Juggling Dynamite

“Let Greece go bankrupt, let all the people who are bankrupt go bankrupt, and then you can start over, you reorganize the assets and start over,” Jim Rogers, CEO of Roger Holdings, told CNBC. “Until that happens, this is going to be an on-going endless discussion,” he said. Here is the direct link. Caveat here: Rogers is a billionaire who has a defined percentage of specific funds (that he can afford to lose) allocated to various speculations. Few people are in the same boat as Rogers; so I do not mean that everyone should take their investment allocations from his lead. But his overall assessment on the need for bankruptcy to flush out the impediments to global recovery are important.

In a special hour hosted by Morley Safer, “60 Minutes” presents in-depth profiles on three remarkable women: country singer Dolly Parton, Vogue editor Anna Wintour and actress Meryl Streep (all in their 60’s and all at the top of their professions).

I personally have no understanding of why one as authentic as Dolly needs such an ornate facade. And the world of high fashion is far beyond my terms of reference, but I find the stories of these three unorthodox women thought-provoking on many levels. Here is the direct link.

We saw “The Iron Lady” today. Interesting, surprising, entertaining little film. Shot more like a play than a movie. I enjoyed it. Meryl Streep is a stunning treat as usual. Parallels from the Thatcher political era in the 70’s and our own time today are obvious.

This quote from Thatcher is one of many that for me, strikes a cord with present times:

“I think we have gone through a period when too many children and people have been given to understand “I have a problem, it is the Government’s job to cope with it!” or “I have a problem, I will go and get a grant to cope with it!” “I am homeless, the Government must house me!” and so they are casting their problems on society and who is society? There is no such thing! There are individual men and women and there are families and no government can do anything except through people who look after themselves first. It is our duty to look after ourselves and then also to help look after our neighbour. Life is a reciprocal business and people have got the entitlements too much in mind without the obligations.”