Rafa Time

Who plays championship tennis with a watch on their wrist? Rafa Nadal. That's who. World's #2. Check out the French Open for the next fortnight. You'll see a rather nondescript black watch on Rafa's right wrist amidst several other bands. But that's just not any watch, retail it allegedly sells for $500k.

The watch is a Tourbillon RM 027 made in France especially for Rafa. Only 50 will be made. Rafa's Uncle/Coach Tony has one too. It must have been a two for oner deal. It weighs about 4 grams which is about $125k /gram. One gram is equal to 4teaspoons. Light on the wrist but heavy on the wallet.

I don't know about you but this is pretty sick from several viewpoints.

#1. I didn't know that was such a thing as a $500k watch or, more importantly, a market for such lunacy. Silly me.

#2. I thought Rafa was one of the good guys in sports not caught up in the phony jet set world. I was wrong. Conspicuous consumption rules again. Also, check out Rafa's steamy video on YouTube with a seductive caressing Shakira.

#3. Who needs a watch like that for any reason particularly while playing tennis? Does Rafa want to see how long it takes him to serve? And, who are the other 48 idiots who will fork over half a mil for a watch?

#4. Last time I checked, Rafa's home country Spain, is next in line for the EU intensive care unit. Spain has 20% unemployment, second highest in the developed world (South Africa #1), banks failures and skyrocketing debt ratios. I wonder what those out of work Spaniards think of Rafa's half-million dollar timepiece. Heh, Rafa, spare a euro? No, but the time is...

#5. This looks like a public relations disaster for Rafa. Who's his agent, Donald Trump? IMG, figures.

#6. The watch is butt ugly and it's French made. Would you buy anything for $500k or a lot less that is French made and has moving parts? Remember Citroen, now that was a beaut!

#7. Lastly what message are you sending to the world, Rafa, by wearing this extravagance on center court for all to see and for the media to gush over? In my court of public opinion, you have lost me. Disappointment strikes again.

So there you go sports fans another hero surrendering to the material world. Is there any top star out there in the professional sports world who's authentic and humble? Did someone say Steve Stricker?

Two Towns Too Tough to Die

Tombstone and New Orleans. They are about as similar as Obama and Gingrich. Two towns dissimilar in most aspects...except one. These towns have faced countless challenges over the years and they are simply too tough to die.

Tombstone, Arizona, known mostly for the 19th Century Gunfight at the OK Corral and for the slogan, "The Town to Tough to Die." It's very existence today defies logic.

I worked on a golf course project in Tombstone before 9/11. Golf in Tombstone, you may ask? I must say, it was a headscratcher for me at the time but I've been in odder golf-site locations. Like Bombay, India for one. However, that's another blog.

Tombstone is a jerkwater desert town in SE Arizona. It is a ruggedly windswept landscape yet spirit-invoking almost forgotten Western town. Picture sage brush blowing across a dirt road in the middle of a John Ford movie set...that is Tombstone today. The craggy faced impenetrable Dragoon Mountains, which was safe haven for Apache Chief Cochise and his 1000 warriors, is the dominant feature in the expansive high desert. The Dragoons protected the Apache from the intransigent Union Army. Cochise, the hunter and the hunted, killed many but lost more. Tombstone the home of infinity views, dreamy clouds, warm winds, fiery sunsets and Boot Hill.

There's something in the air in Tombstone...other than desert dust. With its history of old western lawlessness and violence, Tombstone has a certain funereal eeriness about it. A bloody history grips Tombstone. You can feel it. It's palpable everywhere. But in some perverse way, that air of death, ghosts and spirits are what make Tombstone unique today.

Today's Tombstone is a tourist mecca for those who relish the old West. Oddly, most of the visitors of Tombstone are Europeans who romanticize the American West. The mystique and the daily theatrical reenactment of old western justice and gunfights are what keeps Tombstone alive and kicking. So as the history of death preserves the life of Tombstone today, the history of manmade and natural disasters which regularly visits New Orleans tests and emboldens "The City that Care Forgot". New Orleans is another town that is too tough to die.

