Saturday, March 10, 2012

Human Trafficking - Babies in China


Video below is the baby trafficking syndicate which was busted in China.




Human Trafficking or Flesh Trade  is run by syndicates around the world to fulfil  sex trade / prostitute ring market demands  in  Western continent such as France, USA and UK. During Korean war in 1950's many South Korean were brought to America as sex workers in the pretext  of  maids and cooks.

Six franchise business which are a safe bet during recession

Despite gloom  in economic market outlook or on the way to recovery, the six small  franchise business than can survive through a bleak situation are as below :-

1) In-Home  Senior Care
Statistic has shown baby boomers  ( born 1960 - 1980 ) will populate at least 60% of world population and this age group is drawing close to their golden age in next 10 years. Hence, there are ample opportunity for senior / elderly care in-house care business.

2) New Car Dealers
Japan's  Toyota global car sales has increased and its automobile sector has recovered from its' recent tsunami and nuclear plant blast incident. Same  goes to Ford car sales recorded significant growth in the American market and worldwide with the new Ford CEO Allan Mullaly recently received bonus for his achievements  . Hence, buoyant car market sets a spring board for new car dealers.

3) Pharmacies and drug store
Health is wealth, supplementary and nutritional drinks are essential to the development of healthy body. Well maintained and regular exercise with healthy diet and supplements ( Vitamin C, Omega -3 and Zinc ) will avoid heavy medical bills for unwanted illness and  diseases ( or even cancer ). Drug store also offers personal care products such as toiletry and hair care products which are daily use will create the demand matches the product offerings. Big players such as Guardian (under Diary Farm group) and Watson owned by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka Shing experiencing a thriving business sales transactions in their worldwide operations including developing countries like Indonesia and Philippines.

4) Sandwiches and sub - stores
Subway franchise  business can be considered or specialised pastry and cafe shops would be a good proposition.


5) Gas stations with convenient stores
There is the current trend Gas  stations has an eatery kiosk within its store, for example "Hot dog 1901" kiosk in Esso Mobil gas stations or even 24 hours convenient stores or express format Tesco or Carrefour  store within stores.

6) Supermarket and groceries stores
High food prices and petrol prices have discourage families from dining out frequently. Thus, hypermarket or rather supermarkets / groceries stores enjoyed a good business and profits from sales of essential dairy products to perishable items such as fresh vegetables and poultry.

Kabam

Kabam is an interactive entertainment company which developed social network  free-to-play strategy games such as  Kingdom of Camelot and other titles like Dragon of Atlantis; Godfather: Five families : Edge World and Thirst of Night.

The other popular social gaming developers are:-

1) Zynga  ( Empire & Allies ; Mafia Wars 2 ; Zynga Porker )
2) Funzio  ( Crime City and Kingdoma Age)
3) Digital Chocolate ( Zombies Lane ; Millionaire City )
4) Playfish ( Restaurant City ; Sims Social )

Online Gaming Industry is a multi billion dollar industry with :-

1) Video Game publisher (Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft)
2) Distributor (Intermediary Retail Shops )
3) Game Console Manufacturers ( Nintendo -Wii, Microsoft - X Box and Sony - Playstation )
4) Game Developer ( Zynga ; Digital Chocolate; Funzio etc ) work hand in hand to deliver first class interactive entertainment to ever demanding customers.

Online/  internet  platform  gaming  experience at social network websites such as Google + and Facebook have benefited small time game developers in cost savings as they eliminated third party publishers and retail intermediary in the gaming value chain which administrate the licensing,marketing and distribution of the latest game titles.

The latest game by Zynga - Dream Zoo is only available on smartphone / mobile / Tablet platforms ( Android, I Phone, I Pad ) even though it is a beta version.

Home Plus - British / Korean retailer

Home plus is Tesco / Samsung joint venture majority stake owned by Tesco (94%)  in Korean discount retail store chain  with  Lotte Shopping  and  Hyundai Departmental Store as other key players. Home plus is the second largest retail player after Shinsegae Group. Shinsegae was originally part of Samsung Group, a diversified conglomerate with Samsung Electronics; Samsung Life Insurance and Samsung Engineering as its subsidiaries.


