What do Brussels and Pyongyang have in common?

Answer: Neither of them could get a helium balloon off the ground!

I say that because the North Koreans under the inspired leadership of their new, young Dear Leader, Bil-lee Bun-ta,

attempted to launch the ballistic missile equivalent of a Morris Marina with predictable results.  According to Wiki, "the Marina was one of the worst cars of all time"!

 

In the meantime, you may remember that the 'Euro-Bats' threw a hissy-fit when the American ratings agencies began downgrading sundry financial basket-cases in the euro-currency group including La not-so-Belle France.  Cue an enormous pile of 'merdes' and 'zut alors' to say nothing of several 'schweinehunds' and with all the predictability of German tanks heading for Warsaw some dimwit suggested that Europe must have its own ratings agency in order to ensure that European nations, and companies, had a fair assessment.

With a chorus of 'superbes' and 'wunderbars' a German financial wizard was given the task of setting it up - roughly the equivalent of getting a Morris Marina to win the British Grand Prix!  Needless to say, as Der Spiegel reports:

The newspaper reported that Roland Berger no longer expects to be able to raise the €300 million ($390 million) in start-up capital required for the project. Berger had pinned its hope on support mainly from big German and French banks but has met with little interest so far. Many potential investors doubted whether the investment model could work.

Apparently, potential investors thought "the close relationship of the planned agency with European governments was regarded as a problem right from the outset". No! Non! Nein! It wouldn't be bent like that, would it? 

Well, who'da thunk it?!

 

Comments

[Jimmy]

That mob of goose steppers would make Adolf proud. They must be well fed to keep up such momentum. Meanwhile the hidden peasants starve. It would be nice to see this state of thugs collapse especially the great leader with the strange hairpiece oan his napper.

[rogerh]

Very droll. The N Koreans have proved they can let off a rocket and they are really quite clever folk. So why did this one fail? A Rush Job, the ancient gods of hubris or perhaps someone wanted to remind Dear Leader it is about time N Korea stopped playing silly buggers and put its military to doing something useful - digging potatoes.

Quite right, the Euro is missing an essential part. In fact many economies are missing the same part - a very large gripper around the throat of every finance minister. Said gripper inescapably connected to the financial balance flumble sprocket.

[David Duff]

Quite so, Jimmy.

I think, Roger, their last rocket shoot ended up in the sea, too! Gripping a finance minister, or any minister come to that, is like trying to catch a bar of soap in the bath!