Followup on BAE - EASD Merger...

...which appears won't be happening.

Per the Financial Times:

Government officials in London, Paris and Berlin blamed each other for not backing the €36bn tie-up between BAE Systems, the UK’s defence champion, and EADS, Europe’s biggest civil aerospace group, while investors accused BAE of having a muddled strategy that threatened shareholder value. 

An opinion piece in the Economist blames it on Germany (EADS ownership is complex; a large portion is controlled by Daimler).  And, the BBC has a very nice summary of the whole deal.

A Look at the Most Contaminated Place on Earth

Ran across this discussion of pollution issues in the former USSR (or, now, Russia).

Lake Karachay, Mayak, and Chelyabinsk-40: A Look at the Most Contaminated Place on Earth

Here's a map.

Truly chilling.

The reason I'm linking this is because so many of the other articles here are fascinating:

Norilsk: The World’s Most Northerly (and Most Polluted) Major City

Mapping World Rankings in Various Sports

List of Global Brands Keeps Coke on Top, and Apple Jumps Up

 

From the New York Times:

List of Global Brands Keeps Coke on Top, and Apple Jumps Up

Just a quick thought or so --

The sidebar to the left shows the 2012, 2011 and 2010.  Note that Apple jumped way up and Nokia fell like the proverbial rock.

If you go to the actual survey (link in the NYT article and here), you'll notice the presence of a number of luxury brands:

17.  Louis Vuitton
38.  Gucci
63.  Hermés
68.  Cartier (here's the Cartier commercial from the evening class)
70. Tiffany & Co.
84.  Prada

Remember where the growth for these brands is?  If you said China, you'd be right. 

Gucci on growth in China (video)

China’s rich feeds luxury brands and tourism in Europe

The Top 50 Most-Searched for Luxury Brands in China.

That is all.