Interview with Warren Buffet

Talking about the joys of making billions and giving it away.

…if we were to pick our United States Olympic team based on the eldest son and the eldest daughter of those who represented us in all the events 24 years ago, we would think that was asinine, but to hand the resources of society, and the resources to command the labour of society and the materials of society, to a bunch of people simply because they happen to have the right last name strikes me as just as foolish in terms of how you manage a society as it would be to pick an Olympic team.

The United States will compete in this world, and we believe in equality of opportunity. Well, how can you have equality of opportunity when you hand somebody billions of dollars just because they came out of the right womb?

And now here’s something John Howard hopes you’ll really like

Speaking of last acts of desperate men:

A contrite John Howard has reversed a decade of opposing symbolic gestures towards Aborigines by promising constitutional change to begin what he calls “new reconciliation”.

In an important shift, he promised last night that if re-elected he would hold a referendum within 18 months to incorporate a “statement of reconciliation” into the preamble of the constitution.

It would recognise the history of indigenous people as the land’s first inhabitants, their culture and heritage, and “their special, though not separate, place within a reconciled, indivisible nation”.

“We are not a federation of tribes,” he said. “We are one great tribe; one Australia.”

A) “Contrite” – my genocidal Aunt Fanny.

B) How about that apology, that “sorry”, for which Australia’s Indigenous have been waiting, patiently?

There would be no formal apology.

So, one great tribe – part of whom spent a century or so attempting cultural and actual genocide on other parts. How about, then, an apology for sending the troops into Aboriginal communities, only a few months ago (rather than, say, hospitals, schools, etc.)? I’m going to guess, also no.

To think that the attempt to win over his wedge’d politic crowd only a couple of months ago with the nasty electioneering attacks on Indigenous communities. And who sits idly by while the new black, new Lebanese, Sudanese immigrants/refugees are booted around the political landscape.

Russia’s economy booms, and cargo traffic piles up at Finnish border

Speaking of Australia’s problems getting our produce (or minerals and ores) out of our own ports,

Russia’s economy booms, and cargo traffic piles up at Finnish border

Russia’s economy is booming, and its hunger for new cars, televisions and machinery means that the transit routes through Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia are clogged with trucks.

Because of this heavy trans-border traffic, Finland is now as large a trading partner for Russia as is the United States, but customs posts on the border are struggling to cope.

…

While the vehicles are stuck at the border, retailers in Russia and the transport firms are losing money and local people are scared to drive on the roads with one lane blocked by trucks.

The Finns blame the Russians for the queues, which are also a problem in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

I think my favourite part was this line:

Russians prefer to import goods through Finland to minimize theft – and because Russian harbors near St. Petersburg do not have enough unloading equipment or warehouses.

The amount of goods imported through Finland has doubled since 2002 to about three million tons in 2006, and Russia’s Transport Ministry admits that its officials cannot handle the growing number of vehicles.

Partly because it’s just plain amusing, but also because it leads me to wonder: at which border are the trucks with the – presumably – millions of tonnes of waste? Does Russia burn packaging? Recycle? Send it to Siberia? Are they using it to reclaim enough land to take the North Pole’s oil?

I wonder if Jim Kunstler has seen this story. And to think, we argue that America needs to invest in heavy rail…