Ramsnake

The Final Post!

noreply@blogger.com (ramsnake) — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 23:21:00 +0000

This blog has come to the end of it's useful life.

I started it way back in December of 2006 as my first foray in to the world of blogging.

It has never been a single subject blog, as so many our, but a snapshot of whatever interested me and what I felt I needed to tell about my own life.

I have split alot of posts out of this blog to my other single subject blogs and I will continue to create single subject blogs from now on.

So, thanks for dropping by. I really appreciated that you might have had an interest.

Goodbye!

A new arrival!

noreply@blogger.com (ramsnake) — Mon, 31 May 2010 04:27:00 +0000

Now somewhat of a collector's item, this 8" yellow popple from 1986 made by Mattel, was purchased on eBay for $20 US.
It is especially for Hamish to replace the one he has had for 6 years, previously owned by step-daughter Amba, that is now almost destroyed and often very smelly.

He's back!

noreply@blogger.com (ramsnake) — Tue, 25 May 2010 22:43:00 +0000

Ken Robinson was the first presenter from TED that I ever watched and has had me hooked on TED since. Here he is again 4 years later and as informative and amusing as ever.

Visit the Hema Department Store!

noreply@blogger.com (ramsnake) — Thu, 20 May 2010 23:55:00 +0000

Click the image to enter and wait patiently for a little entertainment!

Beautiful wheels!

noreply@blogger.com (ramsnake) — Mon, 17 May 2010 01:03:00 +0000

Yesterday during my fortnightly visit to the old home town, I happened to park opposite a display in the central park, the local vintage vehicle club, had prepared of their beautifully restored cars and motorbikes.

I spied a rare 250cc BMW single so I had to go and investigate further.

Surely the original 750 Ducati has to be one of the most beautiful bikes ever created. I had one on order for a while before changing my mind and purchasing a BMW instead hence my lifelong appreciation of the marque.

I discovered a 1959 S1 Bentley, similar to the one my Dad owned and which was his pride and joy for many years. My father's was built in 1957 and was two tone brown rather than green. He had it shipped down from Singapore when he and Mum moved to Perth and I believe that it now resides at one of the resorts in Margaret River.

This has to be the cutest. A tiny Austin 7 of some type and so skinny it can barely fit two people side by side.

This is a Cadillac and those big curvy bumpers are just beautiful! A seriously spic looking car!

The most beautifully restored and likely the oldest of the bunch was this Mills & Wares delivery van. Such an iconic brand here in Australia!

And here for your further pleasure......................

noreply@blogger.com (ramsnake) — Fri, 14 May 2010 00:02:00 +0000

....a journey to infinity using the original 2D Mandelbrot, the predecessor of the 3D Mandelbulb!

Fractals?

noreply@blogger.com (ramsnake) — Thu, 13 May 2010 23:51:00 +0000

Maths was never my strong suit so I don't really understand at all, but hypercomplex fractals produce these amazing images and this link provides more detail for you to explore if you are interested.

Looping video on an iPhone

noreply@blogger.com (ramsnake) — Thu, 06 May 2010 01:22:00 +0000

An artist acquaintance of mine has just emailed me to find out if there is a mobile phone that will loop video for a work she has in mind.

Being an iPhone user, I thought easy, there must be an app for that.

Uh no in fact there were lots of developers trying to get one up and running but without much success.

Slightly miffed, I drafted a negative reply to send back but something stopped me from doing so as I was sure there had to be a solution out there somewhere.

I navigated to the next page of Google results and "Bingo" there it was and so, so simple!

"Simply select the On-The-Go playlist, and then navigate to the video you want to loop. Select and hit “Done”. Then when playing the playlist, make sure it is set to repeat.

Then you can use Apple’s video out cables to drive a kiosk or display, or just keep your kids entertained with repeating videos. You can of course add more than one video to the playlist, and can even set those to shuffle during playback."

So, it was out with my iPhone to test the solution and it worked perfectly.

Many thanks to Scott Link

An alternative to the existing free market economy?

noreply@blogger.com (ramsnake) — Wed, 05 May 2010 22:51:00 +0000

For sometime now I have been listening to the protests and complaints from many about the way our world works economically. I agree it is not looking very secure but it is all very well complaining but nobody is coming up with an alternative. Not surprising really as a previous effort to Google for an alternative failed! However, today following a breakfast conversation with my beloved, I decided to have another go and bingo I did find an unexpected alternative.

