UFC promo girl Arianny Celeste is hot.

Here is one reason.

Here is another

and another

another

another

and another

and again

and again

We clear?

When I started my current career back in the late 1990’s the place I ended up spending a lot of my time was Rockhampton and Mackay. Specifically the Bowen Basin concentrating on selling to the coal mining industry. Never in my life had I been faced with a more negative outlook on the future. The price of coal was in its doldrums. I remember walking into a real estate agency in Dysart and I had my pick of houses to purchase for the princely sum of $12,000 dollars. All in all, the area was dead in the water and making a house purchase in Dysart was and idea met with smirks of ‘go for it moron’.

Did I purchase a house in Dysart? Hell No.
Did the government invest in the coal industry or the township of Dysart? Same answer.

The only thing that has changed from then to now is the price of coal!

Yet a new tax is being proposed to ride the fair weather conditions of the mining industry at the moment. This or previous governments have not invested a brass razoo to dig coal mines or locate ‘new coal’ yet they are happy to reap the benefits of the “super profits” currently afforded to companies who invested in remote areas of this nation and were in the right place at the right time to take advantage of the current prices of these commodities.

I look forward to the future handouts mining companies will deservedly receive when the price of coal takes a dip. As per ALL cycles.

I guess if I had purchased 5 of those houses in Dysart at the time for $12,000 each I should be forced to pay a super profits tax on my super purchase back in the day?

I would be interested if the government is willing to guarantee the price of houses currently paid for homes in Dysart (if you can get anything for less than $400,000 you would be doing well). Or is it likely that any ‘working family’ who buys a home in Dysart is on their pat malone when the price of coal dips?

You’re a free thinking individual …. What is your opinion?

Really good show. And as predicted those out there who like a stand up battle were treated to some excellent striking. The only issue were the continual drop outs of the coverage. Very very annoying, especially when you are paying for the privilege. Why Mainevent can’t provide a High Definition broadcast of UFC PPV’s into Australia is beyond me.

Its even awesomer when you win on the punt. It makes the fights that much more exciting and even more exciting when you win!

Alan Belcher 1.83 (decision) WINNER
V
Patrick Cote 1.95

Jeremy Stephens 2.55
V
Sam Stout 1.50 (TKO) LOSER

Kimbo Slice 1.85
V
Matt Mitrione 1.92 (by KO) WINNER by TKO

Kimbo came out fast but showed he does not possess the heart for the physical nature of the battle and wilted under Meat’s continual pressure. The end was a little weak with Kimbo just taking soft shots but the ref has a job to do and put Kimbo and UFC fans out of there misery. Kimbo Goooooooooooooone from the UFC.

Josh Koscheck 1.38 (by wrestling clinic) WINNER by said clinic
V
Paul Daley 3.00

After the fight was declared Daley tricked the ref into thinking he was going to ‘congratulate’ Koscheck on the fight. Instead he congratualted Kosheck with a good solid left hook to the face. Whoops … as a result Daley is cut from the UFC.

Lyoto Machida 1.52
V
Mauricio Rua 2.50 (decision) WINNER by KO

I think Machida is still snoozing in the locker room.

Very good card for those who like a stand up battle so if you are sick of watching boxers clinch and get separated by the referee over and over and over again give the UFC a go. Its awesome!

Its even awesomer when you enjoy a punt on the fights and as always our good friends at sportingbet.com.au the following options are available now. My picks in bold

Alan Belcher 1.83 (decision)
V
Patrick Cote 1.95

Jeremy Stephens 2.55
V
Sam Stout 1.50 (TKO)

Kimbo Slice 1.85
V
Matt Mitrione 1.92 (by KO)

Josh Koscheck 1.38 (by wrestling clinic)
V
Paul Daley 3.00

Lyoto Machida 1.52
V
Mauricio Rua 2.50 (decision)

Looking forward to it! Stuff mothers day!

An excerpt from Phil’s article today.

You want a solution? Here we go:

- Remove News Ltd and the ARL from ownership of rugby league. Rugby league needs and deserves its independence. The conflicts of interest involved with having a media company own the game are now obvious to all.

- Once independence has been attained, we then appoint the members to the commission that will control the game; people with business and rugby league experience.

- We then appoint the most qualified people to management and administration positions. Again, please study the definition of ”qualified” before employing anyone.

The NRL is currently a mish-mash of unwieldy administrations and dysfunctional, ineffective boards of control. To have the game’s CEO admit he couldn’t follow correct protocol and take the Storm salary cap finding to his NRL boards for instruction because of the massive conflict of interest of having News Ltd delegates on these decision-making bodies is the death warrant for this ridiculous situation.

Many of the employees NRL/ARL will undoubtedly retain their positions or maybe even be elevated. Perhaps the game’s leadership team will perform better when our game is no longer answerable to media ownership.

