Daily Archives: 08-12-19

“To our sincere regret, however, it has now emerged that the text contains deeper levels of meaning, which are not immediately accessible to a non-native speaker.”

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Posted by m3t00 on 08-12-19 – 10:29:pm
under international, language, media, science, sex

Sydney Morning Herald (Hutcheon, “Eminent Scientific Journal Gets Hit,” 11 Dec ’08):

One of Europe’s most prestigious scientific research institutes has had to issue an apology after discovering that the calligraphy used on the cover of its flagship magazine [Max Planck Forschung] to illustrate a special China edition was in fact an ad for a Hong Kong strip joint. The institute hastily replaced the cover–which advertises “hot, young housewives”–from the online and English edition of the publication, Max Planck Research, but not before the German language version of the periodical had been dispatched to subscribers.

Max Planck Forschung before and after

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“the greatest mass murderer of the 21st century”

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Posted by m3t00 on 08-12-19 – 07:50:pm
under economics, finance, trend

Greenspan’s body count

(Angry bear)

Snip, snip, snip[, snip, snip (update)]

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Posted by m3t00 on 08-12-19 – 01:10:pm
under international, network, trend

Orange: “3 cables cut this morning (Sea Me We3 partly + Sea Me We4 + FLAG). [...] The causes of the cut, which is located in the Mediterranean between Sicily and Tunisia, on sections linking Sicily to Egypt, remain unclear.”

Saudi Arabia: 55% out of service
Djibouti: 71% out of service
Egypt: 52% out of service
United Arab Emirates: 68% out of service
India: 82% out of service
Lebanon: 16% out of service
Malaysia: 42% out of service
Maldives: 100% out of service
Pakistan: 51% out of service
Qatar: 73% out of service
Syria: 36% out of service
Taiwan: 39% out of service
Yemen: 38% out of service
Zambia: 62% out of service

See also: “Demystifying submarine cables.”

(irr)

[Update: cables number four, five.]

Troubled asse(t)s

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Posted by m3t00 on 08-12-19 – 02:41:am
under economics, finance, idea

WSJ:

Some Credit Suisse Group bankers were left reeling after the bank said it would pay a substantial percentage of their 2008 compensation with an illiquid group of junk bonds, mortgage-backed securities and corporate loans. [...] This year, up to 80% of the stock portion will come via what Credit Suisse is formally calling a “Partner Asset Facility,” of the illiquid assets, largely corporate loans. Bankers won’t receive a return on the PAF program for eight years, although they can start to collect some of the principal in 2013. [...] The announcement elicited livid reactions from senior bankers, many of whom questioned whether it was legal. Many said they believed they were being unfairly punished for risky assets bought by colleagues in distant parts of the firm. And while the securities may prove lucrative over time, many bankers are already stretched for cash.

Bingo.