Ashby Monk

It’s Thanksgiving tomorrow in the United States. Since I’m in Boston, I’m taking off until Monday.

For those of you that are also off and looking for some reading, I came across a new and interesting paper by Eduard Ponds, Roy Hoevenaars and R. Molenaar on generational accounting. The paper has implications for SWFs (and pension funds). It’s worth a read.

Be back on Monday. Enjoy your weekend!

CamStudio ist ein kostenloses Programm zum Aufnehmen von Bildschirm- und Audio Aktivitäten am Computer und macht daraus AVI oder SWF Video Files.

Einsatzbeispiele für ein Screencasting Programm:

• Demo-Videos für Software erstellen
• Video FAQ
• Video Anleitungen für Kurse
• Werbevideo
• …

via CamStudio – Free Screen Recording Software.

I should put this in my kitchen

Well I can’t really believe this, but I am actually considering doing a master cleanse (a.k.a. the lemonade diet)!  This involves drinking a lemonade-like concoction for 10 days or more… no solid food at all.  Sounds crazy, huh?  I have been doing research, and there are arguments for and against it.  I decided that I am really the only one that can make the decision.  So I decided.  To not eat for 10 days.  Or until I feel absolutely terrible, whichever comes first.  This is me panicking:   arrrrrrgggghhhhhhaaaaaaaa!!

What got me on this kick is reading about the liver cleanse.  Then I read that some people choose to do a liver cleanse at the end of a master cleanse, since you’re pretty much ‘cleaned out’ anyway so it’s easier to get the stones out.  I am wondering what I have been carrying around in my colon all of these years.  I suspect it is not much!  Yes, I know, I say this now.  But I am curious if I am correct or not.

I had weight loss surgery (duodenal switch) in 2001 and have lost about 180 pounds since then, kept it off too.  Then in 2006 I had surgery to remove my stomach flap, arm wings, and to lift my breasts.  Even after all of that, I am still fat, I could stand to lose 50 more pounds.  With the DS surgery I get diarrhea if I eat something with too much fat, or something with too much of the WRONG KIND of fat.  Needless to say, I do not have a problem with constipation.  This is why I think that I may not have a problem with my colon contents, because it is always ‘moving out’.  However, I am not doing this to lose more weight, although I suspect that I will lose some weight.  If I do lose, I hope that I will be able to keep these pounds off.  I am wanting to do the master cleanse to see how much ‘sludge’ is in my system, and to let that go once and for all.  I suspect that these toxins are why I haven’t been able to lose more weight, and do the physical exercise needed to lose the weight.  So, I hope to jump out of this cleanse, ease back into eating, and then keep on eating more sensibly, cooking more at home and not relying as much on convenience foods.  Increasing my energy will increase my ability to exercise as well.

Since I have had DS surgery and lost the 180 pounds, I have had some pretty menacing issues with absorbing nutrients.  I have had low vitamin D, and I became deficient of iron enough that I was diagnosed as severely anemic.  My calcium and protein levels have not always been great.  And my parathyroid levels have skyrocketed due to the vitamin D and calcium issues.  Most of these issues I now have under control, or at least well on their way.  But to be sure, and to have more ‘data’, I am going to go get my blood tests done on the first morning of the cleanse (Monday 11/30/09).  I will then get the same blood tests done maybe a week after I end the cleanse, and compare the results.  This should be very interesting to see if I lose vital nutrients during the cleanse time!  This is one thing I’m afraid the cleanse will do, especially since I’ve had weight loss surgery and I don’t absorb nutrients like the normal person.

This cleanse is just kind of weird for me also because I just am not the type of person to NOT eat!  I have always had a good appetite, even when sick.  If I skip dinner, you can bet there is a good reason!  It is very rare.  I do like GOOD food meaning good for me, but in the last year or so I have been eating a higher percentage of processed foods and less vegetables.  The weird thing is, I have maintained my weight almost exactly for over two years, even during this ‘worse eating’ time.  This is good I guess, but now I feel ready to make some more progress.  Bring on the spicy lemonade!!

