It’s a little bit late but I guess I have to do this anyway. If you are new to the case of Prita Mulyasari vs Omni International Hospital which is a threat of freedom of speech in Indonesia, you can read the chronicles of the case in my other posts:

Stupid Comment: Don’t Revoke Omni International Hospital Operational Permit Just Because of One Person

Coin For Justice — How We Mourn On The Death Of Free Speech In Indonesia

Anyway, the latest case verdict is that Prita Mulyasari has to pay punitive damage with a mind-blowing sum of Rp 204 million or $20,400. We, the people, together form a group called “Koin Keadilan untuk Prita” or “Coin For Justice”, by collecting changes to help Prita pay her dues.

Until today, donation has flow to Prita’s pocket and the sum of donation reach near Rp 1 billion or $100,000, almost 5 times the punitive damage that she has to pay.

The people have spoken and they are screaming for the freedom of speech in this nation. The riddiculous UU ITE or Information & Electronic Exchange law needs to be revised since it is a threat to the nation’s democracy practice in freedom of speech. I say a job well done for the people who participated and value the freedom of speech in the nation as the utmost priority.

Of course, after the support from every element of society regarding Prita’s case, Omni International Hospital, still wanting to save their name, caved in and held a press conference stating that they will withdraw from prosecuting Prita Mulyasari further. However, the thing is that this so-called organization didn’t apologize for their action in prosecuting Prita Mulyasari for her complaint over the internet. It’s as if they forgot that they were the group who put Prita into a traumatic situation where she was in jail for several weeks and can’t get the opportunity to see her family.

I say, if Omni International Hospital is really sorry, they have to apologize to the public for their excessive action for this kind mother. Today is Mother’s Day right? What more action it will fitting to regain the people’s trust by admitting that you have screwed up one person life and take advantage by gaining money out of it?

Citizens Association of the Bewildered
(CAB)

As stated before I remain convinced that we must put pressure on the powers that be

Again to-day Brian Cowen fob off the Idea of an investigation into the Banking meltdown that he and Brian Lenihian help to cause

He also poured water on the notion to revisit the previous financial regulators negligence

We can make all the comments we like and David McWilliams will eventually move on to the next topic

I believe that it has its uses, like b ringing likeminded individuals together to discuss the grave matters facing the Irish Nation.

But I am not satisfied anymore just talking about things I want to do something and I want to fight back I want to bring the fear I have every day, to the very people that have caused this incredible damage to our country

These people have blood on their hands, just look at the suicide’s statistics

There comes a time when you just have to stand up and take action !

Who will join me?

To all Irish patriots out there join

CAB    now

(Citizens Association of the Bewildered)

This new association is dedicated to taking the fight into the streets of Ireland to take back our country from the incompetent political leaches that have destroyed our independence, handed us over to unscrupulous bankers and their masters the foreign bond holders

This club is for people willing to fight using all available means to take back our country from the corrupt politicians in Lenster House who have sold out their own people to enrich themselves

You can get in touch with me  at  bewilderedcitizens@gmail.com

Only if you are willing to fight for what you believe in.

Any help is appreciated

NAMA   is just plain fraud,

The greatest financial fraud that has ever happened in this state was not brought about by some un-known bank robbers; even the outrage that happened when Garda McCabe was murdered in Limerick does not come close to the outrage that is NAMA

What hope is there for law and order when the biggest bank robbers in the state are in fact the Directors of the Banks themselves and the Government?

In my view any bank robber in this state, can now go to court and claim that he or she was following the example of the bank directors, the Finance Minster and the Government

The Green Party’s total mindboggling betrayal of their principles and of the majority of their voters has destroyed them forever

Gormely and his sidekick must know that it was the “votes” of non green party member’s that got them into the Dail and not just their 400 odd members

I believe it is time now for a new Green party, an alternative green party to oppose the power addicted, FF stooges currently nourishing this corrupt government.

We need to perhaps have a complete rethink of the political system that has the power to so utterly and convincibly  corrupt

I have in the past called for and still demand that the Banks be Nationalized

All directors to be charged with neglect and fraud

All their assets frozen

A full investigation into the conduct of the financial regulators office and charges brought forward on the grounds of dereliction of duties

All pension payments to be stopped to him and any others involved in his or other civil services offices

A full repayment of his Golden handshake

A full investigation on who authorized the fraudulent financial transactions that were designed to mask the true financial position of Anglo Irish Bank

All directors of the financial institutions involved to be brought up on criminal charges of attempting to defraud the ordinary shareholders and their own institutions

All such directors must be barred from holding any future directorships in any financial institutions

All their assets to be frozen, and upon convictions must face a minimum jail sentence of 20 years (Full Time Served)

Brian Lenihan and Brian Cowen to be investigated on their involvement in the destruction of Irish sovereignty, loss of financial independence, attempting to defraud the state by setting up the largest bank robbery in history (NAMA)

These men to stand trial on charges of treason.

The previous Directors of Anglo Irish Bank to be investigated on possible charges of fraud

All pensions and assets to be seized until outcome of investigation

A complete disclosure of the names of the Anglo Irish golden circle members

All transaction carried out with them to be investigated and results to be published

Only after this kind of accountability can the Irish public move forward into a future where the people in places of trust and power will be held accountable for their actions

And a new begining can take place and we can demonstrate to the world that

we are the masters of our own destiny!

“If you saw Atlas, the giant who holds the world on his shoulders, if you saw that he stood, blood running down his chest, his knees buckling, his arms trembling but still trying to hold the world aloft with the last of his strength, and the greater his effort the heavier the world bore down upon his shoulders – what would you tell him to do?”

“I…don’t know. What…could he do? What would you tell him?”

“To shrug.”

Regardless of how much you may revere the writings of Ayn Rand, it cannot be denied she made one definite mistake with Atlas Shrugged. To be fair, it’s a mistake so commonly made that it would be irrelevant anywhere else, but with Rand it takes on a unique significance. The purpose of citing Atlas, as we see above, was to serve as a metaphor for the rich and powerful whose strength, hard work and moral clarity are what support our society as we know it, and how state interference in their businesses and profits causes the world to “shrug”. However, in the original Greek myth, Atlas didn’t hold up the world. This is a misnomer that has somehow been accepted as his defining trait. In the myth, Atlas was the titan who held up the heavens. Now, if we instead apply this as a metaphor to Rand’s work, it suddenly takes on a new meaning, not terribly unlike that of another literary giant, Chicken Little. Instead of a tribute to “those who produce the most”, it becomes a tale about a bunch of gullible sycophants running around in a panic because the sky is falling.

Atlas Shrugged is a shockingly bad book. It’s long-winded and boring, and remarkably spiteful, fuelled throughout by hate. Many of Rand’s detractors will attack her abilities as a writer, which is not a sentiment I share. She was a great writer, and for the first 300 pages or so of Atlas Shrugged I was genuinely enjoying it. However, it very quickly became apparent that Rand’s characterisation of the industrialists and the “producers” resembles that of a 14-year-old girl describing her favourite pop-stars, and as for those who want to help the poor or show any regard for altruism whatsoever…well, let me tell you. I’m a geek, I’ve read a lot of comic-books in my time, and even in the most juvenile, two-dimensional of comics I’ve never encountered such a nasty, pantomime depiction of villains. It’s flat and it’s boring, and it renders the novel almost unreadable.

And then there are the speeches. Mother of god, there are speeches. There is virtually no dialog in Atlas Shrugged. Whenever anyone speaks they do so in long, drawn out lectures. Pontificating is order of the day, and it’s hard to see what the point is when everyone is just repeating the same speech over and over again. Rand was of course simply using each of these characters as a mouthpiece for her own objectivist viewpoint, and there’s nothing whatsoever wrong with that. However, it’s quite shocking to see how many people have been taken in by it.

