Good people arehard to find and your employees really do make a difference, so spend extratime evaluating an applicant before you hire, and create a procedure to quicklyidentify if they will succeed in their position. If not, let them go as quicklyas possible. Unproductive employees will drain you of time, resources and muchneeded money.好员工很难找到,而且员工确实能对企业产生实质的不同影响。所以单独花些时间来评估一个你要雇佣的人,并且创建一个流程以快速地侦别他们是否能胜任其岗位。如果不行,就让他们尽快离开。不具生产力的员工将会拖累你的时间、资源和花销。
Once you hire agood one, you’ll truly know the value of a great employee, and nothing canquite match that. They make all the other pains and hassles seem much smaller too, often timesmaking them disappear altogether. And the best part, you’re able to delegateand assign responsibility, which allows you to focus on the big picture, whichI believe is the best part.一旦你雇到好员工,你将真正明白好员工的价值,且这种价值千金难买。好员工会让其他问题或麻烦变小,甚至时常让问题或麻烦统统消失。而最好的是,你可以委任、分配任务,这让你可以专注于大方向,对我而言,这是最大的好处。
Answer by KenLarson, recipient of SCORE National Achievement Award in Small BusinessCounseling
Starting myenterprise was a logical extension of the work I had been doing as anindividual contractor, so the transition seemed easy enough.
What I had to learnvery quickly was the business planning, marketing and competitive analysisaspects of operating an enterprise, as opposed to negotiating single personefforts. Industry teaming, having others work for me and dealing as a companyinstead of a person were all challenges.
It took roughly twoyears to adjust, develop a client base as a company, and progress toprofitability.
This questionoriginally appeared on Quora: What are the best and worst parts of startingyour own business?肯·拉森,SCORE的小企业咨询全国成就奖得主,他的回答是:开创我的企业是一个情理之内的事,因为我之前就是一个独立的承包商,所以这个转型看起来很容易。我必须要快速学会的是运营企业所需的策划生意、营销、竞争力分析,而非讨论个人能力的问题。行业合作、让他人为我工作、让公司团结一体而非个行其道,这些都很具挑战性。我大概花了两年时间作为公司来适应、开发一个客户群,并且走上盈利之路。这个回答最初出现在Quora:自己开公司的最好或最坏的方面。
The dumbest columnI ever wrote was the one that suggested that if Apple wanted to sell a lot ofiPhones in China it should stick with silver.我写过最蠢的一篇专栏就是,我曾建议苹果公司如果他们想在中国卖出大量iphone的话,就该推出银色系的机身。
This was just abouta year ago. Rumors were flying that Apple was about to launch a champagne-goldiPhone because gold was such a prestigious color in China. I went looking formarket research on national color preferences, and the closest thing I could findwas a Dupont chart that showed that the best-selling automobile color in Chinawas silver, not gold.这大概在一年前。当时有传言称苹果将推出香槟黄色机身,因为金黄色在中国是极尊贵的颜色。我去看了关于各国人对颜色偏好的市场调研,还找到杜邦公司的一个图表,上面显示在中国,卖得最好的汽车是白色,而不是金色。
Cars, it turns out,are not the same as phones.但最后证明,汽车跟手机不是一回事。
The gold iPhone 5Swas a huge hit in China. It sold out immediately in Hong Kong and the mainland.Customers in New York City buying for export lined up around the block. GoldiPhones were soon commanding mark-ups of several hundred dollar apiece inChina’s grey markets.金色的iphone 5s在中国大获成功。在香港和大陆很快一售而空。在纽约,消费者为买到可出口的机子在街上排出长队。土豪金的iphone很快在中国的黑市被加价了几百美元出售。
Apple, it seems,knew what it was doing. In December it finally cut a distribution deal with China Mobile, theworld’s largest carrier.In February, China Mobile announced that iPhones accounted for more than half of the phones on itsbrand new 4G network. By last week, that network had grown to more than 14million subscribers.苹果,似乎很胸有成竹。12月时,它终于与中国移动—世界最大的运营商达成了分销协议。2月时,中国移动宣布,使用其全新的4G网张的手机中。一半以上的手机是iphone。截止上周,中国移动的4G网络已经有1400万用户。
