Netherlands - again

Sunday, 21st Sept. 2008. I found myslef back in Netherlands. I landed at the Amstersdam Schiphol, and aaaaahhh ..... a familiar land once again. I had quite a lot of time between collecting the baggage and my train to Emmen, so what else to do other than browse around. First matter of business, alcohol shopping, yesssss!!!!! But somehow, I found the booze to be more expensive in NL than in the UK. Although I didn't remember the exact Aberdeen figures, but still, it was a hunch. But I knew I was coming back again to NL. That meant that I could have the NL figure in mind, plus I can check out the booze at the local shop in Aberdeen, and when I'm flying, at the duty-free, how convenient. And then again, I see an even more heart warming sight .... Alber Heijn!!!!!! Brought back so many fond memories from last year.

The train journey to Emmen was pretty good. I later realised why I loved this country so much. Everythings almost perfect. Take the train for instance; it's clean, spacious, cheap (paid for by the company at least) and most of all, punctual. So that meant I could easily throw myself back into the seat, set up an alarm and sleep, and when I'd get up, I'd know that my station hasn't passed by.

Also, I'm not a big fan of greenery and the environment and nature and all those things. But there's something about the farms in NL, with the white and blue sky and a single jet passing through with a, orange jet stream. I don't know but that just seems to be fascinating. Also, this time around I saw the horses in NL. I didn't know the Dutch have thoroughbred horses. So eventually, I had the seekh kababs, the burgers and the horses walking around and grazing in the fields.

And there are the babes. Wow!!!! Back to land of the amazing legs and beautiful butts. I think I'll put in another post about what I think of the ladies in the two places i.e. NL and Aberdeen.

The rest in Netherlands was pretty much the usual - small towns, few people, late night thursdays, crowded weekends, bustling centrum. That's the usual. I guess it's the same case in the whole of Europe, except for Spain, which I've heard is more like Mera Bhaarat Mahaan. I hope to go there and visit the place sometime in the next year till I'm here.

Let's see ....

The great underground of Japan

Japan is actually a fascinating country. Apart from the japanese cuisine, the classic samurais and the petite and cute japanese babes, it's home to an amazing array of civil engineering, both pre- and post-1945 (the A-bombing).

WWII Imperial Headquarters - Matsushiro

Late in 1944, with the number and intensity of air raids over Japanese cities steadily increasing, Japan's military government decided to evacuate key facilities from vulnerable locations such as Tokyo to the small town of Matsushiro in a rural part of Nagano prefecture. Although still confident that Japan would ultimately be able to win the war, or at the very least secure a negotiated peace on its own terms, it was believed prudent to move quickly and secretly. The decision was made almost immediately after US forces were able to capture key islands in the Mariana group in the central Pacific. The Japanese military realized that these islands would provide an ideal base for operations involving large numbers of the new long range B-29 bomber, which commenced combat missions from India against Japanese occupied territories in South East Asia from June 1944.

Click to enlarge

The decision was taken to relocate the Imperial Palace and Army HQ (to Mt. Maizuru), various government agencies, NHK (the Japan Broadcasting Corporation) and the central telephone office (to Mt. Zou), the residences of the imperial family (to Mt. Minakami, 2 kilometers east), the imperial sanctuary (to Mt. Kobo), and military communication facilities (to Mt. Saijo). Note the key emphasis placed on both protecting military control and coordination, and the protection of the imperial system (upon both of which the military government was reliant for its continued existence). Even the Peers School, the school (now the Gakushuin) that educated the children of the Japanese aristocracy, royal family and other wealthy Japanese was to be relocated to Matsushiro. Peer School students including Akihito (the current Emperor), and Yoko Ono (also born in 1933) would have been amongst those evacuated.

Although considerable investment went into home defence, no comparable tunnel systems were developed to provide air raid shelters for ordinary civilians. There are several tunnel complexes in the area, mostly under the four mountains listed above. The tunnels we can enter and walk through in Matsushiro are those under Mt. Zou (intended for government agencies and communication facilities)

There are very few signs pointing to the tunnels - if the local and prefectural tourist offices of Matsushiro and Nagano prefecture are anything to go by, they would prefer visitors to take in samurai residences such as Sanada-tei, the, Chokokuji temple etc - all of which are interesting too of course and worth a visit if you have time. When driving into Kaizu castle ruins Matsushiro, there is no mention of them at all. To find the tunnel complex entrance, turn south at the Shell Gasoline Station and walk south towards the Eimyouji Zen temple.

Click to enlarge

It is possible to walk to the Mt. Zou complex from Matsushiro station (distance about 1.5 kilometers), or you can park at Zou-san Jinja, the closest large shrine. When walking towards Eimyouji the first thing to take note of is the terrain. While the town of Matsushiro is on relatively flat land, it is surrounded by steeply climbing hills. Kaizu castle was built on the flat plains, ignoring the hills, but when this site was selected the steepness of the slopes was the most important consideration because the main threat was air power.

In 1944, Matsushiro was even smaller than it is now - a small, totally unimportant former castle town. It had a railway station but no rail junction (a favorite target of air raids), it had no major industries (orchards & rice farming dominated the local economy), and even the castle itself was long gone - the buildings you see now are reconstructions. 12 kilometers from Nagano City, there was nothing in particular to distinguish it from the air. The forests and slopes bordered the town and its small farms - so camouflaging the entrances of each complex was relatively easy to do.

