Tuesday, July 31, 2012

L'interrogation. Quiz audio B1, B2



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El dia d'ahir en imatges

De nou un dia asolellat i caloròs el que varem gaudir ahir.
Juliol ha estat un mes força sec, en quant a pluges solament han caigut 29'8 mm en tot el mes.

Dades meteorològiques d’avui a Puigcerdà, a les 8 del matí 
 Temperatura actual: 13'7ºC 
Màxima d’ahir: 32'4ºC 
Mínima d’avui: 13'7ºC 
Pressió atmosfèrica: 1016 hp 
Humitat ambient: 66% 
Humitat mínima d'ahir: 18% a les 16.42 h.
 Pluja en 24 h: ---- 
 Estat del cel: serè
Visibilitat: bona
Cop de vent màxim: Migjorn de 16'9 km/h

Per avui hi ha un avís per risc de calor








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美警用軟體 預測分析犯案時地

(法新社華盛頓31日電) 打擊犯罪的警方長期以來用腦力和體力辦案,不過現在有一種新科技聲稱能使警方辦案更有效率,叫做「預防性治安維護」。
愈來愈多美國和其他國家的執法機構,採用有預測分析能力的軟體工具,根據的是預測犯罪發生的演算法。
這個想法聽起來很像是出自科幻恐怖片「關鍵報告」(Minority Report),這部史蒂芬史匹柏(StevenSpeilberg)根據狄克(Philip K. Dick)小說於2002年拍成的電影。
從加州聖克魯斯(Santa Cruz)到田納西州曼非斯(Memphis)的警察局,從波蘭到英國的執法機構都已採用這些新技術,即便沒有某些科幻小說的花招。
預防性治安維護的前提很簡單:罪犯行為是有模式的,警方可用類似預測消費者購買行為的軟體來判斷,下次會在哪裡出現案件,有時候能事先防範。
國際商業機器公司(IBM)預防犯罪分析學部門主管克萊維利(Mark Cleverly)說:「你可以建立一個模型,納入若干條件,像是一年的什麼時節、是濕熱天氣還是乾冷下雪天,是不是人們攜帶大筆現金的發薪日等。」
「這不是說某個案件會發生在某時某地,沒人辦得到這點。不過,軟體可以告訴你,根據我們知道的相關資料,可預期會出現一波汽車竊案。」
曼非斯官員表示,自從2006年使用IBM和曼非斯大學開發的預防分析學程式後,重罪已下降30%,暴力犯罪下降15%。
雖然刑事警察能用直覺辦案,也有類似效果,曼非斯市犯罪分析經理威廉斯(John Williams)說,這個軟體的精準度高得多,例如預測在某個小區晚上10時到凌晨2時間發生的竊盜案。(譯者:中央社郭中翰)HomeAny source

Mario Felipe Martinez Castillo

When I became interested in the colonial history of Honduras, I read a lot of colonial history.  Among those who wrote about Honduras were people like the geographer William V. Davidson, and historians like Rodolfo Pastor Fasquelle, Mario Argueta, Mario Ardon Mejia and for the more recent past, Dario Euraque.  But no one impressed me more than the work of Mario Felipe Martinez Castillo.

He was a founder of the History program at UNAH, and easily the most knowledgeable person about 16th century Honduras.  He wrote about colonial art, and the society that generated it.  He was interested in the "family" of Hondurans who both formed the colony and whose descendents still wield power today.

From 1970 to 1980 he lived in Spain and worked daily in the Archivo General de Indias researching the early history of Honduras.  It was there he found the 1558 declaration of the service and merits of Rodrigo Ruiz (AGI Patronato 69 R.5) which for the first time confirmed in a contemporary document, the existence of the national hero Lempira.  His book on Lempira in 1987 both analyzes that document, and transcribes it, challenging everything that Honduran school children still learn today about their national hero.

He authored 14 books, and co-authored several others:

2011  Los forjadores de nuestra identidad
2009  Temas históricos inéditos de Honduras
2004  El paternalismo y la esclavidtud negra en el Real Minas de Tegucigalpa
2004  La Intendencia de Comayagua
2000  Por las rutas de la plata y el añil:  desarrollo del arte colonial religioso hondureño
1993  Honduras en su historia y en su arte
1992  Cuatro centros de arte colonial provinciano hispano criollo en Honduras
1990  Honduras:  cultura e identidad
1988  Catedral de la Inmaculada Concepción de Valladolid de Comayagua
1987  Los últimos dias de Lempira y otros documentos:  el conquistador español que venció a Lempira
1982  Apuntamientos para una historia colonial de Honduras
1981  Presencia de grupos mexicanos antes y despues de la conquista de Honduras y pervivencia de la lengua Nahuatl en el área supuestamente Lenca.
1967  Capitulos sobre el Colegio Tridentino de Comayagua y la educación colonial en Honduras
1961  La escultura en Honduras

It's not often you get to meet one of your heroes.  In 2008, my friend Rodolfo Pastor Fasquelle arranged for me to meet his "mentor", Mario Felipe Martinez Castilllo, while we were attending a conference on minor Atlantic ports in the colonial period.  He hosted a dinner at a beachfront restaurant in El Paraiso near Omoa where he introduced the two of us.  Mario Felipe was gracious and listened to me talk about my own research on the 16th and 18th centuries in Honduras, but it was clear that his years of work had given him a greater knowledge of the 16th century events in Honduras than he had ever had the time to write about.  I was both jealous and envious of the depth of that knowledge, and hope one day to be able to approach it.  After the meal ended, we wanted to talk more, but he didn't do email, and I almost never go to Tegucigalpa, so it never happened.

Mario Felipe Martinez Castillo died Monday at the age of 80.Any source

George Thomas’s love Child?

Interesting snippet over at Dale & Co from Jerry Hays about the former House of Commons speaker, Welsh Secretary, Cardiff MP, establishment toady and Nat hater George Thomas in his latest column.

He wrote ‘I heard a fascinating story about former Labour Speaker George Thomas the other day. Thomas was strongly believed to have some strange and unpleasant sexual tastes and was not the most popular man in the Commons, particularly by Labour as he appeared to become besotted with the Tories. However, one of my best friends told me of a confession by his Godmother before she died. She was the illegitimate daughter of Thomas and spent a lifetime trying to contact him. He refused to see her. Pretty shitty behaviour you might think. To her credit she carried that secret to her grave.

The rest of Jerry’s column is here
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Quinn adviser sees "serious problems" with how DHS handled abuse and neglect allegations

By Jamey Dunn

A House panel took members of Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration to task today over recent reports that the Illinois Department of Human Services did not follow up on allegations of abuse and neglect after the deaths of several developmentally disabled adults.

The Belleville News-Democrat reported in June that the DHS inspector general, who is tasked with looking into reports of neglect, was not pursuing complaints after the alleged victims had died. The agency reportedly deemed those who had died “ineligible for service.” The paper found 53 deaths since 2003 that the department did not investigate or list in its annual report. In most cases, the individuals were brought into the hospital near death, and health care professionals raised the possibility of potential abuse or neglect, but the patient died before an investigation began.