“China, honestlywas surprising to us,” Tim Cook told analysts last week. “We thought it wouldbe strong but it went well past what we thought. We came in at 26% of revenuegrowth, including retail and if you look at the units, the unit growth wasreally off the chartsacross the board. Ifound 48% growth that compares to a market estimate of 24%. So growing it twotimes the market.”库克在上周时对分析家称“说实话,中国着实让我们吃惊。我们设想过会会卖得不错,但销售情况远比我们想的要更好。我们获得了26%的收入增长,包括零售。如果你看销售的产品数量计,简直可谓全面飙升,营收增长是48%,而非预期的24%。所以说实际增速是市场预期的两倍”
“Whoever proposedthe champagne gold model can’t be rewarded enough for the cascading benefitsApple has enjoyed from it,” writes an American ex-pat who posts here asJake_in_Seoul.提议出制作香槟色iphone的员工应该获得重奖,因为苹果公司因此获巨额利润。这是一名署名“杰克在首尔”的身在国外的美国网民写道的。
Jake, as regularshere know, is a keen observer of the Asian smartphone market. In January were-posted a letter he wrote from China that adds some color (pardon the pun) tothe Chinese iPhone story:关注此专栏的常客都知道,杰克对亚洲的手机市场观察很敏锐。2月份时,我们将他以前从中国写来的一封信重新刊登,令iphone在中国的故事更为生动起来:
“iPhones here arenot predominant, but are readily seen, certainly in the hands of wealthy andpowerful, (e.g., a local real estate tycoon), but also surprisingly owned bythe likes of hotel clerks and a remarkable noodle shop girl. Ownership seems tobe a state of mind.
“I was amused in acasual conversation to hear Samsung (known in China by its Chinese/Koreancharacter name San Xing Sanxing = “Three Stars”) referred to as a “Chinesephone”… I suspect this misunderstanding may not be uncommon and hence highly aggravating to Samsung.一次我听到一个闲聊,说韩国三星手机是一个中国牌子,这太搞笑了。我怀疑这种误解可不少,三星公司一定为此头痛。
“The iPhone, bycontrast, is now called ‘iPhone’ (using roman letters) in every press articleI’ve seen recently, and a Chinese character equivalent Ai Feng (Aifeng = ‘LoveCrazed’) is increasingly used only as slang in advertising, on Weibo, in blogsetc. The brand maintains its pristineforeign identity.相比之下,iphone 还是被叫做iphone,我看到的也都是其正确的拼写方式。在中国,也会叫成爱疯,更多的是作为俚语用于广告、微博和博客中。这个品牌保持着其本来的外国身份。
“The fact that anawareness of Apple and the iPhone has so quickly and widely penetrated Chinesesociety is a remarkable achievement, one likely due to the perceived excellenceof Apple technology and also to good timing, as cell phone culture comes of agehere. As long as Apple continues to produce cool products, it will surely gainadherents in China as more and more people can afford them.”对苹果公司和iphone的认知度如此快速、大面积地渗透到中国的社会,这是个了不起的成就。这归结于人们认为苹果公司的技术卓越,并且其时机很好,因为手机文化在中国发展到了一定阶段。只要苹果公司继续生产酷炫的产品,随着越来越多人可以买的起,它就将在中国拥有更多的消费者。
Russia's economic punch: Why Europe may tread lightly onsanctions欧盟为何不敢对俄经济制裁
Europe is finally showing interest in playing hardball with Vladimir Putin.欧盟终于显示出要对普京采取强硬态度的意向了。
According to a report from Reuters, leaders from the EuropeanUnion met Tuesday to discuss steppingup sanctions against Russia in retaliation for Putin’s support of rebelgroups in eastern Ukraine and for his refusal to fully cooperate with aninternational investigation into the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight17 last week.据英国路透社报道,欧盟领导人于周二时会晤,讨论对俄的制裁,因为普京支持东乌克兰的判军,并且他拒绝了全面配合对马航17飞机的被击落事件的国际调查。
While E.U. leaders did agree to widen the list of individualsand companies that would face sanctions, they could not come to agreement on abroader set of sanctions, like blocking Russian access to European capitalmarkets and technology. In addition, France has so far refused to renege on a $1.62 billiondeal to build and deliver warships to Russia, defying British and Americanwishes.虽然欧盟领导人同意了扩大对个人和公司的制裁名单,但在扩大制裁范围,比如禁止俄国人进入欧洲的资本市场或获得欧盟技术方面,汤未达成共识。此外,法国至今仍拒绝取消为俄建造、运送武器的16.2亿美元的合约,这与英美两国的意愿相左。