Defense Considerations: Unlike tunnels such as those at Gibraltar, Singapore, or Corregidor island in Manila Bay in the Phillipines, which were mostly designed to withstand extended naval bombardment, the key threat to the Matsushiro tunnels was precision bombing. For the most part, to attack with precision the American and allied bombers of late 1944 had only two ways of delivering their payloads.

High altitude bombing: In terms of total tonnage dropped, the most common method was to release the ordnance from mid/high altitudes relying on mechanical bomb sights for accuracy. This was a difficult method as even the famous and effective Norden bomb sights were primitive compared to those in use today. For precision the target needed to be visible to the bombardier, so cloud cover, fog, smoke or darkness provided some protection for the defenders. In the USAAF radar guidance and wire guidance were still in a relativeluy infant stage, and the only aircraft capable of conducting a long term campaign of strategic bombing from distant island bases such as those in the Marianas were large four engine heavy bombers such as the B-17 and B-29. It was primarily these 2 aircraft that determined the defenses adopted for Matsushiro.

Dive bombing: The second option available to Japan's enemies was to make use of specialist "dive bomber" aircraft such as the Helldiver. Compared to the heavy bombers, these were small single engine aircraft where the pilot would dive towards the target, release the bomb towards the end of the dive, and then pull up and away. Compared to altitude bombing this provided much greater accuracy and was particularly effective against relatively small targets (for example ships at sea, instead of cities). Once again, in late 1944 it was essential that the target be visible to the naked eye.

Click to enlarge

Matsushiro was selected because apart from being able to hide the facilities easily, from an anti-aircraft perspective it was also a strong defensive position. The military government knew that had the war continued, sooner or later the facilities would have been detected and identified (radio transmissions were easy to identify and then locate via triangulation). However mid/high altitude bombing would have been completely ineffective due to the amount of overhead cover the mountains provided, probably even against special ordnance such as the British "Tallboy" or "Grand Slam" bombs, and dive bombing missions suicidal - the aircraft simply not having sufficient room to pull out of the dive before hitting the ridge. Each tunnel complex had multiple entrances, and even direct hits on an entrance would have caused relatively little blast damage to the majority of the tunnels in each complex.

When you reach the entry point (about 150 meters past Eimyouji temple), there is a small office. There is no fee for entry, but the attendant will want to know where you are from, hand you a small pamphlet (free, Japanese only) and advise you to wear a hard hat (also provided free). The hard hat is optional, but take my advice, and wear the helmet. The risk of rock falls is remote (unless there is an earth tremor/quake while you are inside), but the chances of a drop of cold water falling down the back of your next when you least expect it is not. Even in winter, it is very humid inside Mt. Zou, and condensation covers all of the overhead protection.

Even if you are of average height, you will need to stoop as you walk down the narrow entranceway - the reason the entrance is narrow is for defense against bomb blasts, and only after 100 meters and several 90 degree turns does the passageway widen and the tunnel become more spacious. It is cold inside even in summer, though the main section is well illuminated. A powerful torch can be useful if you want to have a look down any of the numerous cross tunnels.

Click to enlarge

The decision to relocate essential facilities, the selection of the site and the commencement of construction took place in a very short time period. Digging and blasting started on November 11, 1944 and continued right up until the proclamation by the Emperor on August 15th 1945. Farmland and local properties required for the project were appropriated and the occupants evicted (around 100 families in the Nishijou area were immediately removed without compensation). The construction labor force consisted of the soldiers of the Eastern Division and Construction Battalions, the Industrial Reserve Army and the Labor Service Corps, and students from the railroad school and local public schools. As a result most of the labor force was either too old, too young, or comprised of invalids and others not suitable for front line service in the military. All were conscipts - by this time Japan had been at war with China for 8 years and with the western allies for 3 years. After 1942, as large numbers of able bodied men of military age were difficult to allocate even towards high priority projects, and the labor shortage during the war became a crisis, workers from Korea were drafted to fill the gap - not only at Matsushiro and other military projects, but also operating mines, working in factories etc. Approximately 6000 Korean laborers were diverted from these other duties to work at Matsushiro, and they formed the majority of the total labor force.

Not all Korean labourers were conscripts brought specifically from Korea to work in Japan, but at Matsushiro most of the laborers were. Korea had been "annexed" by Japan and absorbed into the Japanese Empire in 1910 a few years after Japan obtained military control of the peninsula following the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-05. As far as the military government was concerned, ethnic Koreans were subjects of the Japanese Emperor and had the same responsibilities as other subjects. There were some Koreans in Japan (those with Japanese language skills & education etc) working in the military (including officers of General rank), and during the 30 years of occupation and forced "assimilation" many Koreans had settled in Japan, either to seek better economic opportunities or as a result of dislocation, and there was also a complex system of labour recruitment that included Korean brokers developed to assemble work gangs. However as the war situation deteriorated, full conscription was extended to Korea and an increasing proportion of the Koreans working in Japan were those who had been conscripted. While the labor force at Matsushiro included Japanese and Koreans, military and civilians, it was the conscripted Korean civilians who suffered the most.

