Turnitin for Wall Street

There is a common belief that mobile phones communication brought a lot more informality into our everyday lives. Allegedly, less professionalism, too.
It is not the first time for Goldman Sachs' employees to be accused offensive.
Read more about their new measures and tightening up the belt within the corporation's lingo.

Nice to meet you?

Milka Forcan and Miodrag Miskovic


Milka Forcan, Josep Lloveras and Olli Rehn


Project for Belgrade Danube Waterfront by Daniel Liebeskind, space property of Port Belgrade




My friend's, Branko Belacevic's, witty observation of what exactly is going on in Belgrade Danube Waterfont project


Renderings of project for Varsavska Street, Zagreb


Tomo Horvatincic, the investor of the project in Varsavska Street


Peaceful protests in Varsavska Street, Zagreb

Business women from Serbia, Milka Forcan has stirred up the public opinions lately with the news of her break up over the shareholdings of Delta holding company with her 20-year-old business partner Miroslav Miškovic, absolute monopolist on Serbian financial market. She states that it was not an easy decision, having emotions about the place she had also invested in it during her lifetime. Oops, looks like there is a formula to mix business and pleasure here?

It is important to know the power position of this woman in the international affairs, as she reported she will continue her career in lobbying, after she had proved to be an important player in Serbian business' contribution to EU integration; discussing these issues, for example, with Olli Rehn and Josep Lloveras. In this region, there is a popular pattern of direct ascribing political potential to the financially successful individuals. I don't know if I support this woman for being such a strong opponent to Mišković, in the male dominated state, or just dislike her, as it looks like they have quite the same aims and objectives. I wonder if the monopoly of Miskovic's emporium has helped her be seen as AAA woman of the region- attractive, actual, active.

Knowing that same Delta's first man was financing political parties, and has been involved in criminal activities of illegal privatization of Port of Belgrade, even Daniel Liebeskind could not resist his power, and created this flashy project, promising a bright future for the Belgrade waterfront.

In addition, talking about the powerful connections of state and the business, and politics of public space, this is already late information, but 140 citizens were arrested last week in Zagreb, protesting non/violently over the long, similar, dispute of turning the square in the centre of the city into a shopping mall and closing the pedestrian paths.

Are politics or space of the countries with EU accession ambition in need for more lobbyists?

Burke's parlour

via intelbriefs

I have recently seen the advertisement for volunteering with Metropolitan Police.
Apparently, it is not such a recent programme (since 2001), and adult individuals have a chance to 'gain valuable experiences' by volunteering in their neighbourhood or around places where they work. While the accent is definitely on softening the borders between the private and state matters by 'increasing contact between local communities and the police', I wonder whose privacy is invested here.

Speaking of privacy and loyalty to the community, not only Russia is sending spies to the UK, (as recent saturation of the media with the news about Anna Chapman's revocation of the citizenship says) but Europeans are threatening London's Square Mile. They are 'grabbing the land', and the sincere Prime Minister's confession that several generations in his family have been faithful to the City is to guarantee the importance of it for the new government. Still, this tightrope walk does not fully insure us whether the financial sector is a matter of national pride or the gathered experience of the family businesses.

Now, if half of the business is networking, and lip service, than these informal talks have also very important role in a fine participation and exchange of the information. Clubs with free distribution of cocaine help the businessmen to be attuned to this need of perpetual crossing the borders and shifting them back. But, again, who says when it is enough and who can participate? Stephen Perkins has been denounced, crossing the borders of the City forever, by backing out and trading 7m barrels of oil after a weekend of heavy drinking. Maybe he should start purging away the sins by volunteering with 'met'?

Ask the janitor.

Death in June

Blackfriars Bridge, at the edge of the City, London


1 Poultry, London - one of the mortal leap's location






Do you remember this man?

The case of Roberto Calvi's murder has been never resolved, although his close relations to Vatican proved to be linked to it, even if partly. Yet, waves of bankers' suicides date long before Italian 'God's banker' has been found hanged on London's Blackfriars bridge in 1982.

Evidently, recent frequent reports on bankers from around the world committing suicides has some overlapping historical facts with Black Thursday in 1929 crash. The statistics show that the monetary crisis had impact on the growing numbers of suicides among financial sector employees. Despite the fact that only after the crisis settles down, the true mortal impact can be indicated, there is no way to measure the true vulnerability of the successful individuals and even untouchable businessmen like HSBC's Christen Schnor, friend of Danish royal family. Although, back in 1929, along with the Wall Street brokers literally leaping through hotel windows, big number of people affected were from other service sectors, too. These personal tragedies maybe are not so personal, after all, although they tend to be represented as such in media.We can have a look on our public health and the demands that financial sector sets as a normative of success, productivity, growth and ask ourselves:

How many times does an action have to be repeated in order to learn mistakes from it?

Deutsche Bank Tower Demolition in NY

New York Times article on the demolition of the 41 story high tower badly damaged in 9/11 happenings.