Author: kempton

I’ve been waiting for Prof. Ronald Coase’s “Markets, Firms and Property Rights” talk (video) for over a month since the 2009 Coase Conference in early December. I am happy to say the talk is now online and very insightful as expected. Highly recommended.

If you want more of Prof. Coase, you can watch this insightful 2003 Coase Lecture (with time code).

Posted in Economics, GreatMindsOfOurTime, insightful, Nobel-Prize, Ronald Coase, Video

From BBC “Kraft and Cadbury: How they compare” (emphasis added),

The boards of Cadbury and US giant Kraft Foods have agreed a deal which will see Kraft takeover the British chocolate maker in a deal valuing the company at £11.5bn [~US$19.5 billion].

It means that the world’s second-biggest confectionery company will form part of the world’s second-largest food company. This is how the two firms currently stack up.

From NYT “Behind Kraft’s Raise, a Glimmer of Bigger Savings” (emphasis added),

Irene Rosenfeld, Kraft’s chief executive, partially justified the higher price on an analyst conference call by announcing that she expects her company to reap an extra $50 million in annual cost savings through the merger. That brings the total figure to $675 million.

At a standard 10 percent discount rate, Kraft was essentially authorized to spend around another $500 million today for Cadbury, which is a little less than a fifth of what they ended up shelling out extra for the company.

From NYT “For Britain, Cadbury Takeover Isn’t Easy to Swallow“,

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said at a press conference that his government was “determined that the levels of investment that take place in Cadburys in the United Kingdom are maintained,” and, “at a time when people are worried about their jobs, that jobs in Cadbury can be secure.”

Cadbury employs 6,000 people in Great Britain, and more than 46,000 worldwide.

During its conference call Tuesday, Kraft reiterated that it would keep a strong presence in Britain and would be a “net importer” of jobs in the country.

And for those who has paid attention to the deal and Warren Buffett’s public opinion of the deal, Alice Schroeder (biographer of Buffett) made some insightful observations in “Buffett Orchestrates Kraft-Cadbury Deal” (emphasis added),

[…] why did Buffett make his announcement that Berkshire would vote against a deal that included more stock? Why didn’t he just tell Irene Rosenfeld that in private? Why set off a frenzy of rumors about a rift between the two of them?

True, lines drawn in the sand in public are taken more seriously than warnings made in private. And Buffett’s message was sent to all parties concerned – especially, perhaps, the arbs and Cadbury.

Posted in Business, Economics, investment, UK, united states, Warren Buffett, World

Check out some of the fan mails, photos and covers at the end of “To Rockwell, With Love: Fan Mail and ‘The Saturday Evening Post’”.

Posted in GreatMindsOfOurTime, Love, Lovemarks, Norman Rockwell

My friend Daisann has an insightful first hand account and commentary of The Siege of HK Legislative Council on Jan 16, 2010. The HK government and some HK citizens may not realize it yet, but this protest and rally may be the turning point of the road to democracy for HK. Here is Daisann concluding comment (emphasis and link added),

As the dust settles, it’s looks like the pan-Democrats won’t have to struggle to make the argument for real political reform in Hong Kong when they resign in the five district referendum scheme later this month. The Siege of Legco–and the inspired, tactically savvy troops of the baat sap hauh [Post-80s] –have done the heavy lifting for them.

The following two videos are in Cantonese, for the record.

Posted in China, Democracy, digital democracy, Digital-Revolution, Hong Kong, insightful

Many Calgarians (including this reporter) were shocked to hear the popular chain of Nellie’s restaurants and its owner have been fined a total of $61,780 for 30+ Public Health Act violations! And the even more disturbing thing is that some of those violations dated back to 1997, over 12 years ago!

CTV Calgary reported “Nellie’s fined for health code violations” (emphasis added),

Roxanne Taylor-King admitted there were 43 violations in her five restaurants: Nellie’s Cosmic Cafe, Nellie’s Kitchen, Nellie’s on 4th, Nellie’s on 90th and Nellie’s on Kensington.

Some of the violations include mouse droppings found on food in the kitchen; perishable food not being kept at a proper temperature; food not being handled safely by staff; and utensils not being cleaned and sanitized properly.

According to Calgary Herald report “Calgary’s Nellie’s restaurants fined for public health violations“,

[…] “Failure to meet the minimum standard of care is a serious concern,” said the judge [Provincial court Judge Barbara Veldhuis]. “It is for the protection of the public. Compliance is needed to protect the health and safety of society.””

