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.