Click to enlarge

Conditions during the construction were terrible. The pressure of lack of time, and insufficient allocation of resources meant that accidents were frequent. Drilling and other tunnelling equipment was in short supply, so hand drills and dynamite were used. Working with dynamite requires training - but there wasn't enough time, so avoidable accidents were constantly repeated. Overhead supports that should have been completed and checked before tunnels were further extended were often unable to be built due to the materials not being available in sufficient quality or quantity etc, leading to frequent tunnel collapses. Iron and steel were in short supply, so all overhead supports were made of wood. Even the extensive tram system developed to move rock out of the tunnels used wooden rails on the sleepers instead of steel.

Quite a number of workers were killed in explosions, cave-ins or from subsequent asphixiation, but in the summer of 1945 the main killer was hunger. For Matsuhiro, and the rest of Japan, the supply and distribution of food was a serious problem. Long before 1941 the home islands of the Japanese empire were already net importers of food, principally from Taiwan and Korea, and this had been exacebated in part due to labor shortages caused by Japan's on-going war against China.

By late 1944 all able bodied men were in uniform, and the four "home islands" were extremely dependent on the supply of foodstuffs from the Asian mainland (especially "Machukua"), Taiwan (a net exporter of food during Japan's 1894-1945 rule of the island) and to a lesser extent the newly acquired territories in South East Asia taken during 1940-42, such as Thailand and the territories taken from the French, British, American, Dutch and Portuguese.

The supply of food was soon disrupted by the Allied naval blockade. The presence of US, British and Dutch submarines, along with long range aircraft dropping mines into sealanes and harbour approaches, or torpedoing vessels during maritime patrols, were taking a steady and increasing toll on Japanese tonnage. The effect of this attrition was that food shipments were plummeting. The supply of imported food was becoming unreliable, and large amounts of what did reach Japan was appropriated for the military.

Click to enlarge

When air raids from the Mariana islands and then Okinawa increased through 1945, not only was there the problem of the blockade reducing food imports, the domestic distribution of the trickle that did arrive also became a problem. Japan's rail infrastructure was heavily targetted (particularly high priority targets were railway junctions, goods yards, workshops, factories producing locomotives etc). Oil shortages ensured that road transport was not really an option, so the net losses of locomotives and rolling stock soon meant that the available infrastructure was increasingly unable to ship food to where it was needed.

Food rationing had already been in place many years, and the volume and quality of food rations were gradually reduced. Just as malnutrition was becoming a major problem in cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, Hiroshima etc, it was a major problem at Matsushiro for several reasons. Apart from the general issue of supply, those performing the most dangerous and arduous tasks in the construction process, and who needed a high level of calorie intake in order to perform those tasks, were by definition of lower status that the military and others supervising the project. Many of the Korean conscripts in particular, were engaged in hard physical labor without sufficient calorie intake, nor appropriate rest and medical care.

We still do not know how many people died digging the tunnels that we can now walk through. Apart from cave-ins, explosions, illness (the supply of medicine to those in the greatest need was also being affected by the bombings, appropriations, and local decision makers), and physical collapse due to overwork and malnutrition, there were also suicides amongst the workers, as well as executions.

Click to enlarge

As with many other places throughout Japan after the surrender proclamation on the 15th, the bulk of the documentation related to the project was burnt, and we don't know the names of all of those who died. It is believed that the number of casualties was around 300, while other reports mention 1000. In the context of the total casualties suffered during the last year of the war they become a footnote, but walking through the tunnels you can sense the personal tragedies, the fear and the desperation that each and every one of the workers was suffering. According to information provided at the entrance to the tunnel complex, the names of only four of the victims are known - Tosan Paku, Kisuru Kim, Tokusu Chou and Jiro Nakano. The tomb of Jiro Nakano is located at nearby Eimyouji. The temple is worth visiting, and the wife of the family maintaining the temple is one of the volunteers staffing the information booth at the tunnel entrance.

G-cans

The G-Cans Project is a massive project, begun 12 years ago, to build infrastructure for preventing overflow of the major rivers and waterways spidering the city (A serious problem for Tokyo during rainy-season and typhoon season). The underground waterway is the largest in the world and sports five 32m diameter, 65m deep concrete containment silos which are connected by 64 kilometers of tunnel sitting 50 meters beneath the surface.

The whole system is powered by 14000 horsepower turbines which can pump 200 tons of water a second into the large outlying Edogawa river. I'm in the middle of playing Halflife2 right now and something like this looks like its straight out of the game or some sci-fi movie. This unbelievable gallery of photos however, is not CG, it is the real deal.

The official site is here. The link on wiki is this one. The site is all in Japanese, but if you click around the menus a bit, there are animations and diagrams of how the system works, and other interesting photos of the high-tech control center and turbine facilities. Supposedly the G-Cans project is also meant to be a tourist attraction, and can be visited for free.

Nigeria building up to becoming a major hot spot

There are 3 parts to this post. All are inter-related though. All related to the oil industry's exploitation (primarily Shell's) in Nigeria.
___________

1.

Nigerian Militants Retaliate Upon Military

Nigerian militants on early Sunday launched a series of attacks on oil facilities and military targets in the oil-rich Niger Delta region, blowing up a major trunk pipeline at Nembe creak and capturing oil and gas stations in the area, according to a statement sent by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) on Sunday.