Tesco other international retail portfolios :-

Tesco Lotus with global operations in Thailand, Cambodia and China




Tesco  Fresh and Easy in America




Tesco Ireland  and Tesco Kipa in Turkey

John Travolta

John Travolta movie career spans a few decades with its' top three movies Pulp Fiction(1994) ;  Grease (1978) ; Saturday Night Fever (1977) and  with his latest movie  From Paris with Love ( 2010). 

However, his multi-faceted and talented-acting genius made his Phenomenon(1996) movie with drama ; fantasy ; romance  genre  brilliant at its own right.  

Face Off (1997) co-starred Nicholas Cage which has Sci -Fi element also captured majority of the audience whom their inclination towards  Crime & Drama genre with a twist. 

As for Swordfish(2001) Hugh Jackman the Down Under  actor complements perfectly John Travolta evil plans and Halle Berry as a bonus.

Broken Arrow as its' name suggest    tells it all ....................




Action | Crime | Drama | Sci -Fi  | Thriller (1997)

Action | Crime | Thriller  (2001)

Action | Adventure | Thriller ( 1996)

Drama | Fantasy | Romance ( 1996)

Friday, March 9, 2012

MARUSSIA



MARUSSIA is the first Russian sport car manufacturer established in 2007 owned by Nikolai Fomenko a Russian musician, actor and  motor racer. In 2010, MARUSSIA acquired controlling stake in Richard  Bransons' Virgin Formula One Team hence introduction of  MARRUSIA F1 team in 2012 Grand Prix.

Spainiard, Maria de Villota will be the first lady driver for MARUSSIA F1 team  since the previous Italian driver Lella Lombardi in the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix.

Image of Maria de Villota ( below)



However, the highlight of MARUSSIA portfolio of automobiles is its' sport marque B1 and B2 and  SUV

MARUSSIA  B1



MARUSSIA B2




MARUSSIA  F2 SUV



Around the world in 80 Gardens


Monty Don self taught horticulturist and avid farmer and gardener since his childhood. He is a  British television presenter, writer and speaker on horticulture, best known for presenting the BBC television series Gardeners' World and  documentary " Around the world in 80 Gardens ".


Paul Smith



By the numbers
400   Shop & outlets
35     Countries presence
12     Paul Smith's collection that includes pens, fragrances, watches and furniture.
400    Annually revenue (in Euros millions) for Paul Smith label
2000  The year, Paul Smith was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for being a British menswear icon




Background
Sir Paul Smith is a British fashion designer born in 5 July 1946. He is the designer and retailer as well owning the first shop in Nottingham ( 1970) and First Menswear Collection in Paris ( 1976) when he was 31 years old. His runaway success is attributed to his classic quirky design and his direct involvement in the designing, sourcing fabrics, approving shop locations and overseeing every development  in the company .


Thursday, March 8, 2012

Dirty Dozen



This is the not the film directed by Robert Aldrich in 1967 whereby a group of twelve(12) ex-convicts/ prisoners are trained to carry out mission critical and dangerous assignments during the World War 2 under the command of Major Reisman. 


These are the most popular porn stars rise to their stardom with their exotic  and passionate profession which includes famous star such as Alexis Texas ; Jesse Jane ; Tori Black  and Stoya.




Image of Tori Black (above)


Stoya, a Serbian-Scottish, born in 15 June 1986  in some ways are innocent and decent brought up lad. She's taller and leaner than most. She has strong nerd-like tendencies including a love of science fiction and gadgets.She also a voracious reader and talented writer. And she designs her own clothes. 


Image of Stoya (above)




Tottenham Hotspurs FC


Tottenham Hotspurs (Hotspur) was founded in 1882 and owned by ENIC International Ltd  an investment company established by British billionaire Joe Lewis. Hotspur plays in English Premier League; Champion League; FA Cup; Carling Cup and European League.

