Wow, watching Sky and CNN, just look at all those job losses happening in the US and UK and Ireland..... from cars to pc manufacturing..... nobody is gonna be buying our diamonds 2 soon!
msn emoticon (68)
1900 jobs announced today to go in Dell; that's on top of Waterford crystal being in talks and Tara mines being in negotiations - tough times ahead...
Our work still seems there .. its commodity packaging ... for clothing ... fresh foods .. beverage shrinkpack ala Savannah ,hunters etc , Diapers , toilet tissue , fempro .. we anticipating a slowdown .. but yes people may cut back on the clothing .. but they still got to eat .. and then wipe their arse , and baby use disposable nappies . and women will still need sanitary towels .. what may hit us is people turning away from disposable nappies which carry a hefty price and also for eco reasons in favour of fabric with liners to make it less Uugh ! .. and yes the price wars will start up again .. also simplification of designs and not renewing artwork every few months just to have nice glossy packaging on the shelf .. news is our one major customer will be holding back on " launches" which is actually just a costly excercise in new artwork plates etc encouraged by the " marketers" in order to justify their existence .. so their marketing depts will be slow and possibly jobs shed .. the platemakers will lose out .. kind of a domino effect ... for us its going to be the price war that we gonna have to face .. there are companies belonging to big groups that will go suicidal pricing just to
" capture ' market share ...in the interim buggering up fair value pricing practices .. its going to be an interesting ride ...
Seems quite a few people, particularly from outside SA shores, are taking the opportunity to use their redundancy packages to study for an MBA (not fact; my assumption). Our classes at the Grad School are chock-a-block for this year! An optimistic note maybe that MBAs are expecting an upswing and large salary packages post recession in their countries and here?
Watch it Sandyb - I'm one of those marketers "justifying their existence"! image19 :nono1: image201
If so many millions an billions have been lost, Where'd they go to?? baby arse
Up-out
I think "Mars Attack" only shows a partiual truth. In real, there's no happy ending... oh yes, of course... For the Marsions there is. They've been running several governments throughout the world. George, Bob.... And several componies...
I'm sure they've transformed the Wallstreet Dollars into some kind of Marsian currency and are having big parties up there. And we're just their "Trumann Show"... image201
I second you on that one Jnr .. in this crazy world we live in its very believable ...
Oops here come the men in white coats .. gotta run ..
Bye Bye ...
@ Cherry there are marketers and marketeers ,,,, ape
Georg the billions went into the pockets of greedy American bankers when they started lending money to Americans who could not afford their bond payments in the first place, i.e the subprime debacle. House prices did not increase as the bankers hoped, the owners defaulted and the whole pack of cards came crashing down and the entire world is reeling under the ripple effect.
Demand for gold, platinum, diamonds, cars, you name has dropped radically.
The US is currently voting on a bailout package for GM. Chrysler and Ford. Toyota are also cutting back production in Japan.
@ Leon I have inside information ( the buzzing voices in my head ) the Greedy american bankers are indeed Martians ..
Oops got to run .. here come the men in white suits again ...
Back to serious.
What I was trying to say is, there's never been the amount of money around as made believe. It's all just on paper. As soon as prices go down people are broke...
Aaw you spoiling my fun Georg ... cuqui ..
NOW SERIOUSLY .. Actually too true Jnr .. all the money is just on paper .. all currency should be underpinned by something like gold ... not empty promises ...
But what is life without belief??? ape
actually many years ago currencies of all countries were based on a commodity such as gold or silver or something else durable with value. This was referred to as the gold standard. Then some US wiseasses decided that this system was too rigid and abandoned the gold standard and basically all countries followed suit. Countries could now simply print more money when they needed it (Zimbabwe is a good example)and the consumer could spend more and more worthless paper money. The only value that any currency has these days is based entirely on the confidence of outside investors in that currency.
And as in the case of the good old US of A .. oil is pegged to the dollar ... methinks they have enough evil sway to manipulate the oil price to benefit themselves and those in cahoots with them ... take the recent meteoric rise up to 140 dollrs/ barrel ... who profited ?? then to swing it down again .. the in cahoots have got their fat profit so they can run lean for a while .. the lower price now allows the american economy a breather to try recover from the mess the martians made ... simple thing .. if every country did not catch a cold when america sneezes .. ?? what will become of that " mighty " country ??
Mmm see you online Jnr ... what is life without belief ?/ too true ... which belief ... In onelself ? In a creator or God ? that everything will come right cos it always runs in cycles ?? or ?? one thing I certainly dont believe in the "mighty " dollar .... its a mess and makes a mess of everything ...
I forsaw this happening and have built up fat reserves for the lean times.
I mean any belief Sandy.
I don't think it makes a difference in what you believe. BElief keeps us going. There's no sence in making preferences, because you crazy people worshipping the mighty dollar as well as those worshiping any god.
