It's a pig, no it's a man...no it's....H1N1

(Youtube is not entirely about music videos and stand up comedy. Once in a while, you come across some informative or practical - for real life usage)

Despite its pandemic status, I have successfully managed to ignore it so far. Three scares and two false alarms later, I remain unconcerned by placing blind trust in my immune system. (At a time like this, I appreciate my parents' enthusiasm, almost two decades ago, to get me an overwhelming number of vaccine shots; despite my kicking and screaming and ear shattering wails) However, my mother's diabetic. Contracting the virus will not do any lasting harm on me - considering I avoid the unnecessary complications - but it might endanger my mother. That scares me, more than the question of my own well being. Singapore, even though many like to vehemently deny, is a hotzone. Being extra precautionary is not a sign of paranoia. People need to understand this; I need to understand this.

(This video post serves three purposes. 1) Provide some basic information on the H1N1 strain. 2) For your viewing convenience, dear imaginary reader and 3) a placeholder for future references.)

ETA: Fed Plans to Vet Banker Pay to Discourage Risky Practices

The officials emphasized that the plan was not intended to make pay packages more socially equitable but was part of a broader effort by the Fed to shore up the stability of the banking system. That effort has included tighter supervision of lending and trading practices and higher requirements for capital held as a cushion against losses.

So the FED is going to let the banking hierarchy get away with making millions, on tax payers' money? At least they are increasing the reserved requirement ratio - the amount of capital they expect, by law, the banks to hold back before they lend out the rest of their liabilities. The problem however is that the banks aren't lending! There have been very little long term investment to kick-start the upward movement along the business cycle. I only have 3 basic level economics courses under my belt - I have recently embarked on my sophomoric journey this academic year - in university and even I can posit that the way Fed's going, it is going to take a long time before any sign of progress is made. After exhausting its monetary policy, perhaps the government should look to making changes in its fiscal policy - except with a trillion dollar debt per year for the next decade, their hands are pretty much tied. America needs to increase their savings rate; they need to push it up beyond the 10% that is hypothesized (the actual rate is considerably lower).