Key players:

Gareth Bale (MF) - Wales
Scott Parker(MF) - England
Roman Pavlyuchenko(FW) - Russia
Younes Kubol(DF) - France
Emanuel Adebayor(FW) - Togo
Luka Modric(MF) -Croatia
Heurelho Gomes(GK) - Brazil
Jermain Defoe(FW) - England 
Ledley King(DF) - Captain

Sponsors:
1882 -1983 No Sponsor
1983 - 1995 Holsten
1995 -1999 Hewlet Packard
1999 - 2002 Holsten
2002 -2006 Thomas Holidays
2006 -2010 Mansion.com Casino & Poker  ( under ownership of  Joe Lewis there after 2006 -2012 )
2010 - 2011 Autonomy Corp. ( Premier League)
2011-2012 Aurasma (Premier League)
2010 -2012 Investec ( Champion League; FA Cup ; Carling Cup)




Hotspurs Ladies also making the mark in recent championship, a commendable effort by them.

Ancient Times Empires

Ancient Times Empire
Babylon ( 606 - 539 BC )
Persian ( 539 - 333 BC )
Greece ( 333 - 63BC )
Rome ( 63  - 476 AD )

Islamic Empire
Ottoman Empire ( Turkey) 1299 -1923
Saffavid Dynasty (Iran) 1501 - 1722
Moghul Dynasty ( India ) 1526 - 1707



Genghis Khan (image above)  ruled during Moghul Dynasty and  his empire conquered Eurasia and resulted the death of 40 million people during his invasion from Japan, Korea, China, India, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Ukraine, Hungary and Poland. Present day Mongolians (Uyhur ethnicities) regard him as  founding father of Mongolia- a great military leader and political genius.

TV Series - TVB (  Hong Kong ) Genghis Khan
Novels - The Conqueror series by Conn Iggublen
Musics - West German pop band Dschinghis Khan
Video Games - Age of Empire II : The Age of Kings
                      - Genghis Khan II : Clan of  the Gray Wolf


Modern Times Empire
Russian Empire ( 1721 - 1917 )
British Empire ( 1583- 1997 )
Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644 )
Qing Dynasty ( 1644 - 1912 )
Republic of China ( 1912 -1949 )
Spain Empire ( 1516 - 1949 )
Portuguese Empire (1415 - 2002 )


Spain colonised Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Uruguay, Colombia and Philippines.

Portugal colonised Brazil, Angola , Mozambique, East Timor and Macao. Macao has been  liberated and gained independence in 1999 whereas East Timor in 2002.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Chasing the Yum - Chef Jet Tila


Background -Chef Jet Tila
Thai / Chinese descendent
Married to Mexican wife, Dora Lucero
Grandmother is a cantonese




Career
Graduated from Le Gordon Bleu, London and California Sushi Academy
Grew up in family restaurant in Los Angeles
Open Pacific California restaurant in Google HQ Silicon Valley, Northern California


Outlets
Bistronomics, Los Angeles
Schwan's, Minessota
Wazazu, Wynn's Las Vegas



The following video of Chef Jet Tila prepares the classic Japanese dishes: Yakitori and Grilled Eggplant with Miso


video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player

Kirin Japanese beer giant

Kirin Holdings Co. is a subsidiary of Suntory and a major brewery company in South East Asia which has business presence in China, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Australasia and Brazil.  Kirin's household brands in key countries are:-

1) Lion ( Australia)
2) San Miguel ( Philippines )
3) Interfood (Vietnam )
4) Schincariol ( Brazil )
5) Kirin ( Japan )



The closest competitor  is Asahi  which has a strategic partnership agreement with Carlsberg Malaysia to bottle Asahi Super Dry. Other major international brewery conglomerate are :-

1) SAB Miller - South African
2) Ansheuser Buschs In Bev(AB In Bev)  - Belgium/Brazilian
3) Calsberg - Danish
4) Heineken - Dutch
5) Diageo UK/US ( portfolio of brands such as Smirnoff, Johnnie Walker,Bailey, Guiness).

PT Multi Bintang, Indonesian and Thai Beverage Pcl and San Miguel Brewery also give  tough competition for a growing  beer market share with emerging beer company from China i.e. China Resources Enterprise Co. Ltd., national leading beer - Tsingtao.

SAB Miller acquired Foster Group ( excluding loss making wine division)  in Dec 2011 of which the wine division was spin-off   in the same year and was listed in the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) as Treasury Wine Estates.