I have visited New Orleans a few times as a tourist and I have always enjoyed my time there. The people. The Quarter. The St. Charles Trolley. The Final Four. The architecture. The jazz. The food. The funerals. The bodies of water. And the rain. Talk about rain. New Orleans gets 65 inches a year and that's just an average. I was there once, it rained 5" in 2 hours and the water was rushing into the store from the street. One hour later it was blazing sunny and 90% humidity. Business as usual. Oh, by the way, 50% of New Orleans is below sea level. That doesn't help your wood floors when it pours with hurricane forces.

In recent memory, is there a US city that has had more biblical sized adversities thrust upon it than New Orleans? Manmade disasters such as the ongoing BP oil spill in the Gulf. And, on the natural disaster side, who can forget the devastating Hurricane Katrina five years ago (but let us not forget some of the others Gustav, Rita and Ike, etc). On a lesser more humanly imperfect disasters are the chronically corrupt New Orleans city governments and the exploits of the feckless ex-Mayor, Ray Nagin.

We all know about Katrina and its impact. Unimaginable human suffering. However, the current BP oil leak disaster has been out of control for a month and has caused oil to lap up into the delicate coastal wetlands around New Orleans. Hamstrung BP has been unable to stop the wild flow of oil from the undersea well. Our bumbling government hasn't helped the situation. The estimated 250,000gallons of oil/day keeps expanding it's boundaryless black goo. To date over 6million gallons of oil are floating in the Gulf and migrating to who knows where...unabated. Damages to the wetlands, beaches, fish, ecosystems and businesses of that region are immeasurable. BP says they will pay for all damages...that is, if they survive this event. Meanwhile down on Bourbon Street, the hurricanes (the drink) are lapping up into the sozzled patron's mouths. As bad as this spill is and it is god-awful, life goes on in the "Big Easy."

In the political arena, the state of Louisiana and the City of New Orleans have the dubious distinction of being in the running with the state of Illinois and City of Chicago as the most politically crooked areas of the country. All-pro crooks from Louisiana include ex-Governors Huey Long, Earl Long, Edwin Edwards versus the all-pro crooks from Illinois include ex-Governors George Ryan, Dan Walker, Otto Kerner and that hapless bumbler, Rod Blagojevich. It's a toss-up as to which state has the worst crooks. As Earl Long once said about Louisiana voters, "they don't want good government, they want good entertainment." At least he was "transparent." And the hurricanes keep flowing on Rampart Street.

The greatest testament to the success of a city comes from its own citizens and of the loyalty they demonstrate. Amidst all of New Orleans in-bred issues: below sea level, torrential storms, in seasonal hurricane crosshairs, louche political leaders and now an unspeakable manmade disaster, the majority of the tough as nails citizens of New Orleans desire to stay and not leave it's city. New Orleans survives and refuses to die because of the resolve and resiliency of its own people. They are like Timex watches, they "take a beating and keep on ticking."

And why do they stay? As Nawlins native, Louis Armstrong gargled, "...way down yonder in New Orleans/in the land of dreamy scenes/there's a garden of Eden you know what I mean." Cool chops, Satchmo!

Kobe and Shaq

Kobe and Shaq. You know you're bigger than life when you are known universally by one name. Last names, Bryant and O'Neal, respectively, seems to diminish the brand.

For the past 14 years in Kobe's case and 18 years in Shaq's case, those two singular names have dominated the NBA like no others. At one time, they played on the same team, the Los Angeles Lakers. They won three straight NBA championships together from 2000-'02. However, it was an uneasy alliance. Simply, the court was too small for two one-namers.

Kobe and Shaq fought each other behind the scenes and in the media. Shaq left LA in 2004 for Miami. Kobe signed a big contract extension and remained in LA. Shaq on his way out of LA was quoted, "Kobe can't win without me." Coach Phil Jackson, the guru, also piled on Kobe and called him "uncoachable" in his tell-all book. Phil followed Shaq out the door. Kobe, shaken but still standing, persevered...alone. Now it was his team for better or for worse.

Shaq with a heavy assist from D Wade won his fourth ring with the Heat. While Kobe languished in LA without Shaq. Shaq proved his point kindof...but stuff happens. Shaq got older and fatter fast. Phil Jackson returned to the Lakers as the coach in 2005. Pau Gasol, a nimble 7' ambidextrous Spanish import, was traded to the Lakers in 2008. And, most importantly, Kobe exorcised some closet demons and became a full time demon on the court to all comers.

