Much of what investment bankers do is socially worthless
A few months ago, I came across an announcement that Citigroup, the parent company of Citibank, was to be honored, along with its chief executive, Vikram Pandit, for “Advancing the Field of Asset Building in America.” This seemed akin to, say, saluting BP for services to the environment or praising Facebook for its commitment to privacy. During the past decade, Citi has become synonymous with financial misjudgment, reckless lending, and gargantuan losses: what might be termed asset denuding rather than asset building. In late 2008, the sprawling firm might well have collapsed but for a government bailout. Even today the U.S. taxpayer is Citigroup’s largest shareholder.
The award ceremony took place on September 23rd in Washington, D.C., where the Corporation for Enterprise Development, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to expanding economic opportunities for low-income families and communities, was holding its biennial conference. A ballroom at the Marriott Wardman Park was full of government officials, lawyers, tax experts, and community workers, two of whom were busy at my table lamenting the impact of budget cuts on financial-education programs in Vermont.
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It’s not enough to make the cut to be a Playboy centerfold. Your nipples also have to be the right sort of pointy. Your butt has to have a “better curve.” Enter Photoshop. Here, a rare view into the process.
It’s “;The Year Of The Rabbit” at Christie’s, which has put up for auction an array of Playboy memorabilia. The most interesting are the copies of Playboy centerfolds from the 1990s and early 2000s that are marked up by editors and the art department — and subjected to a panel that grades them with a composite score.
Having made it this far, just about all of the centerfolds scored in the late 80s. But Lauren Hill, the Playmate of the month in February 2001 and seen here, got somewhat harsher commentary: “‘OK but nothing special. There is nothing going on in the face + eyes.”The scrawls on Hill’s photo also found her nipples lacking and suggested her stomach be slimmed.
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Charles de Gaulle (1890) (yes, born on todays date)
De Gaulle was a French general and statesman. He left France after it fell to the Germans in WWII and started the Free French movement in England. He returned to France after the liberation of Paris and headed two provisional governments before resigning in 1946. When an insurrection in Algeria threatened to bring civil war to France, he returned to government, helped establish the Fifth Republic, and became its first president in 1958. What was his role in the “Empty Chair Crisis”? More…
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The Origin of Symbols
Familiar Symbols and Emblems – Their Origin and Meaning (with Some Unexpected Appearances in Arts)
We see various symbols and signs every day, and maybe think ‘I know what that means, but I wonder where it came from’? Well, here’s a look at some of mankind’s more familiar symbols’ origin and meaning, plus some interesting art and photography associated with them:
Fascinating urban mysteries, explained.
Slide show: We unravel enigmas of the city, from the pink faces of Paris to a Virgin Mary under a Chicago underpass
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Contrary to popular belief, with 90% of people finding the issue of infidelity morally wrong, humans are inherently not monogamous. People seem to idealize monogamy, and yet when given the opportunity to cheat, most do. There is a veil of secrecy cast over the issue of cheating which is ironic given the recent statistics that 50-65% of husbands and 45-55% of wives, one out of every 2.7 couples become involved with another at some point in the course of marriage.
So, for the nearly 50% of you out there who have indulged in infidelity … here’s a list of the Top 50 Songs For Cheaters & Their Heartbroken
CHEATING? CHEATED ON? CLICK HERE
Museums stand as one of the most necessary cornerstones of human society. They introduce visitors to new ideas and concepts that they may not otherwise pick up in school or at home – thus, hopefully, nurturing intellectualism in the process. Many have now taken to the internet in order to promote everything from Pop Art to paleontology, making them excellent resources for parents, teachers, students and curious adults lacking the resources for globetrotting. Along with their brick-and-mortar exhibition halls, they set up virtual worlds for patrons to explore, many of them accomplishing feats too impractical or expensive to physically pull off. The following institutions offer up a blissfully broad range of online activities suitable for many different audiences. Absorb what they have to offer and gain a greater understanding of the weird and wonderful planet’s past, present and possible future.
CLICK HERE
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REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — On the eve of a pivotal academic year in Vishal Singh’s life, he faces a stark choice on his bedroom desk: book or computer?
By all rights, Vishal, a bright 17-year-old, should already have finished the book, Kurt Vonnegut[1]’s “Cat’s Cradle,” his summer reading assignment. But he has managed 43 pages in two months.
He typically favors Facebook[2], YouTube[3] and making digital videos. That is the case this August afternoon. Bypassing Vonnegut, he clicks over to YouTube, meaning that tomorrow he will enter his senior year of high school hoping to see an improvement in his grades, but without having completed his only summer homework.
On YouTube, “you can get a whole story in six minutes,” he explains. “A book takes so long. I prefer the immediate gratification.”
Students have always faced distractions and time-wasters. But computers and cellphones, and the constant stream of stimuli they offer, pose a profound new challenge to focusing and learning.
There are plenty of good reasons to buy organic produce, but nutrition may not be one of them, suggests a new study, which found no difference in antioxidant levels between organically and conventionally grown onions, carrots, and potatoes.
The study only looked at three types of vegetables and just a few select nutrients. But the experiment was part of a bigger project that was so systematic and rigorously controlled that the findings likely apply to other crops, too, said lead author Pia Knuthsen, a senior research scientist at the Danish National Food Institute’s department of food chemistry, based at the University of Copenhagen.
“Giving preference to organic products because they contain more bioactive components is doubtful and not supported by scientific evidence,” Knuthsen said. “Still, there are many good reasons for the consumer to select organic food products, including absence of pesticide residues in foods, animal welfare, and environmental protections.”
Controversy over whether organic produce is more nutritious than conventional varieties has been around for at least a decade, said Jeffrey Blumberg, director of the Antioxidants Research Laboratory at Tufts University in Boston.
Organic Veggies Not More Nutritious
How to write novels, screenplays, best-sellers, science-fiction. How to write like David Foster Wallace and David Mamet. How to write for non-readers [Picture by Andy2580]
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Originally posted 2010-11-22 11:10:31. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
