Spanish Bailout Mañana

Spain will request a Eurozone bailout tomorrow (Saturday) for its failing banks, this despite the fact that the Spanish government is still denying that they will ask for a bailout and the Eurozone has yet to confirm the emergency teleconference tomorrow.

The Linkedin Security Breach

Linkedin have yet to tell its members about the recent security breach that may have put millions of passwords at risk (reports now indicate that well over 6 million may have been hacked), or advise them as to what they should do.

This is not an example of effective crisis management, and will damage the brand, reputation and share value of the company.

Those of you who have a Linkedin account should not wait for Linkedin to contact you, but are strongly advised to change your passwords to new, more secure and unique ones.

EU Admits There Is No Plan

Finally the EU has admitted to what we have known all along, namely that it has no plan.

Specifically, in the case of Spain, there has been no request from the Spanish authorities for a bank rescue and that there is no EU rescue plan for Spanish banks.

I assume that this statement is meant to somehow reassure the markets?

Just remember, and repeat, as I have said many times before:

- There was no plan
- There is no plan
- There never will be a plan

The Vacuum At The Heart Of European Economic Policy

Nature abhors a vacuum.

The "leaders" of the Eurozone and ECB may care to ponder the above statement, in relation to their inaction and non existent "plans" for resolving the Euro crisis.

For why?

A political vacuum, caused by inactive, ineffectual politicians and hare brained economic policies, will be filled by scum such as the individual in the above video.

This is a portent of the future of Europe; if the "leaders" of the Eurozone et al do not get their acts together, Europe will descend into chaos to the benefit of the scum of the extreme right and left.

D Day Anniversary

Today is anniversary of D Day; the day that the UK, USA, Canada and Free French re-entered Europe to rescue it from itself.

Judging by the inaction of the European politicians wrt the financial meltdown of Europe, it seems that another rescue from outwith Europe is required.

The EU "Master Plan"

The EU has decided to try to stop the ongoing meltdown of the Eurozone, by publishing new crisis management measures to avoid future bank bail-outs. The aim is to ensure losses are borne by bank shareholders and creditors, and minimise costs for taxpayers.

The main resolution tools are the following:

• The sale of business tool whereby the authorities would sell all or part of the failing bank to another bank;
• The bridge institution tool which consists of identifying the good assets or essential functions of the bank and separating them into a new bank (bridge bank) which would be sold to another entity. The old bank with the bad or non-essential functions would then be liquidated under normal insolvency proceedings;
• The asset separation tool whereby the bad assets of the bank are put into an asset management vehicle. This tool cleans the balance sheet of a bank. In order to prevent this tool from being used solely as a state aid measure, the framework prescribes that it may be used only in conjunction with another tool (bridge bank, sale of business or write-down). This ensures that while the bank receives support, it also undergoes restructuring;
• The bail-in tool whereby the bank would be recapitalised with shareholders wiped out or diluted, and creditors would have their claims reduced or converted to shares. An institution for which a private acquirer could not be found, or which could be complicated to split up, could thus continue to provide essential services without the need for bail-out by public funds, and authorities would have time to reorganise it or wind down parts of its business in an orderly manner. To this end, banks would be required to have a minimum percentage of their total liabilities in the shape of instruments eligible for bail-in. If triggered, they would be written down in a pre-defined order in terms of seniority of claims in order for the institution to regain viability.

Sadly, as with all EU "plans", there is a caveat. Even if these "plans" were to be enacted and to be effective, they will not come into force until 2014 at the very earliest.

These "plans" are therefore of no help or hope to the millions of people in Europe who are now unemployed, and to the millions of people who have seen their taxes squandered by EU politicians and Eurocrats who are frozen with fear and indecision like rabbits in the headlights of the oncoming financial juggernaut.

Master Sitting Room Makeover

Don't ya just love to see spaces "before" and "after"?  Sometimes progress is really slow-going and very small changes happen along the way, almost imperceptible until you add it all up and suddenly you end up with a result you're really happy with.  Case in point, our sitting room.  Not that it's "done" but it sure has come a long way.  One of the bookshelves is still bare, but the other one is styled for the time being.  And the shelves under the windows have been given some life with books and plants.  Let's take a look!

BEFORE- pretty much a blank slate.  The framed photo over the television was a birthday gift to my husband of a New York bridge, but the dark black didn't fit in with the look I was going for.  Originally, I thought it fit that area perfectly, but later I kept thinking we really needed something round there to break up all the hard lines. 

DURING- The addition of the Martha Stewart mirror from Home Depot helped lighten up the space. 

NOW- The colorful books added personality and the Made By Girl LOVE print is much more appropriate here than it was in our half bath.  The plants are really thriving here.  I water them when they start to limp and it seems to be working.  

I keep James' little chair there because he uses it to read or watch t.v. 

I picked up some books at Half Price Books and chose them by color and subject matter.

Here's the view from the master bath.  Looking at this view has me wondering if we should add drapes here??  

And we've definitely changed up the tall bookshelves, beginning with painting the cabinets and lining the backside with fabric.  

BEFORE

NOW

I just used things we already had on hand to fill in the shelves.  I probably could still use a few more books . . . 

My girlfriend got this statue for us when James was born.  So sweet. 

The woven basket holds our remote controls and keeps them where we can find them, out of James' hands.  I think I found it at Crate & Barrel.  

I didn't have a good place for this large canvas print of James, so I decided to try it in the bookcase and I like it there.  He was just two months old in those photos.  

I tried to find a few interesting pieces to add to the shelves, including the woven vase from Michael's and a decorative ball from West Elm. 

And, again, more books from Half Price Books, except Bloom, by Kelle Hampton, which I devoured in two nights!

And I've decided to keep some magazines in here too since I frequently like to read a little before bed.  

Eventually, I think I'd like to change out the big leather chair, and I still need to style the other bookshelf, which currently remains empty.  And on my nagging "to do" list is lower the two photos over the leather chair.  BUT, isn't it nice to just enjoy what you've accomplished so far, helping turn a blank space into a room that you enjoy being in?  

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