SAR #11321

Do not confuse leadership with lying just because they do.

Bring Me The Head of Diego Garcia: The IMF won't give Greece another drachma euro until " the unity government now shares its commitment to the implementation of the economic program is assured", but did not suggest what form the 'assurances' might take. Mass demonstrations against austerity would seem contra-indicated.

Downside Risk: BofA has dropped its forecast for 2012's GDP back a notch to 2.0% with a probability of a US recession up a notch to 40% They did not offer any insight into the probability of BofA going under.

Teaching Point: You cannot evict an idea, especially not with riot police.

Faster Than A Speeding Bullet: The peace-loving United States is proud to announce that it now has hypersonic flying bombs that can strike anywhere in the world in less than an hour at five times the speed of common sense. The Pentagon was quick to assure friendly dictators that this did not mean the US would be bringing many of its occupying forces home any time soon, Iraq excepted.

Life Plus Two: After the US/IMF bails out Europe, and it will, the average American will not be able to retire until age 80, which will be a problem in that the average American only lives to be 78.

Über Alles: There's a big to-do about the Germans leaking the confidential Irish budget proposals. There should be a big to-do about the Germans having the information in the first place, but I suppose it's hard to say no to the landlord if he wants to inspect the property.

Again with the Number Oneness: It is well known that if you want to succeed in life you should pick well educated, well connected upper class parents. If you cannot do that, it is far better to pick parents living outside the US, where the possibility of rising above your birth circumstances is better.

All In Favor: GE filed a 57,000 page tax return and showed it owed no taxes on $14 billion in profits. Maybe there is something to this tax reform idea.

On Not Clowning Around: The media has focused on the clowns and side show at the #Occupy sites and dismissed what the moment is all about – the deep discontent of the average American with the way the rich and powerful have captured the country and turned it to their own private benefit. #Occupy doesn't have one or even a short list of 'demands'. They want the country returned to the people. This is not a fringe movement by a bunch of entertaining clowns. Just ask the middle school student who took the mike in Foley Square to discuss cuts in school programs.

15 Minutes: Put the following wannabees in the order in which they were, however briefly, leading the pack: Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Jabba the Hut, Ron Paul, Sara Palin and Rudy Giuliani

Extra Large: Don't know if they're getting ready for sudden inflation or a new housing bubble or both, but the US housing industry conned Congress into upping the maximum mortgage level for FHA loans to $729,750. I'm sorry, but if you've got the income to carry a three-quarter million dollar mortgage, buy your own mortgage insurance.

Proportions: When the talking heads say Italy is too big to fail, point out to them that Italy's bailout will cost about €1.2 trillion – which is far more than the European bailout fund would have if the European bailout fund had any money in the first place. Italy is too big to save. The five largest Italian banks need to raise over €6 billion in new capital, and that's just to keep up with the deterioration in the value of Italian bonds to date. As the government's finances contract, the banks' need for cash grows. In Spain banks are sitting on about €30 billion of real estate that is judged to be essentially unsalable for the next 40 years or so. When this loss is written down, most of the smaller banks in the country will have to close.

Bend Over and Cough: Newt Gingrich's Center for Health Transformation has taken in over $37 million over the last 8 years, selling “access to Newt” to health-care profiteers such as BCBS, AstraZeneca and Novo Nordisk, with the promise of “direct Newt interaction”.

Porn O'Graph: Charting the reef.