Monthly Archives: January 2008

Chinese nutcases are upto it again

Since the Olympic stadium doesn’t have a roof, the Beijing Meteorological Bureau has been given the task of making sure the games remain dry. According to Zhang Qian, head of weather manipulation (best title to have on a business card ever) at the bureau, they’ve had success with light rain but heavy rain remains tough to control. I see a hurricane cannon in some lucky country’s future.

-Slashdot

$7.2 bn employee fraud at French bank

From Forbes (Original article here )

LONDON –

Societe Generale stunned investors on Thursday when it announced that “exceptional fraud” at its French markets division, and new subprime related write-downs, would cost it up to $10.2 billion.

The fraudulent positions adopted by an unnamed trader in 2007 and 2008 are costing France’s second largest bank 4.9 billion euros ($7.2 billion). SocGen also announced write-downs Thursday worth 2.1 billion euros ($3.0 billion), from failed investments in collateralized debt obligations and bond insurers in the United States.

The bank will now sell 5.5 billion euros ($8.0 billion) in shares to strengthen its capital position.

Societe Generale shares closed down 3.42 euros ($5.00), or 4.2%, to 79.08 euros ($115.61), on Wednesday in Paris, and trading was completely suspended on Thursday morning.

Leading European shares shrugged off the news. The Dow Jones Eurostoxx 50 was trading up 5.1%, at 3,761.43 points, as shares across the board bounced back from heavy losses on Wednesday.

SocGen’s fraud is one of the largest in Europe, far larger than the £800 million ($1.6 billion) lost by Nick Leeson, who triggered the collapse of Britain’s Barings Bank in the 1990s.

Soon after SocGen’s announcement, Fitch Ratings downgraded its long-term default rating to “-AA,” from “AA,” and the bank’s individual rating to B, from A, citing the substantial trading losses that had occured within its core trading division.

It described the subprime mortgage-related write-downs as adequate, given market conditions, and said the bank’s valuation of these assets was reasonable.

No details are yet know of the enfant terrible that caused Thursday’s shock write-down. SocGen said the trader worked in European stock market index futures where big bets are made on the direction of market indexes like France’s CAC-40, or the FTSE 100.

“Aided by his in-depth knowledge of thoe control procedures resulting from his former employment in the middle-office, he managed to concel these positions through a scheme of elaborate fictitious transactions,” the bank explained Wednesday. It added that the trader had confessed to the fraud and that a dismissal procedure had been launched.

Societe General said it had rejected a proposal by chief executive Daniel Boution to resign.

Thomson Financial contributed to this report.

WIF 2008

Just got back after a hectic but thoroughly exciting 24 hour jam at the Indian preselections (http://www.webdesign-festival.com/2008/countries/india/index.html) of Webdesign International Festival 2008 organised by the city of Limoges, France.
We landed at The Park yesterday evening at 5 o’ clock, and the contest kicked off by 6.
We were given the theme- “Water is life” and asked to come up with a website which conveyed the idea. After some initial confusion, we finally arrived at decision post dinner and kicked off work at frenetic pace, which continued well past 5pm today. But apparently, we got a bit too ambitious with the idea and tried to do a bit too much :).
I personally wrote over one thousand lines of code but it all went to vain as the templates our designer made were incompatible with my style, and we never managed to discuss as we were busy with our own work. Disappointed, we put up a static version of the site, which conveys the potential somewhat of what it could have been if we got it to work. And that we shall, ofcourse very soon, this effort shall not go in waste.
You can check the static version of the site here->
http://www.webdesign-festival.com/2008/equipes/preselections/bluenote/

American megalomania shows its ugly head again

A young blonde Icelandic woman’s recent experience visiting the US

The story of Eva Ósk Arnardóttir:

During the last twenty-four hours I have probably experienced the greatest humiliation to which I have ever been subjected. During these last twenty-four hours I have been handcuffed and chained, denied the chance to sleep, been without food and drink and been confined to a place without anyone knowing my whereabouts, imprisoned. Now I am beginning to try to understand all this, rest and review the events which began as innocently as possible.

Last Sunday I and a few other girls began our trip to New York. We were going to shop and enjoy the Christmas spirit. We made ourselves comfortable on first class, drank white wine and looked forward to go shopping, eat good food and enjoy life. When we landed at JFK airport the traditional clearance process began.

