Shenanigans

Interested to read this morning of more shenanigans at Credit Suisse concerning what threatens to become a sub-prime problem. Where the sub-prime assets in questions are the yachts of very rich Russians rather than houses on affordable estates in the middle of the US. It seems that loans secured on said yachts have been parcelled up and sold on, just as those on those houses were.

From there I got to an outfit called Wealth-X which, inter alia, offers guidance on how best to cosy up to the ultra rich so that you can sell them services. I tried to download it, but Microsoft smells a rat and declares the guidance to be insecure and refuses to execute the download. All very mysterious.

More mundanely, I have been looking into the word 'portemine' which turned up in Maigret this morning. Larousse tells me that this is what the French, who have to be different, call a propelling pencil.

Another meaning is that of what is properly spelt mien.

Another meaning is the mineral sort of mine, as in coal mine, plus the various military and exploding varieties. Recognised by Webster's.

Another is the lead in a lead pencil. Not recognised by Webster's.

Another is a unit of currency in ancient Greece, snapped above from some Bible people. What would buy a hundred man days' worth of semi-skilled labour. Not recognised by Webster's.

But Webster's does include using mine as a possessive adjective and as a possessive pronoun. Which the French decline.

PS: I associate to the concept of 'schismogenesis', brought to me by reference 1, previously noticed. All about the need that societies (or countries) seem to have to clearly distinguish themselves from their neighbours. To exaggerate the differences to make sure there is no mistake. A word which is new to me but which is clearly not new to Wikipedia.

References

Reference 1: The Dawn of Everything: A new history of humanity – David Wengrow, David Graeber – 2021.

Reference 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schismogenesis.

Reference 3: https://www.wealthx.com/. 'Maximize your relationships with the wealthy: Intelligent solutions to help you uncover, understand, and engage with the world’s wealthiest individuals'. Otherwise, recycling excess wealth. You don't tax but you do recycle.