I was sitting on the sofa practicing the first few notes of Spanish Romance on the guitar when I noticed Jeanne, who was with Michelle at the dining table, looking at me. Then suddenly she started clapping! Beat that Justin Bieber!
Read an article in Time about the book Stalling For Time. The book was written by Gary Noesner, an FBI hostage negotiator for almost 30 years. In the article, he was asked about the recent tourist bus hostage-taking disaster. Part of what he said:
“I would have thought there would have been a lot of opportunity to pursue meaningful negotiations with this guy.”
That’s what happened with Mendoza. Instead of meaningful negotiations and defusing the tension, people were bullshitting him and practically pressuring him even more. He was aggravated to the point of snapping. If not by the so-called hostage negotiators then by the reporters or the other people who were allowed to talk to him directly.
If you are handling a ticking bomb, wouldn’t you be careful and handle it gingerly? If If you are dealing with someone crazy, unhinged, or downright psychotic, wouldn’t you be careful not to aggravate that person? If you don’t, you are practically asking for it.
The result was deadly. Too bad nobody had read Noesner’s book back then.
DigiTel, who owns Sun Cellular, seems to be a gaining a lot of interest. P/E at 40.5 is quite high compared to its competitors Globe at 9.4 and PLDT (who owns Smart) at 12.6. Apparently, quite a few people believe that the company is worth a lot.
But one thing that’s holding others back, is that DigiTel has loads of debt. Debt can actually be good especially if you’re setting up infrastructure which takes time to mature and start earning. Allow me to illustrate:
- DGTL has 87B in assets mainly in infrastructure. Say D is 85.5B, E is 1.5B, D/E is 57. If income is 145M, ROA is 0.17%, ROE is 9.67%.
- Now if say D and E is evenly 43.5B each and income is 145M, ROA is still 0.17%, but ROE is a dismal 0.33%.
Remembering that your share of stock is equity, which would you rather have?
Another thing is if DGTL goes belly up, how much do stockholders lose? Is it better to lose 1.5B vs 43.5B? I guess that sufficiently settles it: Debt can actually be good.
A high D/E does seems alarming, but does it look like DGTL is alarmed? Are creditors and suppliers alarmed? Or are there still creditors and suppliers willing to lend and sell? Maybe someone can tell me.
First, I have to say you can’t help but admire Nandy Pacheco. He is a crusader with a vision: that of a gunless society. And he has been tirelessly pursuing the realization of that vision. More recently, he was involved in the filing of a bill restricting guns.
But if you study the subject even for just a little bit, you realize that firearms are already heavily restricted:
- Firearms are defined as “rifles, muskets, carbines, shotguns, revolvers, pistols and all other deadly weapons from which a bullet, ball, shot, shell or other missile may be discharged by means of gunpowder or other explosives”. Even though they are not propelled by gunpowder or explosives, airguns are covered. Even the barrel of any firearm as defined is already considered a firearm.
- Civilians can legally own only one pistol up to 9mm.
- Civilians can legally own only one rifle of up to .22 caliber only or one shotgun of up to 12 gauge.
- Civilians cannot own automatic fire or burst fire firearms.
- Anyone who has a firearm has to have regularly renewed firearms license. Getting a license requires gun handling training, psychological exams, and criminal record checks.
- A civilian cannot bring his firearm outside of his residence unless he has an annually applied-for Permit To Carry Firearm Outside Residence (PTCFOR). This permit is not applicable when there is a gun ban such as during the numerous election periods.
And yet, Nandy Pacheco keeps harping about the lack of laws and highlighting the millions of illegal or loose firearms. Quite clearly, they are called illegal because they are already in non-compliance of the law so how can more laws help? Make it more illegal?
What we actually need is more and genuine enforcement, as with every other law in this country.
bullet, ball, shot, shell or other missile may be discharged by means of gunpowder or other explosivesRead more at Suite101: Law on Firearms in the Philippines http://www.suite101.com/content/law-on-firearms-in-the-philippines-a245876#ixzz11LT2VScf
Since I’ve been thinking of a new car, I thought I’d compare them. They have to have a 2.0L engine just because it’s a nice balance between fuel economy and power. Plus it’s 2.0 is a nice round number compared to 1.8, 1.6, and 1.5. They also has to be reasonably priced.
That still leaves quite a few options: the Ford Focus, the Mitsubishi Lancer EX, the Subaru Impreza, the Honda Civic, and the Toyota Altis. The list needs to be trimmed down to two (nice round number).
The Ford Focus, the Mitsubishi Lancer EX, and the Subaru Impreza are interesting to me because they’re domesticated versions of monster rallying cars. They’re the poor man’s rally machines. The Honda Civic and the Toyota Altis don’t have such heritage and are just too dime-a-dozen to boot so they’re out.
The top-of-the-line Ford Focus has an awesome 2.0L diesel engine and a PowerShift dual-clutch transmission. However, even with the face lift, the current look just doesn’t appeal to me at all. The 2011 model does look good but it’s still not here or even out. Plus, it’s a bit bare in terms of features.
It therefore boils down to The Mitsubishi Lancer EX GT-A and the Subaru Impreza 2.0R Sport. The tale of the tape:
| Mitsubishi Lancer EX GT-A | Subaru Impreza 2.0R Sport |
|
| Mitsubishi | Manufacturer | Subaru |
| Philippines | Country Manufactured | Japan |
| 2.0L DOHC Inline 4 | Engine | 2.0L DOHC Boxer 4 |
| 155hp | HP | 148hp |
| 199Nm | Torque | 196Nm |
| FWD | Drive Layout | AWD |
| INVECS-III CVT 6-speed Sportronic | Transmission | ProDrive SportShift E-4AT |
| Vented disc/solid disc | Brakes (front/rear) | Vented disc/solid disc |
| Ind. MacPherson/Ind. Double Wishbone | Suspension (front/rear) | Ind. MacPherson/Ind. Double Wishbone |
| 18” | Wheels | 16” |
| 215/45/R18 | Tires | 205/55/R16 |
| Yes | Paddle Shifters | No |
| Yes | Keyless Entry | Yes |
| Yes | Start Button | No |
| 5 | Seats | 5 |
| Fabric | Seat Material | Fabric |
| Projector HID | Headlights | Projector HID |
| No | Headlight Washer | Yes |
| Yes | Adaptive Headlights | No |
| Yes | Auto Lighting | No |
| Yes | Auto Wiper | No |
| 7 | Airbags | 6 |
It seems that, based on the specifications, the clear winner is the Lancer EX GT-A. But how do these two drive? Unfortunately, I haven’t’ drove them. Is it time for a test drive? Hmmmm.