 “We’re here today for a particularly sad reason because our state failed to detect abuse and neglect of adults with disabilities. We failed to adequately investigate complaints and failed to protect those who were abused and failed to help bring their abusers to justice,” said Rep. Greg Harris, chair of the House Human Services Committee. “Fifty-three deaths occurred, and there were none, no, absolutely zero felony convictions for that abuse and neglect. ... These men and women passed away and suffered in very horrible ways.” Harris described some of the conditions the disabled adults had faced as “living in filth” and “covered in bedsores.” He said that some had “become emaciated skeletons.” Some “might have been saved if the system had performed batter or even had responded at all to their appalling circumstances instead of parsing legal language,” Harris said.

Michael Gelder, Quinn’s senior adviser on health policy, agreed that there were “serious problems” and “deficiencies” with the way the inspector general’s office handled the cases. “We can’t undo what’s been done, but we can do better,” he told the committee at the Chicago hearing. “The gaps and mistakes in our system are deplorable, and the governor responded as quickly as he could.” He added, “I think that there’s no question that certain job responsibilities were not fulfilled.”

Since the report, Quinn has restructured the inspector general’s office and issued an executive order meant to address the problems. Former inspector general William Davis' resignation becomes effective on Aug. 1. Quinn named Daniel Dyslin as acting inspector general for DHS. Dyslin previously served as senior deputy general council at the department. Quinn also appointed Michael McCotter, who has a background in law enforcement, as a special investigator for the office. McCotter is tasked with looking into the cases that the department failed to investigate previously.

DHS Secretary Michelle Saddler said that the inspector general’s office refers such cases to local law enforcement authority. However, she said the office lacked the proper documentation to prove that all of the cases in questions had been referred. “When a person passes away before we can complete or even initiate an investigation, we appropriately refer these results to local law enforcement agencies,” she told the committee. “But as the days progressed, we found that we had inadequately documented our referrals to law enforcement authorities, and in fact, there was no evidence in many cases of our having made those referrals.” She added that the department made a “very poor choice of words” when it declared the deceased “ineligible for services” in its paperwork. She said the decision “raised concerns about our commitment to adults with disabilities.”

The executive order requires the department to refer suspect cases of neglect or abuse when the alleged victim dies to local law enforcement, to document the referral and to follow up with law enforcement to see what action was taken. “The executive order [and] the investigative team will allow us not only to look back and find out exactly what went wrong but also begin that conversation of how we can make this a better system with the resources we have.”

Rep. Mary Flowers said DHS bears the responsibility for abuse cases slipping through the cracks. “The law is the law, and your agency failed to protect the people,” she said. “It is not about the police. It is about your agency failing to do what it’s supposed to do." Flowers, a Democrat from Chicago, argued that low staffing numbers set the office up for a fall. “This program was doomed for failure from the very beginning,” she said.

Saddler said that the DHS inspector general’s office only has five investigators and one supervisor who handle reports of potential abuse or neglect. However, she said the department is working to find solutions without adding staff. “The reality that all of us are dealing with at each of our levels is that there are only a certain number of resources to go around. There were a tremendous number of unspeakably difficult decisions that were made at every single level of the budget process.”

Rep. Sandy Cole, a Republican from Grayslake, said that budget cuts are no excuse for the department’s shortfalls. “I’m kind of amazed at how we are equating incompetence with the fact that the state has a budget crisis. I found that [to be] such a scapegoat.”

Both Saddler and Gelder agreed that streamlining the process for reporting abuse — regardless if the victim is developmentally disabled, a child or elderly — might help make the system function more smoothly. They noted that many of the calls that come into the DHS hot line for reporting neglect or abuse of the developmentally disabled are not for cases covered by the department. They are instead cases that involve children or the elderly, or they are reports of suspected fraud in programs, such as Medicaid. “If we seriously consider combining these hot lines, we would be doing the public a great service so there wouldn’t be a wrong number,” Gelder said. According to Saddler, the DHS hot line received 1,438 calls in Fiscal Year 2011.

Ann Spillane, chief of staff for Attorney General Lisa Madigan, suggested setting up training programs specific to investigating abuse and neglect allegations for local law enforcement units. “We want to make sure that local law enforcement feel like they’re supported in this effort.” She said local police should also be connected to experts in their area for assistance.

Lawmakers argued that the intent of the law was clear, and they felt that the inspector general disregarded that intent, but they also said that it may be time to rewrite the statute in a way that leaves no room for confusion and considers the needs of the developmentally disabled and those who would utilize the system to report neglect and abuse cases. While some proposed sweeping changes, such as the merger of functions across agencies, others suggested smaller ideas, such as putting the abuse hot line number on the homepage of the DHS website. “We really need to look at the consumer as we design these systems,” Harris said.Any source

REMINDER: Atwater's "Summer Nights on the Blvd" - August 17th!


For more information contact Rueben Martinez at:
Tel: 323.356.6694



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ATWATER’S NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL TO HOLD BOARD ELECTION OCTOBER 6TH



The Atwater Village Neighborhood Council (AVNC) will hold their board election on October 6th, 2012. There are 14 open seats in this election consisting of the following stakeholder categories: resident (6), business (2), non-profit (2), church (2), school (1) and parks (1). 

Candidate filings will be accepted from August 7th to September 6th

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The AVNC is quasi-governmental agency founded in 2003 as part of L.A.’s citywide neighborhood council system. The AVNC was commissioned to “empower” Atwater Village by promoting more citizen participation in City government and make it more responsive to local needs.

The last general board election was held in 2010 and was marred by low voter and candidate participation.  Only 102 voters partook in that election, significantly less then the approximate 15,000 Atwater Village stakeholders that are eligible to vote. In addition, candidate participation in that election was the lowest since the AVNC was founded in 2003. With 14 electable positions only 11 candidates participated and in almost every case candidates ran unopposed.


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Aurélie Filippetti devrait mettre à nouveau le contribuable à contribution pour solder l’héritage Pflimlin.


Aurélie Filippetti devrait mettre à nouveau le contribuable à contribution pour solder l’héritage Pflimlin.

Le 3 juillet 2010 au moment où Nicolas Sarkozy nommait Pflimlin à France Télévisions, le blog CGC Média publiait un post intitulé « L’État met la main à la poche à hauteur de 11 millions d’euros pour sauver de la faillite Presstalis que dirige Remy Pflimlin depuis juillet 2006 »qui débutait ainsi: « Il faut sauver le "soldat Pflimlin"....11 millions des deniers des contribuables et une recapitalisation in extremis! »
Presstalis accusait alors un manque à gagner de 33 millions d’euros qui devait continuer de se creuser car la vente des quotidiens nationaux continuant de chuter (à titre d’exemple environ - 10% en comparant janvier 2010 à janvier 2009) et le déficit d’exploitation devait dépasser au total, en 2010 les 100 millions d’euros.
Ce fut dans ce climat de déliquescence, que toute une série de mesures drastiques allait être prise suite à l’étude sur la viabilité financière de l’entreprise réalisée par Bruno Mettling inspecteur des finances mandaté par le gouvernement. Cela n’allait évidemment pas suffire.

