What a difference a day makes, 24 little hours…

What a difference a day makes. Awaking this morning in Singapore to the Straits Times headlines “Hefty stamp duty hike targets foreign buyers”, spelling out “Additional 10% tax from today a bid to cool housing market”, will most certainly put paid to Singapore’s second national sport of flipping condos, that is after the first national sport of eating.

It will be interesting to see how bookings are at Tatsuya’s restaurant this Friday evening, headquarters of the local property entrepreneurs and school of flipping, the Omakase sushi bar there a more powerful meeting table than any Government office.

As I take my first sip of teh tarik and a bite of egg prata at my breakfast office, a blue Formica table at the Ghim Moh market with my Financial Times spread out, another headline leaps from the page to my flocculonodular lobe, “Singh bows to pressure and shelves reform of retail sector”, with thoughts of socialism and equilibrium flooding into my cerebellum.

Surely this is a great result for India; to stave off the advancing supermarket army of Wal-Mart, Tesco, Carrefour and all those forms of mediocrity and pedestrian, corn starched, industrialized fodder and soulless aisles of misery and canned dog food.

Just like a pet dog should be as loved as any member of the family being feed the household food scraps and a nice raw bones to chew on, Indian’s will be far better for staying away from the procession of processed foods moreover save the country a fortune in medical bills with less threat from cancer than the fast food addicted west.

And has anybody ever thought the problem might be solved with transport logistics, not supermarket aisles. Apparently a disproportionate amount of fresh produce rots or goes to waste in India simply because the farmers cannot get their produce to the markets in time.

Maybe if there was more focus on developing some transport logistics and food co-ops where the local farmers could have a reliable means of fresh produce transport, it might give them more opportunity to keep growing wholesome, organic produce. Time to call in Lindsay Fox I would have thought.

But what made me almost chook on my prata, the main FT headline, “Germany insists on new treaty for Europe” with unnamed German official stating, “We propose that those new rules and commitments should be enshrined in the European treaties”. Never mind that it will take 27 Euro nations three years of polemic and referendum to pass any such treaty change. The Euro is Dead, God Save the Euro.

I am suggesting the solution might lie in transferring all power from Brussels to the Slow Food movement based in Italy, www.slowfood.com so that Europe can regain the most vital and pivotal of all issues, how to feed people and make them happy. There appears to be massive disconnect between essential human elements and needs of the people and the Central Bankers, but I am starting to sound like a Socialist now – but does anyone know what being a Socialist is these days?

Not that the Bundesbank is worried, Mercedes-Benz have just released a new model SL500 – P (the P apparently for Panzer) exclusively for the Asian market. This new improved model, only available in black, comes with no blinkers or directional signal devices whatsoever, a marked improvement in time efficiency.

Furthermore, utilizing the latest in GPS technology, the driver is assisted by computerized steering centred on the white lane lines ensuring the car straddles two lanes perfectly.

According to a Mercedes spokesperson, new orders for this model are so great; they have had to move forward plans for a dedicated SL 500 – P plant and testing facility in Pakistan.

Page 7 in the FT certainly caught my eye! A full page add by Graff with the come to bed deep green eyes and full lips of a sultry model, sporting a diamond the size of the Greek national debt. The typesetter has obviously been given the brief of imparting austerity, as all it says is “The Most Fabulous Jewels in the World”.

Isn’t great how these luxury goods companies are so in tune with the global hum and how brilliantly rosy things are at the moment and there is no such things as wealth disparity. Of course a full page colour advertisement in the FT is money well spent never mind that cost of which would probably save 10,000 people from starvation in Somalia.

And it looks like ‘Spring’ has come early in Russia – global warming, climate change?

I think I might need some music to get me back into the swing of things today, so I will leave you with the lyrics (and YouTube link) to something that does make sense…

Haven’t seen you in quite a while
I was down the hold just passing time
Last time we met was a low-lit room
We were as close together as a bride and groom
We ate the food, we drank the wine
Everybody having a good time
Except you
You were talking about the end of the world

I took the money
I spiked your drink
You miss too much these days if you stop to think
You lead me on with those innocent eyes
You know I love the element of surprise
In the garden I was playing the tart
I kissed your lips and broke your heart
You…you were acting like it was
The end of the world

(Love…love…)

In my dream I was drowning my sorrows
But my sorrows, they learned to swim
Surrounding me, going down on me
Spilling over the brim
Waves of regret and waves of joy
I reached out for the one I tried to destroy
You…you said you’d wait
’til the end of the world

U2 Until The End Of The World

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejJdfkFjKCA


 

By Curtis Marsh | Wanderings | Related to: , , | 1 comment

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What a difference a day makes, 24 little hours…
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One comment to What a difference a day makes, 24 little hours… | Comments Feed

  • greetings, I run a world music blog for the love of world music, I think you may like where I am coming from.

    December 13, 2011
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