• AUT Bronner, Oscar Publisher and Editor, Der Standard
• AUT Fischer, Heinz Federal President
• AUT Scholten, Rudolf Member of the Board of Executive Directors, Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG
• BEL Davignon, Etienne Vice Chairman, Suez-Tractebel
• BEL Huyghebaert, Jan Chairman of the Board of Directors, KBC Group
• CAN Campbell, Gordon Premier of British Columbia
• CAN Clark, W. Edmund President and CEO, TD Bank Financial Group
• CAN Mansbridge, Peter Chief Correspondent, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
• CAN McKenna, Frank Deputy Chair, TD Bank Financial Group
• CAN Prichard, J. Robert S. President and CEO, Metrolinx
• CAN Reisman, Heather M. Chair and CEO, Indigo Books & Music Inc.
• CHE Vasella, Daniel L. Chairman, Novartis AG
• CHE Voser, Peter CEO, Royal Dutch Shell plc
• CHE Waldvogel, Francis A. Chairman, Novartis Venture Fund
• DEU Ackermann, Josef Chairman of the Management Board and the Group Executive Committee, Deutsche Bank AG + non-executive director of Shell
• DEU Enders, Thomas CEO, Airbus SAS
• DEU Löscher, Peter Chairman of the Board of Management, Siemens AG
• DEU Scholz, Olaf Vice Chairman, SPD
• DEU Zetsche, Dieter Chairman, Daimler AG
• DNK Eldrup, Anders CEO, DONG Energy
• DNK Federspiel, Ulrik Vice President Global Affairs, Haldor Topsøe A/S
• DNK Nyrup Rasmussen, Poul Former Prime Minister
• ESP Alierta, César Chairman and CEO, Telefónica
• ESP Botín, Ana P. Executive Chairman, Banesto
• ESP Carvajal Urquijo, Jaime Managing Director, Advent International
• ESP Cebrián Echarri, Juan Luis, CEO and co-founder of El Pais; the CEO of Grupo Prisa (Spain’s biggest publisher); on the board of directors of Le Monde
• ESP Cebrián, Juan Luis CEO, PRISA
• ESP Cisneros, Gustavo A. Chairman and CEO, Cisneros Group of Companies
• ESP Entrecanales, José M. Chairman, Acciona
• ESP León Gross, Bernardino Secretary General, Office of the Prime Minister
• ESP Nin Génova, Juan María President and CEO, La Caixa
• ESP Polanco, Ignacio Chairman, Grupo PRISA
• ESP Rodriguez Inciarte, Matías Executive Vice Chairman, Grupo Santander
• ESP Spain, H.M. the Queen of
• ESP Zapatero, José Luis Rodríguez Prime Minister
• FIN Blåfield, Antti Senior Editorial Writer, Helsingin Sanomat
• FIN Katainen, Jyrki Minister of Finance
• FIN Ollila, Jorma Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell plc
• FIN Wahlroos, Björn Chairman, Sampo plc
• FRA Castries, Henri de Chairman of the Management Board and CEO, AXA
• FRA Lauvergeon, Anne Chairman of the Executive Board, AREVA
• FRA Montbrial, Thierry de President, French Institute for International Relations
• FRA Ramanantsoa, Bernard Dean, HEC Paris Group
• GBR Agius, Marcus Chairman, Chairman of Barclays Bank PLC and a senior non-executive director on the BBC’s new executive board. Married to Katherine, daughter of Edmund Leopold de Rothschild
• GBR Kerr, John Member, House of Lords; Deputy Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell plc.
• GBR Micklethwait, John Editor-in-Chief, The Economist
• GBR Oldham, John National Clinical Lead for Quality and Productivity
• GBR Taylor, J. Martin Chairman, Syngenta International AG
• GBR Williams, Shirley Member, House of Lords
• GRC David, George A. Chairman, Coca-Cola H.B.C. S.A.
• GRC Papaconstantinou, George Minister of Finance
• GRC Tsoukalis, Loukas President, ELIAMEP
• INT Almunia, Joaquín Commissioner, European Commission
• INT Gucht, Karel de Commissioner, European Commission
• INT Kroes, Neelie Commissioner, European Commission
• INT Moyo, Dambisa F. Economist and Author
• INT Sheeran, Josette Executive Director, United Nations World Food Programme
• INT Solana Madariaga, Javier Former Secretary General, Council of the European Union
• INT Stigson, Björn President, World Business Council for Sustainable Development
• INT Tumpel-Gugerell, Gertrude Member of the Executive Board, European Central Bank
• INT Zoellick, Robert B. President, The World Bank Group
• IRL Gallagher, Paul Attorney General
• IRL Sutherland, Peter D. Chairman, Goldman Sachs International
• ITA Bernabè, Franco CEO, Telecom Italia S.p.A.