Le 7 mai dernier, pas de journaux distribués le lendemain même de l’élection de François Hollande à la Présidence de la République. La situation à Presstalis (ex NMPP en charge de 70% de la distribution de la presse) depuis le départ de Pflimlin qui avait laissé l’entreprise au bord du dépôt de bilan, était toujours aussi explosive.

Presstalis disposait, certes, d'encore un peu de trésorerie mais plusieurs dirigeants de presse se seraient opposés à son utilisation pour payer les précomptes sociaux: Francis Morel, le président directeur général des Échos et Marc Feuillée, le directeur général du Figaro, notamment.

Anne Marie Couderc, ex ministre d’Alain Juppé, ancienne dirigeante de Lagardère Active qui avait pris la suite de Pflimlin chez Presstalis dès la nomination de ce dernier à France Télé, avait  même dû demander au cours du premier semestre 2012, un report du versement des cotisations retraite et maladie complémentaires au groupe Audiens mais aussi évoquer avec le Premier Ministre de l’époque (François Fillon) puis également  son  successeur Jean-Marc Ayrault, le fait que son entreprise depuis fin mars n’était plus en capacité d’assurer le paiement des précomptes sociaux (URSSAF) soulignant «une faiblesse de trésorerie évidente ».

La situation est aujourd’hui jugée suffisamment urgente pour que le Gouvernement n’ait pas d’autre alternative que d’intervenir. 

Aurélie Filippetti serait en charge du dossier Presstalis pour finalement solder l’héritage Pflimlin.

L’État se dit prêt à mettre une nouvelle fois la main à la poche (des contribuables) et verser à nouveau « dans les plus brefs délais" une avance de 11,9 millions d'euros à Presstalis ».

Le Ministère de la Communication et Bercy, l’ont confirmé par courrier à Gérard Rameix qui vient d’être nommé « médiateur du crédit de Presstalis » en précisant également que les actionnaires du distributeur ont donné leur accord pour une augmentation de capital à hauteur de 0,5% du chiffre d'affaires. 

Des négociations sur la restructuration de la filière et le financement qu'apportera l'État doivent se poursuivre et être finalisées avant la  fin septembre. 

C’est dans ce contexte de grandes difficultés financières que Presstalis a demandé et obtenu, hier lundi 30 juillet, au Tribunal de commercequi devait se prononcer sur son sort, la prorogation de la mission du mandataire ad-hoc de Presstalis qui expirera à cette date et qui pourrait prononcer la mise en redressement judiciaire ! 

En contrepartie, Presstalis se retrouve condamnée à une restructuration sans précédent, avec un plan touchant la moitié des effectifs avec la suppressions entre 2012 et 2015, d'environ 1.200 emplois sur 2.500 postes.  

Aurélie Filippetti, la Ministre qui après Presstalis va devoir se pencher sur la situation de France Télévisions, ne pourra que constater qu’à son départ en 2010, Pflimlin qui laissait l’entreprise en quasi faillite, allait malgré tout être nommé à France Télévisions pour  finalement y appliquer les mêmes méthodes

C’est d’ailleurs qui avait fait écrire à la CGC Média, le 11 avril 2012, un article intitulé « France Télévisions en voie de Presstalisation ?! ».

La Ministre, les Tutelles, le Gouvernement mais aussi l’Élysée bien au courant, ne l’ignorent pas et feront bien entendu le parallèle Ils ne pourront pas laisser la situation de France Télé se dégrader à un tel point !!!!     
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NOW AVAILABLE: ATWATER AVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL-YEAR CALENDAR



School-year (September 2012 thru August 2013) calendars from Atwater Ave Elementary are now available for purchase… just $5.00. All proceeds go towards health and fitness programs at Atwater Ave Elementary!

Get yours today at…

Atwater Ave Elementary
Alias East Books
A Place to Create
Heartbeat House
Individual Medley
Luis Lopez Automotive
Mano Shoe Repair
State Farm Insurance, Patricia Aleman 
Segray Preschool
Woof Dog Boutique

For  more information contact Friends of Atwater Elementary 


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Age UK's response on euthanasia

Last year SPUC re-launched its information on charities as an online index, with new entries and updated information added as and when new information is received. Today's charity is Age UK.

Age UK was formed when Age Concern England and Help the Aged merged in 2009. (Please see the entries in 2006 edition of SPUC's Charities Bulletin for life-related information about these charities).
In a letter from SPUC dated 23 July 2012, Tom Wright, Age UK's chief executive, said:
"Age UK has a governance framework, agreed by our Board of Trustees, to ensure both legitimacy and corporate ownership of our policy positions. The principles set out within this framework explicitly state that Age UK will not develop policy positions on certain matters, including matters which unnecessarily promote division amongst older people.

I can confirm that as a result of this Age UK does not have a policy position on euthanasia or assisted suicide, nor do we fund or support any campaigns in relation to these issues. In relation to your query on advanced directives, as you might expect, this is a subject on which we are asked for advice by older people and we have developed a factsheet...".
SPUC comment: As anti-euthanasia groups such as SPUC have pointed out over several decades, "one of the key problems with living wills [advanced directives] is their application in circumstances where it would obviously be contrary to best medical practice enacted in the best interests of the patient. It is no surprise that the pro-euthanasia people are very interested in living wills because they see an opportunity to use the denial of treatment - that would be encouraged as the content of a living will - as a form of soft euthanasia." (Dr Greg Pike, Southern Cross Bioethics Institute, 7 August 2008)

Comments on this blog? Email them to johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk
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Wanted: Humble Investment Experts

Goldman Sachs back 8-10 years ago charged ahead with superior profits and assembled a super duper hedge fund team led by Mark Carhart. They called themselves the Global Alpha team, sounds so Fantastic Four like. 

If you are Mark Cahart, you almost have it all your way for most of your life. Mark Carhart looks out over the packed New York conference back in 2005 and tells investors that Warren Buffett has it all wrong. Carhart, 40 then, co-head of the quantitative strategies group at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., uses his July speech to poke fun at Warren's penchant for investing in market-leading brands like Coca-Cola and Gillette. He cites study after study showing that big-name companies with high price-earning multiples or rapid growth rates make poor bets. Traditional stock pickers like Buffett, a fabled raconteur, do have one redeeming quality, Carhart jokes: ``They tell great stories.'' (Lesson - Don't fuck around with people who have done better and longer than you)


Carhart is one of the world's most successful money managers, a mastermind behind Global Alpha, a US$10 billion hedge fund for wealthy clients and employees of Goldman Sachs. In 2005, Carhart and co-manager Raymond Iwanowski, 40, notched a 51 percent gross return at Global Alpha. Posting that kind of gain requires taking risks -- and last year, Alpha lost 6 percent, its first deficit since 1999. Carhart, a former assistant professor of finance at the University of Southern California, helps oversee other hedge funds, four mutual funds and scores of separate accounts. In all, he and Iwanowski have US$101.5 billion at their command. Carhart and Iwanowski use math-heavy trading tactics that fund consultant Sol Waksman likens to counting cards in a casino. The two lead a corps of computer-loving traders, statisticians and finance and economics Ph.D.s. (Lesson - If you have the scores of Phds, math wizards and other brilliant minds at your disposal, you should generate superior returns... NOT! Be humble with financial markets, once you think you have mastered it, you are fucked. If you approach with the attitude that the more you know, the less you know of it, you stand a better chance of not have egg on your face, and live to fight again.)

