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Money matters:
Graham Macdonald
MBMG International Ltd.
Nominated for the Lorenzo Natali Prize
Is everything as bad as some people say? Part 4
More things to ponder:
- In a survey conducted by the UK Telegraph many economists
forecast that, “the Euro will have broken up before the end of this
Parliamentary term.”
- The survey’s findings underline suspicions that the new
Chancellor, George Osborne, will have to fire-fight a full-blown crisis in
Britain’s biggest trading partner in his first years in office.
- Of the 25 leading City economists who took part in the
Telegraph survey, 12 predicted that the Euro would not survive in its current
form this Parliamentary term, compared with eight who suspected it would. Five
declared themselves undecided. The finding is only one of a number of remarkable
conclusions, including that:
- German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s acknowledgement that the
Euro is facing an “existential crisis” has done the Euro no favours.
- Two of the eight experts who predicted that the currency
would survive said it would do so only at the cost of seeing at least one of its
members default on its sovereign debt. Andrew Lilico, chief economist at think
tank Policy Exchange, said there was “nearly zero chance” of the Euro surviving
with its current membership, adding: “Greece will certainly default on its
debts, and it is an open question whether Greece will experience some form of
revolution or coup - I’d put the likelihood of that over the next five years as
around one in four.”
- Douglas McWilliams of the Centre for Economics and Business
Research said the single currency “may not even survive the next week”, while
David Blanchflower, professor at Dartmouth College and former Bank of England
policymaker, added: “The political implications [of Euro disintegration] are
likely to be far-reaching - Germans are opposed to paying for others and may
well quit.”
- Four of the economists said that despite the wider
suspicion that Greece or some of the weaker economies may be forced out of the
currency, the most likely country to leave would be Germany. Peter Warburton of
consultancy Economic Perspectives said: “Possibly Germany will leave. Possibly
other central and eastern European countries - plus Denmark - will have joined.
Possibly, there will be a multi-tier membership of the EU and a mechanism for
entering and leaving the single currency. I think the project will survive, but
not in its current form.”
- Tim Congdon of International Monetary Research said: “The
eurozone will lose three or four members - Greece, Portugal, maybe Ireland - and
could break up altogether because of the growing friction between France and
Germany.”
- The recent worries about the Euro’s fate followed the
creation last month of a USD1 trillion bail-out fund to prevent future
collapses. Although the fund boosted confidence initially, investors abandoned
the Euro after politicians showed reluctance to support it wholeheartedly.
So, are things as bad as some people say? Yes, absolutely! At
the risk of sounding like a broken record the solution is to diversify as much
as you can and put as many eggs into as many different baskets as you can. The
East is outpacing the West when it comes to buying. They are purchasing more
cars and using more oil than ever before. They are expanding whilst the American
and European nations are not. According to the US Census Bureau the world’s
population is 6.8 billion and 80% of them are from the emerging markets. In fact
one third of the world’s people come from just two countries and both of these
are in Asia - India and China.
- Emphasis should go on:
a) Emerging markets - especially Asia
b) Precious metals
c) Agriculture
d) Water
e) Oil
f) Healthcare
AND above all LIQUIDITY! There is money to be made and it is
possible to beat the banks with good, low volatility funds but do not have any
loyalty to one asset class and consider concentrating more on Asian currencies.
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The above data and research was compiled from sources
believed to be reliable. However, neither MBMG International Ltd nor its
officers can accept any liability for any errors or omissions in the above
article nor bear any responsibility for any losses achieved as a result of any
actions taken or not taken as a consequence of reading the above article. For
more information please contact Graham Macdonald on [email protected]
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Snap Shots: by Harry Flashman
Digital now sharper than film
 When
I was a dyed-in-the-wool film buff, I used to say that I would never go
digital, because digital photographs were not as sharp as film
photographs. All that changed in the past couple of years, and I took up
digital photography.
I had done the conversion rather slowly, initially
scanning my photos and storing the electronic form of the photo image in
the computer, to be manipulated further if needed. This rather
long-winded procedure meant that I was converting a negative into a
positive print, then scanning into a digital image. Two steps, each
capable of losing definition.
I then began having my negatives turned into CDs,
rather than printing the images and scanning them. This way I could
import the images in digital form directly into my computer via ACDSee
and then do the final crop, fix lop-sided horizons etc through Adobe
Photoshop.
