Scams

A 1939 movie written and starred W.C. Fields and a 1998 book written by James Walsh both titled "you can't cheat an honest man" is about why people get scammed.
In Singapore, scams come in all forms. Kidnapping, timeshare, magic stones, lucky draws and most current, scams targetting businesses.




"you can't cheat an honest man" is that, an honest man cannot be enticed with either ill gotten gains, or excessive promises of profits.
Practically any industry is ripe for scam artists, from real estate to travel to technology. Their continued success is based on several human emotions. Family ties are very strong; people are reluctant to attack, or sue, the uncle or cousin who got them into this scheme. People are also reluctant to let others know that they have been scammed; it's easier to keep quiet. The most important emotions are pure greed and gullibility. Who can resist a "no-risk" investment with a double digit return?


But judging from the horror stories of scams, particularly those from Nigeria, and that there are people actually responding to the baits, it can be safe to conclude honest man are far and few in the world. The bait look like this:

FROM CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA
HEAD OF BANKING OPERATIONS
Tinubu square - Lagos

Dear sir/madam,
CONTRACT PAYMENT BY CASH CALL SYSTEM
Sequel to the secret arrangement in regards to the Shipment of your total contract sum(US$18.5m), I wish to inform you that all necessary modalities have been automatically concluded and the fund has left C.B.N office through the Diplomatic Courier Services today by Express Cargo Flight to your home country.
Note carefully that the content of the box are your total contract value but the CBN did not disclose the content to the Courier Services,rather it was registered as Vital "DIPLOMATIC DOCUMENTS" belonging to the CBN client (That?s you).
Furthermore, the box is (1) in number and about 75kg. However, you are advised not to disclose the content of the box to the Courier Services to avoid Betrayal in any circumstances In the mean time, you are kindly advised to furnish us with your direct telephone/mobile number, your valid I.D/Drivers License and your office/house address or where ever you wish to receive the diplomat to enable him identify you when he arrives to your address with the box For more information, we advise you to contact this office as soon as you receive this mail to enable us fax you the necessary documents which you will need to deposit your funds into your bank account.
Congratulations and remain blessed.
Sincerely,
Mr -snip-
C. B .N HEAD BANKING OPERATIONS


The most infamous scam ever unravelled - the Madoff Ponzi scam.
The perpetuation of the scheme requires an ever-increasing flow of money from investors in order to keep it going. Borrowing from Peter to pay Paul, so to speak.
29th June 2009 saw Madoff 71, sentenced to 150 years in jail.

The retired head of a cheating syndicate in Hongkong called Tin Sin Kuk said "For the cheating to succeed, the victim must have greed in his heart, the greater the better,” he said. “If he’s honest and not greedy, we cannot swindle him.”

Durian, Peak Harvest

In 2002 Australia, during the height of terrorist attacks, airports were on high alert. And so it happened that cargo handlers at Brisbane airport discovered a powerful smell in the cargo hold of a plane and raised the alarm. Part of the airport was evacuated, security forces deployed, only to discover that the cargo hold contained a load of the infamous Asian fruit - durians!

Durian lovers can understand why public transport ban it.




The grade in rage now is Mao Shan Wang. Many years before, it was D24. It can cost a fortune especially when the fruit sell by the kilo.
But frankly even seasoned durian gluttons may not be sure if he is paying for the real thing.




There are durian plantations in north Queensland, perhaps 15,000 to 20,000 trees and maybe 5000 trees around Darwin. and they are just starting to put some fruit on the Australian market place. What a sight it would be to see angmo eating durians by the roadside.



Some described the durians as a powerful aphrodisiac, while women would eat the ashes from burnt durian skins to help them recover after child birth. Recently nutritionists have claimed that the durian fruit can help lower cholesterol and cleanse the blood as well as cure jaundice and alleviate fevers.

The durian is also packed with amino acids as well as Vitamins B, C, E and tryptophan.
Tryptophan is essential for making and maintaining serotonin levels in the body that regulates our happiness. People with low serotonin levels tend to have short tempers.