Their team makes -- and sometimes loses -- millions of dollars a day. At the heart of their empire is Global Alpha, which generated about US$700 million in fees for Goldman Sachs in fiscal 2006. This money machine hums mostly behind the scenes. Carhart and Iwanowski, friends since their days at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, oversee about 10 other Goldman hedge funds, too. Together, they trade everything from Japanese stocks to U.S. soybeans, to Israeli shekels. Global Alpha is part of the richest hedge fund empire the world has ever seen. Last year, Goldman Sachs eclipsed D.E. Shaw & Co. and Bridgewater Associates Inc. to become the largest hedge fund manager, with US$29.5 billion in assets as of Dec. 31, 2006. That figure excludes Goldman's proprietary-trading funds and its funds of hedge funds.


Carhart and Iwanowski hunt for market variables called risk factors that often lead to excess investment returns, or premiums, according to people familiar with the fund. Some, such as a measure called the value premium -- the difference between the return of a group of stocks with high book values relative to their prices and that of a group with low book value-to-price ratios -- have been used by other money managers for years. Goldman Sachs has identified more than 20 new risk factors, which it doesn't disclose, even to its own investors. Carhart never reveals the secrets. Old friends and people who've invested in the fund say they're not really sure how it works. (Lesson - Once you think you have found the key, it will evaporate right in front of you.)


On any given day, Carhart's team of 50-60 investment professionals uses Global Alpha's factors to deploy 20 trading strategies in markets the world over, according to an investor in the fund and Global Alpha documents. During 2006, the fund's picks ranged from Japanese and Dutch stocks to bets on and against the Polish zloty. At the center of the Global Alpha story are Carhart and Iwanowski, devotees of quantitative analysis, or quants, who came to Goldman Sachs from opposite ends of the financial world.

Carhart first turned heads in money circles as a doctoral candidate at the University of Chicago and later as an assistant finance professor at the University of Southern California's Gordon S. Marshall School of Business. Iwanowski, by contrast, has spent his entire career on Wall Street. What unites them is that they're quants, who put their faith in data, rather than human judgment, when deciding what to buy or sell. To money managers like them, what you think about a company's management or products doesn't matter much. ( Lesson - Quants take the human element, the human judgment out of the equation.... well, you can't and shouldn't.)


Jokes aside, Carhart would do well to heed two Buffett rules. No. 1: Never lose money. No. 2: Don't forget rule No. 1. In 2006, Global Alpha went wrong when just about everything else at Goldman Sachs went right. After a roller-coaster ride that included a 10 percent August plunge, Global Alpha ended the year down 6 percent, according to an investor in the fund. The loss, the first since 1999, came in a year when Goldman earned US$9.54 billion, the most in Wall Street history. The investment bank made headlines by earmarking US$16.5 billion for salaries and bonuses, including a record US$53.4 million bonus for Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein. Carhart and Iwanowski declined to comment for this story, as did other Goldman Sachs executives. It was a rare misstep for Global Alpha. The fund skated through the 2000-02 U.S. bear stock market without a down year and posted an annualized return of 19.75 percent, after fees, from Dec. 4, 2001, to Dec. 31, 2005, according to Global Alpha's 2005 annual report. The average hedge fund returned an annualized 9.1 percent from Dec. 1, 2001, to Dec. 31, 2005, according to Hedge Fund Research. Shares of Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway rose a mere 5.9 percent during the period.


Only now, Carhart and Iwanowski are in a hole. Like most hedge funds, Global Alpha charges an annual management fee of 1.5 percent or 2 percent and takes a 20 percent cut of any profit. Before the fund can take its 20 percent in 2007 -- assuming it makes money -- its quants must first make up the 2006 loss.
 
One of the most-surprising things about Carhart is that for a guy in an industry known for big money and bigger egos, it's hard to find anyone who'll say a bad word about him. Former colleagues, classmates and teachers remember him as one of the smartest people they've known. After graduation, Carhart headed for Yale University, where he majored in economics and served as managing editor of the Yale Economics & Business Review. He also began dabbling in the markets as a director of the Yale College Student Investment Group. After Yale, Carhart set to work on a doctorate in finance at Chicago. He studied under finance professor Eugene Fama, best known for his work on the efficient-market hypothesis, which holds that prices reflect all there is to know about stocks or other securities.

Global Alpha doesn't merely bet on the direction of stock or bond prices. It bets on differences between those prices. Global Alpha employs seven strategies in the bond markets alone, according to Goldman Sachs Global Alpha Fund Plc's June 30 semiannual report. The simplest of them is to buy government bonds of one country while shorting those of another. In the U.S. stock market, Global Alpha might buy oil and insurance stocks and simultaneously bet against semiconductor shares. The fund also allocates part of its US$10 billion to something called ``global event anomalies,'' according to a November 2001 prospectus. With this strategy, the fund attempts to make money from corporate stock buybacks and divestitures and from changes in how market indexes like the S&P 500 are calculated. Carhart and Iwanowski also employ a commodities strategy and an asset-allocation strategy that bets on various mixes of investments: stocks, bonds, currencies and beyond.

Global Alpha quants have designed their fund so that if things go wrong, the probability is low that the 20 strategies will lose a lot money at the same time. That, anyway, is the idea. In the 2005 report filed with the Irish exchange, Global Alpha reported a gross return of 51 percent for the year. The report says only two strategies -- global anomalies and the country bond selection -- suffered losses of more than 1 percent. During the first quarter of 2006, Global Alpha rose a net 9.5 percent. The next quarter, a bunch of the fund's strategies soured. Global Alpha lost 3.5 percent during the period. Its ``developed equity country selection'' fell 2.5 percent, hurt by bad bets on Japanese and Dutch stocks. Its developed country currencies strategy sank 1.9 percent, whacked by a wrong-way wager on the dollar and another against the pound. Emerging market currencies strategy sank 1.7 percent, nipped by short positions in the shekel and zloty.
 
Piecing together the second half of 2006 is harder. A Global Alpha investor who asked not to be identified says the fund's roughly 10 percent slide last August mostly reflected bad bond market investments. Global Alpha also bet that stocks in Japan would rise while those in the rest of Asia would fall -- wrong; that U.S. stocks would stumble -- wrong; and that the dollar would rise -- wrong again. Global Alpha finished November down 11.6 percent in 2006.

