On the previous Wednesday(24th) i wrote about the change in weather which most people are still 'asleep' with regard to its seriousness.
Super Hurriance Sandy which hit eastern US is the largest Atlantic hurricane in diameter on record thus is called 'super'. A few papers even dubbed it 'Frankenstorm'.
We are hitting the limits of our current model of economic growth. There are limits to what Mother Nature can sustain.
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"We are approaching a cliff & no one is driving, No one is putting on the brakes. In fact we have people in charge still trying to step on the accelerator saying we need more economic growth at any costs. Because that's what it takes to keep the economy going & people with jobs & politicians elected. But how do we get more economic growth? By burning more fossil fuels which just make all the problems worse."-Richard Heinberg speech in 2010
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The moment Richard Heinberg says those words in red, i know the best example is S'pore's Pro Alien Party. I have been hammering at the repugnant approach the Pro Alien Party utilizes to grow the economy like cancer. No other nation on this planet import & import & import so many Consumers (again i don't use Citizens) that foreigners make up 40% of the population in this tiny island.
More consumers to eat eat eat, shit shit shit. That's why a few call the S'pore economy an Eat & Shit economy. All these burn up more fossil fuels. As Richard Heinberg said, it just make the problems worse.
Who Killed Economic Growth: 6min 30secs . Watch it 2x.
You can see there's no recovery till now since the dotcom bubble burst in 2000 in the chart in my blogpost: 5 Years On & Still No Recovery in Overall Market
Again in my blogpost yesterday - Gotthard Base Tunnel - Reflects How S'pore Veers Off-course. Switzerland does not resort to massive importation of consumers to eat & shit in order to boost consumption & drive gdp. They don't need more vehicles on the road to suck $$ via parking fees, electronic road pricing, petrol taxes etc.
As the current economic model is unsustainable, the housing bubble in S'pore is similarly unsustainable. It will collapse. Many sinkie's retirement $$ which went into house payments & hoping to sell & downgrade will have devastating losses.
Musings from a peasant living in Overworked, Overconsumption & Time-Starved Sillypore.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Gotthard Base Tunnel - Reflects How S'pore Veers Off-course
Swiss standard of living was what we were told to look forward to back in the 1990s. Looking at the Gotthard Base Tunnel being bored through in 2010 reflects how far sillypore has veered away. Now sillypore is congested with vehicles while the swiss want to preserve their prestine alpine environment & cut down pollution.
Sillypore's infrastructure is bursting at the seams with flooding of 'consumers' in bid to grow gdp at all costs like cancer while the swiss started on their costly longest tunnel in world(57km) infrastructure 16 years ago.
Purposes according to wikipedia:
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Primary purpose: Shift freight volumes from road to rail to reduce environmental damage caused by ever-increasing numbers of trucks.
Secondary purpose: Cut passenger trains journey time from Zürich to Milan/Lugano.
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1min 14s video:
See final rocks being smashed through at the celebration ceremony. See how farsighted the swiss govt is >15years ago without being paid obscene salaries compared to current sillypore govt ministers ruling a tiny dot with crumbling infrastructure.
Sillypore's infrastructure is bursting at the seams with flooding of 'consumers' in bid to grow gdp at all costs like cancer while the swiss started on their costly longest tunnel in world(57km) infrastructure 16 years ago.
Purposes according to wikipedia:
---------------------------------------------
Primary purpose: Shift freight volumes from road to rail to reduce environmental damage caused by ever-increasing numbers of trucks.
Secondary purpose: Cut passenger trains journey time from Zürich to Milan/Lugano.
---------------------------------------------
1min 14s video:
See final rocks being smashed through at the celebration ceremony. See how farsighted the swiss govt is >15years ago without being paid obscene salaries compared to current sillypore govt ministers ruling a tiny dot with crumbling infrastructure.
Monday, October 29, 2012
No Work-Life Balance - Nearly 90% of Sinkie Workers Digging Own Graves
Survey of 650 workers & 135 employers:
Digging own graves in terms of health & relationships. Price being paid is high in other areas of life. That's why i keep hammering the point that the gdp up up up which the current ruling regime like to boast is pointless.
Many sinkies(i have also experience it) are suffering from time poverty & a sense of emptiness in their lives. Many turn to buy buy buy therapy for a purchase to give them happiness(which doesn't last long) & end up being buried in clutter that they again have to slog at work to pay for renting storage space - a vicious cycle.
A vicious cycle that is dooming S'pore that i've written on last month - Shrink, Shrink, Shrink - Result of Grow GDP at All Costs Like Cancer
Time to smell the flowers? Now many sinkies barely find time to smell the coffee.
- nearly 9 in 10 said they are working beyond their official hours (don't fool themselves, what's their earnings/hr?)
- Heavy workload & unreasonable deadlines
- 70% choose to complete unfinished work in office
- 30% chose to bring work home
- 45% indicated that company pays lip service to work-life balance with policies in place just for show
- 42% indicated they chose not to use company’s work-life balance initiatives for fear of receiving inferior performance review
Digging own graves in terms of health & relationships. Price being paid is high in other areas of life. That's why i keep hammering the point that the gdp up up up which the current ruling regime like to boast is pointless.
I have already written about dire state of the workforce & its working culture:
- 98% of S'pore Workers Are 'Bochup' aka Disengaged in 2010
- 'Zombie' Workers - Plenty of Them In S'pore
- Higher Share of Sinkies Likely to Leave Current Job Within 2 Years
Many sinkies(i have also experience it) are suffering from time poverty & a sense of emptiness in their lives. Many turn to buy buy buy therapy for a purchase to give them happiness(which doesn't last long) & end up being buried in clutter that they again have to slog at work to pay for renting storage space - a vicious cycle.
A vicious cycle that is dooming S'pore that i've written on last month - Shrink, Shrink, Shrink - Result of Grow GDP at All Costs Like Cancer
Time to smell the flowers? Now many sinkies barely find time to smell the coffee.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Cardboard Bicycle - Savior from Bike Thefts
Ridiculous is the first thought that pop into some people's mind when they are first introduced to a bicycle made of cardboard.
A sheet of paper is so thin that it tears so easily. Bunch many sheets together & is tough to tear then. Cardboard which is a form of paper has already been used to package more fragile items inside them. So to me i'm open to the concept of cardboard bicycle.
To me its greatest appeal is the price. Being so affordable at US$20 it makes for an awesome commmuting bicycle with no worries about theft.
Today is damn hot & i see threads in message board lamenting about the crazy heat today. Do we still need more greenhouse gases from fossil fuel vehicles to make it even hotter?
2min 10secs video:
A sheet of paper is so thin that it tears so easily. Bunch many sheets together & is tough to tear then. Cardboard which is a form of paper has already been used to package more fragile items inside them. So to me i'm open to the concept of cardboard bicycle.
To me its greatest appeal is the price. Being so affordable at US$20 it makes for an awesome commmuting bicycle with no worries about theft.
- Waterproof
- Fireproof
- Recycled materials
- US$20
- Tires are puncture proof (made of reconstituted rubber from old car tires)
- Tires do not need inflating & can last for 10 years
- Brake mechanism, wheel & pedal bearings made of recycled substances
- A car timing belt is used instead of a chain
- ~ 9 kg
Today is damn hot & i see threads in message board lamenting about the crazy heat today. Do we still need more greenhouse gases from fossil fuel vehicles to make it even hotter?
2min 10secs video:
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