Just so you know:
‘C’est du béton’ est traduit comme ‘It’s a slam dunk’ en anglais.
It would otherwise mean ‘it’s concrete’, or ‘it’s of concrete’.
“Ne vous inquiétez pas, c’est du béton”, aurait répondu Tenet. L’expression “c’est du béton” (en anglais, une métaphore sportive liée au basket, ‘it’s a slam-dunk’) est depuis devenue le symbole des certitudes erronées de l’administration Bush sur le régime irakien.
I’ve been looking at jobs this afternoon after a bit of prompting from a friend. I’ve been interested in technology and one of my key interests has been as a typical ‘Apple fanboy’. Paint me with that brush. I’ve also somehow diversified in my interests in that I’m also really interested in the financial markets, banking and investment. I don’t have any experience with any of this of course: I’m a student and students by definition don’t have any money. I tell a lie, I do have a little bit of experience, but not something serious. Some years ago, I flirted for about five minutes with the BBC’s Celebdaq game which attempts to act as a fake stock market for the star power of various celebrities, based on media coverage and traffic in selling ’shares’ in the celebrity and so forth. I tried it, and hated the fact that it was so subjective. I like to really know about a subject so that if I think about actually investing in it I know I’m not being silly. I don’t need to invest in someone like Britney Spears and then find that one fine day she’s shaved her head.
So out of this interest in Apple, and an interest in investments and stocks, I end up reading quite a lot of financial news. One of the companies that is best known in the analyst sector is IDC, a data analysis firm that offers guidance to investors on market trends in much the same was as others such as Gartner. They collect data or carry out their own research operations and form opinions on their findings. In looking at their jobs on offer today I found what I think has to be one of the most comprehensive lists of things they absolutely don’t care about in their employees.
I get the impression that they actually just want the best employees and don’t really care about anything else. This is the kind of company I could work for.
IDC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. IDC does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, ancestry, sexual orientation, disability, handicap, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy-related conditions, or political beliefs.
“Top notch care and support of Army Families demonstrate our sincere appreciation and gratitude for their many contributions, and allow our Soldiers to fully concentrate on the fight and focus on their duties.
“Effective immediately, the word ‘Families’ will be capitalized in all Army correspondence. Please ensure wide dissemination of this change. Thanks for your continued efforts to do all you can to provide steadfast support to our Army Families.”
Also, Extended Tours, Multiple Deployments, Shortened Home Leave and Other Words Will Be Capitalized From Time To Time, As Deemed Necessary. viaA Kamen in Washington Post
Hunters in the annual seal massacre that has a quota for killing 270,000 seals per year in north east Canada have over the last couple days become stranded and cut off from aid because of forceful ice flows and bad weather conditions. Perhaps it’s a message to stop killing wild animals? I hate the seal cull. Plus, calling it a ‘cull’ implies that there are somehow too many seals. There aren’t too many seals. They’ve only just recovered from the brink of extinction. How many animals must we kill just to allow for human overpopulation of the planet. I think this is ridiculous.
One of the best ways to stop thefts has been found to be by simply acting super friendly and accommodating.
“If you’re a legitimate customer, you think, ’This is the friendliest person I’ve met in my life.’ If you’re a bad guy, it scares the lights out of you,” said Drew Ness, a vice president of Bellevue-based First Mutual Bank, who advocates the approach.
Selon Le Figaro, un chiffre étonnant des électeurs en France n’avaient pas encore choisi leur candidat préféré: il a dit (dans un sondage) que ca reste à 38%! C’est bizarre ça. With only days to go, only 62 percent of electors have declared, in polls, to have decided on their preferred candidate. The first round of elections takes place in four days.
Si tous les enfants veulent devenir astronautes, c’est pour se barrer de cette Terre où ils devront vivre toute leur vie…
Seriously amazing video. The voiceover is a bit odd, but the visuals (especially if you don’t understand french) are amazing! I especially like the bit with the pigeon. If that’s not an incentive to watch, I don’t know what is!
//If this video disappears from YouTube, email me.
The Democratic Presidential candidate from Connecticut was asked about his position on gay ‘marriage’ during a talk with New Hampshire High School students. His response refers obliquely to John Rawls‘ Veil of Ignorance:
With ones own children: “They may grow up as a different sexual orientation than their parents. How would I want my child to be treated if they were of a different sexual orientation?”
Rawls’ book ‘A Theory of Justice’, one of my favorite works of political philosophy, refers to the decision making process through which a society ought to go about defining its own rules:
“no one knows his place in society, his class position or social status, nor does anyone know his fortune in the distribution of natural assets and abilities, his intelligence, strength, and the like. I shall even assume that the parties do not know their conceptions of the good or their special psychological propensities. The principles of justice are chosen behind a veil of ignorance.”
What makes Dodd’s pronouncement interesting is the fact that he is a father of two girls and, though (perhaps oddly) an opponent of gay marriage, a supporter of civil unions and their recognition on a federal level.
