Tuesday, July 5, 2011

BFF's*: "Japan closely monitoring China's high-speed rail patent applications"

From The Mainichi Daily News:
Japan told China on Monday it is "closely monitoring" patent applications filed by Beijing for its high-speed railway systems, which are based on technologies imported from countries such as Japan and Germany, a Japanese official said.

Visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto told his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi that Beijing's move, which is deemed as a step to promote exports of the nation's railway technologies, has "drawn a great deal of attention" in Japan. Yang maintained that China acquired the technologies "through its own innovations."...MORE
Back in early 2008, as the incompetence and outright fraud of the ratings agencies and monoline insurers was becoming apparent we posted:
Melissa Moody’s Ratings Alternative (MBI)
From Long or Short Capital:

...My ratings will be simple:
  • BFFAE (Best Friends Forever and Ever)
  • BFF
  • BFFLAF (Best Friends For Like Almost Forever)
  • BFFBAS (Best Friends Forever But Also a Slut)
  • BFFBIHH (Best Friends Forever But I Hate Her)
  • Whore
MBIA (NYSE: MBI)

Previous Rating: BFFAE
New Rating: BFFBAS
Ratings Rationale: MBIA used to have a good little thing going. Yeah, like not everyone thought she was totally hot, but everyone was like “Wow she has a good little thing going”, she was funny and nice, and who doesn’t like funny and nice? Not Melissa, I’ll tell you that. And she was a go-to girl anytime a friend was jammed up with boy problems and needed ice cream.
But then she changed, and we all saw it happening. She wanted to be totally hot and started hanging out with guys out of her league. Yeah she looked great, but the diet and the clothes and the whole lifestyle changed her. Rumors started about what she was doing behind the scenes at muni parties and at CDS keggers....MORE