One of those bohliao days

Me and the vulgar broker were having a conversation, then suddenly,

VB: brb
VB: toilet
Me: Tamade. Just brb will do.
[After a while]
VB: wahahaha
Me: Pee so fast arh?
Me: This week my shit quite ok. All floaters.
VB: WTF
VB: BITCH
VB: i'm gg to copy this for my boss
Me: Haha. DUn!
Me: I lose respeck
VB: *analanalyst*: This week my shit quite ok. All floaters.<< is this the bitch u spoke to when i'm not ard
VB: wahaha
Me: Nooooo...

Obama: Sermon on Mount Justifies Same-Sex Unions

If I were an American, as a general rule, I would vote for Democrats, but this year's lineup is disappointing, to say the least. This is not going to be a rant - I had considered it, since I was ranting the whole of yesterday - but honestly, don't have the energy or the righteous indignation to do it now. Just want to point out some of the fallacies in his statements and underscore again, how people can argue the middle ground and justify their unChristian stand using the word of God.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) told a crowd at Hocking College in Nelsonville, Ohio, Sunday that he believes the Sermon on the Mount justifies his support for legal recognition of same-sex unions. He also told the crowd that his position in favor of legalized abortion does not make him "less Christian."

Obama's mention of the Sermon on the Mount in justifying legal recognition of same-sex unions may have been a reference to the Golden Rule: "Do to others what you would have them do to you." Or it may have been a reference to another famous line: "Do not judge, or you too will be judged."

This verse does not explicitly refer to gay unions by any stretch of the imagination, and should not be construed as such. To link a general guideline for Christian living to something which is expressly forbidden in many other parts of the bible is wrong. Let's see what the Bible says on this issue:

1. Genesis 2:24-25: “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. [Wife - not gay partner, not companion, not husband, not best friend]
2. The men of Sodom and Gomorrah were punished for their sexual perversion. The gist of Genesis 19 goes like this: The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening. Before Lot and his guests had gone to bed, all of the men came from every part of the city of Sodom. Young and old men alike surrounded the house. They called out to Lot. They said, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us. We want to have sex with them." [We know later in the story that Sodom and Gomorrah were both decimated.]
3. Jude 7: The people of Sodom and Gomorrah and the towns around them also did evil things. They gave themselves over to sexual sins. They committed sins of the worst possible kind. They are an example of those who are punished with fire. The fire never goes out. [Doesn't explicitly say homosexuality, but read on in points 4, 5 and 6 what God means by sexual sins.]
4. God said to Moses in Leviticus 18:22: Do not have sex with a man as you would have sex with a woman. I hate that.
5. God said to Moses in Leviticus 20:13: Suppose a man has sex with another man as he would have sex with a woman. I hate what they have done. They must be put to death. Anything that happens to them will be their own fault.
6. Romans 1:26-27: So God let them go. They were filled with shameful longings. Their women committed sexual acts that were not natural. In the same way, the men turned away from their natural love for women. They burned with sexual longing for each other. Men did shameful things with other men. They suffered in their bodies for all the twisted things they did.
7. 1 Corinthians 6:9: Don't you know that evil people will not receive God's kingdom? Don't be fooled. Those who commit sexual sins will not receive the kingdom. Neither will those who worship statues of gods or commit adultery. Neither will men who are prostitutes or who commit homosexual acts.

Is this not clear enough for you, Obama? This is what he says about his faith.

"In terms of my faith, there has been so much confusion that has been deliberately perpetrated through emails and so forth, so here are the simple facts," he said. "I am a Christian. I am a devout Christian. I have been a member of the same church for 20 years, pray to Jesus every night, and try to go to church as much as I can when they are not working me. Used to go quite often.

"These days, we haven't been at the home church--I haven't been home on Sunday--for several months now. So, my faith is important to me. It is not something that I try to push on other people. But it is something that helps to guide my life and my values."

Like my pastor always says, going to church and praying does not make you a christian, just as going to McDonald's does not make you a Big Mac. It's clear that 20 years of church-going has done nothing to transform his value system, nor deepened his love for the Word of God. If you *do* vote for him, be clear that you're voting for him based on his campaign promises for reform, and *not* his purported christian values.

JPMorgan to buy Bear for $2 a share

Since the whole world is talking about it, I shall jump on the bandwagon. Heard the breaking news this morning on BBC about how they settled the bailout at $2. It was rumoured to be $20 previously. Cheap cheap!

JPMorgan Chase said Sunday it will acquire rival Bear Stearns in a deal valued at $236.2 million -- or $2 a share -- a stunning collapse for one of the world's largest and most venerable investment banks.

The last-minute buyout was aimed at averting a Bear Stearns bankruptcy and a spreading crisis of confidence in the global financial system.

As usual, the first thoughts are:

Why so cheap?

Bear Stearns shares close Friday at $30 a share. At their peak, the shares traded at $159.36.

The deal marked a 93.3 percent discount to Bear Stearns' market capitalization as of Friday, and roughly a 98.8 percent discount to its book value as of Feb. 29.

The bullish side of me thinks this is a good deal, and JPM was smart enough to milk it for all it's worth. Seems BSC didn't really have a choice on this. It's either Chap 11 or collapse. And they even got good ol' Uncle Sam to pay for the deal.

The Fed will provide special financing to JPMorgan Chase for the deal, JPMorgan Chase said. The central bank has agreed to fund up to $30 billion of Bear Stearns' less liquid assets. Risky bets on securities tied to subprime mortgages -- loans given to customers with poor credit history -- crippled Bear Stearns, the nations' fifth-largest investment bank.

It does appear to be in everybody's interest though, for the BSC buyout.