The statement, reached here on Sunday, said the heavily armed MEND fighters in hundreds of war boats filing out from different MEND bases across the Niger Delta in solidarity to carry out destructive and deadly attacks on the

oil industry in Rivers state.

"By dawn, destroyed oil flow stations, gun boats, burst pipelines, dead and injured soldiers trailed in the aftermath of the "hurricane". Some specific
locations include the Soku Gas Plant, Chevron Platform at Kula, over 22 well

armed soldiers sent as reinforcement were intercepted, killed and dispossessed of their weapons, a major crude trunk pipeline at Nembe creek was blown up at several points," said the statement, signed by its spokesperson "Jomo Gbomo".

It said the operation would continue until the government of Nigeria appreciates that the solution to peace in the Niger Delta is justice, respect and dialogue.

The MEND statement also ordered that all international oil and gas loading vessels entering the region to drop anchor in the high sea or divert elsewhere until further notice.

"Failure to comply is taking a foolhardy risk of attack and destruction of the vessel," it said.

Oil companies are also asked to evacuate their staff from their field facilities.

MEND, who is in fight with Nigerian government forces, said in its previous statement sent on Saturday that 27 hostages, including five foreign oil
workers, have been trapped in fighting zone in Eleme-Tombia, a riverside community in the Degema council area of Rivers State.

It had also ordered on Saturday that oil companies to move out their workers

from the region within the next 24 hours, "because a hurricane is about to sweep through oil installations in the entire Niger Delta region", vowing to revenge the "unprovoked attack, and to launch an oil war in the region
___________________________

2.

Nigerian oil rebels hit new Shell facility


LAGOS (AFP) — A Nigerian militant group said Wednesday it acted with a new ally to stage an attack which destroyed a Royal Dutch Shell oil flow station in the African nation's main producing region.

As with other attacks since the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) declared an "oil war" on Sunday, the rebels moved in with speed boats, dynamite and hand grenades, the army said.

MEND also released two South African hostages on Tuesday night, the army said.

The attack on the Orubiri flow station was the third on a Shell target in 48 hours. US major Chevron has also been targeted this week.

MEND said in a statement sent to media that this time that it had attacked with another armed group, the Niger Delta Volunteer Force (NDVF).

"About 2200 (2100 GMT) on Tuesday, September 16, 2008, fighters from MEND and the NDVF in a new alliance attacked and destroyed the Orubiri flow station," MEND said.

The army confirmed tha attack.

"Yesterday night militants in eight speed boats attacked Orubiri with bombs, dynamite and hand grenades," army spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Musa Sagir told AFP, adding that it was feared the facility caught fire.

Shell made no immediate comment. But there have already been two attacks on Shell facilities and two "shooting incidents" at facilities operated by Chevron this week.

MEND said it killed all the soldiers on guard at the Orubiri facility and took their weapons. Sagir denied the claim, saying "none of the 10 naval personnel or guards died or sustained injuries".

MEND renewed a warning to soldiers and oil workers to abandon all oil installations, including offshore.

"Soldiers and oil workers are advised to abandon all oil facilities including the off shore rigs of Bonga and Agbami as we want to minimize casualties before Hurricane Barbarossa arrives," the group said.

Hurricane Barbarossa is the code name it gave to its new offensive against foreign majors.

All the attacks since the weekend have been in Rivers state. They have affected a Shell flow station at Alakiri and pipeline at Bakana Front in Degema Local Government Area and Chevron facilities at Robertkiri and Idama.

"After Rivers, the hurricane will be heading to the neighboring states in the Niger Delta," MEND warned.

"The people of Rivers state should hold the governor Mr Rotimi Amaechi accountable for allowing the state to be the first to be visited. He should resign and a state of emergency (be) declared in Rivers state," the group said.

Since MEND took up arms in early 2006, Nigeria's oil output has been cut by at least one quarter.

Two South African hostages seized last week by pirates with 25 other people on a vessel off southern Nigeria were freed Tuesday night, the military said. Sagir told AFP no ransom was paid for the pair.

MEND had earlier Tuesday promised to release the South Africans, whom it said it rescued from pirates on Friday.

MEND said the two were among 27 rescued hostages, which also included 22 Nigerians, two Britons and a fifth foreigner thought to be Ukrainian.
_______________________

3.

Nigerian militants step up 'oil war' claiming sixth attack

LAGOS (AFP) — Militants in Nigeria said Saturday they had destroyed a pipeline run by Royal Dutch Shell in the sixth attack of a declared "oil war," with the armed group vowing to reduce oil exports to "zero."

Shell reacted by declaring force majeure on its exports from the Bonny terminal to release it from contractual delivery obligations as a result of the latest attacks.

The Bonny terminal was already under force majeure since July 29, but "we made another declaration as a result of production losses caused by the recent attacks on our facilities," a Shell spokeswoman in London told AFP.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), the main group fighting for a greater share of southern Nigeria's oil wealth for local people, said it had destroyed the "major pipeline" in Rivers state late Friday.

MEND said the pipeline was located at Buguma Front in the Asari Toru region and was the latest target of the "oil war" the armed group launched on Sunday and has dubbed "Hurricane Barbarossa."