But it’s not entirely surprising that the E.U. has failed tostep up to the plate with tougher sanctions. Unlike the United States, theEuropean Union has deep economic ties to Russia, and taking steps to blockRussian access to capital markets could have destabilizing effects on the European economy,which is itself still muddlingthrough a banking crisis that has left the bloc with slow growth andhigh unemployment.不过欧盟未能对俄采取更强硬措施,也并不令人惊奇。不同于美国,欧盟与俄国有很深的经济联系,禁止俄国进入其资本市场会对欧盟经济造成失稳后果。而欧盟本身正陷于银行危机中,整体发展缓慢,失业率高企。
AsCarl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a note toclients Tuesday morning:高频经济的首席经济学家,卡尔·温伯格在本周二给客户的报道中写道:
“IfRussia has already been excluded from global capital markets, and if imports ofenergy-related capital goods and all defense-related transactions have been scratched, Russia losesnothing incrementalfrom walking away fromservicing its $720 billion worth of foreign debt. Most of those bonds are held by WesternEuropean banks and investment funds. Russia could induce pain well beyond what it is experiencingfrom these sanctions by simply withholding debt service payments for 120 days,after which most institutions would have to write down the loans.”如果俄国被从国际资本市场中排除出去,而且俄国如果不再有能源相关的资本产品的进口,以及国防相关的交易,俄国只要不去偿还其价值7200万美元的外债,并不会有其它损失。这些债券大多由西欧的银行和投资机构所有。俄罗斯只要暂缓偿付这些债务120天,就可以将自己经受的制裁之痛百倍偿付给对手,因为这种情况下,大多的被借机构只能减记其债务。
WithEuropean banks already in bad shape, and the E.U. economy just barely growing as it is,it’s no surprise that European leaders are having a hard time declaring full-oneconomic warfare against Russia, even if they are fed up with Putin’s behavior.欧洲的银行现在状况很坏,欧盟的经济增长几乎停滞,无怪欧洲的领导人在发动对俄的经济战争时难下决心,即使他们已经受够了普京的行为。
6 things French women can teach us aboutaging gracefully法国女性优雅老去的6个秘诀
Before moving tothe New York City area, I lived in London for seven years. During that period,I traveled more than two dozen times to France, a place where five- or six-weekvacations are the norm and many people retire comfortably at 60 or younger. I mademany wonderful French friends and was more than a little awed at the way theyaged so gracefully.在搬到纽约前,我在伦敦住了7年。那段时间,我大概去了法国有20多次,在法国一年有5到6周的假期这很正常,而且很多人在60岁或更早就舒服地退休了。我交了很多很棒的法国朋友,我对她们优雅老去的方式非常惊叹。
Are they perfect?Of course not. But certainly I admired how so many of them stayed trim whileenjoying coq au vin, baguettes, andouillettes, eclairs and fondue whileAmericans struggled with their weight while gorging on diet soda and LeanCuisines. I also admired the way they purchased clothes selectively, carriedthemselves confidently and devoured life every chance they got.法国人完美吗?当然不。但我很欣赏很多法国人一边享受着鸡尾酒,法国面包,手指饼和芝士,一边保持着苗条的身材,而美国人却挣扎于减肥,暴饮着无糖饮料和瘦身餐。我也很欣赏法国人自信地挑选服装、尽情享受人生的样子。
After speaking witha few of these friends, I've come up with a list of six things the French canteach us about aging well. Do you agree? Let us know in comments. And if thereare things the Americans can teach THEM about aging, we'd like to hear aboutthat as well.在与几个这样的朋友交谈后,我得出了一个清单,法国女性可以教给我们优雅老去的6种方式。你同意吗?通过评论让我们知道你的意见吧。有没有美国人可以教法国人的老去的法子,我们也很想听一下。