Islam!

For a quick overview check out this link otherwise read with interest what lies below.

The current financial crisis has seriously eroded confidence the Western world had in the suitability of the free market. However the Western world when looking at alternatives only see remnants of Socialism or some state intervention in economy as feasible and workable systems. It is also this reason that allowes free market ideologues to continue citing more regulation, transparency i.e. more capitalism with some tinkering as solutions. This crisis represents an opportunity for all Muslims to present the Islamic alternative. It is important to show Islamic economics as much more then Islamic finance and Banking. This is exactly what Adnan Ahmed Yousif, CEO of the Bahraini-based Albaraka Banking Group and chair of the Union of Arab Banks outlined in an interviewwith the Middle East's Asharq Al-Awsat when asked about the global financial crisis: ‘The success of Islamic banking will lead to serious consideration of Islamic economics, which continues to realize numerous achievements, as a viable alternative to the current global economic system which continues to be hit by these crises.' With this in mind the following points should be borne in mind and when presenting Islam:-

The Islamic economy follows a philosophy which is very different to Capitalism, as a result the end objectives both economies attempt to achieve, widely differ and thus it would be invalid to measure one against the other as they both have different foundations and aims. Islam has detailed laws on the distribution of wealth and this is its ultimate aim with the economy - to ensure wealth circulates around the economy so all can share in the wealth that is generated.

Because all economic systems aim to address the same issues, there are many peripheral similarities between Islam and the free market. At a doctrinal level however Islam and Capitalism are two distinct systems. The Islamic economic system is fundamentally about people and their needs, this is the fundamental principal the Islamic economy is built around. In a narration from the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم it was said that: "The son of Adam has no better right than that he would have a house wherein he may live and a piece of cloth whereby he may hide his nakedness and a piece of bread and some water." (Tirmidhi). The Islamic economy is geared towards fulfilling the basic needs of its citizens and these in origin were defined as food, clothing and accommodation. This forms the basis of the Economic system of Islam, all policies and rules are geared towards achieving such ends. Islam focuses on the needs of the people which the hadith outlined and not merely increasing Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Islam does not view the human as an economic unit and then look to find the most economically viable solution thus viewing all problems, whether from marriage to pensions to drugs to education, from the angle of the economic effect and cost. Neither does Islam view the human the way the Communists did which is that people are simply matter, just one aspect of nature, nothing more. Islam views the human as being composed of organic needs as well as instincts, all of which requires answers on how to satisfy them. So Islam organised these instincts and needs in a way that ensures the satisfaction of them all, such as the need to eat and the need to reproduce and others. However, this organisation is not arranged in Islam by satisfying some of them at the expense of the others, nor by suppressing some of them, setting others loose, or setting all of them loose. Instead, Islam has co-ordinated the satisfaction of all of them in a way to ensure comfort, preventing conflicts and a lapse to a primitive level through the anarchism of instincts.
Through its own economic system, Islam laid down rules for the means to acquire wealth and commodities, how they can be utilised and their manner of disposal. It certainly did not make freedom of ownership the basis of the economic system or even the socialist principal of ‘from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs'. It did not define the basic problem as ‘unlimited wants, limited resources'. Islam views the resources to be ample enough to completely satisfy the basic needs of all. Therefore, amongst a host of other detailed rules, one will find the Shari'ah aims to secure the satisfaction of all basic needs (food, clothing and housing) completely for every citizen of the Khilafah State.

In order to facilitate the acquisition of goods and services Islam put forward rules related to the manner of possessing wealth without any complications. Islam defined the legal means of ownership, and it defined the contracts through which possession can take place. This left humanity free to develop the styles and means by which they earn, as Islam did not interfere in the production of wealth.

The Islamic economic system has extensive rules for ownership and disposal of citizen's wealth and assets. Beyond this Islam recognises a sphere of the economy as the economic science i.e. through study and research a solution can be derived. Hence how to develop and economy or to industrialise, where the factories and the supply lines should be, how the steel and iron mills should be constructed fall under this category, however what is produced and how it is distributed falls under the ‘system' for which Islam has extensive rules.

The Islamic economy is based upon wealth generation where participants partake in investment, employment and trade in the real economy. Islam does not have a dual economy where the real economy operates alongside a financial sector. The Islamic economy focuses all participants on the real economy, through employment, company profits, utilisation of land (agriculture) and manufacturing, wealth is generated in only one sector. This brings the huge benefit of wealth only circulating in one sector - the real economy, where all can participate. Derivatives would be withdrawn as this type of contract is not trade in real goods; rather it is betting on the price movements of a commodity and one must posses what they sell in Islam.