"The military and the government of Nigeria whose unprovoked attack on our position prompted this oil war are no match for a guerrilla insurgency of this kind," MEND said in an email to AFP.

MEND promised to "continue to nibble every day at the oil infrastructure in Nigeria until the oil exports reach zero." Oil and gas account for 90 percent of foreign exchange earnings in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation with 140 million people.

Production currently ranges between 1.8 million and two million barrels per day compared with 2.6 million bpd two years ago.

Earlier in the week, Shell confirmed the first attack on its Alakiri flow station and a second one on the Greater Port Harcourt Swamp Line, both on Monday.

But as the week went on, Shell became progressively more tight-lipped, neither confirming nor denying claims of attacks on its Orubiri flow station, Rumuekpe pipeline and another pipeline at the Elem-Kalabari Cawthorne Channel axis in Rivers state.

The Anglo-Dutch oil company evacuated more than 100 employees as a precaution at the beginning of the week, according to a source in the oil sector.

The army and MEND have given conflicting versions of many of the incidents, MEND normally saying attacks were successful but the army saying they were repelled.

To further combat the violence in Nigeria's oil region, the government on September 10 announced it would create a ministry specifically responsible for maintaining calm and developing the Niger Delta.

MEND charges that the oil wealth of Nigeria -- now Africa's second largest petroleum exporter after recently losing first place to Angola -- is basically enjoyed by the federal government and only a fraction of it trickles down to the locals.

It also accuses oil companies of wreaking havoc on the environment.

MEND spokesman Jomo Gbomo on Saturday claimed to have grassroots support.

"The impoverished and neglected inhabitants of oil-producing communities consider our actions to these structures as good riddance to bad rubbish," he said.

"Oil exploration has brought only pain to them by way of environmental damage (farmlands, fishing and wildlife sanctuaries), harassment from the military and rape of under-aged girls by soldiers, extra-judicial killings of young men and development and wealth to other parts of the country at their detriment."

MEND presents its members as the champions of the region's Ijaw people, an ethnic group of some 14 million. It says its enemies are not Nigerian soldiers but rather the Nigerian federal government and the foreign oil companies such as Shell, Chevron and Agip.

But no one knows exactly who is behind the armed group and financing its operations, nor how many fighters are in its forces.

MEND has also warned it will attack the country's two big deep offshore fields, Shell's Bonga -- which was hit in June -- and Chevron's Agbami, as well as oil and gas tankers in Nigerian waters.

Human Resources Manager after death experience

Love this one -

One day while walking down the street a highly successful Human Resources Manager was tragically hit by a bus and she died. Her soul arrived up in heaven where she was met at the Pearly Gates by St. Peter himself.

"Welcome to Heaven," said St. Peter. "Before you get settled in though, it seems we have a problem. You see, strangely enough, we've never once had a Human Resources Manager make it this far and we're not really sure what to do with you."

"No problem, just let me in," said the woman.

"Well, I'd like to, but I have higher orders. What we're going to do is let you have a day in Hell and a day in Heaven and then you can choose whichever one you want to spend an eternity in."

"Actually, I think I've made up my mind, I prefer to stay in Heaven", said the woman.

"Sorry, we have rules..."

And with that St. Peter put the executive in an elevator and it went down-down-down to hell.

The doors opened and she found herself stepping out onto the putting green of a beautiful golf course. In the distance was a country club and standing in front of her were all her friends - fellow executives that she had worked with and they were well dressed in evening gowns and cheering for her. They ran up and kissed her on both cheeks and they talked about old times. They played an excellent round of golf and at night went to the country club where she enjoyed an excellent steak and lobster dinner.

She met the Devil who was actually a really nice guy (kind of cute) and she had a great time telling jokes and dancing. She was having such a good time that before she knew it, it was time to leave. Everybody shook her hand and waved goodbye as she got on the elevator.

The elevator went up-up-up and opened back up at the Pearly Gates and found St. Peter waiting for her.

"Now it's time to spend a day in heaven," he said. So she spent the next 24 hours lounging around on clouds and playing the harp and singing. She had great time and before she knew it her 24 hours were up and St. Peter came and got her.

"So, you've spent a day in hell and you've spent a day in heaven. Now you must choose your eternity,"

The woman paused for a second and then replied, "Well, I never thought I'd say this, I mean, Heaven has been really great and all, but I think I had a better time in Hell."

So St. Peter escorted her to the elevator and again she went down-down-down back to Hell.

When the doors of the elevator opened she found herself standing in a desolate wasteland covered in garbage and filth. She saw her friends were dressed in rags and were picking up the garbage and putting it in sacks.

The Devil came up to her and put his arm around her.

"I don't understand," stammered the woman, "yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and a country club and we ate lobster and we danced and had a great time. Now all there is a wasteland of garbage and all my friends look miserable."

The Devil looked at her smiled and told...
...
...
...
...
...
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
"Yesterday we were recruiting you, today you're an Employee."

Why Lehman and Merrill fell

IT all began with the sub-prime crisis.

If you lost your money in the market crash of January 2008, here's the route to your loss, in chronological order.

2001-2005: House prices in the US begin to rise rapidly. Banks lend aggressively and create a sub prime industry.