I definitely have had some physical problems which has led me to this master cleanse.  Nothing that really keeps me from my daily life of work, family, and owning a small business.  But I do get tired a lot, and my foot hurts which keeps me from doing as much exercise as I’d like.  Plus, I suspect that I could have a higher quality of life than I have right now.  That being healthier could really add to my life experience.  Maybe right now I’m just passing through life instead of just living it, you know?  One never knows where they were until they get somewhere else and can enjoy the view back.

So now I am going on a journey where I will give my digestive system a rest for a few days.  Who knows where it will take me?  I know I’m being dramatic, but hey, all of these feelings are coming out when I consider not eating.  I started thinking about how much of my time is centered around eating, preparing for eating, shopping for eating, thinking and learning about eating.  It’s amazing that I ever get out of the kitchen at all!  So I need to have a plan for what to do with all of my extra time, which should not include sitting on my butt watching tv.  Maybe I’d better have that plan to you next time.  Meanwhile, I will sip on my green tea even though I want more coffee.

Later…

Last night I made the lemonade, and again today.  I am ‘practicing’… drinking it between meals.  This is so typical ‘me’!  When I feel a pang of hunger, I just take a swig.  I do let myself get hungry for meals though.  I’m talking about the hunger that comes after dinner for things that I don’t need.  By the time I start the cleanse on Monday after Thanksgiving, I hope to have my brain trained to eat less.  Yes, I know, haha, funny to train yourself to eat less around the thanksgiving holidays, I know!  I don’t typically gorge myself with holiday food, so I should be ok.

Thanksgiving I will definitely eat, and the day after we always have soup and sandwiches.  Saturday night my husband is taking me out to Ruth Chris steakhouse.  Yes, I am seeing that I have my entire weekend planned around what food I’m going to eat!  Sunday I plan to eat lightly, perhaps some homemade soups.  Sunday night I will take the laxative tea.   And then Monday I will start the cleanse, with the salt water flush in the morning.

I also practiced the salt water flush this morning.  I seem to need more salt in my solution, probably because I’m using the Celtic grey sea salt.  I think it is less salty than other sea salt, by volume at least.  So I am putting 1 tablespoon of salt in about 25 ounces of water.  Wow I always thought I loved salt, but this stuff is not good.  I pretend that it’s chicken broth and I can get it down.  I don’t think I ‘flushed’ it all out though; I only had one liquidy BM after, about one hour later, which was much longer to wait than I had anticipated!  This worries me a bit as my body seems to be absorbing some of the very salty water.  One thing I haven’t bought yet is the laxative tea, so I didn’t take that the night before.  They say that you take the tea the night before to loosen things up in there, and then the SWF just flushes it all out.  Follow the instructions, Kim!!

I thought I should make a list of goals of what I want to get out of my first cleanse, so I can compare to my results:

1. Be able to complete the 10 day cleanse
2. Not be tempted to eat any of my kids or weiner dogs during the cleanse
3. Remove toxins from my body
4. Good recovery from foot surgery on December 4th
5. Have more energy during the day
6. Wake up in the morning easier
7. Have improved mental clarity
8. Reduce the dark circles under my eyes
9. Improved skin
10. Reduce the size of my ‘man’ tummy.  This is the unfortunate tummy that women get when they’ve had a tummy tuck, and then gain a little weight.  You gain weight in the middle, not at the bottom.  It sucks!!  It’s almost like a pregnant belly, but higher up.  BE GONE, MAN TUMMY!!…
11. Increased lung capacity (to help with exercise)
12. Better eyesight
13. Lose some ‘sludge’ weight, and keep it off
14. Learn about some of my ‘food’ issues, be able to ponder and journal a bit about them in this blog
15. Jump start healthier eating

I don’t ‘need’ to have a perfect experience and make progress on everything.  Seeing some improvement on three or four of these items would make me VERY happy!!  I can then save the leftover goals for my next cleanse.

Ashby Monk

Nobody can doubt the remarkable spectacle that is professional bike racing and, in particular, the Tour de France. In fact, as a young(er) man, I raced as an amateur around Europe and even had (unrealistic) aspirations to some day join the professional peloton. So, while the sport has had its problems with doping — and what sport hasn’t — I can totally understand the appeal for any company or sponsor who wants to get involved.

