New $100 Bill!

 

Getty Images

 

When the new $100 is moved, the inkwell changes color from copper to green, and the Liberty Bell appears.

The Treasury Department unveiled what it calls "the next generation one hundred," a redesigned $100 bank note to stay ahead of counterfeiters. The new $100 notes will be available on Feb.10, 2011.

from WSJ

WSJ: College Grads' Outlook Grim Students Begin the Search Early, Look to 'Plan-B' as Campus Recruitment Falls

"Several years ago the state of Florida could not find enough teachers," Mr. Wallace said, "now we have school districts that are doing massive layoffs."

Meanwhile, business and technical majors are likely to see the most demand, particularly as Wall Street resumes hiring.

A recent survey from 7city Learning, a financial-services training company, found that 76% of Wall Street firms plan to hire more recent graduates than a year ago.

Graduate-school enrollment rose 6% last year and will likely continue to rise this year.

You hardly need to read the article.

"I'm sorry"

From WSJ article "Prince Shows Shame, Rubin Defiance: Former Citigroup Officials Say They, and Regulators, Didn't See Risks; 'I'm Sorry' Three Times", reporting on the "three-hour grilling by a congressional panel scrutinizing the financial crisis":

Mr. Prince departed from his prepared testimony by saying "I'm sorry" three times that the crisis had such a "devastating" impact on the economy, millions of Americans "lost their homes," and "our management team, starting with me," didn't foresee the "unprecedented market collapse."

It's sad, the whole thing, and Mr. Prince recognizes it. This is a good passage. The next one is not as feel-good, but similarly revealing:

Still, Bill Thomas, a Republican former congressman from California who is vice chairman of the panel, which must produce a report on its findings by Dec. 15, compared the former CEO to "a lemming" because of his reluctance to rein in risk-taking as late as mid-2007.

The comment came after Mr. Prince tried to explain his infamous declaration in mid-2007 that "as long as the music is playing, you've got to get up and dance. We're still dancing." Mr. Prince was referring to the dangers of leveraged lending for private-equity buyouts, but Mr. Thomas responded: "You weren't going to be the lemming that stopped and said: 'I don't want to keep walking."'

It's a look into the (difficult?) sentiment of the times. Are financial institutions better today then they were in mid-2007?

P.S. I learned how to make blockquotes again!

Thank God for Rejection

Before They Were Titans, Moguls and Newsmakers, These People Were...Rejected

At College Admission Time, Lessons in Thin Envelopes 

read the WSJ article

Year of the Tiger!!!

 HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

Plaza 66, Shanghai
Selected by Shanghaiist (Chinese New Year in Shanghai)

One day, I want to be in China to celebrate. I bet it's so exciting and full of life!

Hehe, I love fluffy articles like this ("In Hong Kong, Love's at War With Tradition Valentine's Day, New Year Clash; Moms' Heartburn") in the WSJ.

"For Benny Li, a popular Hong Kong television and newspaper commentator, there's little room for compromise. "For Chinese people, the Lunar New Year is the most important event of the year," he says, calling Western holidays like Mother's Day, Father's Day and Valentine's Day "merely artificial creations."

Haha Benny tells it like it is.

China's Banker Pay Could Use Some Incentives - from WSJ

 

China, meet U.S. Helloooo, disparity. WSJ article.

A Journalist's Life

About William McGurn

William McGurn is a Vice President at News Corporation who writes speeches for CEO Rupert Murdoch. Previously he served as Chief Speechwriter for President George W. Bush.
Mr. McGurn has served as chief editorial writer for The Wall Street Journal in New York. He spent more than a decade overseas -- in Brussels for The Wall Street Journal/Europe and in Hong Kong with both the Asian Wall Street Journal and the Far Eastern Economic Review. And in the mid-1990s, he was Washington Bureau Chief for National Review.
Bill is author of a book on Hong Kong ("Perfidious Albion") and a monograph on terrorism ("Terrorist or Freedom Fighter"). He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, holds a BA in philosophy from Notre Dame and an MS in Communications from Boston University.

Just a 'random' author of an article I skimmed on WSJ online just now, but reading his credentials (I've never heard of him before), it sounds like he's had such an exciting, interesting life. What if I did this? Even if I don't, I hope I have friends who do. Eventually I do want to be published in some form (not counting our campus publications). One of my minor life goals is to have that sketched photo of me in the WSJ, whether I'm the writer or being written about. It's don't think it's that difficult, because I remember Paris Hilton had one. And also a financier who embezzled a lot of money. But I hope mine is due to merit, not infamy. That, or it could be about my dazzling breakout film debut. Even though I'm getting older, I still think lots of things are possible. :)

Animal House in the WSJ... again

John Belushi as John Blutarsky/ Universal Pictures

Another article in the WSJ about Dartmouth, this one about Dartmouth frat culture by an '09 (recent graduate). Given the size of our school, I'm sure any '10 (rising senior) knows someone who knows her. Also, check out the comments on the article. Here's a choice one:

"The friends I made in college in the late 70s are still
my best friends today. We still get togther a few times a
year, but are nowhere near as wild as we were. We all
graduated, some of us pursued advanced degrees, and we are
all successful. We also have more fun when we get together
than we can ever have with our wives - and they know it!"

Really? More fun than you can ever have with your wives? No futher comment.

It seems like the zeitgeist is so Dartmouth-centric recently -- it's increasingly "cool" to namedrop or mention Dartmouth, whether in an article about preppy clothing or when referencing the over-consumptive college frat culture. I mentioned this to a friend interning in D.C., and this is what she had to say on it (both enlightening and dorky, and I agree with her):

---Georgina wrote ---

is it just me or is the[sic] more and more focus on dartmouth
recently?
--- End of quote ---

you mean in the press or the WSJ? we've had lots of
reasons to come up in the news lately - 1) new prez, 2)
the Dartmouth Atlas of Health (check it out - it's REALLY
famous and REALLY impressive that our researchers are
doing work that's SO instrumental in shaping the health
care debate that's dominating the press and politics), 3)
higher education in the face of the recession is a big,
big issue, 4) tim geithner!

haha

WE ARE SO COOL

and dartmouth has always gotten way more facetime in the
wsj than is strictly necessary haha

The best part is definitely "haha/ WE ARE SO COOL". At Dartmouth, that is called a self-call.

^-^

A Secret

So one of my secret desires/goals in life is to be depicted in one of the WSJ's photo-realistic sketches. It looks to me that there are two ways to achieve this - to be famous (e.g. Warren Buffet, who I'm sure has had his share of WSJ features) or to be infamous (I distinctly recall seeing Paris Hilton once).

This guy took the latter route (see FBI Arrests Danny Pang), but I wonder if he still has some sort of perverse pride in being featured. I mean, he looks pretty good here.


P.S. Way to run a Ponzi scheme, asshole. Today it was reported that sixteen thousand Taiwanese customers have invested money with Mr. Pang.
P.P.S. Gosh, do I love the WSJ.