The Islamic system does not recognise the financial markets in their current form. One is able to purchase shares and transfer them without actually partaking in the running of the underlying company that the shares are meant to represent. In Islam ownership is a direct role in a company and not just a share certificate which in effect the stock market allows to be traded and re-traded. It is this ability to not have a direct role in a company that allows excessive speculation.

The Islamic economic system does not recognise the financial markets in their current form and has made the Western style Public Limited company (joint stock (share)) companies haraam for a number of reasons. Fundamentally this type of contract contradicts the Islamic rules for contracts. The company in the West represents a particular type of contract - the ‘Solitary Will,' this is where an individual agrees to the written constitution of a company by purchasing its shares with no formal offer from anyone. This has come to be termed as the Individual Will whereby shares could be exchanged very quickly without the need for two people to continuously sit down and have a formal offer and acceptance. An example of this is the take-over bid of the world's richest football club, Manchester United FC by Malcolm Glazier in 2005. He imposed his will on the company (i.e. he brought shares) and even though other shareholders were against such an action it was a legal form of acquiring ownership even though there was only one person in the contract. Most contracts involve two parties where one party offers terms and the other accepts, however under corporate law in the West setting up a business is a contract of ‘solitary will.' It is not a contract between two or more people; rather it is an agreement that stipulates that all parties agree to it when they subscribe for shares in the company. So an individual joins himself to the conditions of a company - through purchasing their shares. This means to become a partner one does not need approval from the existing owners - this contradicts Islam.

Islam's monetary policy is centred around a legal tender based upon the Gold and Silver standard and not one based upon interest rates to regulate inflation and the economy. In Islam when it comes to exchanging a commodity with a specific monetary unit, Islam has guided Muslims to the monetary unit by which the exchange is to take place. It has restricted the Khilafah to a specific type of money, which is gold and silver. The Islamic evidences have designated gold and silver as the primary measuring unit for prices and labour. This is understood from the actions of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم when he collected Zakat, levied taxes and imposed fines, all were measured according to gold and silver. This means the notes and coins circulating in the economy would all be backed by gold and silver. This will no longer make possible the free printing of currency as the Khilafah would need to increase the actual holdings of gold and silver. This has a unique effect on Inflation which free market economies have been unable to contain.

Islam contains inflation by changing the role of banks. Currently banks practice fractional reserve banking whereby they create credit, borrow money from the financial markets and lend to depositors. This creates a big problem in the economy as very little equity can be used as collateral to borrow large sums of money which creates a bubble waiting to burst. Islam strips the ability of banks to create money and transfers this to the central treasury - Bait ul-mal. Money creation will be the sole role of the state.

The role of banks in Islam will be to collect the nation's deposits and to also act as a central pool whereby money can be collected and invested in the economy, with the returns being distributed amongst investors. The banks would only be able to invest what they have in deposits and cannot create money as this is the role of the central treasury - bait ul mal. As interest (Riba) is haraam the main function of banks will become the pooling of wealth which can then be invested across the economy aiding wealth distribution and economic growth.

The Islamic economy is stripped of ‘interest' as this is something Islam has categorically forbidden in the Qur'an. Holding wealth in a bank account will no longer accrue interest and any unused wealth for a year is liable for taxation. In this way such wealth is only productive if invested or spent, and this can only take place in the real economy. The removal of interest in the economy will act as a multiplier affect circulating wealth around the economy.

Islam does not have a concept of income tax; value added tax, excise duties, nor national insurance contributions. Rather Islam puts the emphasis of taxation on wealth rather than income. Take the average salary in the UK of £24,000. At current tax rates the tax burden alongside National Insurance contributions falls at 33%. This alongside indirect taxation (that is taxation on spending rather than income) as well as council tax, road tax and so forth mean that the real tax burden falls at closer to the 40-50% mark. This means that the average person in UK is losing between £10,000-12,000. So at higher wage levels, the monetary amounts lost towards taxation is much greater.