And yet, I can’t get my head around why a SWF would offer financial backing for a professional cycling team? But that is what appears to be going on in Kazakhstan:

The “sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna provided UCI with a pledge worth $22 million US per season for the next four years to back Astana.”

For those that don’t know, Astana was Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador’s team last year. It was arguably the best team in the world. However, it was plagued with problems; at one point the team actually stopped paying salaries, which led the riders to covering up the sponsor’s logo during a premier cycling event.  Anyway, there’s been plenty of drama, and the future of the team has been in question. Apparently, this is where the Kazakh SWF comes in. It is putting up close to $100 million over four years to keep the team running.

Why? What could be the financial justification for such a move? Honestly, I’d like someone to explain this to me. Is there marketing value to be gained for the SWF from being involved in pro cycling?  Or is this a situation where the political elite have enjoyed having a Kazakh team on top of the world and are now redirecting public money for their pet projects?

Ashby Monk

In October, David Murray, in his role as Chair of the IFSWF, noted that front running had become a real problem for SWFs:

“Because we are generally large institutional investors, there is the whole community of investment banks, brokers, analysts and others who want to front-run our investments in the market.”

As it turns out, Murray was right to be worried. In a recent high-profile insider trading bust in the Bay Area, it was shown that one individual used inside information to front run two SWFs.

According to SF Gate’s Andrew Ross, Anil Kumar, who is a senior partner at McKinsey in Palo Alto, was arrested for allegedly sharing inside information about pending transactions involving Sunnyvale’s Advanced Micro Devices and two Abu Dhabi SWFs. Based on the information, Raj Rajaratnam made some trades in AMD options.

This illustrates that SWFs, like all large investors, are targets for this type of opportunistic behavior. However, despite Murray’s suggestions in October, I still don’t see transparency as the culprit here; insider trading is the problem. These guys (allegedly) broke the law, and they will pay the price. (It’s also interesting to note that they didn’t even profit from the front running.) So, in my view, this is not an excuse to scale back disclosure at SWFs; it’s a reason to continue cracking down on the abuse of insider information.

On a separate point, McKinsey has some damage control to do here (which it has already started with the removal of Kumar). My experience is that trust and discretion are absolutely critical in forging and maintaining relationships with SWFs. In the short-term, this leak may affect McKinsey’s ability to work with SWFs (either through their clients or as clients of their own).

Såhär enkelt kan du exportera din indesign-trycksak som blädder-swf för publicering på nätet!

Tänk bara på följande:

• RGB-färgspace (indesign varnar dig annars)
• Kontraster anpassat för skärmläsning
• Typsnitt anpassat för skärmläsning
• Upplösningen är låg på swf-en, jobba lågupplöst om du inte skall trycka också.
• Använd färger som funkar på skärm (inte grön text på rött t.ex.)
• Rätt typsnittsstorlek(grad) för skärmläsning
• testa, testa, testa…

Olha gente, meu teclado tinha pifado, mas agora eu vou postar apenas as novas. Primeiro, o jornal 214#:

E o ultimo post do Billybob na comunidade:

“O Dojo do Fogo está quase pronto!

Olá, Pinguins!
O Desafio Ninja-Fogo definitivamente está no bico da pinguinzada na ilha – e com o lançamento do jogo marcado para 24 de novembro, todo mundo está suando as penas na construção do novo Dojo do Fogo! Já ouvimos falar que muitos pinguins estão treinando e jogando bastante para conquistar suas faixas pretas e as Máscaras de Ninja. Se vocês já têm as suas, chamem seus amigos para uma partidinha! E não se esqueçam que tem um iglu ninja no catálogo Obras de Artes Marciais… A gente quer saber como vocês e seus amigos estão se preparando para o novo jogo.

Tem coisas ninjas para tudo quanto é lado – vocês já deram uma olhada nas Atividades Offline? Aqueles Bolinhos de Lava devem ser um estouro! Queremos saber o que vocês acharam.
Até mais e… Pinguinando!
- Equipe do Club Penguin”

Até mais

]]> http://loopzy.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/ninja-deliverance-btcd/ Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:04:18 +0000 loopzy http://loopzy.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/ninja-deliverance-btcd/

Ashby Monk

Larry Catá Backer has just updated his ‘Sovereign Investing in Times of Crisis’ paper on SSRN. It’s a good paper and worth a read.