[…] “A tearful Taylor-King said outside court she was devastated by the charges and that it was difficult for her, a single mother, to keep proper monitoring of all the locations.”“

More on the “tearful” out of court “rationalizing” later.

This reporter was surprised that something was missing in a CBC radio report and the above two media reports. You see, a very important online consumers tool was NOT mentioned. The powerful and comprehensive online ”Calgary and Area Environmental Health Inspection Reports” tool was launched over 18 months ago to allow all Albertans to see the latest health inspection reports of restaurants in Alberta. Yes, Albertans can check to see if the restaurants we go to have “mouse droppings” as one of their problems!

Alberta Health Services has added a lot more inspection reports to the online database since its June 2008 launch. And all Albertans and Calgarians should use this tool at least once to look at the reports of their favourite restaurants. When this reporter tried the tool in 2008, as expected, most restaurants came out passing all inspections. But to this reporter’s surprises, some restaurants that were thought to be clean were not at all and with repeat unresolved problems. And then some restaurants that were thought to be “dirty” turned out to have a long list of clean inspection reports.

Customer loyalties and business reputations like Nellie’s restaurants can only be built over time and over many many years. What happened at Nellie’s should serve as a warning and example for all restaurants in Alberta that they should pay attention to the welfare and health of the customers and not simply focusing on the money making side of their restaurant businesses. The simple fact is that customer loyalties take years to build up and sometime take days to destroy. Of course, in the case of Nellie’s, when the violations span over 12 years, one can’t really say the reputations and loyalties were destroyed over days, it was done slowly over 12 years.

Finally, if someone is running a restaurant, there is simply NO excuse of having repeated and unresolved health code violations spanning YEARS! If the owners are unable or unwilling to correct health code violations (because of personal or whatever reasons), then may be the restaurants should be closed until minimum health code standards can be met. Restaurant owners should realize customers, especially the young and old customers, can get seriously sick from bad food. And the long term health consequences are to be paid by unsuspecting customers.

Try the online ”Calgary and Area Environmental Health Inspection Reports” tool and see the results yourself. Use the online tool at least once for the restaurants you love, to see if you still want to go there. And use it on restaurants that you are thinking of visiting.

P.S. To me, Nellie’s was always busy, buzzing and had been a well-loved Calgary institution. A Lovemark to me until this sad turn of event (unknown to customers, spanning over 12 years)!

Posted in Alberta, Business, Calgary, Canada, Economics, Entrepreneurship, ethics, food, food-review, Healthcare, Love, Lovemarks

Very cool news.

LG Display has developed the world’s largest flexible electronic-paper screen measuring 25cm by 40cm, which translates into a 19-inch screen size.

With 0.3mm thickness and 130g weight, it utilizes a metal foil instead of a traditional glass to make itself both flexible and durable.

LG is cool. (Sony is not.)

[HT BMD]

Posted in Science & Technology

My blog friend and The Economist reporter Andreas Kluth will be debating “California is the first failed state” in New York with the likes of Gray Davis (CA governor from 1999-2003) on Tuesday Jan 19, 2010.

The following is the line-up,

1. FOR–Andreas Kluth
2. AGAINST–Gray Davis
3. FOR–Sharon Waxman
4. AGAINST–Van Jones
5. FOR–Bobby Shriver
6. AGAINST–Lawrence O’Donnell

Here is the info from New York Times,

INTELLIGENCE SQUARED US Tuesday at 6:45 p.m., “California Is the First Failed State,” a debate on California’s financial problems. Those arguing in favor of the proposition are Andreas Kluth, a writer for The Economist; Robert Sargent Shriver III, a lawyer and member of the Santa Monica City Council; and Sharon Waxman ofTheWrap.com. Those arguing against it are Gray Davis, California governor from 1999 to 2003; Van Jones, a lawyer and environmental advocate; and Lawrence O’Donnell Jr., a writer and political analyst for MSNBC. The debate is the first in a spring series; a reception takes place at 5:45 p.m. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, 566 LaGuardia Place, at Washington Square South, Greenwich Village , (212) 303-4322,intelligencesquaredus.org; $35; $45 includes the reception.

Posted in Democracy, Economics, investment, people, politics, united states

After two previous unsuccessful attempts, this morning I finally got a chance to meet and chat with Mr. Paul Hinman, my Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Calgary-Glenmore, at his Calgary office. As expected, Paul was nice and easy to talk to (even I disagree with some of his views & approaches).

