1) Vulture funds seeking fresh meat (NY Post) - It's hard out there for a pimp. There just aren't enough major US corporations going tits up anymore. You gotta feel bad for these guys.
2) Istanbul Aims to Outshine Dubai With $2.6 Billion Bank Center (Bloomberg) - It's a struggle for me not to make any jokes about this one, but it's for real. And I wish Istanbul the best of luck. Turkey is far from the most odious Middle Eastern country. But really, oil money isn't going to move to Istanbul, and the ME is pretty much a one-trick pony in that regard. My advice to Turkey would be to save their money and focus on shipping and shipbuilding.
3) Here's Why A Recruiter Never Even Saw Your Amazing Resume (Business Insider) - Bankerella hit on this the other day. If you're just coming out of undergrad, why do you have a two-page resumé? You haven't done shit yet. First, fix your resumé. Second, don't even bother with resumé drops or applying online, and go network your ass off.
4) The Forbes 400 (Forbes) - Surprised nobody posted it this week (or maybe somebody did and I missed it) because, let's face it, we ALL think we're gonna end up on the list some day. God help this miserable planet if I ever make the Top 10.
5) She's back: World's richest woman makes case for $2-a-day pay (LA Times) - Seriously, some people make a satirist's job waaay too easy. This chick makes Leona Helmsley look like Mother Theresa. I love it.
6) The richest and poorest U.S. cities by income (MarketWatch) - Surprise surprise! NYC isn't even in the Top 5. In fact, with the exception of that cesspool D.C., all the cities with the highest median incomes are on the Best Coast. Also, first prize is a week in Baltimore. Second prize? Two weeks.
7) Fred Wilson: what crowdfunding means for the VC business (Gigaom) - This is an older piece about a talk Fred Wilson gave to a crowd of entrepreneurs back in May. I thought it was appropriate now because he discusses the impact that crowdfunding will inevitably have on venture capital and just two hours ago I got an email from WeFunder that their JOBS Act crowdfunding site had gone live and will begin taking investments in early 2013.
8) Why is the Arab world so easily offended? (Washington Post) - I've had to re-write my synopsis of this article seven times now. Make that eight. I just can't do it. These butthurt motherfuckers can eat a dick. Sorry. Make that nine.
9) Elderly woman who botched religious fresco demands royalties (The Telegraph) - LULZ.
10) Jon Stewart to debate Bill O’Reilly in online pay-per-view event (Yahoo! News) - They've got my $4.95, no questions asked.
Video of the Week:
While we're on the subject of Jon Stewart, he also provides us with our Video of the Week. Mitt Romney dominated the news this week with a couple of horrendous gaffes, the most egregious being his naked disgust for roughly half the country. Stewart calls him out on his asshattery in the hilarious manner only he can. You guys know I'm no Obama supporter, but if Romney is this fucking lost I think he's beyond hope. Think about this: the video of him spewing this tripe was made in May but was released in September. Kinda makes you wonder what they're sitting on for an October surprise, no? They probably have him on tape clubbing a seal or some shit.
That's it for this week, guys. Let me know what you think of this week's Bananas in the comments and have a fantastic weekend!
Sounds like Istanbul is half a dozen years late to the party...
@ N9 : Hey, don't mess with poor old Cecilia, she had me laughing hard for two good days straight. Now seriously, she has a golden heart.
always appreciate the weekly bonus bananas posts!
Eddie,
Istanbul shouldn't do this. As a center for shipping, ship building and capital finance in that sector, I think it's a great idea. As a center for global finance? Not so muchThey should just be known for this:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/G4phHwSSing
Thanks to Craig Ferguson by the way for the awesome video.
And I'm sold on the O'Riley/Stewart RUMBLE IN THE AIR CONDITIONED AUDITORIUM! Now if only we can have The Reverend, Sir Dr. Stephen T. Mos Def Colbert, D.F.A., Heavyweight Champion of the the World, moderating this debate - that would make it worth far more than the 4.95 being asked for it.
That fresco is hilarious, I could find some 6th year art grad student at Starbucks to do that.
I agree in a very, very broad sense with what Mitt was getting at, but he is a walking gaffe machine. But yeah, way to go, dude, I'm sure swing voters will eat that shit up.
7 - I've thought of crowdfunding a few things, both before and after equity crowdfunding is officially allowed by the SEC. While I'd like to think it's a huge game changer, I still feel like the VCs will see a little blip and then adjust and press on. I think I'll be competing with a fuckton of other people, who have few contacts or possibly are just shady and think it's an easier/cheaper route. I dunno, I hope it's a positive thing but we shall see.
These are all great points, but I have to say that I've really been impressed by some of the projects getting funding on Kickstarter these days, and some of the early offerings that are on WeFunder are pretty interesting too. Kickstarter isn't even an investment site per se, but the numbers going up over there are astounding. I saw this one pitch for the development of a video game (can't remember which, sorry). They were asking for $900,000, which I have to believe would cover the entire cost of development and launch. They ended up raising $1.3 million before it was all said and done.
I wouldn't be surprised if this is how a lot of digital media (especially games and apps) get paid for in the near future. Why lay the money out yourself when there are thousands of people lined up to pay for your R&D in exchange for a T-shirt and a copy of the game when it launches?
I'm getting ready to test this thesis personally in the very near future.
Unless you look at "counties" and not "cities", then they're all in the cesspool that is the DC area. Sadly, you don't even reach the west coast until #19. Counties around NYC seem pretty well represented but Northern VA claims the top 3 spots, all with median incomes north of 100k. Just crazy.
http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview…
Lesson: Find a Federal tit (preferrably DoD) and start sucking.
occupy Istanbul
Sometimes I forget about the Bonus Bananas.... Just makes it that much better when I see the post first thing on Friday. Good stuff as always, thank you Eddie.
5 - the fuq? These are the people that can't understand how a guy like Obama became president.
8 - They are morons, and MENA needs a Renaissance. They're just due for an upgrade out of the stone age. However, I also don't understand the people the feel the need to just stir the pot. Artists sell themselves as "showing the world what asses they are". Yeah, we fucking know, but pissing them off even more in the midst of building a better future is kind of counter productive, don'tcha think? Jackasses. If you want to improve the situation, join the peace corps / military and go over there and make a difference. But this just stirs the pot and someone else takes the bullet. I call that cowardice.
As for Romney's gaffe....it's not a gaffe if that's what they really believe. Out of that 47%, 85% of the non-tax numbers come from old people and children: social security isn't taxed and tax credits for dependants are often enough to bring a middle class family into the black in the federal tax department. Taken literally, Romney is saying that old people and children are moochers. Taken figuratively, he's a twit who doesn't know how the tax system works. Given that the actual biggest overal drain is white, high school dropouts in the South and midwest collecting welfare and voting GOP (true story, 90% of welfare is white people) ...I find it mildly ironic that this is labelled a 'gaffe'. It's not. It exposes the GOP for what it's become: a fraudulent criminal conspiracy masquerading as a political party. This does not excuse the dems of their shortcomings, but I seriously can't support Romeny and would like to see the GOP restructured. Sometimes, a good ass kicking gets someone / a group back on track. No more games, dismantle what isn't working and build something worthwhile. They can do it, and they can start November 7th.
Think about it. If you couldn't:
1) drink 2) walk down the street and look at tits (burqas) 3) stop sweating
how pissed off would you be all the time?
Actually Arabs get to do 2 out of those 3 a lot on weekends (in Bahrain)
9: I'm actually upset with myself that I didn't predict that the artist of the 'hedgehog Jesus' painting would sue for royalties. I should have seen that coming.
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