I have posted here previously on Rand – when I had just read the book – to ask why people were suddenly more interested in a novel that promotes self-interest and laissez-faire economics at a time when unregulated greed has sent the world into the worst recession in over 50 years. Having spent some time looking into objectivism and Rand’s theories, I can say with some confidence that the people declaring Atlas Shrugged to be prophetical are talking through their colletive arse. A commenter on my previous Rand post claimed; “In America’s case, it is undoubtedly the Federal Reserve’s manipulation of the market that causes the roller coaster ride America is going through.” Similar sentiments are expressed here. There can be no doubt that the Fed’s actions were a causal factor, but to say this was the sole cause in destabilising the markets while ignoring the greed of under-regulated banks and underwriters strikes me as wilful ignorance. And what of the recessions of other countries, such as Britain or here in Ireland, where interest rates were cut in response to the recession? Ireland is an interesting example. Our recession is for the most part separate from that of the rest of the world, almost entirely a result of our own actions. And the only thing we have to blame it on is greed – greedy bankers and greedy developers – and of course a government who thought regulation meant acting as the banks’ cheerleaders.

The reason Ayn is being declared a visionary is, it is said, the Bush/Obama sponsored bailouts mirror the actions of the government bodies in Atlas Shrugged. This is simply incorrect. What’s happening now is that tax-money is being use to prop up the great and powerful captains of industry, the very same people who got us into this mess. It’s certainly what’s happening here with Nama. This is the exact opposite of what Rand was talking about.

And you know what? Rand supporters know this to be true. Check out this interview with Yaron Brook, president of the Ayn Rand Institute, conducted before Randists succeeded in rewriting history. It is interesting, is it not, to hear him talking about public relations and positioning objectivism to benefit from the recession? Actually, the whole interview is worth reading for its “black is white” non-wood for the trees seeing. The inability of Ranists to see what’s right in front of them is quite alarming. For instance, they pride themselves on being the champions of innovation. There’s a scene in Atlas Shrugged where the hero is on retreat, having been unable to tolerate the “moochers” any longer. She finds roads and other services that are barely fit for use, and when she asks why nobody has them fix she gets an indignant “they’ve always been like that” in response. Now, keeping this scene in mind, let’s look at this article (the author of which seems to be under the impression that the sun switches off whenever a solar panel needs cleaning). Does the assertion that oil has served us fine until now and we’ve got plenty of oil and candles left sound familiar? This is just one such incident. What has struck the most during my examination of objectivism is that are many, many examples where supporters of Rand sound terribly like those she was attacking, and nowhere is this more apparent than when they’re talking about environmentalism. Here’s a situation where scientists are almost universally convinced that global warming is a reality, and the only debate left is how much time we have left to do something about it. Yet Randists are happy to reject entirely any scientific evidence that dares suggest burning fossil fuels might be problematic. After all, we’ve always done that. Alex Epstein (the one Randist who returned my emails, and who immediately dismissed my argument as “econ reporting 101” the moment I pointed out I disagreed with objectivism) has repeatedly accused environmentalists of “increasing hysteria”. Well, have a look-see here. Does this article sound just the teensiest bit hysterical to anyone?

I’ve been deliberately using the word “Randist” here, as I really don’t want to sound like I’m attacking objectivism in general. It’s not a theory I agree with, but any branch of conservatism that embraces science and rejects religious dogma is ok with me. The trouble with Randism is that, when you think about it, it actually does neither of these things. We’ve seen already seen how easily Randists reject science. As for religion, well, they may be atheists, but it has been said (by G K Chesterton, I believe, but remember it from Stephen Fry on Room 101) that the trouble with atheists is not that they don’t believe in God but that they’ll believe in anything. That’s what has happened to Randists. They claim to be the voice of reason, but there goal is the absolute and undiluted implementation of Rand’s dogma. They’ve fallen for Rand’s ploy of stating that anyone who disagrees with her is not merely mistaken but evil, and as such they are driven by the same kind of conviction we see in Christian fundamentalists and Islamic extremists. If fact, there is one religion (if we can call it that) that Randism has more in common with than any other. Atlas Shrugged is economic Dianetics. Randists are secular scientologists, peddling perceived problems and easy answers.

You might be wondering why I’m getting so worked up about this. They’re just fools who managed to be taken in by naked and at times contradictory propaganda. They would have been equally convinced by Mein Kampf if they lived in 1930’s Germany. If anyone today is really that gullible they are at best ignored. But here’s the thing; they’re winning. They’re framing public discourse on how we should handle the recession, and if this continues surely policy will follow. Well I say no more. Towards the end of the book John Galt (the Randist’s messiah) declares: “We have no demands to present to you, no terms of bargain about, no compromise to reach. You have nothing to offer us.” Bullshit, of course, as proven by the bailouts. Still, it’s a profound moment, because we see the opposite is true. These people have nothing to offer us. We tried their idea of doing nothing during the last global economic crisis and it didn’t work then either. To all those threatening to “go Galt”, I say this: Fuck off and do it. Put your money where your mouth is. See how indispensable you are. See how badly we do without you. If you did it five years ago we might not be in this mess.

The great Stephan Colbert has more on this, so I’ll end with him.

We were in the bank earlier today to open a new account.

While all the admin tasks were going on, I had a chance to look at my data, as viewed by a bank employee, and noticed some internal notes about my credit rating.

I made a point of asking the bank official what it meant, and he became very uncomfortable and gave me a very fuddled explanation as to how the bank may score individuals credit ratings and so on.

I listened to his general overview of their procedure, and then asked him how my specific rating looked through this particular lens.  He again talked evasively and in very broad terms, and seemed to indicate that I was generally not the worst, again without giving me the exact feedback as he had it in front of him.

I was trying to explain to him, that seeing as I am self employed, I have to use my business banking representative to approve all personal finance credit decisions ( even though my personal finances should be my own business), however I use the same bank for both accounts, and this particular bank does not have a system in place whereby I can go to any branch and discuss my financial affairs.

Combine this with the fact that I leave messages with my business banker and frequently hear nothing back, and I’m pretty much left with on-line banking as my only means of sorting out my financial affairs.

Tough a case though this may be, I understand it.  However, it occurred to me for the first time today, what a hypocritical system the internal credit scoring actually is.  As soon as any level bank official opens my account details, they have large red glaring notices on the screen whereby bills were unpaid and so on.

While I am OK with that (as they all get paid in the end one way or another), there is no clear indication on their system that I follow up and pay ALL my bills, as money comes in through our business, and we never refuse to pay.  In short, like everybody else, we have to find a way, or face the hostility of the credit collection services that are booming at the moment and seem to be staffed by complete thugs.

In short, while we may be forced to miss a payment on the day, it always goes through within a few days or at least within the same month.  We do this under our own steam, and without any type of bailout.  And it affects our credit rating.

Banks themselves, on the other hand, have themselves been guilty of offering the most aggressive and high risk business practices with MY MONEY, that have resulted in catastrophic economic failure and massive job losses and industry collapse,  and are only still able to open the doors in the morning because governments have bailed them out, again with MY MONEY.

And yet I have a tarnished credit score because MY MONEY paid a bill on a Thursday instead of a Tuesday.  I’m not sure where these businesses get off, but we’re a long way away from any kind of recovery when we’re still the suspects, yet banks themselves were, in fact, the economic terrorists.