1) That women of allages can be the sensual love interests -- and not just the matronlygrandmothers -- in popular movies.Just consider Catherine Deneuve, 69, orIsabelle Huppert, 60, or Juliette Binoche, 49. These and other older Frenchactresses such as Nathalie Baye, 65, and Sandrine Bonnaire, 46, continue to nabmeaty roles. In an American movie industry dominated more by the teeny-bopperset, it's hard to even name an older sex symbol other than, perhaps, RaquelWelch who's still, at 72, pretty darn sexy.1、每个年龄段的女人都可以是性感可爱的,而不仅仅是流行电影中风韵犹存的老奶奶。想想69岁的凯瑟琳·德那弗,60岁的伊莎贝尔·于佩尔,或是朱丽叶·比诺什,49岁。这些或是其他更老的法国女影星,比如65岁的娜塔莉·贝叶,桑德兰,46岁,依然担任着女主演。而在美国的电影产业中,主流多是新潮少年男女,可能除了72岁但仍性感十足的拉奎尔·韦尔奇,很难再找出一个老一些的性感演员。
2) That less is best when it comes to makeup -- but thatdoesn't mean you should skimp on skincare.2、化妆遵循少即是多原则,但这可不代表要节省护肤品。
Studies show that French women spend more on facialskincare products than their neighbors in Italy, Spain, Germany or the UK.Overall, nearly two-thirds of French women -- or 62 percent -- use anti-wrinkleproducts. (In France, a girl will begin applying anti-aging creams as early asage 15.) It's a different story when it comes to makeup. Wearing too much,according to French women, makes you look old.研究表明法国女性要比意大利、西班牙、德国或者英国的女性在面部护理产品上花费更多。总体而言,约有2/3(或者说是62%)的法国女人,使用抗皱产品。在法国,年轻女孩甚至有在15岁时就使用抗老化的面霜。但化妆是另一码事。在法国女人看来,化妆过浓,会让你看起来显老。
Studies show that 90 percent of French women over the ageof 50 remain sexually active compared with only 60 percent of American women.But research points to a great interest in sex among those over 50 -- so whynot keep it going? 3、性生活依然很重要
4) That having just a handful of clothing items that fitperfectly is a lot better than having a whole closet full of items that aren'tall that great.拥有少量但非常合适自己的衣服,这要比衣服很多但不合适要好得多。American women have a habit of splurging for unnecessary items whereas Frenchwomen make a habit of purchasing maybe 10 indispensable clothing items eachyear. French designer Anne Fontaine, known for her white shirts, once toldForbes magazine that "besides a beautiful blouse, every woman should havea great pair of jeans, black pants, a perfect skirt, a perfect little blackdress and a jacket for each season."美国妇女习惯是挥霍很多钱在不需要的衣饰上,而法国妇女的习惯是每年买上大约10件的必备服装音品。因其白衬衫而著名的法国设计师安妮·芳婷曾告诉福布斯杂志说,除了一件漂亮的衬衫,每个女人还需要有一条很棒的牛仔裤,黑色的裤子,一条漂亮裙子,一件完美的小礼服,还有一件四季皆宜的夹克衫。
Good people arehard to find and your employees really do make a difference, so spend extratime evaluating an applicant before you hire, and create a procedure to quicklyidentify if they will succeed in their position. If not, let them go as quicklyas possible. Unproductive employees will drain you of time, resources and muchneeded money.好员工很难找到,而且员工确实能对企业产生实质的不同影响。所以单独花些时间来评估一个你要雇佣的人,并且创建一个流程以快速地侦别他们是否能胜任其岗位。如果不行,就让他们尽快离开。不具生产力的员工将会拖累你的时间、资源和花销。
Once you hire agood one, you’ll truly know the value of a great employee, and nothing canquite match that. They make all the other pains and hassles seem much smaller too, often timesmaking them disappear altogether. And the best part, you’re able to delegateand assign responsibility, which allows you to focus on the big picture, whichI believe is the best part.一旦你雇到好员工,你将真正明白好员工的价值,且这种价值千金难买。好员工会让其他问题或麻烦变小,甚至时常让问题或麻烦统统消失。而最好的是,你可以委任、分配任务,这让你可以专注于大方向,对我而言,这是最大的好处。
Answer by KenLarson, recipient of SCORE National Achievement Award in Small BusinessCounseling
Starting myenterprise was a logical extension of the work I had been doing as anindividual contractor, so the transition seemed easy enough.