Only when we have addressed the ownership, commission and administration issues, should we attempt to solve the salary cap dilemma. Even then the machinations of the salary cap should react to the needs of the game; rather than the game being so adversely affected by inadequate salary cap regulations.

What should our game look like? What will it look like in 10 years? How much money is in the game and how much can we afford to distribute to clubs?

I would love one of those forensic audits of NRL books for the past 12 years. Where has the money been spent, on what basis was it distributed, who requested it, what did they do with it, did it go where they said it was needed, what reviews determined if such expenditure was worthwhile; and was this disbursement of funds more important than creating greater player depth and improved quality of teams on the field of play?

This whole game survives on what happens on the field. None of us in it has a job without it. Salary cap regulations should be determined by answering the following questions.

How many teams should we have? What should our second-tier and elite youth competitions look like? How much money is available to clubs? Many player contracts now being signed will extend past the signing of the next broadcast rights deals. Shouldn’t we be getting active on these negotiations now so we know what funds will be available?

What levels of financial reporting should the clubs provide the league on these player contracts and the solvency of clubs? How many players do clubs need to compete over a full season? How much should be spent on NRL quality players, second-tier players, development players?

How will the salary cap affect the development of young players and what concessions do we apply to senior, long-serving players? How will our game protect itself from other codes and overseas competitions bidding for our players? What role will private sponsorships and third party agreements play in all of the above?

How will free agents be transferred within the league? How, how often, will clubs be audited? Who will enforce rules and determine the appropriate (rather than emotion-charged) penalties if required?

I also suggest the game will require a salary cap committee comprising independent assessors and adjudicators. This will give the salary cap the flexibility the current model lacks. So please start at the beginning.

A couple of articles in today’s papers captured my interest. Specifically there was much written and commented on regarding the housing market. I found some of the comments from both News Corporation and Fairfax newspapers charming for different reasons.

Comments like these.

1) I have recently purchased a 450K unit – and I tell you if KRUDD lets the value drop even 1 cent, let along 50 percent – there will be hell to pay. I firmly believe it is the Australian governments role to support housing prices – it is what the Aus. economy is built on.

2) I’m voting for ANYONE that will stop this ridiculous population boom I don’t care what other policies they have. I am a believer in steady state economics and if intelligent people such as myself actually get our way … house prices WILL come down.

3) Undersupply? Undersupply? Tell me where are these Cash up Australians running around looking for houses? Oh that’s right there aren’t any! There are plenty of foreign investors snapping up our land, turning us into renters, that’s definitely propping the market up, and there are plenty of Aussies getting into HUGE debt to buy simple houses (what happens to these people when the economy further slumps and interest rates go up??, remember alot of these people are first home buyers and are already struggling), and there are plenty of people who are homeless and living in the streets who would love to live in a house, but simply have no means whatsoever of buying one, YET these people are factored into the demand equation when they say we have an Undersupply! Sure they want houses, so do the thousands and thousands of people living in shantytowns in America, while entire blocks of Houses sit empty, THEY SIMPLY DON’T HAVE THE MONEY, Prices are determined by supply and demand, Demand is created buy people with money!! If you have NO ability to buy a house then you create NO DEMAND!! Seriously this is Joke economics, How are are people so Stupid!!!

4) I do not care what you say. I am holding onto my pile of cash, and when the time comes, and it will… I will take appropriate action when everyone else goes down.

5) NEVER, EVER, THINK YOU ARE SMARTER THAN THE MARKETS – THOSE WHO THOUGHT PRICES WERE GOING TO CRASH LAST YEAR – YOU WERE NOT SMART PERIOD

6) Property prices will continue to go up on average by double digits each year based on the following factors: 1. This is what has been happening over the last decade. 2. 70% of Australians own a home and can use equity or sales revenue to upgrade and outbid new entrants. They can also use equity to invest in new property. 3. We are in a new economic phase where we no longer have recessions as we are a small population with a lot of resources so we can continue to fund the boom for decades (just look at the last 2 decades – as resources get scarcer prices will get higher so we will only benefit. We are becoming the Dubai of the Southern hemisphere). 4. Skills shortages mean immigration will not only continue at current levels, but increase. By 2050 some ABS forecast models show population being closer to 50 million. No one has mentioned that we will need to rehouse a lot of people in our region who have been adversely affected by climate change. We are not going to build a new city, so they will add pressure to our existing cities and prices will surge and surge and surge. My advice is to get into the market now, no matter what it takes. Debt is the new equity. $100,000 borrowed today and invested in property is $200,000 in a few years, You cannot really go wrong in the new economy if you invest right. I feel sorry for the renters, but they rent at their on peril. Take a risk and become one of societies winners or forever be confined to the scrap heap of life.

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It is clear that there are two separate divisions of people. Those who think there is a property bubble and those that don’t believe in the bubble boy. Either way I am surprised that there are so many people who now believe in the bubble.

Time will tell.