Sub-prime lending refers to lending (at slightly higher interest rates) to people who may not be eligible for a loan under normal circumstances. Maybe they don’t have a regular job or income, or have defaulted in the past.

Banks traditionally did not lend to such people due to high risk of default. But since these loans were mortgaged against property and property prices were rising continuously, banks started doing so. If customers defaulted, they could sell the mortgaged property.

2005: The booming housing market halted abruptly in many parts of the US.

2006: Prices are flat, home sales fall.

February 2007: Sub-prime industry collapses in the US; more than 25 sub-prime lenders declare bankruptcy, announce significant losses, or put themselves up for sale.

While they were lending, banks did not factor in the possibility of a fall in property prices. When the Federal Bank (the US equivalent of RBI) started increasing interest rates, the sub-prime borrowers started defaulting and banks started selling off the mortgaged properties. As more and more properties came into the market for selling, the property prices fell.

August 2007: Many leading mortgage lenders in the US filed for bankruptcy

March 2008: Bear Sterns falls.

September 2008: Lehman Brothers file for bankruptcy. Merrill Lynch sells off to Bank of America.

Between 2001 and 2006, the US financial markets had developed a new product – a bond securitised against the mortgages.

In simple terms it means that the mortgage banks borrowed money against the mortgages on the condition that they would repay to lenders as soon as they recovered their mortgages. The lenders in this case were financial institutions (like Bear Sterns, Lehman and Merril Lynch) who in turn sold retail bonds to individuals.

Sadly, the repayment never happened. And institutions like Bear Sterns, Lehman, Merrill Lynch and AIG were the casualties. Since the mortgages were not honoured, the banks could not repay these financial institutions who in turn could not repay retail investors.

Source: Moneycontrol

Why Lehman Brothers went bust ???Whats your take on it

Lehman Brothers is not more. Merrill Lynch has gown down the Bank of America maw. AIG too could go belly up. With a doubt, these developments in America are the most shocking events to have hit global financial markets. So where did it all begin? And what does it mean for the Indian stock markets? Find out. . .

What is (or was) Lehman Brothers?

America’s fourth-largest investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc has filed the biggest bankruptcy petition known to mankind.

The 158-year-old firm was founded by brothers Henry, Emanuel and Mayer Lehman, Jewish immigrants to the US from Germany, in 1850. Henry set up a general store in Alabama in 1844 and was later joined by his brothers. In 1850 they set up the merchant bank in New York after having made money in railway bonds. So what went wrong?

Lehman Bros, which till June 2008 had not reported a quarterly loss even once, had earlier survived many an economic crises, like railroad bankruptcies of the 1800s, the Great Depression in the 1930s, and the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management in the 1990s.

Thus the collapse of the giant investment bank came as a major shock for the entire world markets that plunged after Lehman filed a Chapter 11 petition with US Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.

The $613 billion (some estimates put the size at $639 billion) bankruptcy thus throws up the question: why did the Wall Street giant go bust? Here’s why. . .

Why did Lehman Brothers go bankrupt?

The giant investment bank succumbed to the sub-prime mortgage crisis that has rocked the United States and the global economy. Lehman was strangled by a massive credit crisis and fast plummeting real estate prices.

The gargantuan $60 billion loss in bad real estate loans forced the bank to file for bankruptcy.

However, the fall of the 158-year-year institution that started cotton trade in US before the American Civil War and financed the railroad that built a nation, got hit by a large dose of bad luck, pride, arrogance and greed. Primarily, the pride of its chief executive office Richard Fuld.

But there were more reason. Check out what they were.

Lehman’s collapse was also triggered by the refusal of other banks to do business with it because of its complex and, at times, opaque ways of trading. Housing loans made by the bank to people with little support made these loans very risky, and when interest rates rose, these borrowers could no more repay Lehman. This led to huge losses, the extent of which is not yet clear.

Thus other banks stopped trading with Lehman. This led to it losing almost all business and triggered its fall.

The final straw for Lehman was the fact that both Barclays Plc of the United Kingdom and Bank of America Corp pulled out of takeover talks. BofA bought out Merrill Lynch for $50 billion.

However, Barclays has now said that it is in discussions with Lehman Brothers about buying certain assets of the stricken US investment bank.

“Barclays confirms that it is discussing with Lehman Brothers the possible acquisition of certain Lehman Brothers assets on terms that would be attractive to Barclay’s shareholders,” Britain’s third largest bank said in a statement.

When other banks do not want to buy Lehman, why is Barclays interested?

Barclays wanted to buy Lehman out at a discount, so to speak. But when Lehman CEO Fuld decided that his bank was worth much more than what Barclays had apparently offered, Barclays stepped back.

Now that Lehman has filed for bankruptcy, its assets are available fairly cheap. However, the biggest problem is to take on Lehman’s enormous liabilities.

How far is the CEO of the company responsible for Lehman’s fall?

Wall Street analysts believe that it was the ‘hubris’ of Richard Fuld, the 62-year-old CEO of Lehman, who did not take the telltale signs of impending doom very seriously. Fuld, nicknamed The Gorilla for his foul temper, intimidating presence and tough talk, rejected many bids to save Lehman because he thought that the sinking giant was much bigger than Wall Street was giving it credit for, and wanted to get more price for the sale of the company.