Economic Forecast

Gerald Celente, founder of the Trends Research Institute and predicted the 2008 crisis, shared his thoughts:










In The United States 72% of our GDP is consumer based , it's unsustainable and it's insane , you cannot consume 72% more than you produce , what we are going to see is a rush of bankruptcies and more and more vacancies both in the retail sector and in the business sector , so all these office buildings that were built at the big boom from about 2001 to 2007 they're going to remain vacant " said Gerald Celente "United States of America is over stored , the commercial real estate sector is going to collapse " now they are bailing out the commercial real estate , and hence creating another bubble that we call the bailout bubble , first we had the dot com bubble instead of letting it burst they created another bubble the Real Estate bubble by lowering interests rates to 46 years lows , now the real estate bubble burst , rather than letting that burst now they are creating the bailout bubble they have 13 trillion dollars worth of tax payers money to bailout everybody.

Wall Street

The federal reserve is behind the reasons that created the crisis in the first place . The Federal Reserve is a private company and is not more federal than the Federal Express , these are the people who created the problems . The FED by lowering interest rates created the problem and now they are creating the bailout bubble which is even bigger than the Dot Com bubble the real estate bubble , they continue printing phantom money out of thin air backed by nothing and producing nothing...it is not about being optimistic or pessimistic it is about being realistic ...


Harry S. Dent Jr, is the Founder of HS Dent Investment Management,
is predicting the world economy will face a crisis in the next two years even bigger than the current downturn.
"We're in the middle of a bear market rally," Dent told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He said share markets were likely to continue to gain in the next few months but would fall again towards the end of the year as the global banking system suffered another meltdown, bottoming out in 2011.

Rice Price

RICE PRICES AVERAGE
(US$/Ton Ex-Country of Origin)

Thai 100% Grade B
2004 - 244
2005 - 291
2006 - 311
2007 - 335
2008 - 695
2009
Jan - 611
Feb - 624
Mar - 637
Apr - 606
May -559

Thai Fragrant 100%
2004 - 443
2005 - 404
2006 - 470
2007 - 550
2008 - 914
2009
Jan - 876
Feb - 879
Mar - 880
Apr - 888
May -901

Thai A1 Super 100% Broken
2004 - 207
2005 - 219
2006 - 217
2007 - 275
2008 - 506
2009
Jan - 332
Feb - 333
Mar - 335
Apr - 341
May - 316


Although profit margins look attractive, rice importers must meet stringent Rice Stockpile Scheme (RSS) rule which require pre-commit minimum monthly stockpile of 50 tons.
On top of that, importers must keep twice the monthly stockpile in a government warehouse, any shortfall subjected to penalty.

New Crane at Ardmore Park

Two months after the crane collapse caused by the Sumatra Squall, a new tower crane has been installed at Ardmore II.

Here you can see the crane being hydraulically jacked up behind the tower on the left.

Climbing...


Still climbing...


And...Done

1km Nakheel Tower

The Nakheel developer has further pushed back work on its flagship 1km high Nakheel Tower project.
Work on the project will not resume until the start of June 2010 at the earliest. Development was set to resume in January next year after being placed on hold for what was originally a 12 month period at the beginning of this year.

Meanwhile Burj Dubai, the world's tallest building being developed by Emaar Properties PJSC, will be taller than previously envisaged, with height enhancement work already in progress.
The final height of Burj Dubai will be revealed only on its completion in September 2009.
So for now it boast of being the highest structure in mankind.

helicopter view of Burj Dubai

Holding company Dubai World president Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem said the entire Nakheel Tower project would cost US$38.12bn or 140 billion UAE dirhams.

Construction Technology

Buildings are getting ever higher and construction machines must also evolve to meet the tough challenges. One of the difficult task is to get concrete to the upper floors in the shortest possible time to prevent concrete from hardening.
The concrete pump is one equipment that can meet this challenge.

concrete pump

The next alternative is to use a crane and bucket. But this slow method is limited to low rise buildings.

bucket

And in an area where machineries are unheard of, this video will give you an idea why humans became smarter than other animals.