Poor little Indian. Low man on the totem pole. “Just punch those new ratings into the spreadsheet and go home,” ordered his chief. At Standard & Poor’s. The young scout entered 9 EU downgrades into Excel – France, Austria, usual suspects too. “How?” he grunted, as a “Circular Reference” error flashed on his EFSF AAA ratings tab. So he sent a smoke signal. And his chiefs rushed back – for pow wow, and pipe. Yeah,

We dropped anchor. Motored ashore. Hired a driver. To explore. “Careful dat door man, it’s a little broken,” he warned as we climbed aboard his crumbling mini-van. Dodged potholes, crawled through Dominica’s ghetto’s. Hit a town called Massac(re). “Da world’s oldest woman lived here man, 122yrs old,” he claimed. Yawn. So I shook it up, asked if Dominica’s politicians are as corrupt as ours. “No man, maybe a little ch

Hope all goes well. Monopoly mania. Hit my house. Boardwalk. Park Place. Jail. Pass Go, watch M1 grow. Jackson’s ruthless. Olivia sneaks money to the needy. Teddy’s despises the rich, but covets cash, property, punishing peasants. Charlie fondles dice. Drools on dough. Mara loves winning, hates losing. And I watch. As my kiddies buy, sell. Rise. Fall. Beg. Negotiate. And slowly discover that the downtrodden need a he

Sharpen your pencils boys. Knives too. The pie is shrinking. Gotta steal market share. Make some money here, save a little there. And if all else fails, well, screw your competitors – that’s good fun. Anyhow, Obama’s downsizing the Pentagon. Pulled the boys outta Iraq too. You see, he’s found a cheaper way to herd those bearded cats: who needs a Battalion when you can send one scooter-riding assassin to deliver plast

Plato stood upon the shoulders of Socrates. And spun his ideas. Into the Dialogues. No one truly knows where one man’s brilliance began and the other’s ended. But both endure. Mankind’s worthiest works do. Anyhow, my pulse quickened. As I read Plato. ’Cause I’d discovered the lyrics to a famous Jay-Z rap. Now, you might not expect to find Socrates’ words in Brooklyn ghetto poetry. But you see, Man has so few new idea

Hope all goes well. What a break. I needed it. Sailed on an old-world schooner. In rolling seas. Stared up at stars. The moon too. You know, they looked the same back when Columbus explored the Caribbean. Plotting, planning. Driven by ambition. Lust for adventure, wealth. Thirst for knowledge. And chased by the haunting truth that, adrift in the infinite, our voyage is so short. But onwards we sail. Into uncharted te

Hope all goes well. Teddy (6) just couldn’t decide, “A real live Red‐Tail Hawk, or a real magic wand that can turn real trees into real coconuts.” Olivia (8) announced all she wants from Santa is, “To end all wars forever.” Jackson (10), without the slightest hesitation, replied in a demeaning bark, “Well then there’d be too many people.” Which naturally started a war. Charlie (2) cried without quite knowing why. I r

Hope all goes well. Teddy (6) just couldn’t decide, “A real live Red‐Tail Hawk, or a real magic wand that can turn real trees into real coconuts.” Olivia (8) announced all she wants from Santa is, “To end all wars forever.” Jackson (10), without the slightest hesitation, replied in a demeaning bark, “Well then there’d be too many people.” Which naturally started a war. Charlie (2) cried without quite knowing why. I r

The commander maneuvered. Imprisoned the opposition. Rigged elections. Tightened the grip. Stamped his boot on a human face. But a few brave souls said no. Sparked an uprising. It’s the oldest story ever told. This time in Russia. So it’ll play out in fascinating, mysterious ways. Take the rise of Mikhail Prokhorov as opposition candidate. He’s worth $18bln, 3rd wealthiest oligarch, owns New Jersey’s Nets. So why ris

Hope all goes well. Spent my last trip of ’11. Considering ’12. In NYC. Focused on Europe. Debating. Weighting. Probabilities, possibilities. You know, everyone expects ’12 to be just as hard as ’11. Maybe harder. Perhaps. No doubt ’12 will be fascinating, filled with questions, enigmas, conflicts, opportunities too. Betcha my grandkids study ’12 in college. But I’m ahead of myself. Right now, we got big questions to