The first thing I bought up was the issue of whether Wildrose Alliance will receive official party status and be allowed a daily spot in the Question Period lineup when the Legislature starts on February 8? I am very adamant and think that Assembly Speaker Mr. Ken Kowalski really has no choice and should give Wildrose the official party status! Paul was more pragmatic and reminded me that it is still up to the Speaker.

I told Paul and promised again here: If the Speaker choose to use technicalities to play dirty party politics and ignore the precedence set by giving the 2-seat NDP party the official party status, then I will personally call Speaker Ken Kowalski’s office and complain as a Calgarian and Albertan. (see this detailed commentary about wildrose official party status at daveberta)

We also talked about my concern of Bill 44 (currently suspended for a year, I think) and I asked Paul to pay close attention to it when it come up for discussions again in the Legislature. I told Paul about my two encounters with Minister Lindsay Blackett re Bill 44 (where I interviewed him on camera) and my deep concerns with the bill tying the hands of teachers in classes.

Paul and I also talked about a few other issues including a chat about human caused environmental change (aka global warming) which Paul and I are in almost total disagreement.

Finally, I would like to say Paul is nice and very easy to talk to and other Calgarians in Calgary-Glenmore should feel free to arrange to meet Paul and tell him your concerns (constituency offices contact info).

Now, I want to make a general observation. It doesn’t matter whether you agree or disagree with your three levels of elected representatives (city, provincial,  and federal). Ask to meet them, talk to them, call them, email them, etc to tell them what you think about issues close to your hearts.

After all, these politicians work for us. And remember to vote in every single election because every vote is important!

Posted in Alberta, Calgary, Canada, people, politics

New development re Google.cn decision today,

1. U.S. to send formal message to China on Google case [reuters]
2. US to formally ask China for explanation on cyber-attacks [AFP]
3. To grow rich is [redacted] (The Economist]
4. U.S. Will Protest to China Over Google Cyber Attack [Bloomberg]

Posted in Business, Economics, ethics, Google, investment, Law, politics, united states, World, World Affairs

Here is an excerpt of what my blog friend Saatchi & Saatchi’s Kevin Roberts learned (emphasis added),

* Nine of the top 10 campaigns in the Won awards relied on direct consumer input and involvement. There is still a bit of life in “selling by yelling” – but the stretcher is on the field. Consumers won’t ever be passive recipients of broadcast messages ever again. Involvement and participation are vital. […]

* The blur between TV, Digital, Direct, PR, Media etc is now absolute. Winning ideas can be driven from any quarter. Game on for the creative departments in every “advertising agency”.

Check out Saatchi & Saatchi campaign of the year – T-Mobile’s flashmob dance “Life’s for Sharing” from our S&S’s London agency.

And this Gymkhana Two INFOMERCIAL (watched over 10 million times since Jun 2009) is just so cool. If all infomercial is this cool, I don’t mind watching them instead of some lame TV shows.

For fun, you can check out some more popular viral videos, commercials, games or user-generated videos here.

[HT Kevin]

Posted in advertising, Business, insightful, Love, Lovemarks, Marketing, social media, social network, united states, Video, World, YouTube

I wonder if citizens in each generation, in an inescapable and nostalgic moment, are bound to look back at previous generations with a sense of amazement and feeling of “wow, that was a much simpler time”?

I think it is interesting to compare and contrast the Americans in Louis Malle’s 1986 “And the Pursuit of Happiness” and the Americans in 2010.

Amazing film, beautifully made, very sweet at some moments. Highly recommended.

Posted in Democracy, Documentary, people, united states

For the record, I will list the China’s Foreign Ministry response to  David Drummond, Google Chief Legal Officer in Chinese and then English, both from Xinhua, the Chinese government officially approved, sanctioned, and mandated news source for all internal Chinese websites re the Google.cn decision (yes, it is illegal to quote or use any other news sources).

From 新华国际 “2010年01月14日 (外交部网站) 姜瑜就谷歌、海地地震、印度逮捕中国工程师等答问“,

问 [Question]：中国政府对谷歌公司宣布可能退出中国市场，不再和中国政府合作对网络内容进行审查有何回应？美国国务卿希拉里·克林顿要求中国对谷歌网络被攻击作出解释，中方对此有何回应？

答 [Answer]： 我想强调的是，中国的互联网是开放的，中国政府鼓励互联网的发展，努力为互联网的健康发展营造良好的环境。中国的法律禁止任何形式的黑客攻击行为。中国同其他国家一样，依法管理互联网，有关管理措施符合国际通行做法。我还想强调，中国欢迎国际互联网企业在中国依法开展业务。

关于第二个问题，如果美方联系中方，我们将向美方重申这一立场。

From Xinhua “China says its Web open, welcomes Int’l companies“,

China’s Internet is open and welcomes international companies, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday, just two days after Google issued a statement saying it might quit China.

Spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular news briefing that China encouraged development of the Internet.

“China’s Internet is open,” said Jiang. “China has tried creating a favorable environment for Internet,” said Jiang while responding to a question on Google’s possible retreat.

“China welcomes international Internet companies to conduct business within the country according to law,” she said. “China’s law prohibits cyber crimes including hacker attacks.”

Here is the thing, China’s constitution is supposed to guarantee freedom of speech too but that hasn’t exactly done Prof. Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波) any good, has it? A sentence of 11 years imprisonment right on Christmas 2009 for signing Charter 08 along a few hundred other Chinese intellectuals and human rights activists.

So the bottom line is that we will need to see what the discussion between Google and the Chinese government comes down to.

Now Google has made a strong stand, I hope Google will make the right decision to be transparent and make the right choice between “good” and “profit”.

See my Google.cn decision – part 1.

P.S. What the Chinese based companies are saying now have little creditability in my eyes as the only way for them to survive is to obey the Chinese government.

In fact, I will go one step further and treat all Chinese companies’ spokespeople and senior executives as mouthpieces of the Chinese government. I will be very surprised if they suddenly decided to grow some political spine right at the time when spinelessness is the best way to stay profitable in China and be friends of the Chinese government.

P.P.S. For the record from NYT “Follow the Law, China Tells Internet Companies” (emphasis added),

After a day of silence, the Foreign Ministry said that China welcomed foreign Internet companies but that those offering online services must do so “in accordance with the law.” Speaking at a scheduled news conference, Jiang Yu, a ministry spokeswoman, did not address Google’s complaints about censorship and cyberattacks and simply stated that “China’s Internet is open.”

The remarks, and those of another high-ranking official who called for even tighter Internet restrictions, may speed Google’s departure and increase friction between Beijing and the Obama administration, which has made priorities of Internet freedom and online security.

“The recent cyberintrusion that Google attributes to China is troubling, and the federal government is looking into it,” Nicholas Shapiro, a White House spokesman, said Wednesday. Beyond voicing concern, United States officials had yet to say how they might respond.

If the foreign ministry’s comments were vague, those of Wang Chen, the information director for the State Council, or cabinet, were more pointed.

In the transcript of an interview posted Thursday on the council’s Web site, Mr. Wang urged Internet companies to increase scrutiny of news or information that might threaten national stability and stressed the importance of “guiding” online public opinion.

Web sites in China are required to employ people who monitor and delete objectionable content; tens of thousands of others are paid to “guide” bulletin board Web exchanges in the government’s favor.

“China’s Internet is entering an important stage of development, confronting both rare opportunities and severe challenges,” Mr. Wang said. “Internet media must always make nurturing positive, progressive mainstream opinion an important duty.”

Despite what appeared to be an unsympathetic stance toward Google, some analysts and writers saw an opening for compromise. Zhao Jing, a journalist and blogger popularly known as Michael Anti, described the government’s initial response as having struck a balance between moderation and not wanting to appear too quiescent to its domestic audience.

He said Goggle’s stature and the United States’ increasingly vocal stance on Internet freedom could not easily be ignored. Google’s pulling out, he said, would “set a bad example for the business climate in China and make a joke of the government claims of a free Internet.”

Such optimism was hard to find in the state-run Chinese media. Those that even covered the attack in much detail portrayed Google’s move as a cynical attempt either to embarrass Beijing or to escape its business failings in China. Even the English-language China Daily, which provides foreign readers a reliably liberal selection of news, ran on its front page the headline “Google Pullout Threat ‘a Pressure Tactic.’ ”

Guo Liang, the director of the China Internet Project at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said he thought Google’s accusations were little more than public whining. “Google may use politics as its excuse, which is easy for Westerners to accept, but in essence this is just a business failure,” he said. [k-note: A well-known Chinese entrepreneur gave the business failure rationale too.] “If I were the government, I wouldn’t even bother to respond.”

Posted in blogging, China, Chinese, Democracy, digital democracy, ethics, Google, social media, social network, united states

See more Google China photos in this post compiled by Elliott. I have deepest admiration of the Chinese paying their respect at Google China HQ. Knowing they are watched and monitored by the Chinese government at Google HQ takes lot of courage.

Yes, there are reports that you now need permission from Chinese government to bring flowers to Google China HQ!

