I just had an interesting conversation with my brother. He is a senior compliance specialist who has worked with the biggest global commercial banks. He explained the extraordinary cost and consequences of poor administration of the legal framework of the finance and securities industry in the EU. I was amazed. His perspective from the City …
Continue reading Tick the box. Or think.
Category:2 Geopolitics
$ 2billion “surprise” trading loss? C’mon!
So JP Morgan hung its head because it did a “Leeson” and managed to lose $ 2 billion in trading in a couple of months. They are supposed to be one of the good ones. What is going on? What are regulators doing? What are you investors doing? Let heads roll! BBC: JPMorgan reveals shock …
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The front line of politics.
Many people are unhappy with the effectiveness of the political process, but just accept government by corrupt elected officials and inflexible, antiquated bureaucracy. Others are trying to change the way we do things. Like marches for civil rights, they facilitate speech on the internet when strong arm tactics are trying to quite the voices of …
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Government bureaucracy is keeping us down.
IMD just sent out promotion for the World Competitiveness Yearbook. The table here was highlighted. My beloved Hong Kong, where you can get things done, is at the top, but Ireland, mired in government sloth, is comparable to centrally controlled Mainland China. Anyone who has taken initiative will know that much red tape is wasteful …
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Aren’t The King’s New Clothes Wonderful!?!
Danny Kaye’s is the version I loved as a boy, though Bernard Cribbins does it well too. If you can’t listen, the lyrics are all you need. If you don’t cry at the the irony, smile at the knowledge that there is an answer staring us in the face, even if we choose not to …
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ACTA is more dangerous than PIPA or SOPA
ACTA — a global treaty — could allow corporations to censor the Internet. Negotiated in secret by a small number of rich countries and corporate powers, it would set up a shadowy new anti-counterfeiting body to allow private interests to police everything that we do online and impose massive penalties – even prison sentences – against …
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Humanity’s ready for a heart attack.
“Current patterns of consumption are not sustainable.” No, really!??! The High-level Panel on Global Sustainability report “Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing“. http://www.un.org/gsp/report
Who governs FIFA? Alcohol and sports are not compatible.
It is outrageous that FIFA, sponsored by Budweiser, is demanding the Brazilian government change their law banning alcohol at matches. Soccer is soccer. Fans might like to have a pint while watching teh game in their local, but thousands of intoxicated men in confined spaces – that’s just stupid. Anyone who has seen crowd violence …
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Protest US “anti-piracy” moves
The US Stop Online Piracy Act (Sopa) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (Pipa) are proposed to be debated by Congress in a week. The legislation would allow the Justice Department and content owners to seek court orders requiring search engines to block results associated with piracy. The bill is too broad and so badly written …
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We love factory food.
Factory farming is bad. The new movie Contagion, based on the book Viral Storm, dramatises the kind of risk we nurture with intensive farming techniques. The kind of techniques that deliver the variety and volume of food at such low prices that we demand. From The Ecologist: Viral storm: why factory farming is bad for …
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