A collapse of Bear Stearns could have created a further crisis of confidence in world financial markets amid a deepening credit crunch. JPMorgan's acquisition of Bear Stearns represents roughly 1 percent of what the investment bank was worth just 16 days ago.

Wall Street analysts say the bid to rescue Bear Stearns was more than just saving one of the world's largest investments bank -- it was a prop for the U.S. economy and the global financial system. An outright collapse could cause huge losses for banks, hedge funds and other investors to which Bear Stearns is connected.

Some nagging thoughts that I have at the back of my head regarding this deal, although I presume the smart bankers would have done their due diligence on this, are:

How does their cash flow look like?
To whom are their obligations? What are the maturities and when are they due? A company may be asset heavy (and I'm not saying that BSC is), but may not be able to meet its immediate cash obligations if lenders are not confident enough to be able to accept their commercial papers, or if their assets are not liquid enough to immediately convert for cash. Their market cap would be entangled in a death spiral.

What consititutes their book value?
Even though this deal was done at many times under the book value, there is the underlying accounting uncertainties: What are their assets? Tangible or intangible? Or would much of their book value be eroded with the declaration of bankruptcy? What I mean is, can BSC be sold for parts and still allow JPM to be in the money on the deal?

Obviously, for the bears out there, this ostensibly good deal might signal weakness in the market and the lack of confidence in the economy. It could perhaps hurt the USD even more. This deal, just because it was done over the weekend, could possibly have averted a collapse of the US financial market.

[Update]
Ok, some clarification thoughts on the BSC deals yah.

Myth: wah liew.. 2 USD somemore leh. now USD cheap cheap too
It's a stock for stock deal - No cash; 1 JPM share for XX BSC shares. In any case, there should not be any FX exposure since both companies' revenues are largely in USD, and both stocks are traded in USD.

Having said that, there is a risk of dilution of ownership with this deal, though the way I see it, when the deal is done and all the debts are absorbed into JPM, it might weaken JPM's financials and consequently their share price after the next results announcement (assuming this expectation is not already priced into their shares from the outset). Then JPM management will swoop in and buy their shares back! *MUAHAHAHAHA*

Business card...

One of the junior traders from this oil company was jokingly boasting that his business card, which is made of some plasticky material similar to our dollar bills, cannot be torn nor burned. So, taking him at his word, we tried tearing/burning it. Here's what it looks like (ok my BB camera is quite shitty):



So he's right: Can't be torn. (Though you can see evidence of that failed attempt near the top edge of the card). Next, we tried burning it. He's right there too - Can't be burned. It kinda melted, hence the big holes.

He wasn't very pleased with what we've been doing to his card.

CY: u very free hor
CY: deface my card
Me: Hhaa. Funny right?
CY: you people no good
CY deface my card
CY: call me "sis"
Eli: i tried burning it
Eli: it works! hahahahah
CY: i heard it can used a toy too
CY: try sticking it up yr a$$

WAHAHHAHAHA...

An incident before lunch...

A quick post just because I have some time after the window.

I was walking out of Millenia Tower to go to lunch, generally minding my own business. This guy sidles up to me, and I turned around to seeif it's someone I know. It wasn't. I continued walking.

So this guy comes up to me and the following conversation ensued:

Guy: Excuse me, where's the nearest ATM?
Me: Which bank are you looking for?
Guy: UOB
Me: UOB's that way. [point in general direction of Millenia Walk]
Guy: Thank you very much! I'm not very familiar with this area because I don't work here. I'm visiting a client.
Me: I see. Alright. Have a good day. [attempt to walk away]
Guy: Hey wait. Can I have your number?
Me [suspiciously]: Why?
Guy: Don't worry, I'm not going to sell you anything. I just want to thank you for showing me where the ATM is.
Me: It's quite alright. You just go that way. [point again]
Guy: Why don't you give me your number, and I'll just text you mine.
Me: I don't think that's necessary. Thanks anyway. [makes to walk away again]
Guy: Let's be friends. I just want to thank you.
Me [weakly]: Why? It's really not necessary.
Guy: Or you could just give me your business card.
Me: Yeah. Thanks. It's really not necessary. Your ATM is that way.
Guy: [silence] Why not?
Me: Your ATM is that way.
Guy: Goodbye then. And thanks.

Wasn't that simply bizarre?

Coming back to Jesus

This song brought a smile to my heart and tears to my eyes. I think it's been a long time since I've heard music that makes my spine tingle and my heart sing.

As We Worship

Verse 1
As we worship You, let all the world come and see
How the mercy we received from You can set them free
As we worship You, let all this joy that fills our hearts
Bring a hunger and a hope to those who strayed so far

Chorus
As we bow in adoration and stand in reverent awe
Show Your majesty and glory, let Your anointing fall
As we declare Your name Lord Jesus as the only name who saves
May the power of Your salvation fill each heart we pray

Verse 2
As we worship You, let all the nations hear our song
Song of Jesus and His blood that proved His love for all
As we worship You, may all the lost and broken come
May they hear Your still small voice call out their names each one

My brother is an idiot

Just the other day, my brother was helping me to fix up my new study table. It was made of glass and chrome and therefore rather fragile. He was screwing the legs down and adjusting it to the appropriate height. Being completely helpless in these sorts of things, I simply hovered around to fetch tools or whatever.

Eventually, it was done, but to test it out, he asked that I very cautiously sit on the table so as to test the weight and ensure that the legs are screwed on tightly enough. So very gingerly, I placed my butt on the table, and one by one, lifted my legs off the floor.

My brother stepped back, surveying his work with some satisfaction, and said: "Good! Now we know the table can hold 100kg."