84 grams of plastic explosive were more than enough to put Yemen's name on every paper headline and in the mouth of every TV anchor. Thats what the failed terrorist carried in his pants on the flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas day. I'd say, quite a remarkable achievement for the 23yo Nigerian, Umar Farouq Abdul Mutallab, given the fact that many years of civil wars, international isolation, dozens of terror acts and a crumbling economy infested by chronic piracy along the Yemeni coastline, couldnt bring enough attention to that corner.

The rest of my post.

 

The estates expo in São Paulo was over on Thursday and yesterday i got back to UK for another 2 days. Returning to Iceland on Sunday.

It was a really interesting experience.

I was stunned by a convo that i had with a guy at the expo, a Briton (shockingly, a financist of renown) who seemed to be strongly advocating the return to the gold standard (a pretty old and worn-out theme, i know). This came timely, as there had been a recent discussion on TP on approx. the same topic. So what i came up with, virtually on both occasions, was smth like this.

( Cons the gold )

I seldom post links or quotations from TP here (i actually think - never), but this really provoked some thinking on my part (which hasnt been happening too much lately) :p

So, a guy who's generally seen as an ultra-conservative troll, by posting another of his trademark "Die, You Sozializtz" nonsensical posts with a video showing Milton Friedman's famous debate with the Icelandic socialists in 1984, unintentionally made me contemplate about the role of Friedmanomics™ in the modern Icelandic society. And prompted a response:

( So i came up with this ) 

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Industry leaders will discuss:

• Sector highlights
• Fund management
• Securitization
• Institutional investment

REIW 

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Euro handball: Iceland lose to France

Happy birthday to kinvore , the first real cyborg lolbot on these very interwebz, omgzlol!

I wish you to successfully achieve all your goals, man!

Torrential rains and floods in the North West and Gauteng provinces of South Africa have caused disruption, government bodies said earlier today.

The Greater Taung Local Municipality said a disaster area was declared, after 150 homes were affected and one person was confirmed dead from flooding.

Residents were warned to keep away from bridges and rivers, and to drive carefully in the inclement weather. Water Affairs spokesperson Mava Scott commented that "people in the low lying areas should be alerted."

The Vaal Dam, meanwhile, was at 105% full, after six sluice gates were opened. Three more are expected to be opened soon, according to the South African Press Association. The Bloemhof Dam in North West province is 112% full, with flood gates having been opened there earlier today.

Officials encouraged people to remove their boats and pumps, as water flow would not be predictable. "It will also be rather dangerous for people to go too near to the river's embankments during this time," Superintendent Eugene Opperman noted.

Meanwhile, roads to places such as Manokwane, Lokaleng, Khibitswane, Mokgareng, and Pudimoe, were also inundated with water. 800 mine workers from East Rand Mines were evacuated as well.

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London, UK Heathrow Terminal 5

Andrews House

So, the moment has come to kiss my dear ones goodbye for two weeks...

*sigh*

In a couple of hours, i'm going to the airport to catch the flight to London. I'll spend the rest of the month at our company's head office. Time to get back to work, and earn some money, heh...

I arranged a nice place for accommodation at a small family guesthouse just opposite Kensington Gdns next to Lancaster Gate, a single Tube station away from our actual office at Queensway. Thats cool. I'll be next to the park, and within a walking distance from Oxford Str and not too far from my auld pals at Kings Cross. Ah, teh memriz...

There's my 1st mission for the year scheduled for Feb 1st, it'll be my umpteenth trip to Brasil. The REIWB'10 estate expo will take place in São Paulo Feb 2-4. I'ma get back to UK shortly thereafter.

If everything goes all right, i'll be back here on Feb 7th. There's another, shorter UK period for me in mid February, but thats yet to be confirmed.

So i guess my next post will be from London :)

 

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Okay, i get it. Travel sucks. Only, it doesnt. And thats pretty much everything i can say about it. Before this trimester is through, i'll most probably have spent ab't 25 nights on the road - thats almost an entire month! Something about that depresses me beyond words. And something about that thrills me too. Travel is confusing. Life on the road - what it feels like to spend so much time away from home, and from the people i love - is hard to put into words.

So i had some special expectations when i watched Up In The Air. It was being promoted with great praise in most review outlets, so i was hoping to have a good time, and probably learn something new. I didnt learn anything new (especially about airport tricks, heh), but it surely made me thinking about the things i already suspected i knew about myself. You know, i had an interesting reaction to the movie. I went in having heard a lot of the buzz, and found myself a bit underwhelmed. While i liked the movie, i felt that the ending could've used more closure and that Kendrick's performance was somewhat amateurish. But thats a minor issue.

( The more important issues )
 

( A minor f-purge )