Undoubtedly there will be those folk who are very
computer savvy who would say I should have used this or that software,
but I am not a computer geek, I am purely someone who uses a computer.
My editors need images at 300 dpi (stands for dots per inch, they tell
me) and that is what I supply.
Of course, by still using my film cameras to capture
the images, I was left in the situation whereby I did not know
definitely that I had a usable image until the film was developed. I was
also at the mercy of the boy who changed the photochemicals in the
autoprocessor. Crispness in the final image could easily be compromised
at that stage.
So I finally entered the digital era, choosing a
camera with electronics from an electronics manufacturer and the lens
from a lens manufacturer. This has, I believe, given me the best of both
worlds. If you are going the electro-trickery route, use a manufacturer
who knows and understands all the subtleties of LCDs and pixels and all
of that stuff which I don’t really want to know, but why then get that
manufacturer to make optical glass lenses? Surely a recognized lens
manufacturer would be better?
Having used a digital camera for a few months, I feel
I am in a better position to look critically at its performance. Whilst
it has several buttons on the body of the camera and one master dial, it
still needs much fiddling around in its menu system. Granted, the five
drop-down menus seems to cover everything a photographer might want, but
I still find it fiddly, pushing buttons to go from one menu screen to
another, just to change some aspect.
Having said that, after an afternoon of button
pushing and scrolling down the various menus, I now have a camera that
automatically takes a bracket of three images, and I dictated the half a
stop difference either side of the selected exposure setting. I also set
the viewfinder up with a grid system, giving me the intersection of
thirds as well as indicating verticals and horizons. All good clever
photographic settings, but ones that could have been done with rotary
dials, rather than giving my thumb cramps getting the setting I wanted.
I also worry that one day I might lose the Operating Instructions
manual, all 135 pages of it, and be forced to push buttons aimlessly for
ever, while hoping I stumble across the settings I want!
Now the experienced digital user will probably say
that all I have to do is practice a little more, so that the menu
selection becomes easy. Perhaps so, but I am still struggling with the
remote on the TV, such is the level of digital technology skills
possessed by this writer.
However, despite all that, I am loving the ‘instant’
gratification with the ability to instantly review the picture just
taken including blowing up the image to x16 to see if it is really
sharp, and the ability to delete images within the camera, and the sheer
range of functions makes the digital camera the obvious step for me.
With its 12 mega-pixels, it can deliver sharp enough
images, in fact sharper than my previous film cameras. Digital has
really come of age.
Modern Medicine:
by Dr. Iain Corness, Consultant
How good is ‘internet medicine’?
When I mention ‘internet medicine’, do not confuse this with
‘internet pharmacies’. Internet pharmacies are the ones that offer you cheap
willy stiffeners, while in my view, internet medicine is medical advice and
information.
These days, with internet access freely available, it is
very common for a patient to tell me they had “looked it up on the internet,
and stopped taking it, because it was so dangerous.” And this is the problem
- you know your doctor and can ask him questions, but do you know the person
who uploads “information” to the web?
We are however, in a consumer oriented age. In the
western world, advice is no longer taken at face value. “Take these tablets
three times a day until finished” is not acceptable these days unless there
is a patient information (PI) leaflet inside, and the patient has been
advised that if his toe nails drop off he should stop taking the medication
immediately and consult his litigation lawyer post haste.
These PI sheets are a two edged sword in my view. Whilst
it is important that the patient knows what they are taking, and why,
listing every known side effect is somewhat off-putting, and can actually be
counter-productive by making the patient stop the medication because they
are afraid that something disastrous might happen to them. If the number of
people who have taken the medication is squillions, while the number of
catastrophic side effects can be counted on the fingers of one hand, what is
the likelihood of getting an adverse effect? Not high. Put another way, did
you know that one of the side effects of aspirin can be death, and yet
aspirin is still one of the safest and best drugs on the planet.
So what do you really need to know to be an informed
consumer? The first item is to know why you have been prescribed any
particular medication and what it is supposed to do for you. Is the pink
tablet the painkiller or the antibiotic, for example? The next important
item is to know how often and when the medication should be taken. Before or
after meals? At night or in the morning? These instructions can have
enormous bearing upon the absorption of the medication. And on the
likelihood of your getting a reaction or unwanted side effect, and on how
long it will take you to get better.