What I had to learnvery quickly was the business planning, marketing and competitive analysisaspects of operating an enterprise, as opposed to negotiating single personefforts. Industry teaming, having others work for me and dealing as a companyinstead of a person were all challenges.
It took roughly twoyears to adjust, develop a client base as a company, and progress toprofitability.
This questionoriginally appeared on Quora: What are the best and worst parts of startingyour own business?肯·拉森,SCORE的小企业咨询全国成就奖得主,他的回答是:开创我的企业是一个情理之内的事,因为我之前就是一个独立的承包商,所以这个转型看起来很容易。我必须要快速学会的是运营企业所需的策划生意、营销、竞争力分析,而非讨论个人能力的问题。行业合作、让他人为我工作、让公司团结一体而非个行其道,这些都很具挑战性。我大概花了两年时间作为公司来适应、开发一个客户群,并且走上盈利之路。这个回答最初出现在Quora:自己开公司的最好或最坏的方面。
Apple's iPhone is golden in China
金色iphone抢滩中国
The dumbest columnI ever wrote was the one that suggested that if Apple wanted to sell a lot ofiPhones in China it should stick with silver.我写过最蠢的一篇专栏就是,我曾建议苹果公司如果他们想在中国卖出大量iphone的话,就该推出银色系的机身。
This was just abouta year ago. Rumors were flying that Apple was about to launch a champagne-goldiPhone because gold was such a prestigious color in China. I went looking formarket research on national color preferences, and the closest thing I could findwas a Dupont chart that showed that the best-selling automobile color in Chinawas silver, not gold.这大概在一年前。当时有传言称苹果将推出香槟黄色机身,因为金黄色在中国是极尊贵的颜色。我去看了关于各国人对颜色偏好的市场调研,还找到杜邦公司的一个图表,上面显示在中国,卖得最好的汽车是白色,而不是金色。
Cars, it turns out,are not the same as phones.但最后证明,汽车跟手机不是一回事。
The gold iPhone 5Swas a huge hit in China. It sold out immediately in Hong Kong and the mainland.Customers in New York City buying for export lined up around the block. GoldiPhones were soon commanding mark-ups of several hundred dollar apiece inChina’s grey markets.金色的iphone 5s在中国大获成功。在香港和大陆很快一售而空。在纽约,消费者为买到可出口的机子在街上排出长队。土豪金的iphone很快在中国的黑市被加价了几百美元出售。
Apple, it seems,knew what it was doing. In December it finally cut a distribution deal with China Mobile, theworld’s largest carrier.In February, China Mobile announced that iPhones accounted for more than half of the phones on itsbrand new 4G network. By last week, that network had grown to more than 14million subscribers.苹果,似乎很胸有成竹。12月时,它终于与中国移动—世界最大的运营商达成了分销协议。2月时,中国移动宣布,使用其全新的4G网张的手机中。一半以上的手机是iphone。截止上周,中国移动的4G网络已经有1400万用户。
“China, honestlywas surprising to us,” Tim Cook told analysts last week. “We thought it wouldbe strong but it went well past what we thought. We came in at 26% of revenuegrowth, including retail and if you look at the units, the unit growth wasreally off the chartsacross the board. Ifound 48% growth that compares to a market estimate of 24%. So growing it twotimes the market.”库克在上周时对分析家称“说实话,中国着实让我们吃惊。我们设想过会会卖得不错,但销售情况远比我们想的要更好。我们获得了26%的收入增长,包括零售。如果你看销售的产品数量计,简直可谓全面飙升,营收增长是48%,而非预期的24%。所以说实际增速是市场预期的两倍”