In Islam, although simplified, the wealth tax falls at 2.5%. This means that within one year, on average one can save at least £10,000. Therefore two or three people could easily enter into a business contract such as Mudharabah (An Islamic company where one provides the Capital and the second partner works with it) to supply some of the demand in the economy for consumer or manufactured goods thereby creating more employment in the economy. With no concept of interest rates and hoarding forbidden in Islam wealth will circulate quickly ensuring the public can purchase what they specifically need, creating employment and giving all more and more disposable income.

Islam considers poverty as one matter for humans in any country and in any generation. Poverty in the view of Islam is the non-satisfaction of the basic needs in a complete way. Islam defined these basic needs as three things, which are food, clothing and accommodation. This is seen from the following evidences:

وَعلَى الْمَوْلُودِ لَهُ رِزْقُهُنَّ وَكِسْوَتُهُنَّ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ

"The duty of feeding and clothing nursing of mothers in a seemly manner is upon the father of the child." [Al-Baqarah: 233]

أَسْكِنُوهُنَّ مِنْ حَيْثُ سَكَنتُم مِّن وُجْدِكُمْ وَلَا تُضَارُّوهُنَّ لِتُضَيِّقُوا عَلَيْهِنَّ

"Lodge them where you dwell, according to your wealth." [At-Talaq: 6]

Specifically Islam made the financial support (Nafaqah) compulsory from the revenues of the Bait ul-Mal and from Zakah. From a Macroeconomic perspective the removal of interest, the financial markets and direct taxation allows wealth to freely circulate around the economy so all citizens can partake in the wealth generation process.

Islam has ordained the state to play a direct role in the economy and does not leave things completely to the market. Islam lays out three types of property; state, public and private. It designated any utility regarded as indispensable for the community, such that its absence would require people to search far and wide for it, as public property. It would then be publicly owned and the revenue generates would be administered for the benefit of all citizens. This is derived from the hadith of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم: "Muslims are partners in three things: in water, pastures and fire." Although the hadith mentioned just three things we can utilise qiyas (analogy) and extend the evidence to cover all instances of indispensable community utilities. Thus water sources, forests of firewood, pastures for livestock and the like are all public utilities as well as the mosques, state schools, hospitals, oil fields, electricity plants, motorways, rivers, seas, lakes, public canals, gulfs, straits, dams etc. Islam would allow ownership if it were not indispensable for the community. This solution will have a unique effect, as it will ensure all will receive the basic requirements to live and not be at the will of monopolies or high prices.

Conclusion

The rejected $700-billion and all subsequent buyout of banks' bad mortgaged-backed securities is not a strategy but mainly a desperate effort to shore up confidence in the system, to prevent the erosion of trust in the banks and other financial institutions and preventing a massive bank run such as the one that triggered the Great Depression of 1929. Having created the conditions that produced history's biggest bubble, America's political leaders appear unable to grasp the magnitude of the dangers they are facing. As the rejection of the original bailout package showed they are mired in their rancorous squabbling among themselves.

What has been very clear from the contradictory moves of allowing Lehman Brothers to collapse while taking over AIG, and engineering Bank of America's takeover of Merrill Lynch - there's no strategy to deal with the crisis, just tactical responses.

Islam offers the Western world its last salvation from descending into complete chaos as the Western world's deposits continue to shrink through further collapses and the last remaining strategy the Western world has left - the printing of more money.

With thanks to khilafah.com

Got a bit of time on your hands?

noreply@blogger.com (ramsnake) — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 00:43:00 +0000

I thought so. Well check this video out........

........then these 4!

The most radical electric bicycle?

noreply@blogger.com (ramsnake) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 23:31:00 +0000

The coolest electric bicycle?

noreply@blogger.com (ramsnake) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 23:31:00 +0000

Hamish Rooney?

noreply@blogger.com (ramsnake) — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 05:23:00 +0000

Serenity

noreply@blogger.com (ramsnake) — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 23:20:00 +0000

Most evenings we take "Those who must be obeyed" for a little wander generally on the town walk.

Yesterday, we took a little detour off a side track and I could not resist taking this pic as we returned to the bridge to get back to town.

Hummmm?

noreply@blogger.com (ramsnake) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 09:16:00 +0000

The Descent of Inanna!

noreply@blogger.com (ramsnake) — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 01:04:00 +0000

Intrigued by Michelle's recent excellent post in relation to Inanna the Sumerian heroine, I took the time to investigate this myths appearance in our own world.

I discovered that a dance Opera about this myth had been created by 2 women ( obviously ) composer Jenni Roditi and librettist Lyn Gambles which premiered in London in 1992.