• ITA Conti, Fulvio CEO and General Manager, Enel SpA
• ITA Elkann, John Chairman, Fiat S.p.A.
• ITA Monti, Mario President, Universita Commerciale Luigi Bocconi
• ITA Padoa-Schioppa, Tommaso Former Minister of Finance; President of Notre Europe
• ITA Rocca, Gianfelice Chairman, Techint
• ITA Scaroni, Paolo CEO, Eni S.p.A.
• NLD Halberstadt, Victor Professor of Economics, Leiden University; Former Honorary Secretary General of Bilderberg Meetings
• NLD Hommen, Jan H.M. Chairman, ING Group
• NLD Netherlands, H.M. the Queen of the
• NLD Rinnooy Kan, Alexander H.G. Chairman, Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands (SER)
• NLD Wellink, Nout President, De Nederlandsche Bank
• NOR Brandtzæg, Svein Richard CEO, Norsk Hydro ASA
• NOR Magnus, Birger Chairman, Storebrand ASA
• NOR Myklebust, Egil Former Chairman of the Board of Directors SAS, Norsk Hydro ASA
• PRT Balsemão, Francisco Pinto Chairman and CEO, IMPRESA, S.G.P.S.; Former Prime Minister
• PRT Rangel, Paulo Member, European Parliament
• PRT Teixeira dos Santos, Fernando Minister of State and Finance
• SWE Bäckström, Urban Director General, Confederation of Swedish Enterprise
• SWE Bildt, Carl Minister of Foreign Affairs
• SWE Renström, Lars President and CEO, Alfa Laval
• SWE Wallenberg, Jacob Chairman, Investor AB
• TUR Çakir, Ru?en Journalist
• TUR Gürel, Z. Damla Special Adviser to the President on EU Affairs
• TUR Koç, Mustafa V. Chairman, Koç Holding A.?.
• TUR Özilhan, Tuncay Chairman, Anadolu Group
• TUR Sabanci Dinçer, Suzan Chairman, Akbank
• USA Altman, Roger C. Chairman, Evercore Partners Inc.
• USA Arrison, Sonia Author and policy analyst
• USA Collins, Timothy C. Senior Managing Director and CEO, Ripplewood Holdings, LLC
• USA Feldstein, Martin S. George F. Baker Professor of Economics, Harvard University
• USA Ferguson, Niall Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History, Harvard University
• USA Gates, William H. Co-chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Chairman, Microsoft Corporation
• USA Gordon, Philip H. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs
• USA Graham, Donald E. Chairman and CEO, The Washington Post Company
• USA Holbrooke, Richard C. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan
• USA Hormats, Robert D. Under Secretary for Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs
• USA Johnson, James A. Vice Chairman, Perseus, LLC
• USA Keane, Jack, former vice chief of staff of the US army and on the board of the US defence conglomerate General Dynamics
• USA Keane, John M. Senior Partner, SCP Partners
• USA Kissinger, Henry A. Chairman, Kissinger Associates, Inc.
• USA Kleinfeld, Klaus Chairman and CEO, Alcoa
• USA Kravis, Henry R. Founding Partner, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
• USA Kravis, Marie-Josée Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute, Inc.
• USA Lander, Eric S. President and Director, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT
• USA Mathews, Jessica T. President, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
• USA Mundie, Craig J. Chief Research and Strategy Officer, Microsoft Corporation
• USA Naím, Moisés Editor-in-Chief, Foreign Policy
• USA Orszag, Peter R. Director, Office of Management and Budget
• USA Parker, Sean Managing Partner, Founders Fund
• USA Pearl, Frank H. Chairman and CEO, Perseus, LLC
• USA Perle, Richard N. Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
• USA Rose, Charlie Producer, Rose Communications
• USA Rubin, Robert E. Co-Chairman, Council on Foreign Relations; Former Secretary of the Treasury
• USA Schmidt, Eric CEO and Chairman of the Board, Google
• USA Steinberg, James B. Deputy Secretary of State
• USA Summers, Lawrence H. Director, National Economic Council
• USA Thiel, Peter A. President, Clarium Capital Management, LLC
• USA Varney, Christine A. Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust
• USA Volcker, Paul A. Chairman, Economic Recovery Advisory Board
• USA West, F.J. Bing Author
• USA Wolfensohn, James D. Chairman, Wolfensohn & Company, LLC
• VEN Cisneros Rendiles, Gustavo A: Venezuelan media mogul – one of the world’s richest men