Posted in Google, Law, people, Photography, politics

Absolutely heartbreaking photos of Haiti earthquake from CBC and news from CBC (with video),

Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive told CNN Wednesday the death toll from the earthquake that rocked his country could be “well over 100,000.”

The 7-magnitude quake struck Tuesday afternoon, and has left Port-au-Prince, the capital city, in ruins.

No official casualty numbers have been released yet.

My heart goes out to the people of Haiti and Canadians with families, friends and loved ones in Haiti.

Posted in people, World, World Affairs

In light of the Google.cn decision, I am watching the following Apr 2009 Google Talk by Jeff Jarvis, author of “What Would Google Do?” and self-proclaimed Google fanboy, to see if I can gain some additional insights.

Interesting ideas at time codes: 21:40 and in particular at 23:38 where there is a discussion censoring results at Google.cn & Google not operating in China.

Posted in Google, Google Video, united states, Video, YouTube

I wasn’t going to comment, for lack of time, on the Leno/O’Brien fiasco (latest: Leno may follow O’Brien and leave NBC). But after commenting on insideCBC’s “The Perils of Messing with Viewing Habits“, I might as well use my comments there as a post.

***

Unlike “New Coke”, which is sugar water + ad campaign, the NBC fiasco involves people’s reputations and careers. I think, sadly, Leno’s reputation is now damaged. His show at the old time slot was cool with good ratings, then he had awful ratings at 10pm and became “uncool”. And I doubt viewers can easily forget how uncool he became at 10pm (catering to the 10pm audiences).

If I were a betting man, I will be betting my dollar on Leno not able to regain his former audience ratings whatever time slot he is placed. And the rotten situation O’Brien has to deal with now is very painful and likely irreversible until it is too late to do anything. This train wrecks are awful to watch but contains many “teachable moments” at the same time for people who care to think deeper. (note: feel free to share any “teachable insights” you have in the comment)

You probably don’t know, The Jay Leno show at 10pm is quite different from his old 11:35 show. So it is not just a time change. I can’t say for others, the 10pm show is more “dumbed down” and more lame. So it is the content he was forced to put up at 10pm to fit the 10pm demographics.

Re: CBC The National

How come I am NOT surprise at CBC senior execs and Peter M.’s surprises? The execs and Peter’s total disregard of viewers’ feelings and concerns and the “we don’t give a shit” mentality are the things that antagonize us the viewers.

P.S. On a personal note. I am happy to say I am well on my path to recovery from my addiction to CBC The National.
For the last few weeks, I have been able to schedule time in the middle of The National broadcast to watch other shows and videos on the internet. There are, NOT surprisingly, many good things to watch out there.

I still watch the first few minutes of The National so I know what CBC is putting as headlines (to balance any CTV bias). If there are important or interesting news I want to know more, I will watch a few more minutes of The National. If not, I will just wait to watch the full half hour CTV News with Lloyd Robertson.

Having been addicted to The National for so many years, I am glad to say it isn’t that hard to kick the habit.

Posted in Business, ethics, Television

I blogged yesterday “Google attacked and likely to exit China” and “Flowers for Google.cn“. I will try to write some more when I can find some quiet time to write. In the mean time, Jeff Jarvis has an insightful post “What Google should do” on this Google.cn decision. It is a great read. Here is one excerpt (with emphasis added),

“I know some will say that Google wasn’t doing that well in China anyway (it controls 31% of the market); they’ll ascribe cynical motives. But I say: Name one other company that finally said “enough!” and put ethic, morals, and company standards over its lust for the Chinese market. Not Yahoo. Not Cisco. Not Nokia. Not Siemens. Not The New York Times Company. Google has.“

Have a read of the Atlantic writer James Fallows’ article “The Google news: China enters its Bush-Cheney era” for some insightful analysis and discussions. After reading Jeff’s articles, I don’t know if The Economist’s “Google errs – Google’s plan to withdraw from China may be as much about poor business prospects as ethics” has much leg room to stand on. See also BBC “Chinese surprise at Google pull-out threat” (note: I am not surprised at Baidu’s responses which, in cases like this, I see as another mouthpiece for the Chinese government. Think, what can a Chinese company do? Even Google has to be clear that its Chinese employees are NOT involved in this decision!!!).

And I plan to watch Jeff’s Apr 2009 talk (YouTube) at Google’s offices in Washington later when I find some time.

Again, I will try to share more of my thoughts when I can find some quiet time to write.

Posted in Business, China, Democracy, digital democracy, Digital-Revolution, Economics, Google, Law, media, people, social media, social network, Video, YouTube