Trees don't grow to the sky. Neither do hedge fund returns. Superman exists only in comics.



Where Is Mark Carhart and Global Alpha now?



Goldman Sachs shut down the fund in September 2011. The closure of Global Alpha is a striking reversal for a fund that was once the toast of Wall Street and spawned the careers of some of the most well-known quants in the business, including Cliff Asness, founder of AQR Capital, and Mark Carhart, the founder of Kepos Capital. Global Alpha gained prominence as high-frequency trading, in which computer models execute lightning-fast trades, became a common strategy among hedge funds.
Global Alpha was started in 1995 with just $10 million. Over time its results soared. At its peak in 2007, Global Alpha ran about $12 billion, although that number has dwindled to about $1 billion now in the wake of a number of wrong bets. The fund is also having a rough year, according to a person close to the firm, and is down about 12 percent so far for 2011.

In 2010, Carhart launched his own quant shop (Kepos Capital), now managing just $500m. Let's just say his fund's performance to date have been lukewarm.
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Must-read pro-life news-stories, Tue 31 July

Top story:

Donegal county council back call opposing abortion legislation
The Donegal Daily reports that a motion has been passed by Donegal County Council opposing any form of legislation on abortion. The council resolved that: “In keeping with the will of the Irish people, as emphatically expressed in the referendum of 1983, Donegal County Council opposes any form of legalisation of abortion in any circumstances”. 17 councillors backed the motion, 6 abstained and one voted against. [Pat Buckley, 31 July]

Other stories:

Abortion
Embryology
Euthanasia
Population
  • Iranian authorities encourage families to have more babies [BBC, 30 July]
Sexual ethics
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Grow Your Business: Don't be Late for a Very Important Date


Here's the latest entry in our Grow Your Business series, as always, from Carol Ritter of CarolTalks.  Enjoy!
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Vacation was coming to an end and I wanted the last day to do all my favorite things.  Go to the beach, eat seafood, take a bike ride, play with the grands and get my healthy drink, THE RED BARON.  This isn’t any old drink, it’s a drink packed full of beets, apples, pineapple, oranges, vitamins and minerals.  I arrived at the famous juice bar at 8am and they were not open.  People started to gather and by 8:15 we were are questioning  whether they would open at all.  The crowd began to protest, “I want my Energy Elvis, I came to get the Love Potion, I heard about the delicious Happy Monkey, a drink loaded with bananas and chocolate.”  As we all started looking out over the streets I recognized a young man dragging himself into work, as he sauntered by us, a woman asks angrily, “what time do you open?” He replied, “right now.” That was not the answer she wanted.  “I was told you opened at 8am.” “We do but I don’t have a chef, I have no money in the register and I’m waiting for staff to show up.”  He let us in, began to serve water to us all and then the fun began.  People were complaining, “I wanted your gourmet breakfast sandwich, what’s going on?”  Enough was enough and the people started to exit to find breakfast elsewhere.  All of a sudden the staff showed up, the chef, two waitresses and guess who was the latest of all, the owner showing up at 8:40am.  They scrambled, they hustled, they kicked into high gear to fill all the orders.

In your business, are you willing to loose clients due to tardiness?   Do you create an environment that makes your customers feel like they are the most important person in the room?  If you are the boss, do you set an example for your staff?  Can you expect to be successful if your staff and you show up 40 minutes late?  Do you make promises you can’t keep?  Are you late for the most important date a date with your customers?

The end of the story is the waiter gave me the delicious RED BARON for free, the breakfast sandwich was to die for and our waiter was feeling a bit embarrassed.  But, is this acceptable even if you have a fantastic menu and people line up to visit your establishment every day?  As a business owner our reputation is everything, there is always someone sitting around the corner waiting with a bigger and better menu than you.  Don’t be late for that very important date, it could cost you much more than a few customers.

Carol is an accomplished professional speaker, coach and educational consultant specializing in remarkable leadership, outrageous fundraising, million dollar marketing, and building organizational alliances throughout the country.  Carol’s innovative e leadership with bullet proof ideas for recruiting MORE MEMBERS, MORE MONEY AND BETTER LEADERS. www.caroltalks.com 610-442-4545


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Los embalses siguen bajando a pesar de las tormentas de los días pasados.

Durante los días pasados muchas zonas de la península han tenido tormentas que han sido incluso muy fuertes y con granizo. Sin embargo, los embalses no han notado para nada estas tormentas y es normal por otra parte ya que las tormentas suelen tener normalmente una distribución anárquica, afectando a zonas locales. Además,esas precipitaciones al ser de cierta intensidad no calan demasiado en el suelo,produciéndose más escorrentía que infiltración.Hay que tener en cuenta que también el suelo estaba muy seco, necesitando mucha más precipitación para poder notarse algo en los embalses.
Veamos como se encuentran las distintas cuencas españolas y la situación en nuestra comunidad.

SITUACIÓN GENERAL:


Los embalses españoles a día de hoy 31 de Julio se encuentran al 55,33% de su capacidad total, bajando un 1,52% en la última semana y almacenando algo más de 30700Hm3 de agua. El año pasado por estas fechas tenían casi 20 puntos porcentuales más de agua y el valor actual está 2 puntos porcentuales por debajo de la media de los últimos 10 años.



DATOS POR CUENCAS:


A continuación veremos el estado de cada cuenca con la variación en la última semana:

Duero                                      49,12%                -1,95%
Ebro                                        56,63%                -3,10%
Guadalquivir                           61,18%                -1,37%
Guadiana                                 64,40%                -1,10%
Júcar                                        42,54%                -1,08%
Norte                                       65,23%                -1,67%
Segura                                     47,59%                -0,88%
Mediterránea andaluza           56,58%                -0,76%
Atlántica andaluza                   68,85%                -0,69%
Tajo                                          45,32%                -0,89%
Galicia costa                            69,74%                -2,05%
País Vasco                                85,71%               +0,00%
Cataluña                                   68,07%                -2,17%

Como podemos ver,todas las cuencas menos la del País Vasco pierden agua en la última semana y en algunos casos más del 3% como la del Ebro.Pierden más de un 2% la de Cataluña y Galicia costa.
Menos la del País Vasco, todas las cuencas se encuentran a menos del 70% de su capacidad,estando a menos del 50% ya la del Duero,Tajo,Segura y Júcar.
Especialmente preocupante es la situación de la cuenca del Tajo y Duero que de seguir a ese ritmo podrían llegar al final del verano a bajar al 35-38%.
Desde luego más vale que nos venga un otoño ya muy húmedo porque de ser seco como el pasado nos podemos plantar a finales de año con los embalses en niveles bajísimos y con problemas en muchas zonas y es que recordemos que muchos pueblos no beben de los embalses, sino de los manantiales y estos están secos ya en muchas zonas sobretodo del interior peninsular.