Asahi Group acquired Permanis Sdn Bhd the licensee for Pepsi-Cola bottling rights in Malaysia for US$274 million.


Anscheuser Buschs In Bev ( AB In Bev) owns 50 percent share in Grupo Modelo, Mexico's leading brewer, the owner of the global Corona brand and  AB In Bev  has divested   Busch Entertainment division - "Sea World" the operator of ten Theme Parks in Orlando, USA  to Blackstone Group, a private equity company. 

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Arabica Coffee

Arabica coffee mainly espresso blends have many origins of Javanese Mocha ,Colombian, Sumatran Mandheling and Kona ( Hawaiian's green coffee which is the most expensive coffee). Brazil is the largest exporter of coffee followed by Vietnam,Colombia, Indonesia and Kenya.

Coffee drinking started in 15th Century in Muslim world, from Arabs spread to India, Italy then to the rest of Europe to Indonesia and America. Coffee connoisseur will appreciate the  aroma;acidity;body and flavour in the coffee. In layman terms, all it takes is a good eye,a good nose and a good tounge to experience the taste, quality and roasting blend of each coffee.

Those ready-to-drink  coffee or instant coffee  sold in supermarketsunder brandname like Nescafe or Oldtown  are Robusta blend instead of Arabica. Starbuck Coffee has revolutionised the experience of coffee drinking to the extend of successfully penetrating China tea drinking market. Mc Donald also offers Arabica coffee as part of its McD menu trying to capture coffee drinkers/ patrons in its fast food restaurants chains. Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CBTL) has a different strategy altogether, it offers over 30 varieties of coffee and 20 varieties of tea in 20 countries over 800 stores.

CBTL Genesis Project -------->


Oil & Gas Value Chain

Oil and Gas ( O&G) has been growing from strength to strength despite the Deepwater Horizon oil spill at  Gulf of Mexico, major players such as Conoco Philips, Exon Mobil, BP, Shell are increasing their Exploration &Production(E&P) capital expenditure(CAPEX) so much so for Malaysian oil giant company , Petronas with CAPEX of USD100bil for next 5 years.

BP has been exploring and experimenting alternative energy source such as renewable energy from non-edible plant Jatropha. Honeywell and Rolls Royce also actively embarking on biofuel R&D and commercialisation of aviation biofuel from Jatropha/ Camelina plant.

O&G support sector players like Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, Saipem, Technip, Petrofac,  Kencana Sapura Crest Bumi Armada are  mainly involve in Fabrication; Drilling;Transportation and Installation; Floating Production Storage Offloading (FPSO), Pipeline Laying/Maintenance,Marine Support and Hook & Commissioning.

IT specialist that support O & G sector such as Logica, Keane , Capgemini and Atos provide an integrated IT solutions from exploration and  wholesale/distirbution applications.

O&G Value Chain Chart -------->

FIFA World Cup & Olympic 2012


FIFA World Cup Host Country

2010 - South Africa
2014 - Brazil
2018 - Russia
2022 - Qatar

Summer Olympic

2012 - London
2016 - Rio de Janeiro  ( Introduction of Golf sports event 2016  and Cricket in 2020 )

Mascot - Wenlock and Mandeville
Sport Events # - 26
Nations - 144
Athletics - 1,050




Note:  Sport events London Olympic 2012
Archery; Athletics;Badminton;Basketball;Boxing;Canoeing;Cycling;Diving;Equestrian;Fencing;Field Hockey;Football;Gymnastics;Handball;Judo;Modern Pent halon;Rowing;Sailing;Shooting;Swimming;Synchronized swimming;Table Tennis; Taekwando;Tennis;Triathlon;Volleyball;Water Polo;Weightlifting and Wrestling.



Meat Works

Meat Works is a multi concepts / departments under one roof i.e. restaurant;  deli; butchery and meat studio. The beef are imported from New Zealand, Japan and Argentina.

Meat Works a franchise business has business presence in Singapore and Malaysia, intends to expand to other regions. The kobe (wagyu) beef is US$420 per kg, highly prized and in demand by patrons worldwide.