It's just a matter of being on your way and keeping a clear head.
Dear Georg ... you get so serious at times .. good for you .. yes belief is important .. and yes any belief more so .. just tinged with realism .. and then all is Ok ... so now tell me more about the martians ? .. I liked that one and yes as you observe like playing with the theme ...
hahaha
Don't you know the movie "Mars Attacs". Or is the origanal title different to the German one?
What about " war of the worlds " cat3 goodnight you ...
Quote from: Diana Rudd (Boehme) on January 09, 2009, 08:44:48 PM
I forsaw this happening and have built up fat reserves for the lean times.
Yes, We can see those Fat reserves in your photo!
feedme
Just think how good WE going to look Michael when everybody else is all skeletel(sp). cowgirl
Hey you guys can sell some of your reserves ... cat3
I tried that line on my comedian boet, Paul, saying that us plumper people would survive the end of days famine.... he just replied.... Nope! don't think so, all us skinny people would just eat you fat folk!
:wow1:
cowgirl feedme
ha ha
Oi what you munching away at Boy Georg......not sure.... but I think you were also smart and built up reserves like Michael and me. 202
We'll just have to cover ourselves in cod liver oil so we won't be eaten. cat3
Maybe with the cod liver oils and a bit of salt and pepper we will even taste nicer?
23_11_61
Quote from: Diana Rudd (Boehme) on January 10, 2009, 11:31:09 AM
Oi what you munching away at Boy Georg......not sure.... but I think you were also smart and built up reserves like Michael and me. 202
We'll just have to cover ourselves in cod liver oil so we won't be eaten. cat3
WEll, I put all around my belly... Won't starve... ha ha
GOT THIS IN THE MAIL TODAY .. INTERESTING AND FUNNY READING BUT YES THOUGHT PROVOKING .. MUST BE BASED ON SOME FACT AS THE AMERICAN AUTO MANUFACTURERS ARE IN SHYT .. ENJOY ... cat3
Subject: Ford & Toyota
A Japanese company ( Toyota ) and an American company (Ford Motors) decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race.
On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.
The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action.
Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person steering, while the American team had 7 people steering and 2 people rowing.
Feeling a deeper study was in order; American management hired a consulting company and paid them a large amount of money for a second opinion.
They advised, of course, that too many people were steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing.
Not sure of how to utilize that information, but wanting to prevent another loss to the Japanese, the rowing team's management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 2 area steering superintendents and 1 assistant superintendent steering manager.
They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 2 people rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the 'Rowing Team Quality First Program,' with meetings, dinners and free pens for the rowers. There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes and other equipment, extra vacation days for practices and bonuses. The pension program was trimmed to 'equal the competition' and some of the resultant savings were channeled into morale boosting programs and teamwork posters.
The next year the Japanese won by two miles.
Humiliated, the American management laid-off one rower, halted development of a new canoe, sold all the paddles, and canceled all capital investments for new equipment. The money saved was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses.
The next year, try as he might, the lone designated rower was unable to even finish the race (having no paddles,) so he was laid off for unacceptable performance, all canoe equipment was sold and the next year's racing team was out-sourced to India .
Sadly, the End.
Here's something else to think about: Ford has spent the last thirty years moving all its factories out of the US, claiming they can't make money paying American wages.
TOYOTA has spent the last thirty years building more than a dozen plants inside the US . The last quarter's results:
TOYOTA makes 4 billion in profits while Ford racked up 9 billion in losses.
Ford folks are still scratching their heads, and collecting bonuses.
IF THIS WEREN'T SO TRUE IT MIGHT BE FUNNY
SPot On Sandy!, too true! :ciupa1:
............a sad end to the all American dream.... image031
Leon ... More so an illness called CORPORATE FOLLY .. it occurs here as well ... one of our big " opposition" companies that has been on the ' aquisition trail " for a number of years ... all they did was repeat the mistake of our previous holding company in the 80's before we did management buyout .. aquire .. aquire ... destroy the culture of innovative and profitable companies by enforcing head office policy and leeching off them giving them through "management fee" nice ivory towers and porsches .. those assholes in the ivory towers get away with their flawed business plans by blaming , retrenching . ' consolidating their folly " smoke and mirrors accounting etc ... been there , seen it all , got all the t shirts , needle marks etc .. anyhow that companies ' esteemed head honcho the man of " aquisition " was suddenly found out when no amount of smoke and mirrors could cover his folly and justifiably the shareholders were angry ... he got a glossy farewell in most packaging media .. he should have got a dunce cap and a public lambasting for not learning from history ... PRICK !! cos in the process he wasted Millions of rands and in the process messed up the market by doing breakneck pricing as well .. HELOOO how can you ahve huge capital expenditure and do cut throat pricing ???? DuuuH ?? !!
