Making the Unknown, Known

That picture is a hum-dinger, ain't it?

Because perhaps these things get by you in the day-to-day.

Latest on Tiger

What if we all read this tiger Woods thing wrong. What if this was a big story, but the fascination with the subject, the zealous drive for facts, made it something bigger then what was at it's original core. For instance.

Tiger was asleep in bed on that Friday morning, his wife smashed a vase, or something like it in his face (his tooth was broken in half, apparently), then proceeded to do her best Hillary Swank in Million Dollar Baby-impersonation? Then Tiger fought her off, calmed her down and talked out the situation with Elin. After assuring her he would never see "that one woman again," the thinking shifted to "how to explain these injuries?" 

A half-assed plan for a low speed accident was cooked up (did you see that tree?), so Tiger put on his Nikes, got in a big ass Cadillac Escalade and ran into a tree, but not head on, just a little bit. Only the right wheel hits the tree, and so soft air bags do not deploy, OnStar does not call and the electronics are messed up, so his wife, who is watching their plan go awry, comes and bashes the window with a golf club, thus freeing Tiger.

The car accident could now be used as the reason for the injuries, therefore his wife, whom he still loves and wanted to be around, is absolved of any possible criminal charges or future public scrutiny when supporting the World's Most Famous Athlete. The plan was flawless.

Then, as with all things African-American, the police showed up and things started to spiral downward. The police being called to the residence is what made this story fly, from the beginning. Had things been contained to that evenings events, everything else would have never happened. And I am NOT BLAMING THE POLICE for Tiger being a nerdy pimp, but if they did not file a police report then. . .

TMZ would not have started throwing money around. As I stated in a previous post, famous people AND THEIR HIGH-PRICED CONSULTANTS have not come to grips with the "New Financial Reality" of sharing money with potential problems, and copiously so. TMZ has a staff of people who's only job is to comb through the nation's police and hospital reports. It's a dirty job, but it pays well.

The police are only going to find out so much when investigating a person, TMZ, with it's truckloads of unlimited cash, is always going to find out more. 

So the police reports brought TMZ to Tiger, TMZ brought money to a former mistress, the one mistress started a biding war in the E!, Extra, Entertainment Tonight, People, OK! Magazine arena for finding more, and, ultimately, the few jump-offs that wanted to remain silent, could no longer afford to remain so. Which brought out the MADAME (Damn Liger?!?!), who took this thing to a whole new level with her having tax records and all (did he want a receipt, with his cheap ass?).

Tiger Woods wanted his marriage to continue, and perhaps really was committed to being a more loving, caring and family-focused pimp going forward. However, he committed the one cardinal sin any African-American in a troubled relationship cannot afford to do, he allowed the police to get involved in his relationship. So now Elin's gone, the kids are gone, the sponsors are leaving and so is his precious good name, which can never return, BTW.

And now he knows what all Black men know, nothing good ever comes from the police being at your door.

On an aside, Tiger choosing to not participate in golf this season is going to spotlight what the tour found out when he didn't play because of injury, interest in the sport falls off -- DRAMATICALLY. Perhaps that will put pressure on those in the media to assist in cleaning him up a bit, so they can get him back on the links and get crowds roaring for him once more. 

It's risky, but we'll see if it works.

Nobel, Nobel

The Nobel brothers spent the early years of their professional lives "working," as mine owners, in the South African diamond business, a sub-human, disgusting and exploitative endeavor. When, in the mid-1870's, the diamond mines hit "an impassible core of solid rock," the South African industry and region was plunged into a Depression. This forced the brothers to sell, at rock bottom prices, their mining claim to Cecil Rhodes, who was in the process of buying up "every mine in Africa." 

Rhodes, who would later become the richest man in the world and, like Nobel, lend his name to one of the world' most prestigious awards, the Rhode's Scholarship, had knowledge of a new technology which could bypass the solid rock, and so therefore, could continue to unearth the diamonds. 

At this point the Nobel brothers decided to part ways of sorts with the money from their claim. Alfred could not get beyond the notion of that solid, impassable rock, which motivated his drive that would culminate in his invention of dynamite. 

Since he was trying to develop a tool for mining, when he saw dynamite being used in warfare, he quickly plunged from horror to depression. This led him to establish a prize for Peace, so as he, nor the world, would need ever see his invention "used against man."