In 2008-9 season, Kobe and Pau and Phil and company won another banner for the rafters in Staples Pavilion dismissing the Kobe labels of "can't win without me" and "uncoachable." #4 for Kobe. #10 for Phil. #16 for the Lakers.

This year, Kobe, the Lakers and Phil look poised to win another one. While Shaq, now the oldest player in the NBA, fades quietly into probable retirement after almost two decades and his fifth team, the favored Cleveland Cavaliers, who were dispatched in the playoffs by the rejuvenated Boston Celtics, Kobe is hitting his primetime stride.

Kobe in the current NBA playoffs is simply money. He creates shots on the court for himself that others can only dream about. He is a cold-blooded assassin with the basketball in his hands. The similarity with another bball virtuoso, Michael Jordan, is unmistakeable. With the game on the line...when his team needs him the most, Kobe is at his best. He wants the ball and delivers the goods. He is by far the most electrifying professional athlete I have ever seen besides MJ. As Kobe's stage light becomes more intense during the playoffs, Shaq's light is all but out.

Shaq's recent sudden departure from the grand hardcourts of the NBA was a back story to his teammate Lebron's, another one name wonder, melodrama of "where am I going to play next year." If that was Shaq's last seaon, he deserved better. He may not have been the equal to Chamberlain, Duncan, Olajuwon, Jabbar, Russell, but he was a dominant force in the paint for years. He was a decent man. A gentle giant. Fun. Funny. Lebron's antics may have upstaged Shaq at the end but no one will ever forget Shaq.

So big fella whatever you do, whether it be more rappin' or policin' or actin' or pimpin' products, know this, you will be missed in uniform.

As for, Kobe...take it to the hole with force and get one step closer to MJ immortality.

I love LA.

Honest Hank

"You are who you hang with." An old axiom it is, though grammatically incorrect, brims with the truth.

Hank Haney, Tiger Woods swing coach for the last 6 years, realized that he was hanging with the wrong crowd. He looked in the mirror and asked himself, what am I doing with this crowd? On this past Monday, Hank resigned from the weird world of Tiger, as quoted in the media, "I have informed Tiger Woods that I will no longer be his coach."

Hank like most of us golfers adored Tiger, that is, before Thanksgiving of 2009. After the Elin late evening clubbing of Tiger's face in the front yard and the revelations that followed, lots of us left the Tiger fold.

I suspect Hank felt betrayed by Tiger's life as a lie. You see, Hank is a decent man. Quiet, unassuming, humble, principled, regular, faithful. Everything Tiger isn't. Hank felt the rub.

Sure, there will be those who said Tiger fired Hank because he lost his swing. Put the blame on Hank for I am Tiger. But for whatever reason is spouted in the press or by Tiger himself regarding Hank's exit, Hank left on his own terms with his head up and dignity in check.

Frankly, I think Hank is relieved. He is free from this burden called Tiger Woods. He is free from all the enablers, sycophants, whores, agents, phonies and chaos that surround Tiger. Most importantly, he is free from Tiger.

At the end of the day, Hank wins. In fact, now that he is free to help others with their golf swing, he'll have more fun, less tension and make more money. Make more money? Yes. Tiger is not only a demanding control freak but a tight one as well!

A Dubious Legacy

{If the short form is desirable for the time-challenged, skip the indented text in the brackets.}

"Fannie and Freddie Bailouts Cost Taxpayers $7 BILLION per Month." Not a New York Times headline but a front page story in a recent business publication. Strange isn't it that a nationally prominent newspaper that proudly proclaims daily on its masthead, the slogan "All the News That's Fit to Print" would not think this is a mega-troubling story that is worthy of notice and closer scrutiny. Oops, I take that back, Paul Krugman of the NY Times reported blithely the following in 2008: "The storm over these particular lenders is overblown. Fannie and Freddie probably will need a government rescue." Drinks on the house. Go figure.

While our government continually attacks the Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanleys of Wall Street for their alleged financial malfeasance, two government sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, aka "gov's darlings" continue unabatedly to bleed money...billions of dollars per month of our money. While the government pursues the private purse snatchers they turn a deaf ear and blind eye to public bank robbers. Sadly, our government seems more hellbent on dishing out "bully pulpit justice" against the private sector while giving a "pass" to the public sector. Go figure.