Ironically, I’d get my calls returned sooner I’m sure if I deposited €120 million, or conversely if I owed €120 million, but I’m too small a customer to be worthy of the service support of my local bank.

Halo… sekarang bisa lho mengganti url facebookmu menjadi http://www.facebook.com/nama-Kamu. Fitur ini mirip dengan yang ada di Friendster, namun bedanya kalo di facebook cuma dikasih kesempatan 1x aja.  Jadi jangan sampe nyesel dengan pilihan namamu. hehe…

Caranya mudah banget..
1. masuk aja ke situs ini www.facebook.com/username.
2. Tentukan nama URL sesuai keinginan kamu.
3. Udah itu aja gampang kan

Update sekarang aja, buruan set nama kamu, kalau terlambat bisa diambil orang lain lho.Haha…kayak apa aja.
Aku sudah set nih,silahkan kunjung http://facebook.com/ninasusiana ==> Alamat facebook aku. Di add juga boleh…

Ini adalah oleh-oleh dari acara Komnas Perempuan yang saya hadiri pada tanggal 29 November 2009 kemaren bareng Sofie, Nita dan Simbok Venus. Bukaaaan.. saya tidak bermaksud membahas soal KDRT, trafficking dan lain sebagainya itu. Soal itu bertanya lah pada Ibu cantik aktifis perempuan yang satu ini, beliau lebih paham dari pada saya…

Jadi di acara diskusi kemarin itu, saya sempat menonton sebuah film pendek berjudul “Sugiharti Halim“. Benar-benar pendek, hanya berdurasi 10 menit,  disutradarai oleh Ariani Darmawan. Tapi walaupun pendek, film ini menawarkan ide unik, sebuah sudut pandang yang jenaka dan cukup menohok.

Sederhana sebenernya, film ini hanya monolog seorang perempuan yang berkeluh kesah mengenai namanya  dengan seorang teman dalam sebuah adegan makan. Apa arti sebuah nama? Well, bagi Sugiharti Halim ternyata nama berarti sejumlah pertanyaan panjang. Kadang kocak, kerap menjengkelkan dan yang jelas penuh kontradiksi. Menilik namanya, sudah jelas kalian bisa menebak berasal dari etnis mana si Sugiharti ini. Nama yang kerap kali menimbulkan sejumlah pertanyaan menyebalkan bila berhubungan dengan birokrasi. Mulai ditanya nama asli, ditanya SBKRI. Padahal Sugiharti besar dengan nama itu sejak dia lahir.

Belum lagi ada yang menghubungkan nama “Halim” dengan sejumlah orang lainnya yang kebetulan bermarga sama dan mempunyai bisnis gede-gedean di sini, dan tentu saja “atas nama kelancaran birokrasi”, Sugiharti kerap kali secara tidak langsung diminta untuk membayar sejumlah uang tertentu. Pada saat pemerintah mengeluarkan keputusan yang mengharuskan seluruh etnis ini mengganti namanya menjadi nama Indonesia, nama “Halim” ini dipilih agar identitas marga asli “Liem” tidak hilang sama sekali. Yang tidak terpikirkan oleh ayahnya Sugiharti adalah akan banyak yang berpikiran sama, mengganti “Liem” menjadi “Halim”. Jadilah banyak marga “Halim” bertebaran di mana-mana meskipun tidak ada hubungan kerabat sama sekali.

Itu lah yang mengganggu pikiran Sugiharti, dan well mengganggu pikiran saya juga sebenernya. Pertanyaan-pertanyaan ini melintas dibenak saya sepanjang menonton film ini. Apa benar seseorang perlu nama asli? Apa betul nama bisa ‘dijual’? Apa iya identitas bisa disamarkan dibalik sebuah nama?

Well ambil contoh para artis. Ketika nama asli dirasa tidak punya nilai ‘jual’, mereka butuh nama beken, nama komersil. Tidak perlu kan saya sebutkan contohnya siapa. Kalian bisa googling kok untuk cari tau nama asli idola kalian itu. Atau ga usah jauh-jauh kita ngomongin artis. Tengok-tengoklah ke blog-blog sebelah. Banyak kok blogger yang memilih (dan ngetop) dengan nick name masing-masing ketimbang nama asli. Beberapa tidak sungkan memberitahukan nama aslinya, beberapa lagi bertahan menggunakan nama ‘maya’ tersebut ketimbang memberitahukan kepada yang lain nama aslinya.

Tapi ya itu kan pilihan… Seperti ketika di akhir film, (akhirnya) peran si teman yang tadinya hanya diam menyimak, ikut angkat bicara dan mengajukan pertanyaan, “kalo bisa ganti nama, kamu mau ganti jadi apa?“. Sugiharti pun menjawab dengan satu kata: “Julianne“. Bagus ya? Dan begini lah jawab si teman tadi: “Kata Shakespeare, ‘what’s in a name?’ Siapa pun namamu, kamu tetaplah kamu, dengan kepribadianmu yang sekarang, dengan identitas yang melekat padamu. Sugiharti … Julianne … apa bedanya?”.

Ya, seperti kata Shakespeare, apa lah artinya nama. Mawar, meskipun dipanggil dengan nama lain, akan tetap menjadi mawar. Yang cantik, harum dan berduri. Siapa pun nama artis idola kita itu, ya akan tetap menjadi sosok yang seperti itu. Mungkin baik, mungkin ramah, mungkin pemalu, mungkin murah senyum, dan mungkin juga jutek. Siapa pun nama asli di balik nama ngetop seorang blogger yang berusaha tidak menampilkan nama asli, tetap saja saya dan kalian mengenal sosok mereka dengan kepribadian mereka.

Dan,  saya akan tetap jadi saya, mau siapa pun nama saya – seperti yang saya tulis dalam renungan ulang tahun saya – yang baik hati, tidak sombong lagipula sopan.  *ditabok berjamaah*

 Odisseas by Nama

2009 (34 tracks, 2:03:33)

world

 Anamnisis by Nama

2009 (32 tracks, 2:07:41)

world

In a recent post I alluded to the deep philosophical problems associated with NAMA.  The aim here was to highlight the relationship between democracy and inequality when discussing the role of the state in modern democratic systems. The problems alluded to can also be applied to the recent budgetary announcements; particularly the lack of concern with reducing inequality. On the contrary, it seems that the government is intent on the reverse. The welfare cuts announced in the budget reinforce and deepen rather than reduce inequality. Strikingly, this is referred to as ‘making hard decisions’ in the ‘national interest’. Clearly then, ‘making hard decisions’ is more or less analogous to reinforcing and deepening inequality. It’s important though to understand what ‘making hard decisions’ really means and it’s pretty clear. It means the opposite of what a rational individual might expect. ‘Making hard decisions’ means making the least privileged and most vulnerable groups in society pay for the last ten years of recklessness. It means accelerating the redistribution of wealth from the general population to systems of private power and to the privileged. It means also the socialisation of risk and the privatisation of profit, contrary to market principles. Ultimately, ‘making hard decisions’ means that systems of private power, in particular, are never really threatened. In fact, power and privilege are protected and consolidated at all costs. That’s the reality of ‘making hard decisions’. Brian Lenihan now has the eminent distinction of being the first Minister for Finance since Ernst Blythe in the 1920s to cut social welfare payments. Back then it was pensioners who were targeted. However, fearful of the reoccurrence of ‘pensioner power’ on the streets of Dublin, this group was left well-alone on this occasion.  Luckily for him, these ‘hard decisions’ were avoided.

