qui tacet consentire videtur

I am considering whether or not I can attend this without too much cost:

On behalf of the Global Forum for Health Research and The Lancet, we are pleased to confirm that your essay entitled The fever at the bottom of the pyramid: Towards private sector and market-oriented solutions for the 10/90 gap was chosen as one of 40 shortlisted by the organizers from almost 300 entries from 60 countries. Your essay will now be published in an anthology to be launched at the Global Forum’s 2007 meeting in Beijing on 29 October. As you know, the winners of the competition have been invited to Beijing for their prize, all expenses paid. Should you be able to find funding to allow you to join us in Beijing, we would be happy to waive the participation fee and to involve you in the celebration of ‘Young Voices’. Do let us know. Please accept our congratulations on this success and our very best wishes for your future.

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War of Money / 쩐의전쟁 (Summer 2007)
From Chosun Ilbo:

The male and female leads of a hit Korean drama about the illegal loan sharking industry were appointed public relations envoys for the Finance Ministry on Wednesday. For one year Park Shin-yang and Park Jin-hee of “War of Money” will promote the ministry’s “micro-credit” system which offers low-interest loans to people with bad credit. The government in February will use dormant deposits to establish a W200 billion fund to finance the micro-credit program.

I absolutely adore the SBS k-drama War of Money and I think it is so awesome that the stars of the drama have been co-opted by the Korean finance ministry to promote their microcredit program, which no doubt needs a lot of help, although I think they should pursue a more commercial approach. Also, given the number of SK dramas imported to the north through China, the stars might well be supporting much-needed microfinance/small-business education in NK and paving the way for economic reform and development efforts in the north.

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