Category: Uncategorized

Stayed in my room most of the day, stayed in bed really… Well, I can now walk the equivalent of 5 or 6 blocks with only slight discomfort. Not sure if that’s due to the pain killing aspects of the medicine or if I’m actually getting better. In either case, I consider it a good thing. Trying to stay positive, I even went back to the casino, now I’m only down 25 lira instead of 30:-) I’m hoping to be much improved by tomorrow morning and I’m hoping to get out of this f___ing town. It is rathewr nice, but I’ve seen as much of this part of the island as I need to, I wanna get out!!!

Isaac

Well, The good news is that my back feels better, but my right hip and knee feel worse. Yesterday, my whole lower back hurt and the pain traveled down my right leg. Now it’s my right leg.. I’ve been looking for some Motrin or something at the various connivence stores, but none of them even carry aspirin. I asked someone today where I could get some and he said there was a druggist around the corner, but they were probably closed, it being one o’clock and all.. I asked when they would be open again and he told me 4 o’clock! What the hell kind of hours are those? Anyway, being in a contrary mood, I checked them out and they were open Got some European equivalent of Motrin and promptly took 600mg of it…

I think the Maltese have inherited the British food sensibilities. A couple of places offer a breakfast fry, sausages, fried wonder bread, baked beans(!?), fried pudding and an egg or two. Today, I got my first pizza. While I was waiting for it to cool, a waiter came by and asked if I wanted any ketchup for my pizza. What the hell? I have to say, so far my impression of Maltese food is not too good. The lasagna I’ve gotten from two different places is really bland, the pizza I had today was not very good, and the price of the chinese food is crazy. They charged me almost 3 bucks for white rice! I paid it cause I was desperate, but I’ll be looking for some other place tonight.

SIGH, good thing I came to Malta to sit around my room and an internet cafe… I’m really hoping that a regimen of rest and anti-inflamatories will cure me so that I can enjoy myself a little. 3 days of that ought to do it, don’t you think?

Isaac

I’ve been hobbling around today, mostly from my place to the internet cafe and back. It does seem to be getting better, but it still hurts. I’ll watch some Battlestar Gallactica and do some Arabic homework. Tomorrow will be my first time out of the St. Jullian’s area. I want to get a good feel for the bus service and go take some pictures! Here’s hoping for a healthy gait tomorrow.

Isaac

Just took a look at my accounts, I was charged $8 for withdrawing 200 Maltese Lira at an ATM yesterday. That’s not actually what I’m mad about. I got an exchange rate of around $3 and change per Lira, the exchange booths are charging $4 per lira! Just goes to show that you need to do some research before using services like that…

Isaac

I went to the internet cafe to try to download the new Battlestar Gallactica season. Turns out that everyone and their dog must have gotten an iPod or gift cards for the music store because it was operating at a crawl. While i was waiting to do that, I was sitting kind of funny and I think I pinched a nerve or something because it is now painful to walk around. Nothing too bad you understand, more of an annoyance than anything else. In any case, I didn’t get too far with my exploring today, I’m hoping a good night’s sleep and some pain killers will take care of it.

I have noticed something that I’m having a hard time getting used to. Not only do they drive on the “wrong” side of the street, but all the doors are confusing me to no end. For example, the sliding glass doors in my room have the handles on the outside edges. You grab the door at the outside edge and pull away from the center. It makes it so that you can’t open both at the same time. Noticed these same doors on a couple of places with patios. There are also a lot of places that the door only opens inwards, I keep trying to pull the doors open because that’s how they look, but no. And the food place around the corner has doors that you pull, but they really look as though you should push them. So I look like the brain dead American pushing and pulling in vain across town…

Isaac

I’ll post more When the day is done, but I’m having fun and eating well. Hope everyone’s Christmas is a great one!!!

Isaac

It was an odd day…

This really is an amazing place as far as wealth creation and economic activity. Keep in mind that 10 years ago, Dubai was almost entirely sand. There is no oil there, there are no natural resources to speak of. So how have they created this incredible wealth? The guy that was in charge (can’t remember his name) decided to make it. He set up the entire Emirate as a business friendly place. There is a massive free port there which helps get all the goods there, there is no income tax, no sales tax, no import or export restrictions (other than illegal drugs and people of course) and very little fees involved with starting and operating a business. They do not manufacture anything there (except buildings) and the vast majority of people working there (78%) have been imported. In other words, it is the textbook example of how to create wealth, and they have done very, very well. There is no crime to speak of and unemployment is almost unheard of. They took what was essentially a pile of sand and made it an attractive tourist destination and it is now worth trillions of dollars. Well done!

Isaac

I flew into Dubai on my way to Malta and was preparing to spend another 14 hour period of my life at the airport. Luckily Dean (a British former student of my school) offered to show me around and let me sleep on his couch. What a guy!

Check out this letter here.

The largest employer in the world announced on Dec. 15 that it lost about $450 billion in fiscal 2006. Its auditor found that its financial statements were unreliable and that its controls were inadequate for the 10th straight year. On top of that, the entity’s total liabilities and unfunded commitments rose to about $50 trillion, up from $20 trillion in just six years.

If this announcement related to a private company, the news would have been on the front page of major newspapers. Unfortunately, such was not the case — even though the entity is the U.S. government.

To put the figures in perspective, $50 trillion is $440,000 per American household and is more than nine times as much as the median household income.

The only way elected officials will be able to make the tough choices necessary to put our nation on a more prudent and sustainable long-term fiscal path is if opinion leaders state the facts and speak the truth to the American people.

The Government Accountability Office is working with the Concord Coalition, the Brookings Institution, the Heritage Foundation and others to help educate the public about the facts in a professional, nonpartisan way. We hope the media and other opinion leaders do their part to save the future for our children and grandchildren.

DAVID M. WALKER

Comptroller General of the United States

Government Accountability Office

Washington

This is much worse than Enron, much worse than Worldcom, but why doesn’t it get the press that those other two did?

Isaac