“Whoever proposedthe champagne gold model can’t be rewarded enough for the cascading benefitsApple has enjoyed from it,” writes an American ex-pat who posts here asJake_in_Seoul.提议出制作香槟色iphone的员工应该获得重奖,因为苹果公司因此获巨额利润。这是一名署名“杰克在首尔”的身在国外的美国网民写道的。
Jake, as regularshere know, is a keen observer of the Asian smartphone market. In January were-posted a letter he wrote from China that adds some color (pardon the pun) tothe Chinese iPhone story:关注此专栏的常客都知道,杰克对亚洲的手机市场观察很敏锐。2月份时,我们将他以前从中国写来的一封信重新刊登,令iphone在中国的故事更为生动起来:
“iPhones here arenot predominant, but are readily seen, certainly in the hands of wealthy andpowerful, (e.g., a local real estate tycoon), but also surprisingly owned bythe likes of hotel clerks and a remarkable noodle shop girl. Ownership seems tobe a state of mind.
Iphone在中国市场并不占主要支配地位,但也常能看到,在权贵手中当然常能见,比如当地的房地产商,但令人惊奇的是,像饭店职员甚至面馆小妹,也常手拿着iphone,拥有与否,似乎取决于心态。
“I was amused in acasual conversation to hear Samsung (known in China by its Chinese/Koreancharacter name San Xing Sanxing = “Three Stars”) referred to as a “Chinesephone”… I suspect this misunderstanding may not be uncommon and hence highly aggravating to Samsung.一次我听到一个闲聊,说韩国三星手机是一个中国牌子,这太搞笑了。我怀疑这种误解可不少,三星公司一定为此头痛。
“The iPhone, bycontrast, is now called ‘iPhone’ (using roman letters) in every press articleI’ve seen recently, and a Chinese character equivalent Ai Feng (Aifeng = ‘LoveCrazed’) is increasingly used only as slang in advertising, on Weibo, in blogsetc. The brand maintains its pristineforeign identity.相比之下,iphone 还是被叫做iphone,我看到的也都是其正确的拼写方式。在中国,也会叫成爱疯,更多的是作为俚语用于广告、微博和博客中。这个品牌保持着其本来的外国身份。
“The fact that anawareness of Apple and the iPhone has so quickly and widely penetrated Chinesesociety is a remarkable achievement, one likely due to the perceived excellenceof Apple technology and also to good timing, as cell phone culture comes of agehere. As long as Apple continues to produce cool products, it will surely gainadherents in China as more and more people can afford them.”对苹果公司和iphone的认知度如此快速、大面积地渗透到中国的社会,这是个了不起的成就。这归结于人们认为苹果公司的技术卓越,并且其时机很好,因为手机文化在中国发展到了一定阶段。只要苹果公司继续生产酷炫的产品,随着越来越多人可以买的起,它就将在中国拥有更多的消费者。
Europe is finally showing interest in playing hardball with Vladimir Putin.欧盟终于显示出要对普京采取强硬态度的意向了。
According to a report from Reuters, leaders from the EuropeanUnion met Tuesday to discuss steppingup sanctions against Russia in retaliation for Putin’s support of rebelgroups in eastern Ukraine and for his refusal to fully cooperate with aninternational investigation into the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight17 last week.据英国路透社报道,欧盟领导人于周二时会晤,讨论对俄的制裁,因为普京支持东乌克兰的判军,并且他拒绝了全面配合对马航17飞机的被击落事件的国际调查。
While E.U. leaders did agree to widen the list of individualsand companies that would face sanctions, they could not come to agreement on abroader set of sanctions, like blocking Russian access to European capitalmarkets and technology. In addition, France has so far refused to renege on a $1.62 billiondeal to build and deliver warships to Russia, defying British and Americanwishes.虽然欧盟领导人同意了扩大对个人和公司的制裁名单,但在扩大制裁范围,比如禁止俄国人进入欧洲的资本市场或获得欧盟技术方面,汤未达成共识。此外,法国至今仍拒绝取消为俄建造、运送武器的16.2亿美元的合约,这与英美两国的意愿相左。