(Don’t be intimidated by the page count of 194. The paper is formatted for a law journal, which probably more than doubles its page-count as compared with a standard formatted paper.)

Enjoy your weekend.

ke onda como estan? bueno pues les subi unos programas muy buenos, todos los programas fueron probados por mi

todos funkan bien

Office 2007 Enterprise:

abre,crea,edita documentos del formato DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, PPT, PPTX, MDB, ACCDB, PUB, RTF, TXT, HTM, JPG, PNG, TIF, EMF, WMF, XML, WRI

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http://www.mediafire.com/file/jq3oma2ihdi/Office 2007 Enterprise By Azteking.part2.rar
http://www.mediafire.com/file/yn5mi3wmdn0/Office 2007 Enterprise By Azteking.part3.rar
Activacion: http://www.mediafire.com/file/43r3mw2jzyz/Activar Office By Azteking.txt

Nero 9.4.26.0 Reloaded

el mejor grabador de cd o dvd, audio y video de todos

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Keymaker Para Nero 9.4.26 Reloaded:

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Nero 9 Clean Tool:

herramienta eficaz en la desinstalacion de nero

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Video Avatar 3.0.0.93:

crea gifs animados a partir de videos con video avatar 3

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Malwarebyte’s Antimalware 1.41

manten tu pc limpio de amenzas contra tu privacidad con malwarebytes antimalware uno de los mejores antimalware ke existen

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Keygen Malwarebyte’s Anti-Malware 1.41:

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Teracopy Pro 2.01:

copia o mueve mas rapida y eficientemente con teracopy pro ideal si tienes windows vista

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Winrar 3.90:

exelente compresor de ficheros soporta los formatos: ZIP, RAR, CAB, ARJ, LZH, TAR, GZ, TAR.GZ, BZ2, TAR.BZ2, ACE, UUE, JAR, ISO, 7Z, Z

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Nod32 4.0.467:

para mi el mejor antivirus

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MiNODLogin 3.7.0.2:

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Iobit Advanced Systemcare Pro 3.3.4

dale mantenimiento a tu pc, reaparalo, optimizalo con advanced systemcare pro uno de los mejores programas de optimizacion global ke existen

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Iobit Smart Defrag 1.20:

defragmenta el disco duro para un mejor rendimiento y velocidad,señala el tiempo de inactividad para que se
ejecute la autodefragmentacion,o programa las defragmentaciones especificando el dia y hora

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Tuneup Utilities 2009 8.0.3100

dale mantenimiento a tu pc, reaparlo y optimizalo con tuneup utilities 2009 de los mejores programas de optimizacion global ke hay

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Format Factory 2.15:

convierte archivos de audio,imagenes,videos a diversos formatos para poder reproducirlos en tu ipod,xbox 360,ps3 etc o simplemente para aumentar o disminuir su calidad(disminuir para ahorrar espacio en disco),ademas puedes recortar videos rapidamente y crear gifs animados a partir de videos

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Free Screen To Video 1.1:

graba en video todo lo que suceda en la pantalla de tu ordenador
ideal para hacer video tutoriales

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Gadwin PrintScreen 4.4:

Capturador de pantalla en imagen

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Revo Uninstaller 1.83:

el mejor desinstalador que conosco, ejecuta el desistalador propio del programa y despues analisa en busca de ficheros inservibles y entradas del registro invalidas que pudo haber dejado al desinstalarlo

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Jdownloader 0.9.579:

exelente gestor de descargas para sitios de hosting gratuito como mediafire,rapidshare,megaupload entre otros

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Configurar Jdownloader Para Cambiar IP para quien tiene infinitum:

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K-Lite Codeck Pack 5.44 Full:

Pack de codecs escenciales para reproducir cualquier formato de video o audio

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Gom Player 2.1.21.4846:

reproductor de video que soporta subtitulos

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JetAudio 7.5.5:

reproductor de audio muy weno

Vista Loader 4.0:

deja activado de una buena vez tu sistema operativo windows vista con este fabuloso activador