The night I went down
to the river you
danced naked with the
devil high above in the
old chestnut tree.

The devil was laughing
and laughing and laughed
peeling off all the
youngish debris
in my head.

The night you saw me down
by the river
keeping your breath
locked deep in the chest was
the night when I
finally sowed all
my desires in a
purposeless quest.

I met you tonight at the river
and everything went
with the beat
poor devil
poor oath
poor dancer
of a love’s lover leap.

Right now in the
deafening light of the river
I uphold the scorn
of your impatient age.
The devil laughs
at the gates of the church
and asks for the fee.
You’re ready,
you’ve waited for it,
and you give him
your beloved scar
from under your knee.

Last night I went to the river
whilst a soft wind spread kindly
the moon dust on the flowers’ frail scent
you wore fruits, feathers and leaves in your hairs
you were dancing
the only dance for me to the end
after taking the oath
of blood, sperm and tears
to correct this unbearable burden of love
so foolishly spent.

To better understand the things, you can get a panorama of the place here.

The Thing displays in English, Spanish, Swahili, Hindi, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese, and in Russian the following text:

MAINTAIN HUMANITY UNDER 500,000,000

IN PERPETUAL BALANCE WITH NATURE

GUIDE REPRODUCTION WISELY —

IMPROVING FITNESS AND DIVERSITY

UNITE HUMANITY WITH A LIVING

NEW LANGUAGE

RULE PASSION — FAITH — TRADITION

AND ALL THINGS

WITH TEMPERED REASON

PROTECT PEOPLE AND NATIONS

WITH FAIR LAWS AND JUST COURTS

LET ALL NATIONS RULE INTERNALLY

RESOLVING EXTERNAL DISPUTES

IN A WORLD COURT

AVOID PETTY LAWS AND USELESS

OFFICIALS

BALANCE PERSONAL RIGHTS WITH

SOCIAL DUTIES.

PRIZE TRUTH — BEAUTY — LOVE —

SEEKING HARMONY WITH THE

INFINITE

BE NOT A CANCER ON THE EARTH —

LEAVE ROOM FOR NATURE —

Here you have another look of the thing.

]]> http://jeanfroissart.wordpress.com/2009/02/08/the-new-world-order/feed/ 0 Jean Georgia Stones http://jeanfroissart.wordpress.com/2009/02/02/hey-marx-you-die/ http://jeanfroissart.wordpress.com/2009/02/02/hey-marx-you-die/#comments Mon, 02 Feb 2009 20:53:13 +0000 jeanfroissart http://jeanfroissart.wordpress.com/?p=112 ]]> The power to become habituated to his surroundings is a marked characteristic of mankind. Very few of us realize with conviction the intensely unusual, unstable, complicated, unreliable, temporary nature of the economic organization by which the Western Europe has lived for the last half century. We assume some of the most peculiar and temporary of our late advantages as natural, permanent, and to be dependent on, and we lay our plans accordingly. Or this sandy and false foundation we scheme for social improvement and dress our political platforms, pursue our animosities and particular ambitions, and feel ourselves with enough margin in hand to foster, not assuage, civil conflict in the European family. Moved by insane delusion and reckless self-regard, the German people overturned the foundations on which we all lived and built. But the spokesmen of the French and of the British peoples have run the risk of completing the ruin, which Germany began, by a Peace which, if it is carried into effect, must impair yet further, when it might have restored, the delicate, complicated organization, already shake and broken by war, through which alone the European peoples can employ themselves and live.

In England the outward aspect of life does not teach us to feel or to realize in the least that an age is over. We are busy picking up the threads of our life where we dropped them, with this difference only, that many of us seem a good deal richer than we were before. Where we spent millions before the war, we have now learnt that we can spend hundreds of millions and apparently not suffer for it. Evidently we did not exploit to the utmost the possibilities of our economic life. We look, therefore, not only to a return to the comforts of 1914, but to an immense broadening and intensification of them. All classes alike thus build their plans, the rich to spend more and save less, the poor to spend more and work less.