We were screened and went on to passport control. As I waited for them to finish examining my passport I heard an official say that there was something which needed to be looked at more closely and I was directed to the work station of Homeland Security. There I was told that according to their records I had overstayed my visa by 3 weeks in 1995. For this reason I would not be admitted to the country and would be sent home on the next flight. I looked at the official in disbelief and told him that I had in fact visited New York after the trip in 1995 without encountering any difficulties. A detailed interrogation session ensued.

I was photographed and fingerprinted. I was asked questions which I felt had nothing to do with the issue at hand. I was forbidden to contact anyone to advise of my predicament and although I was invited at the outset to contact the Icelandic consul or embassy, that invitation was later withdrawn. I don’t know why.

I was then made to wait while they sought further information, and sat on a chair before the authority for 5 hours. I saw the officials in this section handle other cases and it was clear that these were men anxious to demonstrate their power. Small kings with megalomania. I was careful to remain completely cooperative, for I did not yet believe that they planned to deport me because of my “crime”.

When 5 hours had passed and I had been awake for 24 hours, I was told that they were waiting for officials who would take me to a kind of waiting room. There I would be given a bed to rest in, some food and I would be searched. What they thought they might find I cannot possibly imagine. Finally guards appeared who transported me to the new place. I saw the bed as if in a mirage, for I was absolutely exhausted.

What turned out was something else. I was taken to another office exactly like the one where I had been before and once again along wait ensued. In all, it turned out to be 5 hours. At this office all my things were taken from me. I succeeded in sending a single sms to worried relatives and friends when I was granted a bathroom break. After that the cell phone was taken from me. After I had been sitting for 5 hours I was told that they were now waiting for guards who would take me to a place where I could rest and eat. Then I was placed in a cubicle which looked like an operating room. Attached to the walls were 4 steel plates, probably intended to serve as bed and a toilet.

I was exhausted, tired and hungry. I didn’t understand the officials’ conduct, for they were treating me like a very dangerous criminal. Soon thereafter I was removed from the cubicle and two armed guards placed me up against a wall. A chain was fastened around my waist and I was handcuffed to the chain. Then my legs were placed in chains. I asked for permission to make a telephone call but they refused. So secured, I was taken from the airport terminal in full sight of everybody. I have seldom felt so bad, so humiliated and all because I had taken a longer vacation than allowed under the law.

They would not tell me where they were taking me. The trip took close to one hour and although I couldn’t see clearly outside the vehicle I knew that we had crossed over into New Jersey. We ended up in front of a jail. I could hardly believe that this was happening. Was I really about to be jailed? I was led inside in the chains and there yet another interrogation session ensued. I was fingerprinted once again and photographed. I was made to undergo a medical examnination, I was searched and then I was placed in a jail cell. I was asked absurd questions such as: When did you have your last period? What do you believe in? Have you ever tried to commit suicide?

I was completely exhausted, tired and cold. Fourteen hours after I had landed I had something to eat and drink for the first time. I was given porridge and bread. But it did not help much. I was afraid and the attitude of all who handled me was abysmal to say the least. They did not speak to me as much as snap at me. Once again I asked to make a telephone call and this time the answer was positive. I was relieved but the relief was short-lived. For the telephone was setup for collect calls only and it was not possible to make overseas calls. The jailguard held my cell phone in his hand. I explained to him that I could not make a call from the jail telephone and asked to be allowed to make one call from my own phone. That was out of the question. I spent the next 9 hours in a small, dirty cell. The only thing in there was a narrow steel board which extended out from the wall, a sink and toilet. I wish I never experience again in my life the feeling of confinement and helplessness which I experienced there.

I was hugely relieved when, at last, I was told that I was to be taken to the airport, that is to say until I was again handcuffed and chained.Then I could take no more and broke down and cried. I begged them at least to leave out the leg chains but my request was ignored. When we arrived at the airport, another jail guard took pity on me and removed the leg chains. Even so I was led through a full airport terminal handcuffed and escorted by armed men. I felt terrible. On seeing this, people must think that there goes a very dangerous criminal. In this condition I was led up into the Icelandair waiting room, and was kept handcuffed until I entered the embarkation corridor. I was completely run down by all this in both body and spirit. Fortunately I could count on good people and both Einar (the captain) and the crew did all which they could to try to assist me. My friend Auður was in close contact with my sister and the consul and embassy had been contacted. However, all had received misleading information and all had been told that I had been detained at the airport terminal, not that I had been put in jail. Now the Foreign Ministry is looking into the matter and I hope to receive some explanation why I was treated this way.


Read original article here-
http://www.sott.net/articles/show/145536-A-young-blonde-Icelandic-woman-s-recent-experience-visiting-the-US