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Ares 2.1.2:

descarga canciones,videos,imagenes y mas con ares

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Atube Catcher 1.0.294:

descarga videos de 150 sitios aprox similares a youtube y conviertelos a FLV (Flash), 3GP, 3G2, AVI, XVID, MP4, MP3, MP2, WMA, WMV, GIF, FLAC, WAV, PSP, MPG, VOB, OGG, MOV

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Photoscape 3.4

Todo lo que necesitas para editar, procesar y personalizar tus fotos,realiza capturas de pantalla tambien

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Ccleaner 2.25:

elimina ficheros temporales, archivos coldagos, historiales,vacía la papelera de reciclaje,rastros de navegación.,incluye un limpiador del Registro de Windows que lo analiza en busca de entradas no válidas.

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idump Build 30:

Programa para pasar archivos del ipod a tu pc

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Unlocker 1.8.8:

desblokea archivos ke se niegan a ser borrados,movidos,renombrados etc con esta exelente utilidad

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Renamer 5.50:

sirve para el renombrado masivo de archivos, los enumera, añade,reemplaza o quita caracteres que le señales,cambia la extension etc.

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Recuva 1.32:

recupera tus archivos que creias perdidos tras haberlos borrados por accidente con el hermano de Ccleaner

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Windows Live Messenger 2009 (14.0.8089.726):

conocidisimo cliente de mensajeria instantanea para chatear con tus amigos,hermanos,primos,tios,padres etc

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msg Plus Live! 4.83

complemento muy popular para el windows live messenger con opciones muy buenas como poder abrir varias cuentas de correo a la vez

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Mozilla Firefox 3.5.5:

el mas popular de los navegadores y para mi el mejor por el alto numero de extensiones que facilitan diversas tareas mientras se navega

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Complementos Firefox:

Adblock Plus:

¿Alguna vez te han molestado todos esos anuncios e imágenes en internet que, normalmente, hacen que tarde en cargar más el resto de la página? InstalaAdblock Plus ahora y olvídate de ello.

https://addons.mozilla.org/es-ES/firefox/addon/1865

Wot:

Web of Trust le mantiene seguro mientras navega y compra en Internet. Los símbolos con código de color de WOT le ayudan a evitar timos en línea, robo de identidad, sitios de compra no fiables y amenazas de seguridad antes de que haga clic.

https://addons.mozilla.org/es-ES/firefox/addon/3456

Copy Link Url:

copia la direccion url de todos los enlaces que sean ala vez
muy weno si sueles descargar de sitios de hosting gratuito como rapidshare
de eso modo no tendras que copiar la direccion url uno por uno

https://addons.mozilla.org/es-ES/firefox/addon/10552

Alexa Sparky:

ve que tan visitado es un sitio(que tan popular) con alexa sparky
mientras mas visitado mejor es el sitio en teoria Xd

https://addons.mozilla.org/es-ES/firefox/addon/5362

autofill forms:

llena formalarios de registracion a paginas web con un click
eso si hay ke saber configurarlo para un uso mas eficiente

https://addons.mozilla.org/es-ES/firefox/addon/4775

Barra Google:

con la barra google no solo podras realizar busquedas sin necesidad de estar en la pagina de google(google.com)
si no que añade la fantastica funcion de “buscar en el sitio” para basar toda la potencia del buscador de google en un solo sitio, tambien tiene corrector ortografico traductor de palabras y de la pagina entera,tambien puede generar busquedas personalizadas

https://addons.mozilla.org/es-ES/firefox/addon/6249

Vista Aero:

Tema para que firefox lusca como el ie8 es bueno ya que el tema que trae el firefox por default no es muy bonito Xd

https://addons.mozilla.org/es-ES/firefox/addon/4988

Orbit Downloader 2.8.0.17:

De los mejores gestores de descarga que existen,acelera notablemente tus descargas,trae para bajar videos de muchos lugares similares a youtube a gran velocidad

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MAS É CLARO QUE FOI!

Bom, é meio triste dizer que infelizmente o CP & Mutoh não será mais atualizado… =(

Não fique triste, o blog estará sempre para consultas, já que existe muitas coisas para se ler e aprender sobre o Club Penguin.