Public sector pay cuts aside, Lenihan let everyone know in his budget speech last week where the government’s priorities lay. First, he said he was not increasing income tax which is the only mildly ‘progressive’ taxation measure utilised by the state. Of course, one might counter that 2% of earners contribute 33% of the total income tax take. While this is true, it doesn’t tell the full story.  In 2009, income tax will account for only 36.3% of taxation revenue. For the current fiscal year, the remainder of taxation income will be via other forms of taxation primarily indirect taxation but also stealth taxation and other forms of non-progressive direct taxation. It’s pretty hard to talk seriously about a progressive taxation system when this is the case. In fact, the projected tax intake from VAT receipts alone in 2009 is similar (32.7%) to those for income tax. Thus, in the current fiscal year there is a similar amount of income generated from this form of tax as that generated from income tax. VAT is a highly regressive form of taxation, affecting the least privileged to a much greater extent than the most privileged. This means that those outside the income tax net and on social welfare pay predominantly regressive forms of taxation. This is without mentioning other forms of regressive taxation such as inflation which eroded the purchasing power of the least privileged to a greater extent during the Celtic Tiger economy years. Moreover, the Sunday Business Post notes that ‘almost one in five of those earning between €250,000 and €500,000 paid less than 5per cent of their income to Revenue in 2007’ while those earning between €250,000 and €300,000 ‘paid an average tax rate of just 5 per cent’ ; hardly ‘progressive’. But we should be thankful because ‘this is an increase on the 2 per cent they paid before the new rules [on tax reliefs]’ were instituted. In fact, the Department of Finance reported in July that even after the clawing back of some tax reliefs those earning over €500,000 only paid an effective tax rate of 20 per cent. Tax reliefs are of course another lift-up for the wealthy and privileged. Now all of this should be referred to for what it really is: ‘trickle-up’ economics; the transfer of wealth from the general population to the most privileged. Within this context, it’s pretty difficult to argue seriously about fairness in recent budgetary priorities.

Second, Lenihan made clear that the major sources of private power – corporations – would not be bearing the brunt of any adjustment because apparently our low corporation tax rate has become ‘our international brand’. So fierce is the belief in protecting corporations that it has now become dogmatic: ‘In a time of great uncertainty for international business, it is important that we send out a clear message. The 12½ per cent Corporation Tax rate will not change. It is here to stay.’ The message is pretty clear alright. In uncertain times, corporations will be protected as a priority; to heck with the uncertain times for the majority of the general population. They need to reduce their standards of living so that corporations can rent workers at a cheaper rate and boost profits. Workers need market discipline not corporations; they need state protection in these uncertain times. It’s referred to as increasing competitiveness. And the business community loves it with Mike Farrell of KPMG pointing out that ‘business will welcome the plan outlined by the minister’.  Of course they will; it now gives them the opportunity to discipline private sector workers even further and continue the race to the bottom.

There was a third priority which emerged after the budget speech. In Brussels, the day after Budget day, Brian Cowen came out and said that he was impressed that the budget ‘was well-received internationally’. What he means is that it was well received by investors and speculators. But is this a consideration in determining our policies? ‘It can’t determine totally our policy, but it is an important consideration for the country getting access to funds…’. There is little doubt that he is correct. From this year forth the virtual parliament of investors and speculators, who may have no vested interest in the nation, will vote Yea or Nay annually on budgetary policies. If the policies are satisfactory to investors then spreads on government bonds will shorten against German government bonds (the de facto comparable base rate within the EU); if they are not, then spreads will widen, increasing the cost of the national debt to the general population. So, the more we borrow the more we become reliant on our policies being ‘well-received internationally’. And by now we know exactly what that means. The deeply anti-democratic nature of this type of financial structure is more than worrisome. And it’s rarely mentioned in general discussion of macro-economic policy.

One striking thing about the coverage of last’s weeks budget was the amazing ability of mainstream commentators to apparently not notice the ‘elephant in the room’: that is, the correlation between cuts in wages and welfare and bank-bailouts and NAMA (the bailouts being ‘flood-up’ economics). The bottom line in all of this is that the poor and the vulnerable must pay for these incompetencies in the ‘national interest’. But that has a specific meaning also; the ‘national interest’ means Ireland Inc, not the general population. More ‘trickle-up’ subsidies. Moreover, the cuts are deflationary and will likely lead to economic stagnation. The notion that huge cuts in government spending will somehow create the conditions for economic growth is ludicrous. If the government really wanted to stimulate growth there is an easier way to do it: redistribute wealth to people who actually need to spend it; not protect the wealth of people who don’t know what to do with it.

Rather amusingly, the budget has been summarised as a ‘tough love’ approach. Again, the language used is interesting and it has real meaning. It was pointed out by Noam Chomsky some years ago with specific reference to the United States; but his analysis generalises. ‘Tough love’ means ‘love’ for corporations, vested interests and the privileged and ‘tough’ for everybody else, particularly the most vulnerable in society. Undoubtedly, there are some who will contend the reality of ‘trickle-up’ economics. How to explain then that inequality actually increased during the Celtic Tiger years?

Enda Murphy

Last night, I had an opportunity to speak in the Seanad in reaction to Budget 2010. Below is my own contribution.

I am grateful to Senator Boyle for his acknowledgement, which members of the Government find it difficult to make, that at least part of the problem the Government, and by extension the people, must deal with and the deficit itself are attributable to what has occurred in the banks. That is unquestionably the case. From time to time and mainly in the context of NAMA, Ministers attempt to suggest that, in a roundabout fashion, it is not real money or real borrowing. However, the borrowings are real and will constitute an exposure for the people in respect of the bonds that banks will be given in exchange for loans.

More immediately, the deficit has increased since September when the Department of Finance acknowledged that it amounted to just over €20 billion compared with €9.4 billion at the end of September in the previous year. The statement reads: “The year-on-year deterioration in the deficit of some €10.8 billion is primarily explained by a decline in tax receipts of €4.8 billion, the €4 billion payment to Anglo Irish Bank and €1.7 billion in respect of the frontloading of the annual contribution to the National Pensions Reserve Fund.” It is no use that Government spokespersons attempt to convey the impression that the issue of the banks and the extraordinary exposure of the taxpayer in that respect is off line and has nothing to do with the budgetary crisis. These matters are connected in a substantial way, meaning that there has been an element of dishonesty in the remarks of some Government spokespersons.

Senator Boyle, similar to Senator MacSharry, stated that these budget decisions would have been made by any political party in power, but I do not accept that the decision to reduce the pay of public servants earning €30,000 per annum would have been made by any party in government, certainly not mine. I do not accept that the decision to cut child benefit or social welfare would have been made by any party in government, as was suggested by Senator Boyle more in hope than in a belief that it was the case.

This is about politics. Perhaps I am approaching politics from a slightly different perspective than Senator MacSharry who stated that the issue has gone way beyond politics, which is an extraordinary phrase. The current situation signals the arrival of politics, not its departure. I do not know what my colleagues understand or believe politics to be, but it is my belief that politics is about making choices and deciding, for example, whether one agrees, as parties did in recent weeks, on the appropriateness of reducing the 2010 deficit by €4 billion. Politics is about where to make the savings and what choices to make, be it on cutting public expenditure and, if so, where, or on increasing taxes and, if so, where. People should not be afraid of this. When there is an argument on these issues, people refer to it as being all politics. In my respectful submission, the problem with the current system is that there is not enough politics or calm, measured and careful debate, contest and disagreement on issues. I am not calling for disagreement for its own sake, but the only way to determine what will next occur in any society, particularly one in paralysis and crisis like ours – I am referring to wider society, not just the economy – is to have a free flow of debate and interaction. This is called politics. I am not looking to get away from this fact. Rather, I am looking to embrace it.