In the years since the Nobel's became one of the world's leading families, they have obscured the dark secret of their involvement in the South African Diamond Trade, which is why most biographies of the brothers begin in 1876, right after they sold their claims. 

When Twain stated, "There is no such thing as good money from a bad man," the Nobel Prize comes to mind. The horror that such a prize would be bestowed upon an Head of State that just escalated a war can only live in the mind of a person without the full sphere of the Prize's dark history.

Presidential Fractions

Why does it take a person to raise (and spend) $750,000,000, sound it out: seven-hundred-fifty million dollars, for a job that pays $400,000 per year? That's like spending $75,000,000 on an interview suit for a job that pays $40,000. That's like giving a $7,500,000 donation to a community college for a scholarship that costs $4,000. That's like spending $750,000 for rent on a studio that costs $400. That's like spending $75,000 to buy a coupon book to save $40. And more to our daily line of thinking, it's like paying $7,500 for your $4 latte at the Starbucks in your neighborhood.

I'll allow you too sit with that for a moment.

Anyway, I know you have had this question on your mind before, so let me help ease your stressing over it any longer.

President Obama raised more money, and spent more money, then any other presidential aspirant in history, a whopping $750,000,000! His salary for each of his 4 years in office will be $400,000. During this time he is not allowed to make investments in any company, buy any bonds or start any company whatsoever. His wife, equally, has the same restrictions on her, as well!

Before they took office, their combined incomes were in the low seven figures per annum, and before President Obama wrote his first best-selling book, Michelle was, far and away, the breadwinner. So taking this job was not only fantastically expensive ($750,000,000), it was a pay cut.

The short answer to the question is, the job of the President of the United States of America puts you, and your team, in control of the single greatest economic feeding trough in the world. 

With an annual budget in the trillions, and the ability to spend beyond that when you feel the necessity, the $750,000,000 starts to seem more like a pittance. 

George W. Bush received $26.5 million from his Wall Street backers during his two Presidential Election runs. On his way out the door, he handed them the $700 billion TARP bill as a parting gift, $210 billion of which disappeared, overnight, without a trace.

The Oil Industry was the former President's biggest campaign contributor, topping out at between $46.8-61.1 million, depending on what source you believe. In December of 2001, AFTER THE SEPTEMBER 11th ATTACKS, the price for a barrel of sweet crude oil stood at $16.21 per barrel. Even the terrorist attacks and the incursion into Afghanistan had not moved the needle on oil prices. Once the President circumnavigated the Congress and went to war in Iraq, the price of oil began to climb, and did so throughout his presidency, reaching a high-point of $126.33 per barrel for the month of June 2008, nearly 8x the December 2001 price.

President Obama ran a campaign initially financed, almost exclusively, by the less than $250 donations of individual donors, or ordinary citizenry. The strategy overwhelmed his primary counter-part, Hillary Clinton. Mrs. Clinton had much more money to start, but since she was given the $4600 maximum by all her supporters, when the campaign dragged on longer than she (or anyone) thought, she could not go back to her donors list for more money. Obama could, and did.

Obama used the small donations route to raise money after each controversy, win, loss or attack, with his supporters rallying to his defense, financially, with each threat to the candidate. It was simply too much for the other candidates to withstand, with both Mrs. Clinton and the General Election adversary, John McCain complaining openly about the "unfair disadvantage" of Mr. Obama's fundraising apparatus. 

However, once Mr. Obama's election seemed imminent, once the path seemed un-obstructable for this phenomenon, Big Business responded. Wall Street financial houses spent late-August thru early-October throwing lavish fundraisers for the future President, and in the end became President Obama's biggest single contributors, to the tune of $58 million. 

Health Care and Pharmaceutical companies took note of the candidate's tough talk and, once he looked like a sure bet for winning the election,  found a way to contribute $31 million to candidate Obama in the final 8 weeks of the election. Since the Pharma companies were so late to the party, knowing that Health Care reform was a big part of Obama's platform, they directed doubled the amount of money, $68.1 million, to Democratic candidates running for the House and Senate, as well as the DNC. 

Thus far, for their efforts, Financial Regulation has been tabled and Health care reform has been scrapped. 

If you look at it from a financial perspective, President Obama becomes less of a disappointment. He, like any other person in the Office of the Presidency, is looking out for his big contributors. Too bad we all came early to the party, because what really matters is who you take home at the end of the night.