Aproveite este último post para poder comentar o que você achou do Club Penguin & Mutoh enquanto ele estava sendo atualizado! Qual foi seu postador preferido? Se nem sabe quem são os postadores não custa nada dar uma visitinha em “O Blog“, que é claro, tem tudo sobre o nosso blog, desde que ele foi lançado pela primeira vez (e fechado também) até o momento em que ele foi re-inaugurado e algumas curiosidades sobre os postadores!

Agora é claro, temos sempre um motivo para dar tal notícia, bom, começando com a nossa quase postadora Maju40, que se não me engano não fez muitos posts… não passou de 4 pelas minhas contas. O Mutoh, grande fundador, no qual o blog recebeu o nome apenas posta as perguntas semanais, coisa que não faz a varias semanas… E agora eu, Bv2t, que sempre que posso estou aqui para postar as novidades pra vocês, mas sempre que posso não é o suficiente, vocês merecem um blog que poste tudo na hora pra vocês!

Com certeza não vou parar de jogar Club Penguin, é um jogo que eu adoro muito, muito embora dão muita atenção aos assinantes, mais atenção do que deveriam… mas mesmo assim é um jogo fantástico!

Mas não pensem vocês que vou deixa-los na mão justo agora quando estamos a beira do Desafio Ninja – Fogo e de todas as novidades maravilhosas que o inverno do Club Penguin traz (isso inclui o Natal!). Fiz uma grande pesquisa, mesmo, para ver qual era o melhor blog de Club Penguin (depois do nosso é claro, hehehehe) e o escolhido foi o CP Novidades Team, esse blog esta sempre sendo atualizado e com muuuuitas novidades, mesmo! Adorei o blog e acho que se eles continuarem assim, o blog vai pra frente, aqui o link:

CP Novidades Team

Não… se você ficou com preguiça de ler tudo o que escrevi lá em cima fique sabendo que não estamos nos juntando com o CP Novidades Team, vale a pena (ou não) ler para descobrir.

Nossa… como é difícil me despedir de vocês… gosto muito de postar mas estou ficando muito sem tempo, o final do ano esta chegando e tenho muitas provas, trabalhos para entregar e fazer… é a vida… corrida com o passar dos anos! Mas não fique triste… tudo na vida passa… só Bom Bril fica!

Foi bom enquanto durou? MAS É CLARO QUE FOI!

CLUB PENGUIN

& MUTOH ™

O CLUB PENGUIN COMO VOCÊ NUNCA VIU!

É claro que eu SEMPRE vou ver vocês na ilha, brincando e se divertindo como sempre!!!!!!! Um abraço gelado!!! Bv2t!!!!

- ATENÇÃO ESTE BLOG NÃO SERÁ MAIS ATUALIZADO -

Ashby Monk

When I said a few weeks ago that SWFs should be investing in clean tech, I was thinking more of commodity-based SWFs. At the time, my rationale was as follows:

“Since sponsors of such funds typically rely on resources that will lose-out if the cleantech revolution succeeds, these investments would offer a very nice hedge over a long-term time horizon…getting in on the ground floor of clean tech would attenuate any loss of revenues associated with a technological advance that reduces our dependence on hydrocarbons.”

Well, I was right to suggest clean tech, but I was apparently wrong to leave out other types of SWFs.

The CIC has just invested over $700 million into GCL-Poly, which has 18 co-generation plants for steam and electricity, wind farms, an incineration plant, and is China’s largest polysilicon and solar wafer maker (after a large acquisition in June). The CIC will own 20% of the company and also have 49% ownership in a new joint venture to invest and develop photo-voltaic or other solar energy projects.

What’s up? Is the CIC following Norway’s lead and adding environmental investing to its remit? I don’t think so. For a company that has been spending most of its assets on commodities lately, it would only be natural to diversify into clean tech.

Still, as someone who has been to the coal mining region around Datong, I can say without reservation that it’s nice to see the CIC (and China) nurturing this new, clean technology (even if the fund’s motivation remains commercial).

Ashby Monk

ING just released a new research report in which it suggests that 2010 will be a big year for SWFs. It sees assets increasing, transparency improving, and greater risk taking.