The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, the leader of the Green Party, indicated his belief that the budget was fair. His phrase was “by and large”. How he could possibly view it as being fair is beyond me. Most of those on the Government side who have spoken about it have called it difficult, draconian and so on. They could not have done otherwise. However, few have been so bold as to claim it is fair. It is anything but a fair budget. Cutting the weekly earnings of people who are on as low an income as €30,000 per annum is not only unprecedented and extraordinary, it is unacceptable in a country which in relative terms, is quite wealthy. There is no question that ours is a country in which there are deep inequalities. Many people earn considerable sums and could be called upon to pay more in the current circumstances. From the many leaks in recent weeks, I understood the Green Party was pressing in Cabinet for a robust attempt to spread the burden more fairly across all earners, but there has been no such attempt.

The Labour Party advocated something that I will repeat now. Ours is a relatively low-tax economy. According to OECD figures, we are relatively undertaxed. No one takes pleasure in standing up and asking for taxes to be raised. No one wants to raise or pay increased taxes. However, we need to be able to have an adult debate on what level and quality of public services we want and on how to pay for them. We seem unable to allow such a debate to be held. Perhaps holding it now would be difficult, as this is not an ideal time to increase taxes. In the past ten or 12 years, the so-called low-tax economy became something of a sole objective of economic policy. In many ways, it has left us where we are. We could have re-ordered our taxation system and widened its base when the opportunity presented, but we did not.

The carbon tax is the budget’s only taxation measure of which I am in favour, but what are our priorities in a crisis? This tax is a priority, but it would not be at the top of my list of priorities. I make this distinction because one should consider the budget’s other provisions. Take the decisions on stringent cuts in respect of low-paid workers, child benefit and social welfare as examples. At the same time, a report of the Commission on Taxation has been available to the Government since the summer. Again and again, we were told that it would form the basis for budgetary decision making, but it has been cast aside with suggestions that some of its elements will be introduced at some future stage. Having received the report, why could the Government not have got down to work on the proposed measures in late summer and autumn?

Tax reliefs and tax breaks are endemic in our taxation code. Recently, I read that the average level of tax breaks across Europe would, in proportion to our economy’s size, equates to approximately €2.2 billion or €2.3 billion. However, our tax breaks amount to approximately €7 billion or €7.5 billion. These issues could have been examined, as advocated by the Labour Party previously. Particularly in circumstances where people’s pay, basic social welfare and child benefit are being cut, it is not good enough to claim that one will get around to tax breaks next year.

Regarding pay, it is worth revisiting what really happened last week. Yesterday the Minister for Finance stated that, although there had been negotiations, “regrettably, a deal was not possible”. We know that is not true and that a deal could have been reached last week. Instead of reaching agreement with the trade unions, elements within the Government led by the Minister, wanted to drive down wages across the economy, sending the signal, initially to the public sector, that wages needed to be reduced. We know the argument, although I would prefer to hear people state it more honestly, as we cannot devalue our currency, we must, therefore, reduce wages in some other manner. Why can that not be said? It is clearly what the Minister thinks and, let it be said, intends to do. We are reducing pay in the public sector in order that we can make it easier for the private sector and assist it to do the same. That is what happened last week. I do not believe the line that the talks broke down because the figures did not add up to the required €1.3 billion. As described, we were gaining on the figure of €1.3 billion. Yesterday the Minister announced that the savings in pay amounted to approximately €1 billion. The figures were adding up, but there was another agenda.

hmm. buat para readers .. kali ini gw bakal bahas soal tentang perkara PRITA gara .gara buat surat elektronik tentang komplain dy ke rumah sakit OMNI internasional, si PRITA di penjara. dengan kasus pencemaran nama baik . ck ck ck . ini cuma sekedar berita, bukan maksut memprovokasikan . jeng.jeng, . maap buat nama nama yang terkait. !!

• nah. menurut berita yang gw denger. sekarang , kasus si PRITA naik lagi. kemarin si gw denger isu isu nya, dy di penjara, nah sekarang dy di denda lagi tuh ekitar 204 JUTA + iklan permohonan maaf di surat kabar untuk sekali penerbitan ma rumah sakit OMNI INTERNASIONAL. ck.ck

• nah. pasti nya PRITA gag punya duit sebanyak itu. apalagi dy punya tanggungan 2 anaknya yang masi kecil.kecil. nah apa yang dia lakukan ?? ” DIA MINTA SUKARELA MA MASYARAKAT BUAT BANTUIN DY DENGAN SUMBANGAN UANG KOIN. bukan UANG KERTAS. ck.ck.ck orang tua jaman sekarang .hhe

• duhh.. kog masala ini jadi panjang lebar ya ? gw kiraen uda tenggelem. huu. kenapa juga masala ini ampe di perpanjang lebar !!!

kalo dipikir pikir. sapa ya yang salah ? sebenernya menurut gw si PRITA gag salah juga. semua komplain dy tu.. kan wujud KETIDAKPUASAAN pelanggan,,ya gag ? tapi kog malah berbalik dari si RS nya ya.. yang balik ngelaporin si PRITA. ANE,

nah,, buat para READERS,, tunjukin donk simpatinya,hhe dengan ikut nyumbangin UANG KOIN ke PRITA,,

ternyata uang koin jaman sekarang sangat di butuhkan.. CAYOO buat PRITAA !!

ibu prita dan anaknya

Abdul Harris Nasution

Abdul Kadir

Abdul Muis

Abdul Rahman Saleh

Achmad Ri’fai

Adam Malik

Adenan Kapau Gani

Ageng Tirtayasa, Sultan

Agus Salim, H

Ahmad Dahlan, Kiai Haji

Ahmad Yani, Jenderal

Amir Hamzah, Tengku

Andi Abdullah Bau Massepe

Andi Djemma

Andi Mappanyukki

Andi Sultan Daeng Radja

Antasari, Pangeran

Arie Frederik Lasut

Sultan Arung Matoa

Ayokrokusumo, Sultan Agung

Bagindo Azizchan

Basuki Rahmat, Jenderal

Cik Di Tiro, Teungku

Cilik Riwut

Cut Nyak Dhien

Cut Nyak Meutia

Dewi Sartika

Diponegoro, Pangeran

Djuanda Kartawidjaja

Douwes Dekker, Setiabudi

Fakhruddin, H

Fatmawati

Ferdinand Lumbantobing

Fisabilillah, Raja Haji

Frans Kaisiepo

Gatot Mangkoepradja

Gatot Subroto, Jenderal

Halim Perdana Kusuma

Hamengku Buwono I, Sri Sultan

Hamengku Buwono IX, Sri Sultan

Harun

Haryono M.T, Letnan Jenderal

Hasan Basry, Brigadir Jenderal •

Sultan Hasanuddin

Hasyim Asyari

Hazairin

Ignatius Slamet Rijadi

Ilyas Yakoub

Imam Bonjol, Tuanku

Iskandar Muda, Sultan

Ida Anak Agung Gde Agung

Ismail Marzuki

Iswahyudi, Marsma

Iwa Kusuma Sumantri, Prof.Dr

Izaak Huru Doko

Jatikusumo, G.P.H

Jelantik, I Gusti Ketut

Karel Satsuit Tubun, AIP •

R.A.Kartini

Katamso Darmokusumo, Brigadir Jenderal •Ki Hajar Dewantara

Kiras Bangun (Garamata)

Kusumah Atmaja, Dr.SH

La Madukelleng

Mahmud Badaruddin II, Sultan

Mangkunegoro, K.G.P.A.A

Maria Walanda Maramis

Martadinata R.E, Laksamana Laut

Martha Christina Tiahahu

Marthen Indey

Mas Mansur, Kiai Haji

Maskoen Soemadiredja

Moestopo, Mayjen TNI (Purn.) Prof. dr.