The next important issue is that of reactions and side
effects. You need to know the most likely side effects. If 20 percent of the
folk who take this tablet get nausea, you need to be informed. If, however,
less than 0.1 percent get a rash, then this is not such an important issue.
I have always taught medical students that they should present the main
issues only, but cover the rest by saying that if the patient has anything
untoward happen to them which they think could be related to the medication,
then stop taking the tablet and consult the doctor again.
Another important issue for the patient consumer is
inter-actions. Some medications can affect the way the oral contraceptive
pill does its job, for example. The informed consumer needs to know this!
The wise doctor will tell you. The even wiser consumer will ask! Especially
if you are on any medications at all, and that is including herbal
medicines.
The patient will also have asked the internet, but will
read a large number of the sites available and come up with a consensus,
which can be discussed with your doctor.
The other aspect of your treatment that should be known
by you is how long it should be before you begin to feel better. If you know
it is going to be six weeks, then you know not to start fretting after one
week. If it is supposed to be one week and you’re still in trouble three
weeks later, then you will know to return for another consultation.
So be a wise consumer. If you are unsure, then ascertain
what the tablets are for, when and how to take them, the most common side
effects and inter-actions.
Heart to Heart with Hillary
Dear Hillary,
My normally sensible Thai wife and her girlfriends have taken to dressing up
with hats and flowery dresses. They began to do this at parties, but have now
started dressing up in these outlandish get-ups during the day. Girls overseas
grow out of dressing up by the age of 10. Isn’t it the same in Thailand, or have
I got a bunch of loonies on my hands?
Harry the Hat Man
Dear Harry the Hat Man,
The behaviour your wife and her friends exhibits is purely having “sanook”,
something Thai women keep all their lives. That is why they are so much fun to
be with - and is most likely one of the reasons that you came to live here, and
get married here. Look at it this way, my Petal, does their dressing up harm
anyone? Of course it doesn’t. You think too much, Harry. And finally please
don’t become worried and then change into Harry the Hit Man.
Dear Hillary,
Is there any easy to read book to help us farangs understand Thai women? I’ve
been here for almost 10 years, lived with a couple of them, and I still don’t
understand them. Someone must have written the guide book. What is its name, and
where do I get it?
Perplexed
Dear Perplexed,
There are many books available in Thailand describing what goes on in a Thai-Farang
relationship, such as Stephen Leather’s “Private Dancer”, or the Pattaya Mail’s
Dr. Iain’s “Farang” and “Farang, The Sequel”, but there is no such thing as a
‘guide book’. May I give you a little joke? A man rescued a genie from a bottle,
who said he could have one wish. The man said that he was afraid of flying and
could the genie build him a road bridge from Thailand to America. The genie
remonstrated with the man, saying that the amount of concrete needed for such a
project was just far too great, and could he think of something a little easier?
The man then said, alright, can you make me understand Thai women’s minds, to
which the genie replied, after thinking for a while, “OK. Now how many lanes do
you want in this bridge!”
Dear Hillary,
I have come over here with my husband from the UK and I am shocked by what I see
here, going on night and day. I can put up with the endless beer bars with young
women trying to get people to sit down and drink. I can put up with the fact
there are go-go bars with women displaying their bodies as some sort of tourist
attraction, but I cannot put up with the way old foreign men walk around with
barely teenage Thai girls hanging on to their arm. They all have such smug looks
on their faces with a ‘Look at me, aren’t I clever’ expression. Don’t they know,
or doesn’t anybody tell them that they are just being taken for a ride? They’re
not clever. It’s disgusting.
Mona from Manchester
Dear Mona from Manchester,
When you say “They all have such smug looks on their faces with a ‘Look at me,
aren’t I clever’ expression” are you referring to the old foreign men, or the
barely teenage girls, Petal? Honestly Mona, this can be applied to both of them.
They are smiling because they have found themselves in a situation which is good
for both of them. The young girls have found a financial ‘sponsor’, whilst the
old foreign men have found themselves a gorgeous young companion who will take
care of their every need (until the money runs out). They know what the name of
the game is, Petal. So what is so wrong with it? It is a win-win situation, so
no need to be shocked. Can a ‘man from Manchester’ get a deal like that back
home in the UK? No, he’s more likely to get a moaner.
