Should Wall Street Get a Bonus for X-Mas?

From: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aVann0.cv9Tw

``There should be a moratorium on bonuses,'' Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, told reporters last week. ``If nobody gave them, there wouldn't be a competitive aspect.''

Really? And what would getting rid of the competitive aspect of finance render do to the economy? Finance as we know it is built on the "Greed of Man," the desire to better oneself and to in turn, better society. I'm not saying that paying ridiculous bonus amounts (5x of one's base salary) is fair (heck, I only got 5% of my salary last year), but it bears noting that without these thirsty, hungry appetites out there looking for more dough, that model trophy wife and enough money to buy a 3rd world country, the world's best minds would all do more self-effacing things.

This is perhaps where I would like to explain the different kinds of greed there are out there... a thirst for knowledge and understanding that will make one pursue a career in academia... vs. the thirst for money, or for power, or for prestige... are all different forms of greed. It doesn't matter how much you think you are above that level of "capitalistic consumerism."

Don't underestimate the power of greed, or what form it will come in. The only dangerous thing about it, is when you lose sight of your morals, and your greed gets away from you (please see recent financial crisis as example).

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Onwards to more food: My last foray was to Aurora in SoHo. May I please just note how delicious it was? We missed on the wine choice, but our food selections were absolutely divine.

The only thing still left on the menu as of today from that trip (that we ordered, there are a few more) ....
i Carciofi - Baked Roman-style artichokes with mint and shaved pecorino - I thought the pecorino would have made this dish a lot stronger than it was, given how naturally salty tasting artichokes tend to be, but it served more as a modifier because of the mint that was baked into it.

The other appetizer was a buffalo mozzarella and prosciutto dish, which was divine, simply because I love cheese, and there is nothing like fresh hand-made mozzarella, it was stringy and gooey, and I'll never look at Polly-O string cheese ever again.

As for the main courses...

A squid ink lasagna made with crab and seafood.... strange, to see layers of black ink pasta interspersed with deliciously fresh seafood. A friend of ours didn't like crab generally and still liked the dish, it was that fresh and well prepared.

Fresh diver sea scallops, tender and melting at the mouth, with a tomato-mango salsa base that complemented it with just the right amount of sweet-tangyness. The scallops were large, and cooked medium rare (for those in the know, this is the optimum level of cooked you want in scallops, lamb, and most cuts of steak, unless its a really thick cut, in which case medium is best). If you like your meat burned to a crisp, I generally won't like eating with you. Also vegetarians, because I can pick off their plates, and they can't share mine. Actually. Scratch that, I like eating with vegetarians.

Another dish of risotto and mushrooms.... with this ricotta cheese sauce and gooey texture, simply amazing, since the ricotta was cool and added flavor to an otherwise fairly bland tasting risotto. It was one of the specials, but I didn't think it was that great.

I preferred my dish of rabbit ragu tagliotelli ... simply phenomenal, it was very strong and flavorful, with bits of rabbit (I had to pick out some bones, but I don't care, means its the real thing IMO), and a bit on the salty side. I like salty things, so this might not be a good dish for those who are watching their sodium intake...

... they changed the rest of the menu!!! My taste buds yearn to return and try the new dishes!!

I'm so broke...

Response to the Bailout

For lack of time, since I have been busy

1. getting drunk
2. watching my industry fail
3. horrified at political jumbo about the economy, leading to more of (1.)

I will now explain where the $700bn number came from.

In September 2008, 10 investment banks got together and decided to create their own "credit line" in case any one of them would fail (BofA, Barclay's, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche, Goldman, JPM, Merrill, Morgan Stanley, and UBS). This silly endeavor resulted in a $70bn credit line pooled together, with each bank putting up a cool $7bn: http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/n14815043-lehman-banks-facility/

Good ol' Uncle Sam thought "well.. if all ten of these things go down the chute..."



$70bn x 10 i-banks = $700bn

There it is. That's your money at work. Don't make any assumptions about how the bill is supposed to help anybody other than Wall Street cover the mess we're in. There's better ways, like creating stricter lending guidelines, educating people about their personal finances.. but those are just too long term, and means teaching too many people the truth.

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On a more food-related note, anybody with money left in their wallets during this time in our economy should check out Novecento down by Tribeca/Soho. Pricey as all heck, but food was pretty good.

Novecento cooks their steak on the rare side, so if you like medium rare at most restaurants, I would recommend ordering it medium to get that pink center. I ordered the 'Ojo de Bife con Fritas,' a 13 oz grilled ribeye steak with fries. It wasn't pink, it was more red, and kind of cool in the middle. But still delicious:





My friend ordered the 'Linguine con Fruto de Mar,' which is linguini with shrimp, calamari, mussels, and clams -- delicious, but not as flavorful as my steak was. Novecento is after all still an Argentine bistro.. so meat is the main theme here, folks.



Good rating on the food, but it is CRAMPED. The place tries to recreate a "coziness" and only succeeds in being cramped as hell. I'm not the biggest person I know by any means, but any of my six-foot carnivore counterparts would not feel comfortable rubbing elbows with the next chap chowing down next to him... unless it wasn't a chap but a lady.



There's a decent wine list, but the best really is showing up and eating with two fresh-out of college marketing/advertising girls with 10 layers of makeup and too much energy for an old lady like myself at the end of a workday. It was trying to listen to 2 girls who had just split an 8-ball. No offense or anything, but I am glad I'm not in their category of "high energy."

*glaring omission update*

i clearly forgot the ceviche. that was delicious too. get that as appetizer. its small though.. that's why i forgot it. :P

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Would greatly appreciate not being publicly berated for being busy building a career path in this kind of market, thanks Solo.