Archive for December, 2009
12 20th, 2009
I would like to have been a fly on the wall at two recent corporate meetings:-
1) At BT where it was decided to identify phone bills by account numbers that have no resemblence in any form to the telephone number. An example is EA355498206 — Excuse me? What line is that for?
2) At HSBC where it was decided to redesign all credit and debit cards either dark blue or black, making them barely distinguishable from each other. Pass the torch, please. Let me check that 16-digit number while the muggers prepare.
Seven-figure-salaried executives signed off on both of these changes. Corporations have two tiers of democracy. The lower house is made up of customers who can vote with their feet. The upper house comprises shareholders who have hiring and firing power. When customers walk, shareholders suffer.
12 18th, 2009
Which is the genuinely oldest demarcated wine growing region in the world? The port-makers claim it is the Douro Valley from 1752. But then Chianti argues it dates back to 1716 and Tokaj in Hungary insists its records begin at 1730. Then in comes Chateau Neuf du Pape that was apparently demarcated in the mid-14th Century by decree of the Avignon papacy.
I need to know soon as my piece on port’s modern make-over goes out on the BBC’s From Our Own Correspondent at 11.30 Saturday December 19th.
12 16th, 2009
I love this by Paul Krugman in the NYT about the economic crisis, but could equally apply to many others:-
When I first began writing for The Times, I was naïve about many things. But my biggest misconception was this: I actually believed that influential people could be moved by evidence, that they would change their views if events completely refuted their beliefs
12 14th, 2009
“Firstly, leadership…”
“Second… The really tough part is building the institutions. There needs to be a free and responsible press; uncorrupt and efficient public services; an independent judiciary that closes cases and makes decisions; a disciplined police and military; a strong election commission; a banking authority; and education, health and transport organisations, all of which can be held to account.”
12 10th, 2009
26 is an increasingly influential web review site, so named because of the 26 letters of the alphabet. This is Tim Rich’s take on Democracy Kills: What’s So Good About Having The Vote.
Many of us have grown up with the truism that democracy is the preferable form of government in our time. For some, democracy is synonymous with progress. Or as Churchill put it, ‘It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried’. In this new book, BBC World Affairs correspondent Humphrey Hawksley questions this simplistic notion, speaking to people around the world about their views on politics, power and representation. While some would forego essentials to maintain their precious vote, others say they would trade it for security, water or electricity. How should we respond to evidence that attempts to democratise often go hand-in-hand with increasing internal conflict? Do events in Afghanistan reveal the tough realities of the road to democratic freedom or the results of imposing the wrong form of government on a country? Would you choose to live and vote in Haiti rather than authoritarian Cuba? This is a well-considered, cosmopolitan rumination on complex but vital matters. Tim Rich
12 7th, 2009
Kit Kat, Britain’s biggest-selling chocolate biscuit, will bear the Fairtrade logo from mid-January. The biscuits have been Fairtrade certified, with more than 6,000 farmers in Ivory Coast, west Africa, set to get a better price for their cocoa…….BBC
It’s nine years since I first reported on child slavery on the Ivory Coast cocoa farms — when Nestle (Kit Kat), Mars and others denied that it existed — and that the price they paid for their cocoa was the world market price and that was the way it was. The suffering must have been going on for more than a hundred. Finally, they are beginning to understand their corporate responsibilities.
Click here: Democracy Kills
12 5th, 2009
Snow-drenched Astana, Kazakhstan’s capital is a futuristic, glittering wide-boulevarded city. The skyline is of a huge mosque surrounded by stylish sky-scrapers — very similar to the imaginary mural Saddam Hussein had made inside the Convention Centre in Baghdad. Saddam lost track of how to make it work. Kazakhstan is an example of a predominantly Muslim country that embraced the West; Iraq is one that chose to take the West on.
12 3rd, 2009
In the engineering and metal plants in Ust Kamenogorsk in Kazakstan, they are making tantalum, beryllium, uranium pellets and other things to the highest level of sophistication. One of these old Soviet-era complexes has a huge banner saying “Welcome to the global world.” Not long ago, the scientists here were among our enemies and their inventions among the threats that could destroy our way of life. Set that against the Taliban and we can put in perspective how far we have have actually moved towards creating a safer world.
12 3rd, 2009
Two recommendations from this beautiful once-closed Soviet city nuclear city in eastern Kazakhstan.
At Baiterek we dined, sitting on soft benches adorned with cushions in a room decked out in traditional Kazakh style, with carpets, saddles, long flowingand deep coloured robes. We began with Muhit and Egypitsky salads, vegetables and squid (ask them to leave off the mayonnaise); followed by a thin broth soup; then beshparmark, a succulent beef and vegetable stew; helped along with Irbis beer and Adil vodka — both inidginous to Kazakhstan — and served by Zaida and Saida. Out in the hall, a young man sang Karouake love songs to himself. Bookings are on 7232 24 98 49
For lunch we took the buffet at the palatial, shiny red-ceilinged Kopona, with its embroidered red-upholstered chairs, linen table cloths and ball room decor. Good place for big parties bookable on 7 232 26 34 03.
In both we were the only people there.
12 2nd, 2009
Could all hotels follow the lead of the superb Shiny River Hotel in Ust-Kamenogorsk, in eastern Kazakhstan:- Free, immediate, no-fuss, no codes, no log-ins, no extra charge wi-fi. Too many hotels still create a pain-in-the-neck wi-fi brouha-ha. Get real and get modern.