But perhaps it is only in England (and America) that it is possible to be so unconscious. In continental Europe the earth heaves and no one but is aware of the rumblings. There it is not just a matter of extravagance or “labor troubles”; but of life and death, of starvation and existence, and of a fearful convulsion of a dying civilization.

John Maynard Keynes

The Economic Consequences of the Peace, New York, Harcourt, Brace and Howe, 1920

Cecilia Bartoli faciebat.

In August 1776, in London, The Gentleman’s Magazine issues the Declaration for the first time in Europe. The reaction of the British Crown is widely known from the history. Should it have happened today, it would have look like this:

The Court of King George III London, England
July 10, 1776
Mr. Thomas Jefferson c/o The Continental Congress Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Dear Mr. Jefferson:
We have read your “Declaration of Independence” with great interest. Certainly, it represents a considerable undertaking, and many of your statements do merit serious consideration. Unfortunately, the Declaration as a whole fails to meet recently adopted specifications for proposals to the Crown, so we must return the document to you for further refinement. The questions which follow might assist you in your process of revision:

1. In your opening paragraph you use the phrase “the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God.” What are these laws? In what way are they the criteria on which you base your central arguments? Please document with citations from the recent literature.

2. In the same paragraph you refer to the “opinions of mankind.” Whose polling data are you using? Without specific evidence, it seems to us the “opinions of mankind” are a matter of opinion.

3. You hold certain truths to be “self-evident.” Could you please elaborate. If they are as evident as you claim then it should not be difficult for you to locate the appropriate supporting statistics.

4. “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” seem to be the goals of your proposal. These are not measurable goals. If you were to say that “among these is the ability to sustain an average life expectancy in six of the 13 colonies of at last 55 years, and to enable newspapers in the colonies to print news without outside interference, and to raise the average income of the colonists by 10 percent in the next 10 years,” these could be measurable goals. Please clarify.

5. You state that “Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new Government….” Have you weighed this assertion against all the alternatives? What are the trade-off considerations?

6. Your description of the existing situation is quite extensive. Such a long list of grievances should precede the statement of goals, not follow it. Your problem statement needs improvement.

7. Your strategy for achieving your goal is not developed at all. You state that the colonies “ought to be Free and Independent States,” and that they are “Absolved from All Allegiance to the British Crown.” Who or what must change to achieve this objective? In what way must they change? What specific steps will you take to overcome the resistance? How long will it take? We have found that a little foresight in these areas helps to prevent careless errors later on. How cost-effective are your strategies?

8. Who among the list of signatories will be responsible for implementing your strategy? Who conceived it? Who provided the theoretical research? Who will constitute the advisory committee? Please submit an organization chart and vitas of the principal investigators.

9. You must include an evaluation design. We have been requiring this since Queen Anne’s War.

10. What impact will your problem have? Your failure to include any assessment of this inspires little confidence in the long-range prospects of your undertaking.

11. Please submit a PERT diagram, an activity chart, itemized budget, and manpower utilization matrix.

We hope that these comments prove useful in revising your “Declaration of Independence.” We welcome the submission of your revised proposal. Our due date for unsolicited proposals is July 31, 1776. Ten copies with original signatures will be required.

Sincerely,
Management Analyst to the British Crown

[credits]

Rapporteurs

GBR Bredow, Vendeline von Business Correspondent, The Economist
GBR Wooldridge, Adrian D. Foreign Correspondent, The Economist

AUT Austria, BEL Belgium, CAN Canada, CHE Switzerland, CZE Czech Republic, DEU Germany, DNK Denmark, ESP Spain, FIN Finland, FRA France, GBR Great Britain, GRC Greece, HUN Hungary, INT International, IRL Ireland, ITA Italy, NLD Netherlands, NOR Norway, POL Poland, PRT Portugal
RUS Russia, SWE Sweden, TUR Turkey, USA United States of America

Another one

]]> http://jeanfroissart.wordpress.com/2007/09/27/nu-pot-sa-cred-one-million-thank-yous/feed/ 0 Jean omty http://jeanfroissart.wordpress.com/2007/09/27/the-saddest-thing-i-own-black-button/ http://jeanfroissart.wordpress.com/2007/09/27/the-saddest-thing-i-own-black-button/#comments Thu, 27 Sep 2007 11:19:29 +0000 jeanfroissart http://jeanfroissart.wordpress.com/2007/09/27/the-saddest-thing-i-own-black-button/ ]]>
]]> http://jeanfroissart.wordpress.com/2007/09/27/the-saddest-thing-i-own-black-button/feed/ 0 Jean