Dear Hillary,
Where can I get a good computer technician? Every time my computer breaks down,
the technician says he’s fixed it, but when I go to use it, something else has
packed up. When he works on it at my condo he is there for hours clacking away
and not only does he not fix the first problem, but leaves more than when he
started. “You haven’t got enough RAM,” seems to be the catchword with these
people, but even after buying more, the problems are still there!
Gates
Dear (Bill) Gates,
You’re lucky it’s only a RAM problem. I’ve bought veritable sheep stations of
RAMs and now they’re telling me my operating system is no good. What’s wrong
with Windows 1946? It worked before, why not now? Honestly Petal, I have no idea
about this modern technology. Bring back faxes. I could understand those. I have
to communicate with the editor with notes written on the back of envelopes. His
office is just below mine, so it’s easy to slip one under the door (he works
rather strange hours, and nobody ever sees him). I do inhale deeply as I pass
his door, just in case he’s died in there after last week’s paper was put to
bed. See just how thoughtful I am!
Let’s go to the movies:
by Mark Gernpy
Now playing in Pattaya
Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps:
US, Drama – Oliver Stone directs Michael Douglas, Shia LaBeouf, Frank
Langella, Susan Sarandon, Charlie Sheen, and Eli Wallach in this
scathing follow-up to the acclaimed 1987 film – 23 years later. Here the
disgraced Wall Street corporate raider imprisoned in the first movie is
released, and as the global economy teeters on the brink of disaster he
partners with a young Wall Street trader on a two-part mission: To alert
the financial community to the coming doom, and to find out who was
responsible for the death of the young trader’s mentor. I’m looking
forward to this one. Early reviews: Generally favorable.
Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen: Hong
Kong, Action/ Drama – Set in the 1920s during the Second Sino-Japanese
War in Japanese-occupied Shanghai, this Hong Kong martial arts film
stars Donnie Yen as a local resistance fighter who had been taken for
dead after a bloody skirmish. After an absence of seven years, he
returns in disguise to uncover a plot linking the triads and the
Japanese. The film is a continuation of the 1995 television series
Fist of Fury, with Donnie Yen reprising his role as Chen Zhen, a
role made famous by Bruce Lee in the 1972 film Fist of Fury. This
film, directed by Andrew Lau, takes place seven years after the events
of the TV series, and comes direct from an out of competition showing
during the opening night of this year’s Venice Film Festival and the
just concluded Toronto Film Festival.
Eternity / Chua Fah Din Sa Lai: Thai,
Drama/ Romance – I found this a classy effort, and one of the more
interesting Thai movies to come along in some time. Based on a revered
Thai novel of 1943, the film depicts a forbidden love story in which
adulterous lovers are physically chained together for all eternity. It’s
also gotten some controversy because of a number of nude shots of the
couple. I’m mostly interested in what the director has done. His name is
ML Pandevanop Devakul, better known as Mom Noi, and he’s arguably the
best acting teacher in Thailand, the mentor of Ananda Everingham among
others. He comes from a classical theatrical background, and as a
director he has presented some of the most severe examples of Western
drama in Thai adaptations over the years, including Greek drama,
Shakespeare, Chekhov, and modern American drama. Starring Ananda
Everingham and Chermal Boonyasak as the lovers. Rated 18+ in Thailand.
Those who are bothered by the Thai style of acting, which
includes long pauses between sentences to the point of distraction to
Western ears, will find this in abundance here. When I was taking acting
and directing classes in college we were taught the American/ British
method, where the lines of dialogue were bounced back and forth without
pause, much like a game of tennis. In fact, we trained by actually
tossing tennis balls to each other as we were saying our lines, the idea
being to “keep the ball going and not drop it.” In Thailand, the style
is to drop the ball after each line, wait up to seven seconds of a
supposedly pregnant pause, and then say the line. You see this on stage,
in movies, in soap operas, and it drives some Western-oriented viewers
crazy. But it’s the style here, and much in evidence in this film, so be
warned. If you can set this aside, you will find much to appreciate
here, including some fine acting by the two principals and the two
secondary leads. It’s nicely handled, and has much resonance and
reverberation. Certainly a Thai film to prize.