The meat cut guide ( image/ chart attached) -------> 

Mubadala - Ferrari Grand Prix F1


Mubadala Development Company (Mubadala) is a principal investment vehicle of Emirate of Abu Dhabi. In 2005, Mubadala acquired 5% stake in Ferrari S.p.A and sponsor Ferrari F1 team - "Scuderia Ferrari" the following year. The strategic collaboration of two world class organisation has opened the window of opportunity for Mubadala to participate in one of the world most prestigious motorsport and Ferrari continues to dominate its pole position in F1 with financial backing heavyweights from Mubadala. Mubadala diversified investments portfolio in energy, healthcare, technoloy and recently in aerospace, creating a global aerospace hub in the U.A.E through relationship with Piaggo Aero/ Ferrari parent.








U.A.E - United Arab Emirates is one of the Gulf Cooperation Council(GCC) member countries together with Kuwait; Baharin;Qatar; Oman and Saudi Arabia.Majority of them are OPEC member except Baharin and Oman. Qatar has the second highest GDP/capita $USD 109,881.


U.A.E - Etihad Airways , Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank,Ferrari World Abu Dhabi Theme Park, Mubadala /Ferrari , Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Sovereign Wealth Fund )

Baharin - Baharin International Circuit hosing Grand Prix F1 in 14 March 2010, Al Salam Bank




Qatar - Al Jazeera HQ, Dakar Rally, Powerboat World Championship , Qatar Airways,Asian Finance Bank, Qatar Investment Authority, Largest ceramic products exporter including false dentures which early Gulf countries pearl industry as supporting sector has collapsed

Saudi Arabia - Al Rahji one of the world largest Islamic bank




Kuwait - Iraq invasion in 1990 during Gulf War despite the fact Kuwait has been financing Iraq during Iraq-Iran war for 8 years ( 1980 -1988 ),   Kuwait Finance House( Bank)

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Sexy Sportswagon


Safety, looks and performance all in one Volvo V60 1.6-litre, Gasoline Turbocharged Direct Injection(GTDI) engine is the most powerful in the market - delivering a massive torque of 240Nm from just 1,600cc and all the way up to 5,000 revs a minute, with fuel consumption only 7.5 litres per 100km.

Journey through the bible

Creation
Exodus
Captivity
Return from exile
Restoration
Ministry
Missionary
Church
Destruction of Jeruselam
Revelation

Russian Connexion

Roman Abrahamovich - Chelsea owner by Russian billionaire

Vodka - Black Russian, cocktail of vodka and coffee liquer

Caviar - Sturgeon roe, black caviar luxury delicacy caught in Black Sea

Gazsprom - largest extractor of natural gas in the world.

Vladmir Putin - Russian Prime Minister

Kamaz - Dakar Rally reigning champion Truck category 2012

Trans-Siberia Railway - Longest railway network in the world connecting Moscow and the sea of Japan

KGB - Soviet Union era military intelligence

Moscow - Capital of Russia and Olympic 1980

MIG - Russian jet fighter cost US$ 29 mil / unit

Maria Sharapova - ATP Tennis Player


 

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Checkpoint Software Technologies Ltd - Network Security Engineer


Checkpoint Software Technologies Ltd(Checkpoint) is global provider of IT security company listed on NASDAQ and founded by Gil Shwed an Israelite programmer when he was 25 years old. Network security such as firewall and Virtual Private Network(VPN) are critical for data centric companies like banks and highly classified - military/ intelligence agencies which are frequently subject to hacking threats.

Checkpoint competitors are Blue Coat, Fortinet and Cisco IronPort which compete for market share of IT Security market value at USD$180 billion. These security software application functions on web/internet platform tackling network security problems such as malicious virus attacks, spam and data loss.


Checkpoint is a security software deploy and maintain by IT personnel usually Network Security Engineer
.These skilled IT specialist must also has in depth knowledge of Symantec and Trend Micro security application for workstations and desktop PCs. Network Engineers are competent in TCP/IP protocol ; PHP wed database application and jAVA programming languages.Profound knowledge on Network platform such as F5 Networks, HPN, Juniper, Aruba and CISCO is a bonus/advantage for Network Engineers.

