Years ago we read about a psychologist discussing how almost all suicides off the Golden Gate Bridge jumped off the side facing San Francisco. The psychologist was pondering what the suicides were trying to say and whom they were relating to. Someone in the audience ruined this bout of deep thinking by asking a simple question: "Which side of the Golden Gate Bridge is the sidewalk on?"
In related news, almost no one believed for a minute former hedge fund manager Samuel Israel killed himself by jumping off the Bear Mountain bridge. It's just not a suicidal place. Now that his body has failed to wash up, authorities are certain that he faked his suicide and went on the lam. He's not, of course, the first hedge fund manager to make a run for it. There have been at least three others, including one who eluded authorities for five years.
Hedge fund managers who escaped U.S. police [Reuters]
Posted by NotNasser , Jun 17, 2008 9:30AM
He didn't "go on the lamb," even if it's kosher. He went on the "lam," i.e. ran away.
It's an intriguing word, by the way. In Elizabethan times, it mean "to fight" or "beat" an opponent. When you criticize someone harshly, you're giving them a "lambasting," the first syllable of which is a remnant of this old meaning.
To "lam" someone in the old sense may make that person lame.
Lots of words that start off as "fight" words also acquire "flight" significance. It I can't "beat" an opponent, I might "beat it out of here." If I can't hit an adversary, I might hit the road. Likewise, "lam" came to mean, "to escape."
After saddling up the lamb? Probably not.
Posted by guest , Jun 17, 2008 9:40AM
if the nachos are all stuck together, it counts as only one nacho
Posted by guest , Jun 17, 2008 9:43AM
Thanks to NotNasser for beating me to the punch regarding the typo of "on the lam." Also loved the etymological expose.
"Saddling up the lamb" will likely acquire a certain amusing significance if/when Israel is caught and he's consigned to a higher-security prison than the Camp Fed he was previously scheduled to attend.
Posted by guest , Jun 17, 2008 9:47AM
Any place thats erves a pile of chips covered in cheese and peppers and chili or whatever is not serving "nachos". True nachos are single chips with a single bit of cheese and a single slice of jalapeno. Bon vivants can add chicken or beef to their nachos if they like but that's like adding a bit of blue oil paint to your Matisse.
Posted by Anal_yst , Jun 17, 2008 9:49AM
Anyone remember the guys down in Ft Lauderdale somewhere around spring 2002, think the name David Kim was his name, peaced out with somewhere in the $300m range and as far as I know have still yet to be found.
Love that employees showed up for work one day only to find the FBI had torn the place up and they were locked out.
Posted by guest , Jun 17, 2008 9:51AM
@ 9:47 what part of it being one nacho didnt you understand
Posted by guest , Jun 17, 2008 9:54AM
@9:51....Dammit Erin, I was agreeing with you.
~Moz
Posted by guest , Jun 17, 2008 9:55AM
Samuel "Mint Jelly" Isreal
Posted by guest , Jun 17, 2008 9:57AM
NotNasser that was one of the most randomly and impressively boring comments I have read around here in a while. I'll bet you could get assigned as special proxy access correspondent.
Posted by NotNasser , Jun 17, 2008 10:16AM
9:57.
Thanks. I try.
I see they've deleted the "b" from "lamb" in the original entry, though. That isn't fair. Once they make an amusing typo and someone does a comment on it, the typo should stay.
Posted by guest , Jun 17, 2008 10:25AM
There are sidewalks on both sides of the GG Bridge. It's just easier to get to the one that faces SF...
Israel + Bear Mountain + CSX freight train.
Posted by John Carney , Jun 17, 2008 10:48AM
In re: Lamb vs. Lam
It was a great comment. I'm sorry we had to change it.
@ 10:25: That's good to know. Thanks! Question: if that side really is encouraging suicide, shouldn't they close it?
Posted by guest , Jun 17, 2008 1:58PM
LMAO @ "special proxy access correspondent."
Posted by guest , Jun 17, 2008 6:07PM
@10:48 - That side isn't "encouraging suicide"—by "easier to get to" he means that there is more convenient parking at either end on that side. The guard rails are the same on both sides, as can be seen in this picture (SF side on left): http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Golden_Gate_Bridge_Front_Traffic.jpeg
Posted by sellsidesucks , Jun 29, 2008 2:36PM
Interesting that none of the comments addressed what is really the core of the matter -- that Israel is a thieving piece of shit and should be fucked in the shower every day once he is caught.
Posted by guest , Jul 03, 2008 6:02PM
Clown City - two fools
The Houston-based fund will trade oil, natural gas and electricity as well as contracts such as weather derivatives, coal and emissions credits, according to the fund's marketing documents. Metz, who started the fund with John James, declined to comment.
``Some of these markets are not yet big enough to justify the rapid growth of hedge funds specializing in them,'' said Bernd Kreuter, head of hedge funds and private equity at Feri Institutional Advisors GmbH, based in Bad Homburg, Germany.
Posted by guest , Jul 03, 2008 6:03PM
Clown City - two fools
The Houston-based fund will trade oil, natural gas and electricity as well as contracts such as weather derivatives, coal and emissions credits, according to the fund's marketing documents. Metz, who started the fund with John James, declined to comment.
``Some of these markets are not yet big enough to justify the rapid growth of hedge funds specializing in them,'' said Bernd Kreuter, head of hedge funds and private equity at Feri Institutional Advisors GmbH, based in Bad Homburg, Germany.
Posted by guest , Jul 03, 2008 6:04PM
Who the f* are these people?