The Expendables: US, Action/ Adventure/ Thriller –
Directed by Sylvester Stallone and starring him and a bunch of his old
action buddies – Mickey Rourke, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren,
and even token appearances by Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. A
team of mercenaries head to South America on a mission to overthrow a
dictator. Rated R in the US for strong action and bloody violence
throughout, and for some language; 18+ in Thailand. Mixed or average
reviews. Thai-dubbed at Big C.
I found it fun to see these old-timers do their thing and
joke around in their testosterone-laden way. The film is put together in
a thoroughly professional way, with some nice bits. The amazing Mickey
Rourke once again comes though with an acting job that is a small gem.
What a treasure he is. But I’m just sick and tired of explosions and car
wrecks.
Kuan Muen Ho / Hello Stranger: Thai, Comedy/
Romance – Riding the local wave of fascination in all things Korean (but
especially the boy-band, pop-star craze), comes another rom-com about
Thais in that country of wonder that seems to breed only cute muppets.
Still the top film in Thailand, and going strong.
Machete: US, Action/ Adventure/ Crime/ Thriller –
Machete is hired by some unsavory types to assassinate a US senator. But
just as he’s about to take the shot, he notices someone aiming at him
and realizes he’s been set up. He barely survives the sniper’s bullet,
and is soon out for revenge on his former employers. The portrayal of
race bigotry in this film has gotten some people in the United States
very upset indeed, some saying that this movie will bring on race riots
for sure. Rated R in the US for strong bloody violence throughout,
language, some sexual content, and nudity. Mixed or average reviews. Not
at Big C, and may have departed entirely.
From Pakse with Love / Sabaidee 2: Thai, Comedy/
Romance – A follow-up sweet picture postcard from Laos following the
first sweet picture postcard from Laos in this planned trilogy, 2008’s
Sabaidee Luang Prabang. That movie was the first feature film
made in Laos in 20 years. This one stars Ray Macdonald and Laotian
beauty queen Khamly Philavong, reprising her role from the first film as
a charming tour guide. May have departed, and not at Big C for sure.
Piranha 3-D: US, Action/ Horror/ Thriller – Terror
on the lake. “Boobs and blood,” that’s what Director Alexandre Aja
promised and that’s what he delivers in spades. Don’t even think about
trying to count the kills, or the boobies. Rated R in the US for
sequences of strong bloody horror violence and gore, graphic nudity,
sexual content, language, and some drug use; 18+ in Thailand. Mixed or
average reviews. In 2D only now, if still playing at all, and for sure
not at Big C.
Please, if you go, don’t bring the kiddies!! In
the US there’s been considerable controversy because parents haven’t
taken the R rating seriously, and have ended up with traumatized kids.
Sing Lek Lek / Little Thing Called Love / First Love:
Thai, Comedy/ Romance – A young and ordinary high school girl has a big
crush on a heartthrob senior at school, played by for-real heartthrob
Mario Maurer. To make him see that she exists in his world, the girl
tries to improve her physical looks and tries to become a star at
school. At Pattaya Beach only, if still around.
Resident Evil: Afterlife: UK/ Germany/ US, Horror/
Sci-Fi/ Thriller – The series continues. This time, in a world ravaged
by a virus infection turning its victims into the Undead (read:
zombies), Alice (Milla Jovovich), continues on her journey to find
survivors and lead them to safety. Rated R in the US for sequences of
strong violence and language. Generally unfavorable reviews, but the
last Resident Evil did a whopping business in Thailand, and this
one looks to do the same; opening weekend it did big-hit business. Shown
in both 3D and 2D versions at Pattaya Beach (and the 3D version is real
3D); in 2D elsewhere, and Thai-dubbed only at Big C.
I want to do my bit to clear up the confusion as to what
kind of 3D process is actually being used under the generic and often
misleading label of “3D” by places like SF Pattaya Beach. This film is
real 3D, in fact using the same cameras James Cameron created with Vince
Pace for a number of Cameron’s documentaries, as well as his famous
feature Avatar. His systems and cameras remain at the cutting
edge of 3D technology. Now, why they would want to use all this
marvelous technology for an unexceptional zombie flic like this is
another question entirely. But it is genuine 3D.
Scheduled for Sep 30
Devil: US, Horror/ Thriller
– A group of people trapped in an elevator realize that the devil is
among them. Scary premise, produced by M. Night Shyamalan. Mixed or
average reviews.
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