But if he doesn't the ANC needs to find replacements. There's no way in hell the ANC has candidates ready to go in each position, least of all minister and deputy minister of Finance.

The announcement came at around 12.30pm today. Check what happened to the JSE (top) and the rand-dollar exchange rate (bottom) right afterwards...!


Ya ok the JSE tracked back once people heard they would be available to work under the new President. But that whole 'it's just procedural' argument isn't 100% clear to me. And if it isn't quite true, the JSE might be ignoring what a half-empty cabinet under a new acting president really means for the next six or seven months.

Thanks be to Allah that the rest of the world has worse stuff to worry about right now than our political shenanigans. Let's hope it remains as such until we sort it all out.

Telling comments

From Simon Barber, reviled SA journalist cum SA-championer in the US. Not sure why so many hate him. He looks a bit like Tony Leon and is super pompous. But he's pretty smart too... And I think he's right about the US election. Obama ain't gonna win...

"Some Democrats have been shocked to discover McCain is serious about winning. They assumed he understood this was a Democratic year and would go honourably through the motions like Senator Bob Dole in 1996. Wrong.

"McCain did not have to wait for pointy-heads at Yale and Duke to tell him how far he and Palin could push the envelope veracity-wise. They are knife fighters who will stab with populist one-liners, against which honest paragraphs will be no match in Pennsylvania’s Deer Hunter country, where the race may well be won or lost."

Joumaseblog's home

Is in Mountain View, Californi-hay. If you zoom in it seems we're hosted in the parking lot.

Do you have to update your website when you file for bankruptcy?

I only ask because apparently you can still pursue a career at Lehman Brothers!

Admittedly they have put a little blurb on their front page: "As Previously Announced, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Filed Chapter 11; No Other U.S. Subsidiary or Affiliate, Including Its Broker-Dealer and Investment Management Subsidiaries, Was Included in the Filing."

Right next to: "Lehman Brothers, an innovator in global finance, serves the financial needs of corporations, governments and municipalities, institutional clients, and high net worth individuals worldwide. We maintain leadership positions in equity and fixed income sales, trading and research, investment banking and investment management."

Er...

It really is great/scary/amazing how quickly things go south. According to their "Who We Are" page, in 2007 Lehman's was ranked "#1 'Most Admired Securities Firm' by Fortune. Achieved record net revenues, net income and earnings per common share (diluted) for the fourth consecutive year based on record results in all three business segments." They also achieved "record net revenues, net income and earnings per share for the third consecutive year based on record results across all business segments and regions" in 2006.

They even created, in 2007, "the Lehman Brothers Center for Global Finance and Economic Development at Spelman College, the #1 ranked institution among historically black colleges and universities by U.S. News & World Report ...... and the Council on Climate Change to bring together leaders from industry, policy and academia to facilitate constructive dialogue regarding climate change policy formulation and its impact on business."

Shame. It's all gone poof now.

Merrill Lynch was also bought by BoA yesterday for 50 billion - all stock deal. I have two questions. Where does BoA get 50 billion from in this environment? And why the hell do it all in stocks? If Merill needed a buyer quick quick, surely safe money says their stock is going to keep drowning in all that bad debt they bought (along with Bear Stearns, Lehman, Fannie and Freddie, Northern Rock, and countless other banks that were supposedly too big to fail).

They say financial markets are imperfect. They are. Because they involve people. And people are morons.

Staying the course

Brassy follow up to last Sunday's Sunday Times cartoon. This one in the M&G - editors watching each others' backs.

For those not living here you have no idea the sort of stink this has caused. Beginning to understand why high school history teachers kept banging on about political cartoons. They can be fairly important it seems.

Oh by the way, Zuma just won his case. Zuma saga is OVER. Zuma is the next president.

Look rich for less

Yeah!

http://www.lookrichforless.com/

Sorry bit of a slow day at work.

How is this not shut down? As far as I can tell the site's hosted in the US, even if it looks like Russians wrote the text.

O_ama Bi___den

Obama Biden or Osama bin Laden?

Chill Fran! Its a joke.


Obama fever has hit here too. Anyone that has been to Sydney knows that Campos makes the best coffee in the world, but i dont drink so much anymore 'cos i'm living sensible in the run up to 30. Jokes, i'm just sick of having the shakes before 8am. Anyway, i went there the other day to get my fortnightly cup of excellence, and saw they have an Obama blend! Check it. The write up is pretty funny too.

Anyway, so i know he is the saviour of the modern world and everything, and could beat Chuck Norris in an arm wrestle and helps old ladies across the road, etc. but like, isn't he a politician? I guess he is way better than the alternative, but he's still human, and a member of one of the most crooked fraternities on earth. Ja, ja, you could argue the 'change politics from the inside' story, but thats kak, everyone has an agenda. I guess I'm just worried by the hysteria, because NOBODY can live up to the hype.

Anyway, as you were...

Canadians have a good attitude

I make this judgement based on video evidence of a Canadian (I assume) pushing Noel Gallagher off stage at a recent show in Toronto. Rock on.

Large Hadron Rap

Crossed the line?

Either way, I'd hire extra security until April 09 if I was Mr Shapiro.

In other news, Reuben's seems to have opened in the Post Office centre in Illovo. No I'm not talking about a franchise outlet for the Reuben's in Franschoek. If memory serves the Reuben's I'm thinking of (with the black and white signage) served good coffee and sandwiches that were the shizzat. Pastrami on rye anyone? With horse radish and pickles. Yes please! I'm going next weekend. Hope they haven't messed it up.

Don't watch if you're tripping

Most idiotic protest this year

COSATU marching against crappy Eskom management, or against price rises beyond the control of just about everyone, is pretty moronic.

But today a group of muppets has gone one further. Today the Anti-Privatisation Forum is protesting against poor service delivery. Who are they targeting? The public sector of course!

Makes sense to oppose privatisation when your public services suck so bad. Or not.

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