My investment management professor shared to class of this interesting thing called pollution futures. It turns out that in some places, there’s a limit on the amount of pollution you can spew into the air, water, and land. Companies can buy rights to certain amounts, but some may need to pollute more than projected and some may need more. What they do is to buy rights from those who don’t need it. In effect the right to pollute becomes a commodity which can be traded and speculated on. If that can be done with pollution, it can be done with just about anything. It’s almost like gambling where you can bet on anything, and in some ways it probably is. Aren’t financial markets great? :)
Just got some interesting old movies:
- A Clockwork Orange
- City of God
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- Insomnia
- Nightmare Before Christmas – will probably save this for watching before Christmas :))
- Requiem for a Dream
- The Big White
I’ll be watching them in the next few days, schedule permitting! :D
Just came back from the range. Bishop, Spook, Dervish, and I went to this shop and range owned by Bishop’s friend. It was a totally nondescript taho factory but once the guard let us through the gate we were greeted with the sight of a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII(?), a Toyota Supra, a Porsche, an Escalade, and some others sitting in a [also] nondescript garage. Bishop’s friend still wasn’t there so we waited for a bit. After a while he drove in on a Mercedes-Benz. The guy sure has the right interests :)
After some introductions he led us up some stairs and through some corridors and then into the shop which was cluttered with shorts and longs in various stages of assembly or disassembly. The right interests? Hell yeah! After a lengthy chit-chat, we proceeded to the indoor range where we all got to try an extremely shortened M16 (Infant), a full-length M16 with RAS, a suppressed M-16 also with RAS, a Benelli M3 Super 90 with a folding stock, an HK MP5A5, a suppressed Beretta 21 Bobcat, a suppressed Walther P22, and a Glock 19.
It was fun but I’ve realized all this trying out all sorts of shorts and longs won’t do me any good and I need to practice and hone my skills with a short of choice. Spook said we might be able to schedule a visit to a club next week, become a member, and practice more systematically. Finally! :)
Mulholland Drive is one long drive full of twist and turns that become more and more bizarre as the movie hits the second part. The first part is actually pretty interesting. A woman escaped assassination because of a car accident. But in the process, she also lost her memory. Now it is up to her and her newly-made friend, an aspiring actress, to find out who she really is. It has shades of L.A. Confidential: something’s afoot in tinseltown. But there are also shades of Donnie Darko: strange scenes hinting that things are not as they seem, perhaps a dream or something. However, thing’s got really messy and confusing in the second part. It became a mescaline trip reminiscent of a much milder second half of 2001: A Space Odyssey (now that is one mescaline trip). At least in Donnie Darko, things gets tied together at the end, here it just gets an ending of sorts. I’d rate it two stars, but I’ll add an extra star for the scenes of the women leads making out :P
Rating: 3/5
Well looks like the police are doing something about the carjacking problem that has been plaguing Quezon City the past few months. Or at least trying to appear like they’re doing something about it. Police officials had been on the news admitting belatedly the problem and talking about doing something about it. More recently, they chased three alleged carjackers riding a red Nissan Sentra, cornered it, raked the car with gunfire in a supposed gunfight, and finally made sure everyone was dead. It was all in the news because a TV crew was able to record the incident. Then there was tonight.
A few moments ago, my sister and I were on the way home from Fort Bonifacio visiting relatives. As I sped [at a bit over the speed limit] along that drag racing strip between EDSA and White Plains Road, I spotted a police FX, so I immediately slowed down. Besides, I was about to make the turn towards White Plains road. As I made the turn, the cops inside the police FX started spotlighting me. I thought it was just a cursory check (Are they singling out Nissan Sentras?) so I went on and started to accelerate. But they kept spotlighting me from behind and then drew up alongside and flagged me down.
I stopped, they stopped in front of me, and two cops alighted. One was carrying an M16 (Do I look too much of a threat?). One went up to the window, the other one slightly behind him. To be fair they were polite. Said it’s a cursory check. Was about to let me go when as an afterthought, he asked for my license. I gave it to him. He then asked for my firearms license. I didn’t realize I was still carrying my license from long time ago at Malabon range so I said I didn’t have one. But he insisted. Apparently he glimpsed it from inside my wallet (Note to self: leave it at home next time).
Anyway, I realized what happened and I again opened my wallet and gave the license to him. He commented to his colleague “Glock pa to, oh.”, and then they did a more thorough check. From what I know they’re just supposed to look but not touch. But I thought I’d take the path of least resistance and cooperate so I just let them look under the seats and in the glove compartment (but they didn’t ask for the trunk to be opened). While poking around, they were asking if I have a gun with me. And I kept telling them that I don’t, I have no PTC, etc. And while this was happening my concern was what if they palmed a sachet of shabu and planted it under the seat as they were searching. Damn, was I nervous.
Suddenly, the cop looking under my seat said “Ano to?!?” My heart skipped a beat and I thought “He planted something!!!”. I was really relieved when it turned out to be my umbrella. Whew! After a few seconds, they stopped, returned my licenses, apologized for the inconvenience (to which I good naturedly said “No problem. You’re just doing your jobs.” :P), and let my sister and I go on our merry way home.
Wonder what would have happened if I had unwittingly ignored their spotlighting me and sped on as I usually do on that road. Would they have chased me? What if I they were in an unmarked vehicle and in plainclothes? Should I stop? What if I had packed my piece? What if they had planted drugs? All those things are passing through my head after the incident. Darn! What a night!