COMUNIDAD DE MADRID:
En el caso de nuestra comunidad,los embalses a día de hoy se encuentran al 60,57% de su capacidad perdiendo un 1,04% en la última semana. Tenemos embalsados 642Hm3 de agua, 11 menos que la semana anterior. Comparando con el año pasado,los embalses tienen casi 30 puntos porcentuales menos de agua y están 11 puntos por debajo de la media de los últimos 10 años.


La situación desde luego aun no es preocupante,pero puede serlo si en el otoño no vuelven las lluvias de forma copiosa a nuestra comunidad.
En cuanto a los tres embalses más grandes de nuestra comunidad,este es el estado que presentan:
-El Atazar se encuentra al 65,26% bajando un 0,94% la última semana. Este embalses almacena 278Hm3, 4 menos que la semana pasada. Respecto al año pasado tiene 28 puntos porcentuales menos de agua y 10 menos que la media de los últimos 10 años.

-En cuanto al embalse de Valmayor,este se encuentra al 75% de su capacidad,bajando un 0,81% en la última semana.Este embalse almacena actualmente 93Hm3 de agua. Se encuentra 6 puntos porcentuales menos por debajo que el año pasado por estas fechas y 4 por debajo de la media de los últimos 10 años. No parece que esté tan mal, pero hay que recordar que a este embalse se le inyecta agua desde el Alberche.

-El embalse de Santillana, en la cuenca del Manzanares, se encuentra al 59,34% de su capacidad,bajando un 1,10% respecto a la semana pasada, perdiendo 1Hm3. Actualmente almacena sólo 54Hm3. Respecto al año pasado,tiene 28 puntos porcentuales menos de agua y 9 menos respecto a la media de los últimos 10 años.

Si nos fijamos,en los embalses de el Atazar y Santillana, sus niveles disminuyeron desde que comenzó el año hasta el mes de abril debido al invierno extremadamente seco que hemos tenido.Luego con las lluvias de abril remontaron un poco, para volver a bajar a partir de mayo,una bajada bastante pronunciada. En el caso de Valmayor esto cambia al ser un embalse que sufre aportes desde el Alberche.Mucho tendrá que llover a partir del otoño si queremos que la cosa mejore,no es que los embalses estén mal de agua,es que los acuiferos también están muy mal y los arroyos en la sierra apenas llevan agua. Veremos que pasa. Está claro que las tormentas de estos días no han mejorado la situación por lo comentado al principio.

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The Never Ending Story

Whilst the world sits "agog" watching the Olympics (apart from in India where their power system has crashed), Greece is just about to run out of money again!


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Mots mêlés: Epreuves olympiques

Recherche personnalisée
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Business Photos ora disponibile anche in Italia

Da aprile 2010 stiamo testando e sviluppando un programma chiamato Business Photos, che consente alle persone di dare un’occhiata virtuale all’interno di esercizi commerciali, attraverso immagini interattive scattate a 360°. Abbiamo ricevuto molti commenti positivi sulle panoramiche degli interni e su come questo possa essere d’aiuto per attrarre potenziali clienti. Ora siamo lieti di annunciare che Business Photos è disponibile anche in Italia, oltre a Spagna, Danimarca e Svezia.

Se avete un’attività commerciale in uno di questi Paesi, iniziare è facile. Basta assegnare ad un Fotografo Certificato Google presente in zona l’incarico di scattare foto della vostra attività, all'orario per voi più comodo. Il Fotografo scatterà delle immagini panoramiche dell’attività e ce le farà avere in modo da renderle disponibili automaticamente a tutti gli utenti in cerca della vostra attività su Google.com, Google Maps e Google Places. Inoltre questo vi permetterà di sostenere fotografi di talento nella vostra zona. Qualora non vi fosse alcun fotografo reperibile a sistema, fatecelo sapere e faremo del nostro meglio per selezionarne uno.

Se tra di voi ci sono fotografi professionisti o semplici appassionati, ci piacerebbe avervi a bordo!
Stiamo infatti reclutando Fotografi Certificati che ci aiutino a portare online le immagini del maggior numero di esercizi commerciali, in tutto il mondo.

Per ulteriori informazioni sul programma e indicazioni su come iscriversi, visitate il nostro sito per fotografi


Se invece siete semplicemente curiosi e volete esplorare ristoranti, negozi di animali esotici e molto altro, visitate questa apposita gallery sul sito di Street View.
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Daily Briefing, 7/31/2012

Good morning everyone!  Here is today's Daily Briefing.

The Lehigh Valley's unemployment rate jumped in June, hitting 8.5% after reaching 8.1% in May.  A possible regional police department is in the works in the Slate Belt.  In state-wide news, the General Assistance program that provides cash to 70,000 Pennsylvanians ends this week.  In national news, a review by Politco shows that up to five million voters can may be affected by Voter ID laws.

That's it for now - have a great day, and we'll see you later.
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Previsión semana 31 de julio - 3 de agosto de 2012

Buenas.

Al final el fin de semana nos dejó algunas tormentas muy locales, puntualmente intensas pero con acumulados generalmente escasos.

Destacan los casi 12 litros de Laspaúles, y ya muy lejos los 5 del Ampriu. En el resto cantidades pequeñas, aunque lo puntual de las tormentas puede hacer que en otras zonas el chubasco fue de más cantidad pese a no quedar registrado.

Temperaturas variables entre los difernetes días, como mínimas el sábado, que estuvo más cubierto, y máximas ayer lunes, ya con más sol. Ayer se superaron los 30ºC en Eriste y Campo, así como los 20ºC en el Ampriu.

Las mínimas nada bajas. Hay una erráta en la taba de Eriste ya que el 6,4ºC es una 14,6ºC). El resto muy templadas, sin frío por las noches.





La semana que hemos empezado va a traer pocos cambios. No se ven precipitaciones importantes, así como tampoco cambios bruscos de temperaturas que nos puedan llevar a tener calores y refrescamientos significativos.

Quedamos a medio camino entre la dorsal africana que si que va a traer días de calor por la zona sur de España, y alejados de las bajas presiones que van a ir pasando por el norte de Europa, especialmente la zona atlántica. A veces nos pasará alguna cola de frente muy desdibujada que irá estimulando la actividad tormentosa, aunque no se ve ninguna situación clara de tormentas generalizadas.

Los próximos días, en teoría, transcurrirán así: 

Martes día 31: Soleado con lagunas nubes de evolución que podrían dejar tormentas muy locales y aisladas, débiles también. Temperaturas un poco más altas. Vientos flojos de sur.

Miércoles día 1 de Agosto: Soleado con pocas nubes de evolución, sin más consecuencias. Temperaturas más o menos igual. Vientos flojos.

Jueves día 2: Sol, algunas nubes de evolución que de forma puntual podrían ocasionar alguna tormenta muy puntual. Pasaría una cola de frente muy débil. Temperaturas un poco más bajas. Vientos de norte flojos.

Viernes día 3: Algunas nubes pegadas al norte a primeras horas. En el resto sol con nubes de evolución que no parece que hayan de ir a mas. Temperaturas estables. Vientos flojos.