In the past two weeks, Fannie Mae reported a $16 BILLION 1Q loss for 2010 and Freddie Mac asked the Treasury for another $11 BILLION. Between these two mind-numbing losers, they have received over $150 BILLION of our dollars to carry on their dubious legacy of being the "Greece amongst us", since 2008. In December, the Treasury announced that is was not imposing the $400BILLION loss cap on Tweedledee and Tweedledum creating a no limits on liability. In fact, our government is so tone-deaf and myopic when it comes to addressing Fannie and Freddie's continuing meltdown, that restructuring or abandonment of the two are not included in the government's financial "reform" bill. Go figure.

{Incidentally, for those of you keeping score, the largest government bailouts since 2008 are: TARP $700B of which $550B has been committed; AIG $70B; General Motors $51B; Chrysler $13B; GMAC $17B. Of the TARP Funds disbursed to the major Wall Street firms and banks all have paid back their government loans plus interest equally about $187B, including: Goldman Sachs, BOA, JPM, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, PNC, US Bankcorp and Capital One to name a few. The largest beneficiaries of the government's largess and our pocketbooks are the two sickly darlings Fannie and Freddie. To date Fannie Mae is into our wallets to the tune of $84BILLION ranking #1 in the dubious rankings of King of Alltime Slacker. Coming in at #3 is it's lame counterpart Freddie Mac $62BILLION.}

So what's in that reform bill that Senator Dodd, he of the "FOA" payouts, is crafting? I suspect more governmental assaults and controls on the private sector and scant attention to the daily blood suckers known as Fannie and Freddie.

This case is just another example of our government not governing. As a wise sage once said of our democracy: "...designed by geniuses so that it can be run by idiots." The continuing nightmare of Fannie and Freddie is case in point.

The Smartest Kid in the Classroom

Don't let that "dumb"founded look of Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs, fool you. Testifying in front of a testy Congress would make Einstein look below average. Blankfein looks a bit like "Dopey" of Snow White and Seven Dwarfs lore. Smiles less these days than Dopey. He acknowledged that his face is not made for television or Congressional hearings. But forget about how he looks in front of the red light. Underneath all the recent media glare, Blankfein is the smartest man in whatever room he is in...and doesn't act like it. In fact, being the smartest is how he ascended from nothing to the top of the Wall Street heap at Goldman.

Throughout Goldman's 141 year old history of investment banking, brilliant creative minds have run the most successful company on Wall Street. Marcus Goldman, Sidney Weinberg, Gus Levy, John Weinberg, John Whitehead, Robert Rubin, Stephen Friedman and Hank Paulson all Goldman past CEO's...and all brilliant businessmen. Blankfein, no slouch himself, sits comfortably in tall cotton amidst that legacy.

Blankfein started humbly. He was raised in public housing in the Bronx. Father was a postal clerk. Mother was a receptionist. But native smarts has no limitations. And work was his lifestyle. He was valedictorian at his high school. After school, he sold sodas at Yankee Stadium. He was the first in his family to go to college. Harvard on scholarship. Then on to Harvard Law School. Started his career as a corporate tax lawyer in 1978. Decided that "lawyering" was not his thing. Found his way to Wall Street via J. Aron Company, a little known commodities trading firm. Aron Co. needed a lawyer to unravel the complexities of deals and then explain the deal in concise and understandable terms to clients. Blankfein was their man. In 1981, Goldman buys Aron Co. and Blankfein becomes a Goldman employee. In 1988, Blankfein makes partner. In 1998, Blankfein, while running one of the most profitable businesses at Goldman, the fixed income and commodities floor, is tapped by Paulson to be his co-president (much to the chagrin of John Thain who leaves Goldman in a huff and hiss). In 2006, Paulson leaves Goldman for Treasury and Blankfein becomes CEO.

