As IF Times

link Prince Charles urges British families to snub the bathtub | Mail Online.

Please somebody stop it!  It’s as if some aliens from another world spiked the water supply of the earth and caused massive stupidity to break out among humans.  How can we possibly explain the behavior of various societies, including the so called civilized first world when people listen to the rantings and exhortations of insane people?

A guy like our hero Charles has managed to live an anachronistic lifestyle partly because of some good warrior skills by his long ago ancestors and partly at the favor of the people he ‘rules’.  Really? Do people still need to be ruled?  Are people born with some innate ruling gene? Does the font of wisdom and power spout from their family basins? 

A hundred or so years ago, perhaps the answer would have been yes.  At this point in human history, with the kind of knowledge that’s widely available, you would think that if you were lucky enough to be born into a family that had laughable privileges over the rest of society, which you in no way earned, that you would just shut up and leave well alone.

But no, not our guy Chuck.  Not content to sit on the throne like a porcelain figurine to be admired by his subjects, he deigns to impress them with his sage wisdom.  Unfortunately for him, he’s missed his opportunity to issue Royal decrees by a few hundred years.  In the old days, if he ordered 5 minute showers, then 5 minute showers it was.  In our present time however, it may be more difficult to convince the dirty unwashed that HRH’s exhortations are any more than the usual ravings of an elitist windbag.  And come on, based on his personal history, shall we say his judgement is a bit lacking?

That’s not to pick on Charles, who I’m sure needs to have some worthy cause to champion in order to pass the long days doing nothing.  What ever happened to world hunger or world education?  Meanwhile, across the pond on this side of the Atlantic, North Americans also seem fond of the edicts and bleatings of their own versions of intellectual royalty; actors, musicians, lawyers and politicians.

Speaking of Al Gore, he’s at it again, telling his flock that more protests should be mounted in favour of global warming issues.  He’s a shining example of living a life of sustainability with his community center sized houses, his judicious use of personal jets and shrewd investments in green technology, which purely by coincidence benefit from his lobbying of the federal government.  Ascetic Al we’ll call him.

Is this how people want to exist?  To confer benefits and privileges to those who would deny that same lifestyle to those who pay for them? What is the point of evolution and the advancement of man and society if we don’t benefit from technology and science?  Who wants to wear clothing made of hemp and rope?  Who wants to ride a horse to the mall instead of taking the Toyota?  Why don’t actors and singers do village minstrel shows instead of using valuable resources to distribute music and film?  Why buy Ipods and TV’s when you can just have entertainment by story tellers in the village square?  Why have phones when you can just use smoke signals?  My guess is that you won’t find a lot of Greenies living in mud floor huts;  more likely in some comfortable suburban home with air conditioning and 3 bathrooms.

There are still societies that believe stoning people to death is a reasonable method of punishment.  I suppose that method is sustainable and doesn’t stress the environment, but why not also just bleed people when they’re ill instead of using modern medicine? Why even bother with research into medicine that can save lives? 

Again I don’t blame Ascetic Al or HRH, they are mere figureheads for the movements they represent.  It’s as if knowledge and common sense were at opposite ends of a fulcrum wherein ascent of one means the descent of the other.  I blame the aliens from outer space for infecting our water supply so that we listen and follow these loons like compliant lemmings.  I blame the aliens for making people think that 5 minute showers and green taxes will save the world.  Or maybe it’s not the water supply, maybe it’s kool-aid.

link Potash Corp. CEO: Takeover bid, at $39B US, ‘grossly inadequate’.

Really? Are you kidding me?  I suppose you have to at least play the part of insulted manager if only to pursue a higher bid for the company for which you were unable to realize proper  shareholder value.  In his private moments though, he must be doing somersaults like a Russian gymnast.  Why? Because from some accounts, CEO Bill Doyle will make over $445 million dollars from stock options if the takeover bid for Potash Corporation succeeds. 

If the takeover bid from BHP Billiton is grossly undervalued, what does that say about the affairs of Potash Corp under the stewardship of the present management?  If you ran a lemonade stand for a group of people and then all of a sudden someone wants to pay a huge premium over estimated value to buy it and also to pay you a personal windfall, you’d take the money and there would be a vapour trail to your new villa in France. 

If Mr. Doyle thinks the offer is grossly undervalued, why isn’t the market price reflective of his perception before the takeover bid?  Investing is all about perception.  There’s the old saying that a market is a place where there is an agreement on price but a disagreement on value.  In this case, BHP sees something the present Potash shareholders do not.  Someone’s right, that’s the game.