Mohammad Hatta, Drs

Mohammad Husni Thamrin

Mohamad Roem

Mohammad Yamin, Prof, SH

Muhammad Isa Anshary

Muwardi, dr

Nani Wartabone H

Ngurah Rai, I Gusti, Kolonel

Noer Alie

Nuku Muhammad Amiruddin

Nyai Ahmad Dahlan

Nyak Arif, Teuku

Nyi Ageng Serang

Opu Daeng Risadju

Oto Iskandardinata

Pajonga Daeng Ngalie Karaeng Polongbangkeng

Pakubuwono VI, Sri Susuhunan

Panjaitan D.I, Mayor Jenderal

Parada Harahap •

Kapitan Pattimura

Pierre Tandean, Kapten

Pong Tiku

Radin Inten II

Raja Ali Haji

Rasuna Said, HJ Rangkayo

Robert Wolter Monginsidi

Saharjo, Dr. SH

Sam Ratulangi, G.S.S.J, Dr

Samanhudi, Kiai Haji

Slamet Riyadi, Ign.

Silas Papare •

Sisingamangaraja XII

Siswondo Parman, Letnan Jenderal

Soekarno

Sudirman, Jenderal

Sugiono, Kolonel

Sugijopranoto, S.J, Msgr

Suharso, Prof. Dr

Suhartinah Suharto

Sukarjo Wiryopranoto

Supeno

Supomo, Prof. Mr. Dr

Suprapto R, Letnan Jenderal

Suprijadi

Suroso R.P

Suryo

Suryopranoto, R.M

Sutan Syahrir

Sutomo, dr

Sutoyo Siswomiharjo, Mayor Jenderal

Syarif Kasim II, Sultan

Syech Yusuf Tajul Khalwati

Tambusai, Tuanku

Tengku Rizal Nurdin

Teuku Muhammad Hasan

Teuku Umar

Thaha Sjaifuddin, Sultan

Tirto Adhi Soerjo, R.M

Tjipto Mangunkusumo, dr.

Tjokroaminoto, Haji Oemar Said

Untung Suropati

Urip Sumohardjo, Letnan Jenderal

Usman

Wage Rudolf Supratman

Wahid Hasyim

Wahidin Sudirohusodo

Wilhelmus Zakaria Johannes

Yos Sudarso

Kiai Haji Zainal Mustafa

Kiai Haji Zainul Arifin

A striking feature of the official NAMA documentation and subsequent commentary is its lack of attention to geographic or spatial considerations. Indeed, this tendency of ‘aspatial’ analysis has also been a key feature of banking and financial operations, where property assets, which exist in physical space and have a specific geographic location, are presented in numerical form (often aggregated) on loan books, on balance sheets and indeed as part of complex asset bundles, such as CDOs (collatoralised debt obligations). Such an understanding and presentation of data serves very much to conceal the geography of those assets.

During the boom, financial institutions massively expanded their total lending and, as we know, what characterises the Irish banking system (and crisis), is that much of the lending went into property, which has a very particular geography. And, given the general tendency of property developers and investors to engage in developments in increasingly riskier locations the longer the boom goes on, and the considerable property price inflation that occured in every region in Ireland, it was the overlooking of geographical considerations that facilitated further inflation of the asset bubble.

That push to boost lending and increase the profitability of banks seemed to pay little attention to broader indicators in the Irish economy but also failed to pay due cognisance to locational considerations. In an industry in which the three rubric for success have long been recognied as “location, location and location”, such overlooking of spatial considerations is nothing short of amazing.

The very viability of NAMA as a financial project is highly dependent on the geography of those property assets which underpin the loans which NAMA is purchasing. While certain well-located assets may indeed provide for a secure yield in the medium term, others, such as large sites lacking any urban zoning status located at the edge of small Irish towns and villages for which enormous prices were paid per hectare, are unlikely even in the very long term to prove to possess much value above that of farmland.

Approaching the ‘details’ of NAMA and applying sectoral and geographical scenarios
From the NAMA Draft Business Plan, one can ascertain the broad composition of the loans. Of the total amount of €77bn of loans being transferred to NAMA from banks’ asset sheets:
• €27.8bn (36%) relates to ‘land’
• €21.8bn (28%) relates to ‘development loans’
• €27.7bn (36%) relates to ‘associated loans’
Beyond that broad breakdown, there is little information on when the loans were granted, on the type of property to which the loans relate (residential, office, retail, industrial, etc.) and on the geography of the assets.

To date, the total extent of our knowledge of the ‘geography’ of those loans is provided only by a very broad break-down between international locations. But in a sector in which a matter of 40 or 50 metres distance between sites might mean the difference between success and failure in the case of urban redevelopment projects, particularly in office development markets, such crude delimitation is almost entirely unhelpful. Unfortunately, we know too little about the location of NAMA-related property for an accurate assessment to be made as to their likely real value.
Some €33.13bn of those loans relate to properties located in the Republic of Ireland. However, an appraisal of the real value of the underlying assets requires, in the case of loans against land, a review of the geographical location, zoning characteristics and planning status. For development loans, an evaluation needs to be undertaken of the sectoral status (residential, industrial, office, retail and other commercial) of schemes within a local context in which the current level of provision of such property is taken into account, together with considerations of existing vacancy rates, the projected scale and stage of development (completions, currently on-site or due to be undertaken), and the prevailing and projected scales of demand for such space.
As laid out in the draft NAMA business plan, NAMA will pay €54bn for loans with a book value of €77bn, representing a 30% “haircut” on the original loans’ value. While NAMA will pay 15% above the estimated current market value for the assets, it does so on the basis that the total reduction in average property prices in the boom-slump cycle is 47% (the peak having occured in early 2007 and the trough estimated to have occured in September 2009) and that the 15% premium can be recouped over the lifetime of NAMA through a rising property market.
While we do not have specific information on the geographical location of the assets that are to be transferred to NAMA, we can examine some recent trends in the property market and compare them to the assumptions underpinning NAMA.

The Agricultural Land-Price Spiral
What became clear during the boom years was that a very sharp increase in land prices was occuring, not just in and near urban areas but also in rural areas – agricultural land. According to SavillsHOK’s Irish Agricultural Land Research report in May 2007, Irish land values jumped from just under €10,000 per hectare in 1998 to over €58,400 per hectare in 2006, by far the highest price per hectare in Europe. This jump in part reflected the tendency for farmers to sell small plots of land for development purposes (one-off housing) and an increasing trend of wealthy individuals buying small farms for lifestyle purposes, particularly within commuting distance of Dublin. In many cases, the proceeds from land sales was re-invested in farmland, where farmers with land at the edge of towns sold them off during the boom times and bought farms elsewhere pushing up land prices even further and becoming even more out-of-kilter with the day-to-day economics of farming. With the onset of the property crash, agricultural land prices have and will continue to fall back sharply, with those greenfield sites at the edge of towns bought with redevelopment in mind, open to devaluations in the region of 90-95%.

