From here:
· Academics say they suffer at the hands of journalists, but sometimes the boot is on the other foot, as Jon Adams, of the London School of Economics, makes clear in his recent paper about popularising science. He recalls that the physicist Richard Feynman was asked by a journalist to explain - in simple terms - what his Nobel prize was for, and allegedly retorted: "Listen buddy, if I could tell you in a minute what I did, it wouldn't be worth the Nobel prize."
All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!
Tuesday, February 26
Journalism Versus Academics!
From here:
· Academics say they suffer at the hands of journalists, but sometimes the boot is on the other foot, as Jon Adams, of the London School of Economics, makes clear in his recent paper about popularising science. He recalls that the physicist Richard Feynman was asked by a journalist to explain - in simple terms - what his Nobel prize was for, and allegedly retorted: "Listen buddy, if I could tell you in a minute what I did, it wouldn't be worth the Nobel prize."
All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!
· Academics say they suffer at the hands of journalists, but sometimes the boot is on the other foot, as Jon Adams, of the London School of Economics, makes clear in his recent paper about popularising science. He recalls that the physicist Richard Feynman was asked by a journalist to explain - in simple terms - what his Nobel prize was for, and allegedly retorted: "Listen buddy, if I could tell you in a minute what I did, it wouldn't be worth the Nobel prize."
All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!
Our awful rate of abortion is partly the Cardinal's responsibility
An interesting argument. Does religious conviction actually increase abortion rather than decreasing it? I have to think this through a bit more, but it is indeed thought provoking.
All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!
All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!
30 miles per hour speed limit
I took this photo at Harrow on the Hill Tube Station looking downstream. Both saying 30 miles per hour and both showing red. Just found it interesting! You can click on the photo to see a bigger resolution.
Technorati Tags: London,Photo Essay
Another way to be sustainable
I walked into the office today and found this pile of garbage bins. A young lady who works for our sustainability initiatives had actually come into the office over the weekend, and then removed every garbage bin leaving aside one for every two people.
Of course, the individual offices still had one. I can see how the equation will work, if you have a smaller garbage bin, you will be forced to think about what and where you throw your stuff. Otherwise you will end up with a full bin by noon and then have banana skins piled up on your desk. Not good.
Click on the picture to get a bigger resolution.
Technorati Tags: Sustainable Development
Monday, February 25
A million messages per second
I have been researching a wee bit on technology and impact on trading and I came across this rather interesting article about the rate of messages on market data. I quote:
Broader institutional participation, increased volatility, advancements in technology, remote market making, and regulatory changes are driving options quote volumes to higher and higher peaks. The six options exchanges in the U.S send their quote data to the Options Price Reporting Authority, which merges it into one feed and pushes it out to the market. During periods of heavy market activity, Opra sends out as many as 300,000 messages per second, far above what was seen just a few years ago.
To stay ahead of the curve, Opra has repeatedly advised the industry to boost its capacity to receive these market data messages. At the beginning of 2007, the required capacity level set by Opra was 359,000 messages per second. At the beginning of 2008, Opra had increased that level to 701,000 messages per second, and it is targeting 907,000 by the middle of 2008.
If you are interested in risk management (market, credit, operational and legal as well), do sign up to this site, very useful indeed.
All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!
Broader institutional participation, increased volatility, advancements in technology, remote market making, and regulatory changes are driving options quote volumes to higher and higher peaks. The six options exchanges in the U.S send their quote data to the Options Price Reporting Authority, which merges it into one feed and pushes it out to the market. During periods of heavy market activity, Opra sends out as many as 300,000 messages per second, far above what was seen just a few years ago.
To stay ahead of the curve, Opra has repeatedly advised the industry to boost its capacity to receive these market data messages. At the beginning of 2007, the required capacity level set by Opra was 359,000 messages per second. At the beginning of 2008, Opra had increased that level to 701,000 messages per second, and it is targeting 907,000 by the middle of 2008.
If you are interested in risk management (market, credit, operational and legal as well), do sign up to this site, very useful indeed.
All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!
Poverty in the Middle East
And here's the impact of inflation in the Middle East. I quote:
Even as it enriches Arab rulers, the recent oil-price boom is helping to fuel an extraordinary rise in the cost of food and other basic goods that is squeezing this region’s middle class and setting off strikes, demonstrations and occasional riots from Morocco to the Persian Gulf.
Here in Jordan, the cost of maintaining fuel subsidies amid the surge in prices forced the government to remove almost all the subsidies this month, sending the price of some fuels up 76 percent overnight. In a devastating domino effect, the cost of basic foods like eggs, potatoes and cucumbers doubled or more.
In Saudi Arabia, where inflation had been virtually zero for a decade, it recently reached an official level of 6.5 percent, though unofficial estimates put it much higher. Public protests and boycotts have followed, and 19 prominent clerics posted an unusual statement on the Internet in December warning of a crisis that would cause “theft, cheating, armed robbery and resentment between rich and poor.”