El finde podría haber alguna condición más para tener alguna tormenta, pero las mañanas parece que serían soleadas. Habrá que seguirlo. No se ven cambios significativos en cualquier caso.


Lo contamos en: @meteobenas

Saludos


-dani...-




Fuentes:
www.aemet.es
www.meteociel.fr
www.chebro.es
www.meteored.com
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The fake Consumer Watchdog site

This is the fake web site set up by the people behind Headway "University" that pretends to be Consumer Watchdog Botswana. They've taken text from our blog and also from other consumer sites to make the whole thing look legitimate.

Clearly we were getting to them. Clearly they can't abide having people expose their fake "university"!
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「動作に合わせて目線をゆっくりまわす」・李自力老師語録・その16.

 目線は大事です。目線が安定していないと動作もばらばらになってしまいます。目線は周囲に注意を払いながら,動作に合わせてゆっくりとまわします。点から点へと目線を飛ばしてはいけません。腰の回転に合わせて頭もまわし,その動きに合わせて目線もゆっくりと移動していきます。そして,そのとき周囲のあらゆる情況に対応できる目線のまわし方が求められます。ですから,目線が安定すると動作もどっしりし,大きなひろがりをもつようになります。

 と,李自力老師はおっしゃる。このことばは,ジュニアのトップ・レベルの選手の個人練習を見学させてもらったときに聞いたものです。ここでは,ひとまとめにして書きましたが,実際には何回にもわけて李老師が語ったものです。この動作のときにはこのように,つぎの動作のときにはこのように,という具合にです。すると,みるみる選手の動作が変化してきます。まるでマジックにかかったかのように動作がしっかりとしてきます。それはみていても感動的でした。

 もちろん,選手の素質もあるのでしょうが,みごとに美しく,大きくて,どっしりとした動作に変化していくのです。もちろん,わたしたちの稽古のときにもいつも「目線!」という鋭い声の檄がとびます。そのつど,わたしなどは慌ててしまっておろおろするばかりですが,それでもときおりは「そうです!」と褒めてくださる。これが嬉しい。

 ところが,李老師のほめ言葉は,じつは「ようやくその意味がわかりはじめましたね」というものであって,「それで完璧です」という意味ではありません。目線はしっかりと自分で意識して稽古しないと安定してこないことは,わたしにもわかります。が,つい,うっかりして忘れてしまいます。そして,点から点へと一直線に動かしてしまいます。そのたびに,「目線!」という鋭い声がとんできます。そして,何回も何回も同じことを繰り返し指摘されてしまいます。

 目線のポイントは,太極拳は武術である,ということを強く意識することにあるようです。つねに,あらゆる方向から敵に囲まれているという情況を意識的に設定すること,そして,どこから敵が襲ってきてもそれに対応できる姿勢を作り上げること,それがしっかりとした目線を作り上げていくのでしょう。敵の存在,技の意味,それらを深く理解していれば,目線は自然に安定してくるはずです。

 頭のなかではわかったつもりなのですが,それをからだに染み込ませるのは大変です。目線を「自動化」するところまで精度を高めるには身の入った,気持の入った稽古を積み重ねるしかありません。そこがむつかしいところです。わかっているけれどもできない,それがふつうの人間です。そこを克服すること,そこに武術である太極拳を稽古することの意味があるのでしょう。

 目線は大事です。李老師がおっしゃるのとは別の意味でも,目線は大事です。街中を歩いていても,目線は大事です。しかし,近頃は自分の周囲に注意を払う人がどんどん減ってきています。いわゆる「ながら歩き」をしている若い人が激増しているからです。ぶつかりそうになるのを避けて歩いているのは高齢者の方です。これを「世の中が平和になった証拠だ」とみるか,それとも「人間が自分の身を守るという本能を失った結果だ」「だから,退化だ」とみるかは意見の分かれるところでしょう。

 わたしは個人的には「退化だ」と考えています。やはり,人間として生まれたからには,そのもてる能力を十全に活用して生きていく,これが基本だと思います。使わない器官は退化します。その退化を防止する意味でも,太極拳の稽古は大事だと思っています。ですから,目線の稽古は,ある意味では生きることの基本になっているのではないか,と考えています。

 一度,李老師に確認してみる必要がありそうです。でも,稽古になると,質問することを忘れてしまいます。なんとも情けないことですが・・・・。
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Le paquebot France, investissement d'avenir... dès à présent!

Découvrez le film du nouveau paquebot France!    
    
Il n'est pas rare de faire appel à des souvenirs si personnels, qui vous renvoient à de si bons instants, comme ceux d'un bol d'air sur le pont d'un paquebot en pleine croisière...
Finance Offshore souhaite revenir sur ce formidable défi que constituera la future mise en eau de ce nouveau paquebot France. D'abord il faut mettre en avant les équipes qui travaillent sur cet ambitieux projet, "C'est assurément la rencontre de multiples talents qui font honneur au prestige et aux nombreuses qualités du Made in France..."

Ce nouveau paquebot est très certainement "la meilleure compilation du savoir faire de toute l'industrie française, qui de la recherche à l'innovation met en oeuvre de multiples compétences qui font la différence."
Le projet est celui d'un homme qui se bat comme un lion pour défendre autant de valeurs que seul un nom comme celui "du paquebot France devra incarner au mieux sur l'ensemble des océans de notre planète, et ce avec la promesse de protéger notre environnement".  Didier Spade vise juste, il lui faut maintenant obtenir le coup de pouce de la communauté financière internationale, celle qui lui permettra de boucler son tour de table. 400 millions à 600 millions d'euros, une fourchette tout à fait acceptable compte-tenu de la révolution que propose ce si beau paquebot, pensez-donc, le luxe à la française, un navire qui compulse toutes les dernières innovations de l'industrie navale française...  STX Saint-Nazaire, dont les analystes ne manquent jamais de vanter "les qualités maintes fois copiées mais... jamais égalées!" Ce sont les principales autorités en la matière qui nous le précisent: "On copie beaucoup les français, mais attention, question innovation, c'est comme pour la finition, ils sont imbattables! Le plus évocateur? "C'est bien cette course au pillage de ce que les français savent faire le mieux, un partage entre technologie efficiente et luxe qui ne risquent que trop peu l'altération d'une réelle suprématie, tant les apprentis sorciers copistes se font toujours plus médiocres!" (...) "Voilà de quoi rassurer tous ceux qui font que notre industrie navale obtient si bon gage de qualité depuis... plus d'un siècle!" Le premier paquebot France, en son temps était aussi de cette évocation: "Celle d'un pays capable de donner encore quelques bonnes leçons sur la scène internationale, ceux qui croyaient déjà en l'idée de porter la croissance comme nouvel étendard vers... un certain redressement productif!"
Dans sa présentation, le consortium qui porte le projet du nouveau paquebot France fait la démonstration de cet ensemble de vérités qui peuvent intéresser les investisseurs...
  