Record Site Prices (see google map)
If we examine some of the record prices paid for redevelopment sites in urban areas at the height of the boom, and compare them to revaluations on other similar sites during the slump, it should give us some indication as to the real extent of price falls.
In late 2005, a number of significant site sales in the prestigious area of Ballsbridge in Dublin 4 attracted considerable attention. During this period, the developer Sean Dunne bought two sites, the former Jury’s Hotel and the former Berkeley Court Hotel, 7 acres in total for ca. €379M (€54.1M per acre). Another developer, Ray Grehan of Glenkerrin Homes bought a nearby 2.05 acre site, the former UCD Veterinary College for ca. €171.5M (an incredible €83.7M per acre). In 2006, a small site of just over a third of an acre went for almost €40M (€95M per acre). These were purchases that were made close to the height of the boom for potential redevelopment sites which had no planning permission. Even if the subsequently proposed mixed-use developments had been given planning permission and had they been completed at the height of the property boom, the margins for profitability were already stretched. So what scale of price devaluations could we expect in the property crash for these sites?
Take the example of a nearby 0.5 acre site on Herbert Road, Ballsbridge; this former Cablelink office-building was offered for sale in autumn 2007 for €30M, just after the peak of the property boom. Two years later, the asking price stood at €9.5M – a 68% decrease, and that’s just the asking price!

As already mentioned on this blog, the case of the Irish Glass Bottle site in Ringsend is instructive. This 24.9 acre site, purchased in early 2007 for ca. €413M (€16.6M per acre) by a consortium involving companies of Bernard McNamara and Derek Quinlan and the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA), was revalued in October 2009 at €60M. This represents a whopping 85% price devaluation, which is way above the “haircut” of 30% or the 47% average property price fall upon which NAMA’s calculations are based. In the case of the Irish Glass Bottle site, we are talking about a large centrally-located brownfield site with special planning status for mixed use (residential and enterprise) functions under the DDDA’s Master Plan, with reasonably good prospects of redevelopment in the medium-to-longer term. Yet, this site has retained only 15% of its market-peak value. This begs the question, if such well-located sites are experiencing such colossal price falls, then what are the prospects for greenfield sites at the edge of cities or at the edge of towns throughout Ireland?

Investigating Development Loans – The changing geography of Dublin’s office stock
Presumably, many of the Development Loans and Associated Loans in the NAMA business plan relate to loans for commercial property in Ireland. So, let’s examine some recent trends and indicators for the different commercial property sectors. Taking the Dublin office market as an example, research from the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies (CURS), TCD and SavillsHOK (MacLaran & O’Connell, 2007) has traced the changing volume and geography of office space in Dublin since 1995. Over the past 15 years, the volume of modern office stock expanded enormously. However, the geography of office development has also changed significantly, where proportionately, there has been a fall in the dominance of the prime office locations of Dublin 2 and 4, while suburban office locations have grown substantially. While in 1995, suburban office developments accounted for 14.6% of the total stock, by 2008, that figure had leapt to over 35%.

Rates of vacancy in the modern office stock vary considerably geographically and are particularly high in certain suburbs, having been especially high in west Dublin. The research indicates that since 2007, there have been high levels of activity in office construction in suburban areas, office space that has yet to reach the market. It is likely that some loans associated with office space in suburban areas will be transferred to NAMA, areas that even during the boom were experiencing relatively high vacancy levels.

Moreover, with the Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern recently banning the use of upward-only rent reviews for all new leases in commercial property from March 2010, this is likely to have a downward effect on the capital values that new office buildings are likely to achieve. While, this ban could be seen as a positive step for some business sectors (new tenants especially), it may have serious implications for NAMA (and simultaneously for Irish society) as it is tied to a rising property market. More specifically, many of NAMA’s underpinning calculations drew heavily on trends and expectations in commercial property sectors, which at that time were based on a system of upward-only rent reviews!

Residential Loans
It is likely that a good deal of the Development and Associated Loans relate to residential developments at various stages of construction (see discussion of ghost estates elsewhere on the blog). And, while it is clear that substantial reductions have occured in house prices generally, it is difficult to gauge the likely level of devaluation on residential loans that will transfer to NAMA. Where loans transferred to NAMA are found to involve housing developments that are at a stage of completion, we can draw on new house prices as an indicator.

Source: DoEHLG, Housing Statistics Bulletins, various years (Average house prices are derived from data supplied by the mortgage lending agencies on loans approved).

Based on the DoEHLG’s Housing Statistics Bulletins to July 2009, new house prices nationally fell by 26% since the peak of the boom (2007Q2). For Cork and Galway, the figure was 23%, for Limerick, 11%, with Waterford and other areas experiencing 26% and 25% price drops respectively. Notably, the fall was sharpest in Dublin where new house prices fell by 40% and there is little to indicate that the downward trend halted in September 2009. Unsurprisingly, sales activity is much reduced.
Notably, the type of ‘assets’ that will be transferred to NAMA will likely include some of those unfinished housing estates and apartment complexes that have become a very visible feature of the Irish landscape – in city suburbs, in inner-city neighbourhoods and at the edge of towns and villages countrywide. In these cases, the ratio of market value to loan value will have fallen dramatically, with the management and disposal of these ‘assets’ likely to prove difficult and expensive.

The property crash beyond NAMA
While this post has sought to develop further a geography of NAMA’s portfolio, raising some serious questions about the calculations and underpinning assumptions of NAMA in the process, it must also be remembered that there are other major elements of the property crash that will not be addressed by NAMA. The NAMA portfolio involves loans relating to ca.1,600 borrowers, with just 100 borrowers accounting for 50% of the portfolio. Land, Development and Associated Loans of less than €5M are excluded from NAMA (except those with EBS and Irish Nationwide); the number of these loans is unknown but their geography is likely to be predominantly rural in nature or rather, at the fringe of towns and villages throughout Ireland. Then, of course, there is that far more immediate concern for tens-of-thousands of households of mortgage repayment difficulties, negative equity and the threat of housing foreclosures in the not-too-distant future. In NAMA and the SPV, these households will find little comfort – but that’s another day’s blog.

Sinéad Kelly

bismillah….

penukaran kepada pemudach.wordpress.com kerana untuk kemudahan dan kesesuaian semasa. blog yang asal hanyalah untuk percubaan dan pembelajaran sahaja. Nama yang telalu panjang juga tidak sesuai dan yang ringkas adalah lebih menarik. Moga ia menjadi media rujukan bagi kawasan cameron highlands (dun jelai terutamanya) dan untuk semua.

sumber energi

Jewelry sumber energi pembeli yang mencari Energi Hewan untuk memperoleh berlian dalam upaya belanja mereka akan menemukan berbagai macam Sinar Matahari batu untuk memilih dari Sinar Matahari sepanjang jalan. Ada berbagai jenis batu permata ini serta gaya yang satu dapat memilih sebagai permata pilihan mereka. Satu lebih jarang dibahas jenis berlian di Old Mine Cut berlian. Ini adalah khusus untuk banyak alasan dan sekali orang telah mendengar tentang semua sifat-sifat positif yang pergi bersama-sama dengan amp quot Lama Miner amp quot seperti yang kadang-kadang disebut mereka mungkin ingin menambah jenis batu permata untuk koleksi perhiasan mereka.

What Are Old Mine Cut Diamond

Bagaimana Apakah ini Gems Dapatkan Nama mereka

Nama Old Mine Cut muncul karena fakta bahwa berlian digunakan yang akan diambil dari tambang lama yang terletak di seluruh India. Ini berbeda dari banyak batu hari ini yang diambil dari tambang yang terletak di dalam Afrika Selatan. Jenis batu ini sangat populer sepanjang abad ke- dan Tenaga Surya tampaknya masih terus intrik dari banyak pembeli berlian hari ini.

