F1 Turkish Grand Prix Political Fandago

"The Turkish authorities outraged the Greek Government and seriously angered the FIA, the world governing body for motor sport, by allowing the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mehmet Ali Talat, to hand the winner's trophy to Felipe Massa, the Ferrari driver.

What is believed to have incensed FIA officials is that Talat's involvement was the result of a deliberate hijacking of the ceremony to make a political point to millions of television viewers round the world.

Indeed, the Turkish organisers have admitted that they delayed notifying the FIA about who would hand over the winner's trophy. Murat Yalcintas, head of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, said: "As we had Mr Talat in mind, we delayed giving notification as much as we could."

He said that the chance to use Talat was politically priceless. "The race was a great opportunity — Cyprus is our national cause," he added.

The real price of the gesture, however, could be incalculable. Not only is there a real danger that the Turkish Grand Prix, which was announced as part of next year's calendar only yesterday, will be cancelled, the country may also lose its round of the World Rally Championship. The grand prix provided a superb marketing opportunity for Turkey and for Istanbul's tourism industry. Istanbul Park was only finished last year at a cost of around £85 million."

Full story from the Times

white helmet day

white helmet day, originally uploaded by Knotty.

VA Hospitals

"Private hospitals, which make their money treating people who come to them sick, don't profit from heavy investments in preventive care... But the VA, which is funded by tax dollars, "has its patients for life,"... So to keep government spending down, "it makes economic sense to keep them healthy and out of the hospital.""

"it's becoming more and more "ideologically inconvenient for some to have such a stellar health-delivery system being run by the government,""

"If VA health care continues to be the industry leader, it may become more difficult to argue that the market can do better."

entire article from Time

via Economist's View

Aussie Drink Driving

From the State where drink driving is considered a sport, comes a true story from the Sunshine Coast, Queensland.

Recently a routine police patrol parked outside a local neighbourhood tavern.  Late in the evening the officer noticed a man leaving the bar so intoxicated that he could barely walk.

The man stumbled around the car park for a few minutes, with the Officer quietly observing.

After what seemed an eternity and trying his keys on five vehicles, the man managed to find his car which he fell into. He was there for a few minutes as a number of other patrons left the bar and drove off.

Finally he started the car, switched the wipers on and off (it was a fine dry night), flicked the indicators on, then off, tooted the horn and then switched on the lights.  He moved the vehicle forward a few cm, reversed a little and then remained stationary for a few more minutes as some more vehicles left.

At last he pulled out of the car park and started to drive slowly down the road. The police officer, having patiently waited all this time, now started the patrol car, put on the flashing lights, and promptly pulled the man over and carried out a Breathalyzer test. To his amazement the Breathalyzer indicated no evidence of the man having consumed any alcohol at all!

Dumbfounded, the officer said "I'll have to ask you to accompany me to the Police station,
this Breathalyzer equipment must be broken."

"I doubt it," said the man, "tonight I'm the designated decoy".

True story...?

Revenge of the Middleman

"Car dealers, with their low-production-value TV commercials and glad-handing tactics, seem like the archetypal small businessmen, and it's hard to believe that they could sway the decisions of global corporations like G.M. and Ford. But, collectively, they have enormous leverage."
"The irony in all this is that G.M. and Ford adopted the dealer system because they thought it would make their lives easier."
"They made a devil's bargain some eighty years ago, and now they're stuck with it. Call it the revenge of the middleman."

full article from the New Yorker

Top Spot for next car is a Mini

think they wouldnt stand up to a crash now?

1,000,000Euro

1,000,000Euro, originally uploaded by Knotty.

canary wharf

canary wharf, originally uploaded by Knotty.

london in august

london in august, originally uploaded by Knotty.

Tuesday.. reading, shopping, trivia and a baby!

The following articles caught my eye this morning.. a bit market related but interesting no less.. mainly via the Kirk Report

The Inflation Report; Amazonian Inflation; A Car-Sales Indicator Suggests a Recession Is Near or Already Here; Face it: The housing bust is here; The Oil Rush; The Contrarian Case for $50 Oil; Hedge Funds Place Big Bets on Hurricane Season;

It's Bottomless SAC day at steep and cheap dot com

For Batman fans only, a History of the Batmobile

And finally congratulations to my colleague Blagoj Malev, his wife Medina and daughter Jovanna on the arrival of their new son and little brother, Peta, today at 1:30pm weighing in at a whopping 4.06kg (nearly 9lbs if you are old school).


Peta Malev, Age 1 Hour

Mt. Fuji

fuji, originally uploaded by Knotty.

Check out..

His Emperor's Reluctant Warrior; What if Floyd Landis were innocent; Yoga in Bed; The Amazing Balancing Chuck.

Dilbert

"You'll have to drink from the firehose unless you drill down and check the dashboard to see why the bloatware bubbled up from the bake-off."

"Does that mean anything?"

"Don't ping my cheese with your bandwidth."

lunch at my desk

lunch at my desk, originally uploaded by Knotty.

heading home

heading home, originally uploaded by Knotty.

hk

hk, originally uploaded by Knotty.

hk night

hk night, originally uploaded by Knotty.

Home

top left.. via Wikimapia
click, drag and zoom in and out to your hearts content..

Reptilian rap

A man walks into a bar with a newt on his shoulder. The barman says "That's a nice newt. What's his name?" The man says "Tiny". The barman says "Why do you call him Tiny?". "Because", he replies, "he's my newt."

Tour de Farce

"In the meantime, Landis and cycling are being tried in the court of public opinion. Sadly, the judge has recently been hit by a bicycle courier on a zebra crossing and the jury is full of white van drivers and cabbies."

from BBC News

Nuts!

Two peanuts were walking down the street. One was assaulted.

Reading..

Attractive parents have more daughters; The egg that tells you when it's boiled; Monopoly money, Monopoly houses; As Valley home market cools, emotions heat up; How Nerdy are you? I scored 16, 'Not nerdy, but then again maybe not all that cool either.'; Central banks looking to exit the dollar; The US Economy's Pop-Tart problem; One Page Barron's Summary; Mac spoof ads; Now that's a Hot Rod