But it’s not entirely surprising that the E.U. has failed tostep up to the plate with tougher sanctions. Unlike the United States, theEuropean Union has deep economic ties to Russia, and taking steps to blockRussian access to capital markets could have destabilizing effects on the European economy,which is itself still muddlingthrough a banking crisis that has left the bloc with slow growth andhigh unemployment.不过欧盟未能对俄采取更强硬措施,也并不令人惊奇。不同于美国,欧盟与俄国有很深的经济联系,禁止俄国进入其资本市场会对欧盟经济造成失稳后果。而欧盟本身正陷于银行危机中,整体发展缓慢,失业率高企。
AsCarl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a note toclients Tuesday morning:高频经济的首席经济学家,卡尔·温伯格在本周二给客户的报道中写道:
“IfRussia has already been excluded from global capital markets, and if imports ofenergy-related capital goods and all defense-related transactions have been scratched, Russia losesnothing incrementalfrom walking away fromservicing its $720 billion worth of foreign debt. Most of those bonds are held by WesternEuropean banks and investment funds. Russia could induce pain well beyond what it is experiencingfrom these sanctions by simply withholding debt service payments for 120 days,after which most institutions would have to write down the loans.”如果俄国被从国际资本市场中排除出去,而且俄国如果不再有能源相关的资本产品的进口,以及国防相关的交易,俄国只要不去偿还其价值7200万美元的外债,并不会有其它损失。这些债券大多由西欧的银行和投资机构所有。俄罗斯只要暂缓偿付这些债务120天,就可以将自己经受的制裁之痛百倍偿付给对手,因为这种情况下,大多的被借机构只能减记其债务。
WithEuropean banks already in bad shape, and the E.U. economy just barely growing as it is,it’s no surprise that European leaders are having a hard time declaring full-oneconomic warfare against Russia, even if they are fed up with Putin’s behavior.欧洲的银行现在状况很坏,欧盟的经济增长几乎停滞,无怪欧洲的领导人在发动对俄的经济战争时难下决心,即使他们已经受够了普京的行为。
6 things French women can teach us aboutaging gracefully法国女性优雅老去的6个秘诀
Before moving tothe New York City area, I lived in London for seven years. During that period,I traveled more than two dozen times to France, a place where five- or six-weekvacations are the norm and many people retire comfortably at 60 or younger. I mademany wonderful French friends and was more than a little awed at the way theyaged so gracefully.在搬到纽约前,我在伦敦住了7年。那段时间,我大概去了法国有20多次,在法国一年有5到6周的假期这很正常,而且很多人在60岁或更早就舒服地退休了。我交了很多很棒的法国朋友,我对她们优雅老去的方式非常惊叹。
Are they perfect?Of course not. But certainly I admired how so many of them stayed trim whileenjoying coq au vin, baguettes, andouillettes, eclairs and fondue whileAmericans struggled with their weight while gorging on diet soda and LeanCuisines. I also admired the way they purchased clothes selectively, carriedthemselves confidently and devoured life every chance they got.法国人完美吗?当然不。但我很欣赏很多法国人一边享受着鸡尾酒,法国面包,手指饼和芝士,一边保持着苗条的身材,而美国人却挣扎于减肥,暴饮着无糖饮料和瘦身餐。我也很欣赏法国人自信地挑选服装、尽情享受人生的样子。