Ashby Monk

I noted back in March that China was thinking of setting up a domestic oriented SWF to help manage state assets. The fund was tentatively called “CIC 2.0″ and was expected to fall under the domain of the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC). Significantly, the Economic Observer is reporting this morning that the “China State Council has approved the draft plan proposed by China’s state-owned assets regulator to set up a third state-owned asset management firm to better manage state assets.” CIC 2.0 will thus soon be a reality.

The new company will focus on consolidating the number of state-run enterprises to between 80 and 100 by the end of 2010. Indeed, the objective of CIC 2.0 will be to turn small, unprofitable state enterprises supervised by SASAC into profitable companies. According to EO, the details of the fund are still being sorted out, but I imagine that China will once again take a hard look at Singapore’s SWFs. Having apparently drawn inspiration from the GIC for the CIC, Temasek looks to be  natural model for CIC 2.0.

Ashby Monk

Managing Director of the IMF Dominique Strauss-Kahn gave an interesting speech over the weekend at the International Finance Forum in Beijing. He covers a variety of topics, but one of his areas of interest was the accumulation of precautionary reserves as self-insurance. In his view, this practice carries significant social costs. As such, providing global financial insurance is best left to the IMF:

“For all these reasons, I see a clear need for global financial insurance…At the global level, I believe that the IMF can serve as an effective and reliable lender of last resort…However, to serve as a truly dependable global lender of last resort, the Fund will need considerably greater resources.”

In my view, if the IMF wants to be a reliable lender of last resort, it should first focus on the way it lends before addressing how much money it has available.

We all know that IMF support comes with ‘strings attached’ — when it provides resources to a member country, the funding arrangements specify the conditions underpinning support. Known as IMF ‘conditionality’, this may include specifying policies that the member country will need to carry out before the arrangement takes place or policies that must be implemented before follow-on disbursements of IMF resources are made. While some of these policies are justifiable, as the IMF wants to ensure that the money is repaid, some go beyond what is appropriate to the situation.

For example, Mussa and Savastano, two IMF employees, see conditionality as an opportunity to effect more substantial domestic policy changes:

“[n]ational authorities may modify policies to comply with IMF conditionality when it would be difficult to find domestic political census in the absence of external pressure…the IMF and its conditionality become a scapegoat on both sides of the bargain. That such a scapegoat can be useful in securing necessary or desirable, but unpopular, policy adjustments is clear.”

I tend to agree with the Feldstein critique of this–he questioned whether an international agency such as the IMF should impose any policies of a domestic nature on sovereign countries. Also, he questioned the morality of taking advantage of short-term financial crises in such a manner.

In the end,  “hoarding” international reserves is seen as an essential precautionary practice if countries are to avoid becoming entangled with the IMF and losing state autonomy. Resolving this perception would be the best way for Strauss-Kahn to stop the accumulation of precautionary reserves at the national level and make the IMF a credible provider of global financial insurance.

The Screenwriter’s Festival was my idea of heaven in a red tee- a mixture of learning and socialising with industry people  – with the appropriate level of schmoozing, of course – and for us volunteers, the days were long so a natural place for us to bond over our sarnies! I particularly enjoyed the discussion “Lesbians, Gays and Transexuals… oh my!” on the representation of sexuality in mainstream media, and the main event discussion with Stephen Moffat on the 11th Doctor Who.

On my last day I secured some work experience with Company Pictures for the following Monday – so spent the following week script reading (in my own little office, I nearly died of excitement), helping with an editing mash-up competition and the script development of some web platforms for Skins Series 4. The week went quickly and I was glad when they wanted me to stay on for a couple more days! I went back to some daily work on Saturday, chilled out Sunday, and was back in the Big Smoke before you could say “paint me purple and call me Colin”. After that it was back for more daily work on Skins until Friday – I’ve now pretty much wrapped up on my production opportunities in Bristol so after a further weekend to get my head together and tidy the sty also known as my flat, I am present and ready for duty again.

To keep up the military speak, I’ll be shortly decamping back to Mother’s in Wales whilst I sort my next job out and get myself online. Before that however, I’ll be celebrating the turn of my first quarter-century Wednesday when my lovely man takes me on a mini-break (how Bridget Jones, or similar…)!