This story is such an obvious setting for an opera as so many have been based on myth such as Purcell's Dido and Aineas based on Virgil's Aeneid, Wagner's Ring Cycle bsed on Norse teutonic myth amongst others.

Being a musician, I was excited to hear how the range of drama and emotion was portrayed musically.

This is a substantial work in 2 acts with with 50 songs/arias.

There are 9 soloists and a chorus.

Inanna - Queen of Heaven and Earth, sister of Utu, marries Dumuzi - Mezzo
Ereshkigal - Queen of the Netherworld - Mezzo
Geshtinanna - Prophetess and sister of Dumuzi - Soprano
Spinner - The Story Teller - Alto
Dumuzi - Shepherd King , husband of Inanna, brother of Geshtinanna - Tenor
Enki - God of Wisdom - Tenor
Utu - Brother of Inanna - Baritone
Gilgamesh - in service to Inanna - Baritone
Free Voice - an improvising singer - representing the spirit of ancient Iraq.

Chorus Roles - all singers except Inanna
HuluppuTree, Citizens, Laughing Demons, Holy Flies

You can go here to view a short film made about the opera featuring 8 songs. You will notice the great difference between the songs from each Act. Enjoy those of you who can bear the thought of listening to a musical dramatisation of this interesting myth.

How to make junk look good!

noreply@blogger.com (ramsnake) — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 03:27:00 +0000

I came across this excellent diagrammatic explanation for the GFC which helped me to finally understand the underlying causes. Double click on the image to get a full size readable version.

Australian White Ibis

noreply@blogger.com (ramsnake) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 22:49:00 +0000

Prior to going to the pub for dinner last night, we took "Those who shall be obeyed" on what is known as "The extra short town walk". Nearing the end of the path we follow we came upon this extraordinary sight - nearly 100 AWIs perched in a large dead tree.

More were arriving as we watched to add to the already comfortable hoards.

Even though they were high up in the tree some distance away from the path we were following, as we drew close we could see that they were getting a little worried probably about the poodles ( Can they climb trees?! ) and shuffling around on their perches. Michelle tried to sneak by while I waited in case they did all take off.

Uh oh and they did!

Filling the sky as they went in search of a resting place free of marauding, tree climbing toy poodles and their brave handlers!

New guy on the rubbish truck?

noreply@blogger.com (ramsnake) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 06:19:00 +0000

Our wheelie bin was knocked over too but didn't happen to take out the mailbox as has occurred next door at out neighbours place!

Today I met Nicky and Cadbury...........

noreply@blogger.com (ramsnake) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 06:43:00 +0000

...........and what a privilege it was too!

Hamish and Hermyne and I were "Seeing the boats" as this particular walk on the Albany foreshore is known as. Also enjoying a walk there were Cadbury, a 12 year old, yep you guessed it, chocolate brown ( albeit faded these days ) toy poodle and what was probably the smallest dog I have ever seen, a likely pomeranian chihuahua cross knows as Nicky.
He would look just unimaginably tiny without his big thick coat!!

Both were very friendly and completely adorable!

A new Australian Icon?........

noreply@blogger.com (ramsnake) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 06:35:00 +0000

Could be you know!

I am sure many consider it ugly, preposterous, burdensome and as unnecessary as the Sydney Opera House was when it was built.

But I reckon the Albany Entertainment Centre is going to look pretty speckie once it is completed and, like the windmills, will draw more people to this area of the world.

Not something I necessarily wish for but such is the way of the world we live in.

I look forward to the pleasure of seeing the WASO or ACO perform in it someday!

The t-shirt!

noreply@blogger.com (ramsnake) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 23:32:00 +0000

Oh my god there it is within metres of the changerooms. The mystery deepens!

The shoes and socks are gone now but.................

noreply@blogger.com (ramsnake) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:24:00 +0000

..................the jocks have mysteriously moved on to the top of one of the toilet cubicle walls! Will we ever find out what is going on here!

Still alone..........

noreply@blogger.com (ramsnake) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 07:16:00 +0000

...and now, 3 days later, accompanied by a pair of jocks? What will be next? The t-shirt!

Homeless!

noreply@blogger.com (ramsnake) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 23:16:00 +0000

These Globes and accompanying socks have been hanging around in the change rooms at our local surf break for days! Makes me wonder a bit who they belong to, a young guy probably, and what the circumstances were that led to their being forgotten! Shoes? They can possible tell you quite a bit about a person!