In 2007, Goldman records a profit of $11.6 BILLION on revenues of $45.99 BILLION. In 2008, the credit and housing markets crashed. Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy, the largest ever in the United States ($639 BILLION in assets). Goldman Sachs along with the other Wall Street investment houses are reeling and hemorrhaging cash by the hour. Goldman is saved from ruin partially from a $5 BILLION preferred stock/10% dividend purchase by Warren Buffett and a $10 BILLION TARP LOAN. In desperation, Goldman and rival Morgan Stanley declared their business model deceased and became bank holding companies overnight. In mid-2009, Goldman pays back the $10B TARP loan with interest to the Government.

Fast forward to 2010, Goldman reports a record profit of $13.39 BILLION in 2009. The 1Q of 2010, Goldman earned $3.46 BILLION , the second highest quarterly profit in it's 141 year history. All of this success, turbulence and success again was adroitly navigated by Lloyd Blankfein. How does Goldman/Blankfein do it? Narrowly escapes it's own demise in 2008 and in 2009 pays off TARP, makes record profits while the country is still slowly coming out of the worst financial crisis since the 1930's. Main street suffers while Goldman prospers. Their success drives their competition crazy, the public nuts and the government apoplectic. They can't figure out how Goldman does it. Because they aren't as smart as Goldman and they know it. Conversely, Goldman's success benefits their clients, shareholders and themselves mightily. Their opponents cry foul. Their proponets shout hooray. Which brings us to the present case of SEC v Goldman.

On Friday, April 16, 2010, the day after tax day, the SEC accused Goldman of defrauding investors. Goldman's world was shaken to the core. Blankfein said he was shocked by the SEC charges and lived the "worst day of my life." Since the announcement was made, Goldman's share price has fallen from $180 plus to below
$150.

Apparently, the government has had it with Goldman and their kind. They are going hard after Goldman with civil and criminal charges. They want to exact several "pounds of flesh" from Goldman from their bully pulpit. Ravage them, if you will. In the recent Senate subcommittee hearing, Chair and Senator Carl Levin,(D.,Michigan), blasted Lloyd Blankfein and Goldman for selling "shitty deals to customers and clients and then taking a short position and betting against the deal...where clients lose and Goldman profits." Blankfein responded, "Goldman is a market maker. We buy and sell things for our clients. We do four things: we give advice, we provide financing for deals, we sell bonds and stock funds and we grow our clients assets." Levin attacked, "...don't you see a conflict of interest when Goldman shorts a security that your client owns?" Blankfein counters, "our clients don't care what our position is. It's not relevant to our clients to disclose Goldman's position. They don't care if Goldman is the fiduiciary or not. Shorting is a legitimate market function. Goldman lost $1.2 BILLION on shorts in 2008." Levin ripostes, "and you want people to trust you?" Blankfein concludes, "...trust is what we offer our clients."

(In truth, Goldman "has no legal obligation to be kind to their clients". Their clients are offered complex and risk-laden deals from Goldman which commands the client to do due diligence. The client owns the right of refusal. In the SEC's case against Goldman's trader Fabrice Tourre and his Abacus deal, the counterparty and client, IKB Deutsche Bank, was guilty for being the idiot on the other side of the deal. They exhibited an "inexhaustible capacity for self-harm." What's a German bank doing dabbling in the overheated US housing market anyway?)

Well the stage has been set. Lawyers will be busy. SEC must prove fraud. Goldman must prove that they did nothing illegal. Both have alot at stake here. The SEC needs a victory desperately against the top dog in its ardent desire to reshape the financial landscape on Wall Street. Goldman wants to survive for another day amidst it all. It will be fascinating to watch how this plays out.

My hunch is Goldman will settle out of court with the Government. The Government will look like they won in the eyes of their constituency. Insiders will know that the Government failed to prove their case. Goldman will get back to business probably with a new CEO who will be just as smart as Blankfein. Some new ground rules will be made to police Wall Street. However, when it is all said and done, Goldman will always be miles ahead of the Government because they are smarter than everybody and the Government has no clue what Goldman is doing. And how can they monitor something they don't understand? Only the author knows how to do that.

As Ayn Rand wrote in Atlas Shrugged, "Money is not the tool of the moochers, who claim your product by tears, or of the looters, who take it from you by force. Money is made possible only by men and women who produce." Goldman and Blankfein and his successor(s)are producers...very smart producers.