Reasons to Buy

Sumber Energi Miner Lama

Old Miners banding ke kelompok memilih berlian pembeli masih sampai hari ini. Ada sejumlah Tambang Gas alasan besar untuk membeli Old Mine Cut berlian sebagai lawan jenis batu permata. Salah satu alasan bagus untuk membeli sebuah permata dari berbagai Mine Lama berhubungan dengan alam antik daripadanya. Karena batu-batu ini cukup populer sepanjang -an tidaklah mengherankan bahwa gaya mereka akan memiliki antik merasa tentang mereka. Ini adalah jenis batu yang sempurna untuk para wanita yang suka gaya memiliki cincin Tenaga Surya pertunangan antik di Old Mine Cut cukup mengingatkan pada masa lalu.

Alasan lain untuk membeli Lama Miner adalah untuk semata-mata kualitas Tenaga Listrik keindahan sekitarnya. Sebagaimana dinyatakan di atas karena cara gaya Mine Lama batu dipotong itu menyajikan hasil yang paling menguntungkan untuk orang-orang yang melihat batu. Ketika cahaya hits batu hasilnya adalah hati penglihatan berkilauan. Potongan membuat batu muncul dalam cahaya yang terbaik dan ini adalah atribut yang cukup Energi Alam menguntungkan bagi mereka yang mencari untuk membeli permata sebesar ini.

Terakhir faktor keunikan yang mengelilingi Old Mine Cut membuat pilihan Tambang Minyak yang baik bagi pembeli perhiasan. Jika seseorang mencari sepotong percakapan untuk menambah koleksi perhiasan mereka maka Old Mine Cut sumber energi diamond mungkin hanya menjadi hal yang sempurna untuk membeli.

Seorang pelanggan menelepon saya baru-baru ini dan bertanya apakah saya rasa dia harus fokus pada pakaian yang tidak bermerek atau nama merek pakaian.

Pertanyaan ini didasarkan pada gagasan berikut.

Merek pakaian sangat dikenali oleh pelanggan karena merek menghabiskan jutaan dolar pemasaran sendiri. Non merek pakaian pada dasarnya pakaian dengan label yang batik lebih kecil atau diimpor dari luar negeri tidak memiliki pengenalan nama. Tapi sisi adalah bahwa non pakaian bermerek dapat dibeli dan dijual kembali untuk membagikan kurang dari Batik Madura pakaian bermerek.

Jadi bagaimana Anda memutuskan antara non menjual merek Batik Madura dan nama merek pakaian

Sebagai permulaan anda perlu mengetahui siapa pelanggan Anda.

Meskipun berikut ini mungkin tidak secara politis benar anda perlu Hello world memahami ini.

Pelanggan berpenghasilan rendah mungkin ingin nama merek pakaian tetapi mereka tidak mampu membelinya. Jadi meskipun mereka akan senang untuk memiliki nama merek pakaian mereka biasanya tidak puas dengan pakaian bermerek.

Di sisi lain pelanggan akan lebih kaya hanya menginginkan pakaian bermerek karena mereka memiliki lebih banyak tekanan dalam hal menjaga dengan gaya terbaru.

Sekarang di atas adalah benar di dunia teoritis. Tapi di dunia nyata semua orang ingin nama merek pakaian.

Jadi bagaimana Anda sebagai reseller membeli nama merek pakaian dengan Batik Madura harga cukup rendah untuk menjual kepada pelanggan miskin Anda

Anda perlu membeli pakaian terlalu banyak Batik Madura menimbun.

Overstock pakaian pakaian yang terdiri dari sebuah department store tidak menjual dalam jangka waktu tertentu. Sebuah toko serba ingin selalu memiliki barang dagangan baru pada rak-rak. Apa pun yang tidak menjual dalam jangka waktu tertentu akan dijual sebagai terlalu banyak menimbun.

Karena terlalu banyak Batik Madura menimbun terdiri Batik Madura dari nama-nama merek Anda memiliki kesempatan besar.

Anda bisa mendapatkan memegang merek pakaian baru oleh merek terkemuka di sebagian kecil dari harga grosir biasa.

Apa S the catch

Bila Anda membeli pakaian terlalu banyak menimbun Anda akan menerima berbagai macam gaya dan ukuran.
Anda dapat T menentukan jumlah celana atau rok atau ukuran untuk hal itu.

Jadi sementara ini mungkin mematahkan semangat Batik Madura beberapa orang dari terlalu banyak menimbun membeli pakaian hanya memikirkan keuntungan membeli nama-nama merek seperti Polo Ralph Lauren Tommy Liz Claiborne Ecko dan Baby Phat untuk sebagian kecil dari harga grosir biasa.

Aku Batik stres di situs saya closeoutexplosion.com bahwa pelanggan akan menerima berbagai macam merek dan gaya dan juga rata-rata harga eceran item yang saya miliki.

Dengan cara ini reseller dapat menentukan manfaat membeli dan menjual terlalu banyak menimbun barang dagangan untuk Batik Madura diri mereka sendiri.

Sementara pakaian terlalu banyak menimbun mungkin tidak bekerja jika Anda membutuhkan berbagai macam ukuran untuk item tertentu itu benar-benar berfungsi jika Anda ingin membeli nama merek pakaian serendah mungkin harga batik grosir.

A NEW report has revealed that guests are now stocking up on food and drink and no longer eating out in hotels.

 The report by the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation states that consumers are now cutting back on what they spend on domestic travel with a 15 percent drop in spending.

 This has been attributed to guests shopping in local supermarkets for their food and beverages rather than spending their money at the hotel’s facilities.

 The reports have left many in the industry concerned about the future of the industry and its current state, including ITIC Chief Executive Eamonn Mckeown.

 “Many hotels reported that as well as paying less for rooms, guests were cutting back on restaurant and other expenditure, and generally spending less on site.” He said.

 Domestic holidays in Ireland are said to fall another ten percent this year to 14.6 million, a worrying statistic when 2 out of 3 hotel guests asked in 2008 stated that they were Irish.

 Hoteliers have said that the National Assets Management Agency (NAMA) are having a negative effect on older hotels and putting them at a competitive disadvantage in comparison to newer ones being kept afloat by banks because their developer owners owe huge sums of money.

 This has led to the Irish Hotel Federation calling for under performing that are controlled by NAMA to be transformed into nursing homes or hospital step down facilities due to the over supply of rooms.

 The negative trend has also spilled over into the rest of the British Isles with a new report by STR Global revealing that the average hotel revenue per room (revpar) has dropped by 11.2% throughout the various regions with London only performing better with just a 1% decrease.

 Source: Irish Independent

One of Adam Smith’s maxims was that ‘Wherever there is great property, there is great inequality. For one very rich man, there must be at least five hundred poor, and the affluence of the few supposes the indigence of the many’. Indeed, it wasn’t only Marx and Lenin who felt that the primary function of the state was to facilitate the accumulation of capital for ‘the principal architects of policy’, as Smith termed the elite; while at the same time mediating resultant class conflict. Not often mentioned by economists is the fact that Smith, like many other Enlightenment figures, had similar things to say. In his words: ‘The acquisition of valuable land and extensive property…necessarily requires the establishment of civil government. Where there is no property, or at least none that exceeds the value of two or three days labour, civil government is not so necessary’. Clearly then, he felt that one of the central roles of the state was to mediate class conflict resulting from the disproportionate levels of ownership related to property. Should we expect then that NAMA will do anything other than serve ‘as a mechanism to transfer wealth from the general population to themselves [the financial sector]’ in the words of Joseph Stiglitz referring specifically to the proposed Irish remedies for the banking crisis?

Enda Murphy