Les paquebots qui portaient jadis le pavillon français étaient de tous les superlatifs.
Le Paris, l’île de France, le Normandie, les France (il y en eu quatre qui se sont succédé) se singularisaient par leur ligne élégante et le faste de leur décoration.

Depuis, la France a laissé à d’autres la suprématie dont elle pouvait s’enorgueillir sur les mers. Ironie du sort, c’est en France que nombre de navires parmi les plus prestigieux ont été construits pour le compte de compagnies internationales.

Aujourd’hui, l’existence d’un nouveau pavillon français, juridiquement plus adapté aux exigences de la compétition mondiale, donne un nouvel espoir pour la renaissance de la « croisière à la française ». Exploiter un grand paquebot aux couleurs de la France est désormais possible.

Mais s’il doit naître un nouveau paquebot France, il faut juste qu’il soit exceptionnel.

En rupture totale avec l’architecture actuelle de ses congénères, le nouveau paquebot France crée effectivement son propre style :
  • Un design moderne associant une finesse des lignes à une ouverture de l’espace.
  • 260m de long, environ 600 passagers : loin de la course au gigantisme que se livrent les compagnies internationales, le nouveau France est néanmoins un grand paquebot, mais sa capacité d’accueil limitée sera un gage de confort et de bien-être.
  • Une coque élancée recevra deux superstructures qui sont un clin d’œil aux cheminées de l’ancien France ; elles abritent des espaces de vie, des restaurants, des salons, des suites, des lieux de détente et de bien-être, largement déclinés dans une succession de services dédiés au ressourcement du corps et de l’esprit.
  • Entre ces deux superstructures magistrales, un jardin palmeraie qui s’étend sur plus de 1.500 m2, un peu comme si partir en croisière à bord du France revenait à séjourner sur une île.
  • Doté des toutes dernières technologies disponibles, le France sera aussi un paquebot écologique, moins consommateur d’énergie, où les formes de carènes alliées à une vitesse maîtrisée minimisent la résistance à l’avancement, le rendant très économique en navigation.
  • La partie arrière du navire a été dessinée afin de recréer une proximité entre les passagers et la mer: des ponts se succèdent par paliers pour aboutir à une grande plage où les sports nautiques les plus divers pourront être pratiqués.
  • Un programme de croisières sur des destinations nouvelles et originales.
"Ce que le France ne sera pas: Un parc d’attraction flottant."
Ce qu’il sera : 
       




"Un navire permettant de renouer avec une « certaine idée de la croisière », faisant appel à ce que la France a de mieux en termes de talents artistiques, de raffinement, de luxe, et de bon goût."
   
"Si sa vocation sera bien d’offrir évasion et douceur de vivre à ses passagers, il sera aussi le digne représentant de la France sur tous les théâtres d’événements internationaux."




Sur son site, le consortium met en avant sa démarche participative, ne mettant pas son business plan en ligne pour garantir certains axes... de sa stratégie! Cependant comme vous le constaterez au même titre que Finance Offshore, l'opération peut susciter de réels atouts qui nous invitent à vous présenter cette opération que nous jugeons comme clairement intéressante. Selon le site du consortium, voici les axes retenus pour l'implémentation financière de l'opération:
Le financement du FRANCE repose sur deux piliers fondamentaux :
  • Un marché de la croisière en pleine progression, en particulier dans le segment du luxe.
  • Une bonne rentabilité basée sur des paramètres d’exploitation réalistes et comparables avec les navires de croisières de capacité et de positionnement équivalents.
Nous ne mettons pas le Business Plan en ligne car il doit conserver un caractère confidentiel tant que la démarche de recherche de financement n’est pas achevée. Les atouts du FRANCE sont multiples pour pénétrer le marché de la croisière :
  • Il s’agit d’un navire innovant par son design et la fonctionnalité de certains espaces qui le composent.
  • Il possède une capacité optimisée pour sa taille offrant à ses passagers un confort maximum.
  • Ceux qui travaillent à sa réalisation font partie des plus grands professionnels de chaque secteur : les Chantiers de Saint-Nazaire pour la construction, Alain Ducasse pour l’organisation de la restauration à bord, de grands designers pour les aménagements tels que Wilmotte, Garcia, Jouin, Lehanneur, Putman, Zuretti  …
  • Il s’agit d’un navire portant le nom France, qui vient succéder à un prédécesseur prestigieux, dont la vie tourmentée a suscité une vive émotion.
  • Il sera l’ambassadeur du « made in France », une thématique en pleine actualité.
  • Il est écologique sur bien des aspects ; c’est un point qui sera de plus en plus important pour de nombreux croisiéristes.
Le financement du navire s’effectue en plusieurs étapes :
1. L’étape financement projet (avant le démarrage de la construction) : Cette étape qui concerne l’élaboration des plans d’ensemble du navire, la définition des espaces qui le composent, l’étude de marché, la réalisation du Business Plan, la montée en puissance de la notoriété du projet ... a débuté en février 2009 ; elle est autofinancée depuis son origine par les protagonistes du projet, accompagnés par une communauté de passionnés à travers deux émissions obligataires (l'une clôturée, l'autre non, la seconde étant remboursable fin 2014), réalisées dans un cadre restreint et dont le montant global, calculé sur une période de douze mois qui suit la première offre, ne peut dépasser 2,5 millions d'euros.. Pour obtenir toute information complémentaire sur ces émissions, veuillez nous contacter à l’adresse suivante :finance@lenouveaufrance.com  2. L’étape Financement global : Une fois le projet conceptualisé, nous le présentons à la communauté financière ; d’abord à ceux qui ont spontanément témoigné de l’intérêt à participer à ce financement ; ensuite, le cas échéant, nous diffuserons plus largement l’information. La démarche est de constituer un tour de table avec un ou plusieurs investisseurs, personnes physiques ou morales, et de collecter les fonds qui permettront de démarrer (et d’achever) la construction du navire 3. L’étape participative : Le but du projet a toujours été qu’il puisse être partagé par tous ceux qui voyaient dans l’ex-FRANCE un élément de fierté nationale, et qui pourraient retrouver dans ce nouveau paquebot FRANCE, radicalement différent de ses congénères, une manière de retrouver un peu de cette fierté. Aussi, dans notre stratégie financière, nous souhaitons que le moment venu, peut-être le jour du baptême du navire, ou le jour de sa première croisière…cette étape participative puisse se réaliser grâce à une introduction en bourse. A ce jour, rien n’est encore décidé, et cette action, s’il elle se réalise, s’effectuera dans le respect des règles du code monétaire et financier et avec l’aval de l’Autorité des Marchés Financiers. Si vous souhaitez être parmi les premiers informés du fonctionnement de cette étape participative, vous pouvez laisser vos coordonnées: finance@lenouveaufrance.com
D'une façon générale, si l'opération vous intéresse, n'hésitez pas à vous rendre sur le site officiel du consortium, vous y trouverez toutes les informations utiles sur l'opération:
                                       http://www.lenouveaufrance.com









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