Analysts say if the bank was sold just a week before it went kaput, it could have been saved the ignominy of a bankruptcy, but Fuld was far too adamant to see reason. Result: the end of a 158-year-old financial giant.

Could the United States government helped, like it helped Bear Stearns in May this year, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac earlier this month?

The US government could have helped, but US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said that it would not use up any more taxpayer dollars to bail out Lehman Brothers as it would lead to investment banks getting away with their gambling ways. Paulson had bailed out Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Bear Stearns, saying that if the government had not done so, the US housing loan market would have collapsed leading to gigantic losses for hundreds of banks all over the globe that have invested in US property.

Paulson, however, believes that a brokerage major like Lehman, which does not have a direct connection with ordinary people who have taken on home loans, need not be bailed out as it would not cause any systemic damage to the US economy.

Will everyone in Lehman lose their jobs?

The bankruptcy administrators, PricewaterhouseCoopers, feels that as Lehman’s operations were essentially centralized at New York, the folding up of the investment banker in the US will have a telling impact on all its operations globally.

Over 5,000 employees in the UK have already lost their jobs, while about 20,000 in the US might as well forget going back to their work stations. About 2,500 Lehman employees in India too face the axe.

Will the whole bank be liquidated?

Unlikely, at least for now. The US Chapter 11 that deals with bankruptcy says that PwC, the administrators, can go about taking its time to find good offers and buyers for Lehman’s ‘least affected businesses.’

The entire exercise can take months before all of Lehman’s assets are sold, given the complexities linked to the bankruptcy.

What about the Bank of America and Merrill Lynch deal?

Merrill Lynch’s buy out by Bank of America is also a shocking development. ML, saw the writing on the wall once it guessed that Lehman was going bust, and decided to sell out before it actually has to file a bankruptcy petition..

What about the insurance giant AIG?

The world’s largest insurer, American International Group, has been downgraded by credit rating agencies and is racing against time to find a multi billion dollar infusion to stay afloat. US Federal Reserve officials and two leading banks, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, were negotiating to put together $75 billion package to save the insurance giant to stave off crisis.AIG has sought $40 billion in bridge loan to stave off the crisis.

But the Fed rebuffed the request. AIG’s ills came to fore, when three leading credit rating agencies - Standard and Poor’s Moody’s and Fitch - lowered the company’s credit scores.

Who could be the next to fall?Some Wall Street analysts, reports The Guardian, name Washington Mutual as the next financial major to ‘find itself in serious trouble.’

However, the even bigger worry is whether the world’s largest securities firms, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, would be able to survive this brutal financial crisis. But many say that these two gaints will not melt down as they have ‘done a better job of spreading their bets across world markets and are also more diversified, less leveraged and have managed such risks much better.’

What do Indian markets fear?

The fall of two global financial behemoths — Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch — is expected to dent India Inc’s ability to raise resources via the equity route.

Experts feel that such events significantly increase the risk perception, which in turn will put all future investments by institutional investors such as pension or endowment funds, on the back burner.

While the public issue market has already dried up, the private equity funds are also becoming conservative in terms of pricing. This is resulting in either inordinate delays in concluding deals or transactions being called off.

There are many instances of private equity fund managers refusing to go ahead with deals after signing the term sheet. Sources said that a leading fund conducted due diligence on two companies in the last fortnight but did not close either deal primarily because of the developments in the US, their home country.

The crisis faced by Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers is expected to have a cascading effect on PE firms too.

Will it hit the Indian growth story?

The ongoing financial sector crisis in the United States and its repercussions on developed markets worldwide will result in lower capital inflows into emerging markets like India, economists and government officials said today.

At the same time, they called for the government to make it easier for Indian companies to borrow overseas by easing the restrictions that have been imposed in the past to reduce excessive liquidity in the system and control inflation.

This will, in turn, lead to a slowing in investment growth in the months ahead. As lending gets tighter and investment flows dry, corporate India will find it more difficult to raise both equity and debt.

Technology firms are shivering

Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy filing may well prove to be the last straw for Indian IT firms, which were expecting the second half of FY09 to be better. As a result of the US financial market crisis, analysts do not expect Indian IT firms to sign any significant contracts in the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) space in the months to come.

While IT firms do not disclose client-specific details, it’s estimated that Lehman Brothers has outsourced deals amounting to anywhere between Rs 550 crore and Rs 700 crore (annually) to numerous IT firms, including majors like Tata Consultancy Services, Satyam Computer Services and Wipro. Lehman Brothers, say sources, works with 14 services providers in India - Wipro and TCS being the largest. It also has investments in a few IT firms. It’s not clear if these holdings will be liquidated to raise funds.

Moreover, the sources add that Lehman Brothers’ unit in India has issued termination letters to a majority of its 2,500 employees.

What kind of investment does Lehman have in India?

Lehman does not have direct large holding in the Indian stock markets. These holdings are estimated at around $200 million, including Participatory Notes. This figure is not enough to cripple the Indian stock markets.

But Lehman has exposure to the Indian stock market through special purpose vehicles. This exposure to real estate stocks is said to be of about $1.5 billion, enough to shake up the markets.