The New Kids Make A Whole Lotta Noise

Professional golf just got a huge IV boost this weekend and it has nothing to do with Tiger. Kids have taken over the world professional golf stage. Refreshing kids. So young and pure. They haven't lived long enough to sully themselves.

In Japan, a 19 year old Ryo Ishikawa, wins the Japan Open in his homeland and tops it off with a smooth 58, 12 under par. In North Carolina, a 20 year old Ulsterboy from Northern Ireland, Rory McIllroy, shoots a final round 62, 10 under par, to come from behind to win the prestigious Quail Hollow Championship. In the same tournament, 21 year old Rickie Fowler, again broke into the top ten with stellar final round of a 5 under par 67 to secure 6th place. Youth, intelligence and skillful power...what a lethal mixture. Youth portends hope and don't we all need a bit of that these days!

I first saw Ryo paired with Rickie at this year's ATT Pro-Am at Pebble Beach. The two of them were something to behold but not just for their freaklike golfing abilities. Ryo and Rickie were both dressed head to toe in brilliant singular colors and looked like two walking popsicles. Ryo's paparrazi entourage was off the charts. On one hole I counted 11 Japanese photographers with the 3 foot telephotos clicking on his every move except at impact. The collective sound those cameras made was almost comical. How he plays amidst all that suffocating and constant chaos is simply amazing. Remember this kid is only 20 but going on 40. He's won 7 times in Japan already as a professional. When did he turn professional...in high school? On his final round Sunday, he birdies 9 of his first 11 holes. Misses a 15 footer on the 72nd hole for a 57! Settles for a 58!!! I shot a 58 once...on 13 holes.

Rory's come from behind win by four strokes at Quail Hollow was spectacular. And he barely made the qualifying cut line on Friday. For the weekend, he shoots 66,62. 16 under. Excuse me but Quail Hollow is one tough golf course particularly on Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday the wind was blowing. Didn't matter. He made it look like he was playing virtual golf at home with his XBox. Later a scribe asked, "Heh, Rory, how do you explain your last two days, 16 under, incredible?" "I really don't know, I guess I was just in that zone." He adds, "I remember shooting a similar score when I was 16 years old." Oh, where was that? Childlike, Rickie responded, "I shot a 61 at Royal Portrush." He said it without any bravado. Are you f'ing kidding me. Sounds like virtuosic talent to me. Have you ever seen or played Royal Portrush? Make your 13th and 14th clubs a weed wacker and a wind and rain foil.

Rickie's week was another chapter of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. I'm a huge golf fan of this kid as evidenced in previous blogs but following him is eating my insides out. Following Rickie commands me to buy stock in Maalox. You look at his card online at the end of the round and there are alot of different colors differentiating pars from bogeys, birdies and eagles. The colors of the rainbow, nothing static on Rickie's card. However, all this variety aside, he usually has more of the birdies than bogeys which reflects in the score. I may be a mess watching him but he looks as cool as a cucumber out there on the links. And his game is, as the kids say, filthy (for us old folks that means the best) and fearless.

So, the young guns have made a collective statement this past weekend. They are gifted, they are charismatic, they are poised, they are ready to win. And there are more young guns in the pipeline from all corners of the world. Manassero in Italy. Davies in Wales. Day in Australia. Lee in New Zealand. Lowery in Ireland. Ikeda in Japan. Seung-Yul in Korea and on and on and on... There is so much mind-blowing talent in the pipeline...makes one speechless. I'm jazzed about it and I think the rest of the golfing audience digs it as well.

It's funny, watching those kids play renders Tiger and Phil a bit old school. And they are still kinda young in my world. The Players Tournament this week will reveal the best players in the world as is its custom. Who will win? Young dude or old geezer? It will be fun to watch and also hear Johnny Miller "call the shots".

A Big Fat Greek Mess

Greece. The birthplace of democracy. Soon to be the bastard of the European Union (EU) and the graveyard of democratic socialism because of their national inability to say no. I haven't paid this much attention to Greece since Ari spirited Jackie K.O., away from our shores on his 300' yacht, Christina O, bound for Skorpios in the late sixties. So what have you been doing since then, O Greece? Hmmm, no one is picking up.

