Benzema: I’d rather face Ramos than Puyol

Real Madrid and French international striker, Karim Benzema spoke to the media prior to Tuesday evening`s 2014 World Cup qualifier against Spain at the Vicente Calderon.



He  would much rather face his own teammate, Sergio Ramos, than Spain`s two other centre-backs, Barcelona duo Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol.

Benzema began by discussing his Real Madrid teammates, of which there are five, but mostly discussed centre-back Sergio Ramos and goalkeeper, Iker Casillas.



“I’ve been getting messages from a few of the lads, especially Sergio Ramos, who’s a good friend of mine. I would rather be up against him than Gerard Piqué or Carles Puyol, because I know him better.



“Casillas is one of the best players in the world, that’s all that needs to be said on the matter.”



The Frenchman then discussed the Spanish national team and losing to Spain in the Euro 2012 tournament.



“They are the best team in the world – they’ve won everything there is to win. I play with a lot of international players at Madrid, so I know what quality is. Having said that, I don’t think they are unbeatable, this is not mission impossible. It’s still 11 against 11.



“We lost this game [in June] but it doesn’t mean anything, that competition is now over. Now we have to try and win in the Calderón.



This game is different as it’s an international game, but the Calderón is always a difficult place to go, whether you are playing against Spain or Atlético Madrid.”

Deschamps named new France coach

France's World Cup and Euro winning captain Didier Deschamps was named coach of the national side on Sunday, the French Football Federation (FFF) announced on its website.



The 43-year-old - who captained France to the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 trophies - replaces fellow World Cup and Euro winning team-mate Laurent Blanc, who turned down a new two year contract last weekend.



Blanc had guided the French to the Euro 2012 quarter-finals - the minimum requirement of the FFF - but dressing room discord and two outbursts by Samir Nasri had not helped Blanc's cause.



Deschamps immediately became the favourite and lent credence to the fact by quitting Marseille last Monday.



"Noel Le Graet, President of the FFF, and Didier Deschamps reached agreement after the conclusion of their talks for him to be named France coach," read the statement.



Both men are to hold a joint press conference on Monday at the federation headquarters at 1530 GMT.



Frederic Thiriez, president of the French Professional League (LFP), welcomed the appointment unreservedly.



"Didier Deschamps is obviously the man of the moment," said Thiriez.



"The French team needs in this difficult context, a man of his stamp and experience.



"He can naturally count on the support without fail of the professional football world in France."



Deschamps contract is expected to be for two years - taking him up to the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil, with another two likely to be on the table should they qualify for them, while he is expected to be assisted by his faithful Marseille lieutenant Guy Stephan.



It was Stephan, who approached Deschamps on Le Graet's behalf when it became apparent that Blanc might not sign the new contract, as he knew the French football supremo from owning a house in the Brittany town of Guingamp where Le Graet had served two terms as Socialist mayor.



Deschamps' first task will be to prepare the squad for a high profile friendly with Copa America champions and World Cup semi-finalists Uruguay in Le Havre on August 15 while their first World Cup qualifier is against Finland on September 7.



However, with just one automatic qualifying spot up for grabs in the shape of group winners, France face a tough task to take that one as two-time European champions and World Cup holders Spain are in the same group.



Belarus and Georgia are the other two sides.

Zinedine Zidane 'dreams' of coaching France

The president of the French Football Federation admitted Tuesday that Zinedine Zidane is a contender to one day manage France, although he will not be the successor to the recently-departed Laurent Blanc.



Zidane holds legendary status in France as a member of the national teams that won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 and is currently working as sporting director at Real Madrid.



The 40-year-old is also studying a diploma in sports management in Limoges and FFF supremo Noel Le Graet believes the former Juventus and Real Madrid playmaker has what it takes to become a future coach of Les Bleus.



"It's great that Zinedine Zidane has expressed a desire to work closely with the French national team in future and, if it is not possible right now, he dreams of coaching the national team in 10 years time," said Le Graet.



"He has also said that he is ready to study for his coaching badges at (France's National Technical Centre) Clairefontaine," added Le Graet.



In the meantime, Blanc's decision not to sign a new contract last weekend has left the FFF with a vacancy to fill ahead of the start of the qualifying campaign for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.



Didier Deschamps, a free agent after leaving Marseille, is the French Federation's first choice for the job.

Blanc quits as France coach

Laurent Blanc has opened the door to Tottenham after leaving his position as France coach following the expiry of his contract.



The Frenchman, who has been linked with Spurs following Harry Redknapp's departure, has turned down the offer of a new contract with the French Football Federation.



Blanc, who took charge of the national side after the disastrous 2010 World Cup campaign, led Les Bleus to the quarter-finals of Euro 2012, where they lost 2-0 to Spain.



The former Bordeaux boss held talks with FFF president Noel le Graet on Thursday and had been offered a new two-year contract, but he was told that he would have to reduce his coaching staff. On Saturday it emerged that he had decided to walk away from the position.



A statement on the FFF website read: "Within the period provided for reflection, Laurent Blanc, on Saturday contacted the President of the FFF, Noel Le Graet, to indicate his decision not to seek the renewal of his contract of national coach.



"Mr Le Graet has acknowledged and applauded the work of Laurent Blanc at the head of the France team since August 2010. The executive committee of the federation is meeting on Tuesday but no comments will be made by the FFF and its president before the press conference scheduled at the conclusion of this work session.''