My new house

I took my new place in Aberdeen on 3rd September, and moved in on the next day. It's a really nice place, fully furnished. But after staying there, only after a few hours, I realised a few things, which were very important for me, were missing. Somehow the house seemd to be empty, something hollow. Fo a moment, it was just a house, not a home. And teh worst part is, since I've been used to living in such luxury since birth, it eventually played to my disadvantage now. The place was pretty incomplete.

I wasn't much concerned about the bedrooms (though very important), I was more worried about the living room. There was everything that an individual would need in the living room, leathyer sofas, tables, dining table, and LCD, DVD player, kitchen setup; but still it felt empty. So one of the main things that I had to do, was to stock up my house with all the essentials, and to make the living room fit for MY purpose (the MY word being very, very important).

Luckily I had shifted in on a thursday, so I knew what all I needed to stock up in the weekend. And after getting over with the "preliminary" unpacking of my bags, I had to sit down for a something to eat and drink, but of course, there was nothing in the new place all together. Except for water, and the apple I had swiped from the office in the evening. A royal dinner after my unpacking (for people who don't think unpacking is a big deal, trust me, when you have the stuff I have, it surely is).

Now, today, two weekends and two weeks have passed since I've moved in, but still, I'm planning out my living room. the pitures of the "empty" place are up on my Orkut account. I wasn't able to put it on facebook or Picassa coz the only access I have is in the office, and I'm not able to download the uploading tool (how ironic!!!!) for both the applications. Sorry about that. But I have a satellite image of the place here. All you need to do is to turn on "Bird's eye view" from the control panel, voila, it's there.

I will be uploading a fianl video of the place when I get it all setup. But that will have to wait till mid-October, by which time I'm back from offshore.

Cheers for now then!!!!!!!!!

The new office

It's been a long time since my "first day" in office. But oh shit, what a first day. The very first day, I'm told "We usually wear formals in office, but on fridays, we wear casuals", this was my manager over here. And what was I wearing to recieve this comment, a Kappa sweatshirt, and a UMM jeans, !!!!!!

What on earth was wrong in that. I've worn much better (for some people, much worse) things than this to office, say ...... shorts, yes I had worn shorts in office, and floaters. But that was back in India, where no one gave a damn. In fact, if i came in to office wearing a shirt (with jeans), then it was obvious that I had a meeting, and if I wore the cull thing (shirt, pant and leather shoes), then it was obvious that I had a hangover. That was a certainty, you know, messages conveyed by the "body language"; but in a more literal sense.

But then I looked around, and I realised. I wasn't in India, I was in "England" (read as ENGLAND with a tougher upper lip and a high snobbish nose). This was the birth place of formal clothing. Shirt, pants, shoes, ties .... complete suits. WOW!!!!!! How do these people live.

And then, it was the ambience. I thought that I had come to someone's funeral. Everything was silent, not like the "silence befire the storm" silent, but silent. There was freaking more commotion in the room when I was giving my boards in 10th and 12th!!!!! And if we needed to talk, or yap (which was more relevant in our case), we had to go into one of the "silent rooms". And these rooms weren't sound proof, not one bit. Till date, I haven't understood the concept of a meeting room, which is NOT sound proof. Boy, did I start missing the macchhi baazar environment back on the 6th floor in Shell India.

Lunch time. Thank God some food. ........ IT'S NOT FREE!!!!!!!!!! What kind of an insensitive, money sucking pig "sells" lunch in office. Apparently, Shell UK does. The only part I like, is that they have a sandwich counter, which is pretty much similar to Subways. And then you can take the sandwich in a doggy bag up to your desk.

In fact, nothing in the Shell office here is free, except for coffee, water and bathroom entry. You even need to bring you own ball (s) (no pun intended) if you want to play foosball.

In a way, the office back in Bangalore was much much much better. I miss STI so much :( ......

Aberdeen

It's now been over 2 weeks, I guess 3 weeks, since I've come here. The moment I landed here, I had a slight tickle in my tummy, especially when I went through the "airport". The airport was almost the same size, as the one in Pune (the old one, before the refurbishment). So that directly gave a nice size-wise explanation of the place. Plus I had seen the size of the city (Aberdeen, that is) on google maps, and it's small. I mean small. Here, look for yourself. So no surprises there.

I ad heard a lot about "Union Street", back in India itself, so of course that was one thing that I was definitely looking forward to. But what I didn't realise, was that there is NOTHING in the city apart from what's there in Union Street. It seems that the city starts and ends with the street. But then again, Aberdeen was orginally a fishing (and shipping) town, before becoming the oil capital in the world, something much like Miri (Malyasia). But then there are three VERY MAJOR differences in the two places -

3. It's Malaysia. It's cheap. It's affordable for a poor guy like me.

2. It's tropical. You know, beach, fun, frolic.

1. It's got Asian babes. This scores Aberdeen, any time, of any day, for any one (girls excluded)

But what the heck, I need to be here for a year (at least), better start liking the place.

I'm back!!!!!!!

Now, I know that I've been absconding for a very long time, but I was back in India. I wasn't doing much there also, but at least I had something to do or someone to bug any given time of the day. Now I'm restarting my systems mainly because, and quite frankly,. I'm dead BORED here in Aberdeen. There's nohing to do over here. And also I just wanted this posting here to be more of a vacation, rather than a business thing. So what better way of keeping memories!!!!

So here I go ............