After speaking witha few of these friends, I've come up with a list of six things the French canteach us about aging well. Do you agree? Let us know in comments. And if thereare things the Americans can teach THEM about aging, we'd like to hear aboutthat as well.在与几个这样的朋友交谈后,我得出了一个清单,法国女性可以教给我们优雅老去的6种方式。你同意吗?通过评论让我们知道你的意见吧。有没有美国人可以教法国人的老去的法子,我们也很想听一下。
1) That women of allages can be the sensual love interests -- and not just the matronlygrandmothers -- in popular movies.Just consider Catherine Deneuve, 69, orIsabelle Huppert, 60, or Juliette Binoche, 49. These and other older Frenchactresses such as Nathalie Baye, 65, and Sandrine Bonnaire, 46, continue to nabmeaty roles. In an American movie industry dominated more by the teeny-bopperset, it's hard to even name an older sex symbol other than, perhaps, RaquelWelch who's still, at 72, pretty darn sexy.1、每个年龄段的女人都可以是性感可爱的,而不仅仅是流行电影中风韵犹存的老奶奶。想想69岁的凯瑟琳·德那弗,60岁的伊莎贝尔·于佩尔,或是朱丽叶·比诺什,49岁。这些或是其他更老的法国女影星,比如65岁的娜塔莉·贝叶,桑德兰,46岁,依然担任着女主演。而在美国的电影产业中,主流多是新潮少年男女,可能除了72岁但仍性感十足的拉奎尔·韦尔奇,很难再找出一个老一些的性感演员。
2) That less is best when it comes to makeup -- but thatdoesn't mean you should skimp on skincare.2、化妆遵循少即是多原则,但这可不代表要节省护肤品。
Studies show that French women spend more on facialskincare products than their neighbors in Italy, Spain, Germany or the UK.Overall, nearly two-thirds of French women -- or 62 percent -- use anti-wrinkleproducts. (In France, a girl will begin applying anti-aging creams as early asage 15.) It's a different story when it comes to makeup. Wearing too much,according to French women, makes you look old.研究表明法国女性要比意大利、西班牙、德国或者英国的女性在面部护理产品上花费更多。总体而言,约有2/3(或者说是62%)的法国女人,使用抗皱产品。在法国,年轻女孩甚至有在15岁时就使用抗老化的面霜。但化妆是另一码事。在法国女人看来,化妆过浓,会让你看起来显老。
3) That sex should continue to be important.
Studies show that 90 percent of French women over the ageof 50 remain sexually active compared with only 60 percent of American women.But research points to a great interest in sex among those over 50 -- so whynot keep it going? 3、性生活依然很重要
研究表明,90%的法国女人在过了50岁后依然维持着性活跃,相较而言,美国妇女这个比例是60%。但是研究还指出一个有趣的话题,这些超过50岁的女性为何不将性生活保持下去?
4) That having just a handful of clothing items that fitperfectly is a lot better than having a whole closet full of items that aren'tall that great.拥有少量但非常合适自己的衣服,这要比衣服很多但不合适要好得多。American women have a habit of splurging for unnecessary items whereas Frenchwomen make a habit of purchasing maybe 10 indispensable clothing items eachyear. French designer Anne Fontaine, known for her white shirts, once toldForbes magazine that "besides a beautiful blouse, every woman should havea great pair of jeans, black pants, a perfect skirt, a perfect little blackdress and a jacket for each season."美国妇女习惯是挥霍很多钱在不需要的衣饰上,而法国妇女的习惯是每年买上大约10件的必备服装音品。因其白衬衫而著名的法国设计师安妮·芳婷曾告诉福布斯杂志说,除了一件漂亮的衬衫,每个女人还需要有一条很棒的牛仔裤,黑色的裤子,一条漂亮裙子,一件完美的小礼服,还有一件四季皆宜的夹克衫。