In a few places the price increases have led to violence. In Yemen, prices for bread and other foods have nearly doubled in the past four months, setting off a string of demonstrations and riots in which at least a dozen people were killed. In Morocco, 34 people were sentenced to prison on Wednesday for participating in riots over food prices, the Moroccan state news service reported. Even tightly controlled Jordan has had nonviolent demonstrations and strikes.
The Middle East’s heavy reliance on food imports has made it especially vulnerable to the global rise in commodity prices over the past year
All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!
Even as it enriches Arab rulers, the recent oil-price boom is helping to fuel an extraordinary rise in the cost of food and other basic goods that is squeezing this region’s middle class and setting off strikes, demonstrations and occasional riots from Morocco to the Persian Gulf.
Here in Jordan, the cost of maintaining fuel subsidies amid the surge in prices forced the government to remove almost all the subsidies this month, sending the price of some fuels up 76 percent overnight. In a devastating domino effect, the cost of basic foods like eggs, potatoes and cucumbers doubled or more.
In Saudi Arabia, where inflation had been virtually zero for a decade, it recently reached an official level of 6.5 percent, though unofficial estimates put it much higher. Public protests and boycotts have followed, and 19 prominent clerics posted an unusual statement on the Internet in December warning of a crisis that would cause “theft, cheating, armed robbery and resentment between rich and poor.”
In a few places the price increases have led to violence. In Yemen, prices for bread and other foods have nearly doubled in the past four months, setting off a string of demonstrations and riots in which at least a dozen people were killed. In Morocco, 34 people were sentenced to prison on Wednesday for participating in riots over food prices, the Moroccan state news service reported. Even tightly controlled Jordan has had nonviolent demonstrations and strikes.
The Middle East’s heavy reliance on food imports has made it especially vulnerable to the global rise in commodity prices over the past year
All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!
High food prices may force aid rationing
It is even getting worse than I have said before. This was front page news on the Financial Times today. I quote:
The United Nation’s agency responsible for relieving hunger is drawing up plans to ration food aid in response to the spiralling cost of agricultural commodities.
The WFP crisis talks come as the body sees the emergence of a “new area of hunger” in developing countries where even middle-class, urban people are being “priced out of the food market” because of rising food prices.
The warning suggests that the price jump in agricultural commodities – such as wheat, corn, rice and soyabeans – is having a wider impact than thought, hitting countries that have previously largely escaped hunger.
“We are seeing a new face of hunger in which people are being priced out of the food market,” said Ms Sheeran.
Hunger is now “affecting a wide range of countries”, she said, pointing to Indonesia, Yemen and Mexico. “Situations that were previously not urgent – they are now.”
All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!
The United Nation’s agency responsible for relieving hunger is drawing up plans to ration food aid in response to the spiralling cost of agricultural commodities.
The WFP crisis talks come as the body sees the emergence of a “new area of hunger” in developing countries where even middle-class, urban people are being “priced out of the food market” because of rising food prices.
The warning suggests that the price jump in agricultural commodities – such as wheat, corn, rice and soyabeans – is having a wider impact than thought, hitting countries that have previously largely escaped hunger.
“We are seeing a new face of hunger in which people are being priced out of the food market,” said Ms Sheeran.
Hunger is now “affecting a wide range of countries”, she said, pointing to Indonesia, Yemen and Mexico. “Situations that were previously not urgent – they are now.”
All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!
Sunday, February 24
4,000 company directors listed as global terror suspects and fraudsters
One wonders what on earth are the financial crimes unit in the British Police forces doing? Read and wonder.
The names of almost 4,000 directors of British companies appear on international watchlists of alleged fraudsters, money launderers, terror financiers and corrupt officials, The Times has learnt.
A detailed study of the public register of directors held at Companies House uncovered people identified around the world as terrorist suspects, alleged drug traffickers and individuals convicted of offences ranging from illicit dealing in firearms to fraud.
The research, carried out by the financial intelligence service World-Check, found 3,994 exact matches between its database of 750,000 “high-risk” individuals and the 6.8 million directors and businesses listed at Companies House. Its report also discovered 27,000 “near-matches”.
The research exposes an apparent absence of vetting of who can and cannot register a business and become a company director in Britain.
Technorati Tags: Terrorist Financing,United Kingdom
EU politicians accused of ‘massive’ fraud
Why not indeed? I am way too cynical to assume that the EU parliament is actually going to do something for the common European. After all, even me as a follower of politics, would be hard pressed to point to something that these fat cats have done. I quote:
The European Union’s anti-fraud agency is to investigate whether parliamentarians have been pocketing staff allowances after a damning internal audit.
Olaf, the anti-fraud office, said on Wednesday it had asked for a copy of the confidential report, which exposes misuse of the €140m annual staff budget. “It is potentially of interest to us,” Olaf said.
Technorati Tags: EU,Corruption
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