Bottle opener sandals

It’s hot, you’ve got some good beer and can’t open the bottle because either you have no conventional bottle-opener, no strength left, or your beer bottle doesn’t have a twist-off cap. What are you to do? Use your teeth? I don’t think so. Just get a pair of special sandals with a built-in bottle opener and wear them all year round so you’ll never get locked-out of a good brew…

Back

I returned from Europe last Wednesday after a grueling, long trip. My leg swelled a lot and was hurting. Traveling while nursing an injury is never a good idea; especially in summer! I’m now back and the blog will resume. Lots of project are awaiting me and I can’t wait to get them underway…

Eulogy

Eulogy read by Go11 at his mom’s funeral:

Thank you Mom for having given us life and support as well as being patient with us, while we grew up and found our place in society. Along with Dad, you’ve raised us by providing us strong values that have served us well, and that in turn, we have passed on to your grand and grand-grand children.

If life was never easy for you, you’ve always bravely faced all of its challenges. After Dad’s departure, you had to live alone for almost twenty years, and these six last months have been particularly hard on you, as you’ve seen yourself physically decline while remaining acutely aware of everything till your very last breath.

I want to thank my brother and sister along with their families for supporting you with their love, attention and care while I lived far away. Your hardship has brought us much closer together and has made us appreciate one another. We also want to thank other members of the family, neighbors and friends who have showed their genuine concern towards you during all that time.

Through your faith, we hope that you will rejoin all the folks you know who have already departed and that in their company you'll find joy and serenity. Good bye Mom, thanks for everything you’ve given us. We’ll miss you a lot, but you’ve left so much of yourself in us all that your presence will keep on illuminating our lives.

Sad news

Early yesterday morning I received several phone calls from my siblings telling me that my mom was very low and then had passed away. I scrambled to find a flight to Europe; at 2:05 pm that day I was boarding a Continental flight first to Houston, then Amsterdam and finally Geneva. I arrived in Montriond this evening at about 7 pm.

Where’s the economy going?

All over the world, stock markets have enjoyed an incredible few years, and seem to be maintaining their momentum. Why is that? It seems to me that the global economy has become a “de facto” situation and that all publicly traded companies are so globally intertwined that they can only benefit from the growth that is occurring in Asia, in the entire Europe and in the Americas. Will that last? Quite probably; this trend may go on for decades as room for growth is enormous outside of all industrialized countries. Let’s also hope that someday, Africa will be able to join that prosperity. Of course, there may be a few “hiccups” along the way, like geopolitical unrest, terrorist actions and the like, but by and large, I see the growth staying with us for a fairly long time…

Opinions on Fair Trade?

Last week we saw a documentary on Ethiopians coffee growers struggling to sell their product on the world markets, using “fair trade” channels. Until now I only had a scant idea of what Fair Trade was and that movie prompted me to further dwell on the idea. At first glance, it seems to me that Fair Trade is a laudable undertaking, but when I dig deeper, I see it as a Band-Aid that typically addresses the symptom instead of the root causes of economic poverty in developing nations. It’s hard to go Free Trade and ignore the agricultural subsidies that prevail in the rich nations, the widespread overproduction and the fundamental market laws. Would vertical integration work better as an alternative to Fair Trade; i.e. a situation in which the producer would also be the paysant, the exporter and even the marketer, and would thus absorb the huge margins that are made by all the go-betweens piled up between the producer and the end-consumer? Instead of re-inventing the wheel, the current “fair trade” organizations should fine tune their action and aggressively pursue an end to subsidies in the developed world. They could also create and make available market forecasting tools that would direct growers towards goods in high demand and away from overproduction. Likewise, they could help them develop “niche products” as opposed to commodities and finally, whenever it's possible they should facilitate the development of an infrastructure promoting vertical integration.
Now, what’s your thought?

Bush, Albania's new King?

When George Bush retires in January 2009, instead of building his presidential library or hitting the lecture circuit, he should instead put his stellar leadership to good use and start running Albania. There’s no other place in the world where his popularity is so high. Besides, Albania’s current president, Alfred Moisiu seems like a reasonable man who would be delighted to trade his post for GW’s ranch in Crawford, Texas, including the use of all his toys like the big truck and the chain saw to name a few. Mr. Bush could then hand Sali Berisha’s prime minister job to Dick Cheney who in turn could get some lucrative state contracts for Halliburton; he would also be named minister of hunting and wildlife. Berisha would be sent to Jackson Hole where he could hunt the elk and in winter snowmobile around Yellowstone. Even Paul Wolfowitz could bring his girlfriend back; together they’d be great at siphoning badly needed funds from the World Bank. Rumsfeld would also return and be put in charge of border security, and since he's a consummate salesman, he would be charged with increasing drug and human trafficking to Italy and Greece in an effort to boost Albania’s GDP. Condi Rice and Laura Bush would both teach home economics in Tirana, while Alberto Gonzales, if he’s lucky, might be hired part-time to sell used Volgas and Trabants at a local dealership. Sure, our current president would have to adapt some and learn tosk, the local language, but the good news is that he would find it relatively easy; as an example “nuclear” is “nookulaare” in the tosk dialect. Same for religion; Mr. Bush would retain his staunch faith, but would probably evolve into an “evangelical Muslim” to be in synch with the majority of the populace. Of course, since the Iraq war is very popular with all Albanians, the new Bush team could send half of the Albanian army (that’s about 300,000 troop) to maintain an extended surge, without deadlines, and surely win the war on terror and turn Iraq into an extremely democratic country. So what are you waiting for Mr. President? Why don’t you become king of Albania now while your prospects are perfect and use that job to build the lasting legacy you need?