As for database engineer their forte is in UML, mySQL and Oracle unlike some Software Developer (Engineer) specialised in object oriented language C++;UML and jAVA script. In marketplace, System Analyst eventually System Architect manages the entire design,planning and implementation of the whole IT infrastructure/architecture commonly runs on server environment such as UNIX;AIX-IBM;HP-UX or Solaris platform would rather master C++ ; mySQL and TCP/IP.


Video on Cisco IronPort Web Security :-




Friday, March 2, 2012

Money Laundering; Corruption; Credit Card Fraud


Corruption, bribery and corporate fraud are prevalent in many countries. Few years ago, Indian IT company Satyam, US Enron, Japan recently Olympus with "hidden billion dollar losses " cover up case.

German Siemen Multinational Company (MNC) also was ordered to pay huge fine for bribery/kick back transaction by foreign authorities similar case goes to French engineering group Alstom was fine for bribery case in Malaysia. In China, Australian mining giant Rio Tinto was accused of espionage and bribing the entire management of steel industry in the country.

Hence, ACFE affiliates and anti-fraud and security companies such as SynCRETIZE are fighting against such commercial crime. Foreign Corruption Practice Act, Sarbanes Oxley Act, UK latest Bribery Act, all act hand in hand to curb such vice and criminal,breach of trust and law violation actions.

SynCRETIZE facebook page: - http://www.facebook.com/ForensicInvestigation

"Dragon blood" Tree



The name "Dragon" Blood Tree send a chilling sensation down our spine. We may wonder how it look like but from our wild imagination may be it look like this ----->






The sappling which of course red apparently has healing properties for swelling and pain injury.The image next will be the dragon blood flowing profusely out from the tree trunk----->









The next question where can we find these "out of the world tree"? I suggest you take a flight to Socotra Island, south of Yemen and at the horn of North East of Africa, Indian Ocean.The smallest island in Arab peninsular.

Socotra Island (image)



Zynga multi-million dollar social networking gaming company

Quick facts about Zynga

- Valuation $15 - $20 billion
- IPO late early 2012
- Founded 2007 by Mark Pincus
- Riding on Facebook platform 200 million monthly active users
- Zynga popular games titles Zynga Poker; Mafia Wars; Farm Ville ; Cafe World
- Early funding by Russian' Digital Sky Technology - US$180 mil. Total funding by private investors - US$980 mil.
- Mobile platform for i Phone,i Pad, Android Market.
- Zynga latest game

" Dream Zoo"

Thursday, March 1, 2012

(Casino)Junket operator modus operandi


Casino junket operators are the lifeline of casino business from Las Vegas' Sands to Wynn's in Macau. As junket operators, they are basically doing the job like a VIP host in the casino but as an External Entity; Agent.


Reputable junket operators have extremely strong connections with wealthy players, business men, incredible network and people with strong financial background therefore casino marketing department has to depend on these junket operators to bring in revenue for the house through their network.


Junket operators have to serve and please these VIP customers/gamblers/high rollers of theirs so that they can encourage them to go to the casinos they represent and earn commission from their clients rolling. Basically junket operators fly them from countries such as Thailand, South Korea and Japan to gaming heaven such as Macau and provide free accommodation in 5 stars hotel/resort and receive VIP treatment.


It's definitely not easy being a junket operator because they must have an extensive strong network of friends with very strong financial background and potential prospect/client/customers have to be high yield/ High Net Worth(HNW) gamblers.


Junket operators will give credit to qualified customers when they check-in the casino. Junket operators faces a lot of difficulties when their customers lost and not able to pay thus putting these operators in debts and in turn may also destroy their reputation with the casinos they represent. Majority of these junket operators providing the illegitimate financial lending as opposed to bank's consumer loans are associated to under ground syndicate link to loan sharking and money laundering business.


In Macau, the government restrict any foreign remittance for financing gambling activities especially Mainland Chinese citizens.The financial institutions in Macau closely monitor and track foreign currency inflow/outflow to curb these. Hence, the flourishing of "shadow banking" service by VIP Junket Operators bypassing formal/structure banking systems.