My one moment in the 80's was our one highly esteemed head office albatross flew down .. and yes theres me in my dept ... unfortunatley for him i was babelaas , troubled and ratty that morning ... I was troubled at what i saw on incoming orders .. me no accounting wizz .. but i knew raw material prices etc .. simple calculation gave me amount of RM to do job .. and when i saw selling price .. it in no way even covered RM price .. of course this pricing was dictated by head office ... our sales teams would get huge rah Rah for meeting sales targets by filling the plant with totally worthless jobs .. filling capacity to the extent that overtime costs were incurred as well ??? more costs to add to the loss ... SALES TEAMS would compliment of head office get trips to Monaco etc ... and us poor assholes in manufacturing would be told " theres a loss ,, sharpen your pencils "" an expression i got to hate ... how the f... do you sharpen a pencil when ther is nothing left ...
Anyow .. Mr whizzkid Morphett encouters me in my not so good state of mind ... " morning Sandy .. yada yada usual politeness and then says that we must sharpen our pencils !!! I flipped and told him to f... off and not insult my intelligence as i with simple calculation knew they were driving us into the ground with pricing and fill the plant with work policy .. .. he was furious " how can you say that to me ( i am after all supreme being in the group ) ha ha .. told him again what i had observed and yes that he could fire me for all i cared .. deep down he knew the truth that i had spoken to him as he just stormed off ... i never got fired , but neither did i get an invitiation letter to join the group when they wanted to close us down and sell us as nuts and bolts , in essence destroying another business that they had mismanaged so well ///
you see it all the time with corporates .. ... golden handshakes for underperforming ??? Huh !! sue the buggers ... make them so accountable ... nah ! they still get away with it ... image21
We were astonished to see on SKY news that some UK, I think Man City, football team offered the largest transfer fee for a player..... wait for it..... in this dire financial times when thousands are losing their jobs.... 100 million pounds.... Am I wrong in thinking that this is more than R 1,5 billion rand (100 million times roughly 15 AT current exchange rates)
This is ridiculous and nobody in the UK even batters an eyelid, coz i'ts football......
23_146_26
My precise sentiment ... totally over rated ... sport .. the money ... sponsorship ... products that we pay for add to this ' fund ' ... banks .. they sponsor too .. our money .. spectators .. that pay thorough their eye teeth ... in SA .. Billions of tax rands wasted on stadiums that may stand unused afterwards .. money that could have been better spent on health care and education and taking care of the elderly and vulnerable ... but then thats the face of society .. temporal .. for the moment ... not that I dont believe in being in the moment ... and yes at times living for the moment ... i think i am living proof and a survivor of that hey ?? anyhow for the brief month or so of FIFA taking over our country and their fat bloated administrators taking their fat fees ??? i agree with mayor Zille when she told them not to try hold CT to ransom ... theres a meltdown and yet there are people whose only current talent is a skill with a ball being offered totally outrageous salaries .. what happens to so many of them .. Poor buggers burn out .... sure in the old days .. when sportsmen and women were not ostensibly " professional ' there were the silent kickbacks and yes they were subtly and quietly taken care of ... now its just so mercenary its actually frightening ... cuqui piss on their parade thats my sentiment ... F....K FIFA ... we have this monstrosity of a stadium that despite ow much artistic licence will be an awful looking monstrosity on our cities face ... its damm huge and yes will be an eyesore and a reminder of foll y ...
....took a walk with missis and doggie on Blaauberg beach a few Sundays ago and were amazed/shocked at how flipping huge the stadium is looking from Blaauberg.....
The whole issue about the stadiums really is that a few fatcats are going to make obscene amounts of money at the expence of the taxpayer and these fatcats don't give a damn about the aftermath and costs of the stadiums post FIFA......simply all about greed.
Back to the references ( and not good ones ) to the bankers being part of the root cause of this economic meltdown thats gonna impact on so many innocents .. in America a dog breeder caught shooting his " stock " cos theres sunddenly no demand for pets .. ?? here another piece of junkmail I got .. now they in economic meltdown and this sort of offer is allowed to circulate .. well if Mr Obama wants to save America he better bring in a NCA and quick ...
Further how are they to encourage saving when interest is at 0 % to 1 % ?? so ??
A good quote from an article I read on baby boomers Gen X and Gen Y .. the differences in consumption , savings etc ..
Heres the quote ...
" Now more than ever we must learn that there are no 'musts' in life . There are merely choices and consequences . "
Quote from: Leon Sumter on January 15, 2009, 08:15:05 PM
....took a walk with missis and doggie on Blaauberg beach a few Sundays ago and were amazed/shocked at how flipping huge the stadium is looking from Blaauberg.....
The whole issue about the stadiums really is that a few fatcats are going to make obscene amounts of money at the expence of the taxpayer and these fatcats don't give a damn about the aftermath and costs of the stadiums post FIFA......simply all about greed.
bar(1) Money makes the world go round, the world go round... banjo
The same anywhere you go.