Aid is Bad for You.

Now I would not say that this is something new, nor that is it a concept that is that hard to understand. We all remember, or should remember our mother's telling us to work for our sweet, film or whatever money rather than just being given it.

The Economist blog, Baobab, has this to say about aid and being given money, quoting Nicholas Eubank, a researcher at Stanford University (who)...

claims that some of Somaliland's success is down to a dearth of aid. Donors cannot give aid directly to the government since it is not recognised as such. It has been dependant on raising local tax revenue, which the paper says citizens have used as leverage to make the government more inclusive, representative and accountable. For those looking to bash the multi-billion dollar aid industry, it is an appealing thesis.

see Mo money mo problems

from Baobab (original article dated June 24, 2011)

The Myspace Implosion - A View from Australia

Image via CrunchBaseStephen Bartholomeusz, writing in The Australian Business Spectator has a fairly standard analysis of the recent half a billion dollar loss that Murdoch's News Corp had on the sale of Myspace.

This week News did sell Myspace, for a paltry $US35 million, and put an end to the haemorrhaging that business was experiencing and the embarrassment the continuing presence of the business within the News portfolio had created for Murdoch.

see Murdoch's Myspace humiliation (free signup required)


from Business Spectator

The conclusion is the interesting bit

(the question is)..."News and its peers try to manage the transition of their traditional media businesses into the digital age. News’ big experiments with digital media – Myspace, the iPad-only newspaper The Daily, and the paywalls around its UK newspapers – haven’t inspired confidence in News’ ability to manage that evolution."

No they have not and they probably never will.

La Seine: apéro sur l'eau

Il débarquera à la tombée du jour, auréolé de ses lampions. Il vous embarquera avec une poignée d'amis. Et il vous enverra voguer sur la Seine. Le temps d'un apéro sur l'eau, le bateau Jour de Fête vous appartient.

see  Apéro flottant

from My Little Paris

Privatisation d'un mini-bateau sur la Seine pour un apéro flottant d'1 heure
36 € par personne pour min. 8 et max. 11 personnes, incluant 4 bouteilles de blanc
Possibilité d'apporter pique-nique et boissons
Embarquez vos amis et, pour réserver, téléphonez au 01 78 13 31 00 de 10h à 18h ou écrivez à evrard@jourdefete.tv 

Pay Your Enemy, Big Time - USA and Pakistan.

Hating the United States—which funds Islamabad’s army and nuclear program to the humiliating tune of $3 billion a year—Pakistan takes its twisted, cowardly revenge by harboring the likes of the late Osama bin Laden. But the hypocrisy is mutual, and the shame should be shared.

So writes Christopher Hitchens in the July, 2010 edition of Vanity Fair 

One has to wonder, as Hitchens writes, why The USA continues to pay for mad, bad and downright evil states. In the case of Pakistan, one has to be completely amazed that the US fell for the myth of Bin Laden hiding out in the wilds of the Afghan and Pakistan border lands.

He was in Abbottabad along, and Pakistan knew from the word go.

Squattez un location qui décoiffe en vacances!

"Une chambre dans un loft new-yorkais ? Une maison d'architecte sur les hauteurs de Barcelone ou une cabane au Costa Rica à partager entre amis ? Pas besoin de vous ruiner pour vous offrir un location qui décoiffe."

check out Airbnb.com

from Merci Alfred

                                            Amsterdam