Well let me try to tell you what has been going on in that small ancient country for the last quarter century plus. It seems that the Papandreou governance style both Sr. and Jr. preferred spending to saving. Greece has been on a drunken sailor spending spree for two generations. Was anybody monitoring this debacle? Apparently not. The EU watchdogs were watching football with a sidedish of internet porn thrown in for spice. And what did the Greeks spend money on which they didn't have? Public giveaways. How altruistic of them. Hmmm, sound familiar USA?

The Greek people were the happy recepients of the government's largess. Problem was that there were more people getting the gifts than there were people paying for the gifts. "So the people wanted more, the government wanted to be re-elected, the government provided more, no one wanted to pay for it, no one could pay for it, budget problems ensued and Greece can't sell its bonds. Greek bonds are S&P rated "junk." Mohamed El-Erian, head of Pimco, the world's biggest bond fund, said diplomatically,"...based on what we know right now, we would not buy Greek bonds." Funny, I thought was there was money to be made in junk. Junk yes, junk bonds no. Greece on line 1, tell them I'm busy.

Did you just hear that horrific thud from above? That was Zeus, the Greek ruler of Olympus and king of all gods, he just collapsed! Oh brother...someone know CPR?

Presently, Greece is tottering over the abyss. Talk about an odyssey. But it's just not Greece tottering. Attached at the hip is Portugal, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Germany, France, oh hell, the entire EU. The Euro has dropped 15% in four months because of Greece's problems and it's residual effect. Even the non-euro Britain is not exempt from this budget deficit business. How ill is this picture? Greece's total government budget deficit as a percentage of GDP is a staggering 125%. Greece's annual deficit is 13.6% of GDP. To give you an idea of how ill that is, the EU's minimum requirement for fiscal sustainability is 50% on the first benchmark and 3% on the second. To serve as contrasting examples, China's percentages are 18% and 3%; and, USA's percentages are 61% and 10.64% respectively. (Those USA numbers are hugely troublesome.)

Germany, the fourth largest economy in the world and wealthiest country in Europe along with help from the IMF and other agencies, are throwing a lifeline to Greece. The disciplined Germans are none too happy about bailing out a country of moochers. That "too big to fail" contagion has spread to Europe, it seems. A deal should be made within days to the tune of $150BILLION for three years and that's just to get them out of ICU. This will be a long hard slog for Greece and the EU after years of profligate governance and irresponsible oversight.

So what happens now? The deal is the EU et al bails out Greece with a 5% loan. Greece must change its ways and fast. Entitlements are over. Austerity will rule. The party is over. So what do the folks in Greece think about all this fuss? They are mad as hell. So mad in fact, they will be taking to the streets in huge numbers throughout Greece on May 5 in a general strike against the "new spartan normal". Undoubtedly, riots will occur and tensions will boil over. The wealthy will be taxed even more. Pensions ravaged. Wages cut. Government may be sacked. Unions disbanded. Potential run on banks. People will suffer and die. Greece will become a shadow of what it once was. All this because of reckless spending and Papandreou chicanery.

At some point, the bill was going to be collected. Well, that time has come. Reminds me of that eerie scene in Apocalypse Now , when the sweaty and whacked-out Colonel Kurtz said in his cave to Captain Willard, "...you're an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks, to collect the bill." The bill always get collected someway, somehow, at sometime. It's Greece's time to pay the bill.

There is a very profound message for us in what Greece is dealing with now. If the USA continues to spend and not fix the mounting debt problems in this country we will face our creditors for payment due some day. Only difference will be is China will come to collect their $800BILLION and they aren't very patient or nice.

This is our #1 issue. Not health care. Not immigration. Not Goldman-Sachs. Not finance reform. Not wars. Not Cap and Trade. Not Global Warming. The deficit ($1.4 TRILLION annually) is #1. How troubling that our greatest threat to our national security and interests comes from within our own borders. If we do not do something profoundly positive to arrest and reduce the growing deficit imbalance soon, what is happening in Greece will happen here, not tomorrow but at some point in time. Only it will be 1000 times more potent and destructive. Greece is our cue, our wake-up call. WAKE UP DC!!!

Ben Bernanke gets it but his is a lonely voice.

Just an aside...I wonder if Paulson is shorting Greece? Probably a good bet.