Blanc, a World Cup and European Championship winner during his playing career, had overseen a 23-game unbeaten run that ended with a surprise 2-0 defeat to Sweden in the final group game of this summer's tournament.



Marseille coach Didier Deschamps, who captained France to glory in 1998 and 2000, is believed to be the leading contender for the position. UEFA president Michel Platini said on Saturday afternoon that he welcomed Deschamps' candidature.



"If Laurent Blanc [leaves] it is a shame because he had indicated his wish to continue, but Didier Deschamps is among the very good coaches," Platini said.



"It is the FFF president who chooses. I do not think we have bad players. Progress has been made. We have potential but it is our place in the quarter-finals. Anyway, Didier Deschamps does know the team."

Nasri apologises for foul-mouthed rant

France midfielder Samir Nasri on Tuesday issued an apology for insulting a journalist after his team were knocked out of the Euro 2012 quarter-finals by Spain last Saturday.



"Too many untruths circulate at the moment. May the fans, and the children in particular, know that I regret sincerely that my words may have shocked," he said on his Twitter feed.



Nasri, who was a second-half substitute in France's 2-0 defeat by world and European champions Spain, passed waiting reporters without saying a word after the match.



"I love the France team, I love football and I have deep respect for the fans. For the rest, it's a personal matter between me and some journalists. I will explain myself in due time," Nasri added.

Sweden shine light on French frailties

Below-par France qualified for the quarter-finals as Group D runners-up despite a superb Zlatan Ibrahimovic strike and a late Sebastian Larsson goal condemning them to defeat in Kiev.



The French will now face Spain in the last eight in Donetsk on Saturday, and manager Laurent Blanc will know that their performance must be at a much higher level to stand any chance against the defending champions.



Ibrahimovic's acrobatic volley from just inside the area, the striker swivelling to meet Larsson's cross, put already-eliminated Sweden ahead on 54 minutes in what will be a strong contender for goal of the tournament.



Lethargic France, grateful to keeper Hugo Lloris for some important saves to stop them falling further behind, came to life in the last 20 minutes but Sweden secured victory when Larsson followed up to score after substitute Samuel Holmen struck the crossbar.



It was Sweden’s first victory over the French since 1969 and France’s first defeat in 24 games.



“Sweden beat an average France team,” Blanc told French television. “They were better in all departments.”



Already eliminated, the Swedes had clearly decided they were not going down without a fight and they flew into challenges from the first whistle.



With the French through as long as Ukraine did not win, there was always the chance of a dull game but both sides played with commitment, pace and skill.



Sweden forward Ola Toivonen had a great chance to open the scoring when Philippe Mexes botched a defensive header and let him run free in the French half. Lloris came out quickly to force him wide and the Swedish striker’s effort grazed the outside of the post with the goal at his mercy.



France looked slick in possession and alarm bells rang every time Franck Ribery ran at the Swedish defence. Several times he ghosted down the left wing to create openings that were wasted by his team-mates.



Ribery, Hatem Ben Arfa, Karim Benzema and Samir Nasri all threatened with shots from distance but none troubled Andreas Isaksson unduly.



Christian Wilhelmsson replaced Emir Bajrami at the break and immediately set about making a nuisance of himself for the French defence.



Ibrahimovic brought the crowd to their feet in the 54th minute, finishing Larsson’s cross with a breathtaking scissor-kick.



Yann Mvila did his best to get the French back on level terms with two fine efforts from outside the box, the first saved by Isaksson and the second clearing the crossbar. Substitute Jeremy Menez could have equalised for France but his shot hit Isaksson's legs.



Sweden held on for victory but France will have a chance to regroup before facing the world champion Spaniards. Mexes will miss that clash after picking up a booking for a foul on Toivonen, his second of the tournament.

M'Vila keen on Arsenal switch

France international Yann M'Vila would be open to a move to the Premier League with Arsenal this summer.



M'Vila is currently on international duty with France at Euro 2012 but is predicted to leave current club Rennes before the start of the next Ligue 1 campaign.



The 21-year-old played all 38 league games for Rennes this season and has been a revelation since making his debut for the club in 2009.



He has attracted interest from a host of Premier League clubs including Manchester City and Chelsea, and has been linked with Inter Milan. But he says a transfer to Arsenal would suit him.



"I have heard Arsenal are interested in me," M'Vila told the Daily Star Sunday. "I like Arsenal and I like the Premier League.



"I don't know what is happening with the clubs, but yes, I would be interested in the Premier League and Arsenal."

Blanc hails Menez display

France coach Laurent Blanc praised the performance of Jeremy Menez in his side's 2-0 victory over Ukraine at Euro 2012 on Friday.



The Paris Saint-Germain winger was called up to the starting XI in place of Florent Malouda and produced a confident performance, bagging France's opener.



Les Bleus look in good shape to qualify from Group D, and Blanc was impressed with Menez, who he picked to exploit the space behind the Ukraine defence.



"We really studied the Ukrainian side very well and they do leave a lot of space in behind," he said.



"They like to play football, but there are imbalances at the back and there are spaces you can take advantage of.



"We've got quick players and Jeremy is one of those. We know he's a very good player and he's gaining confidence at international level. Once he gets there, he'll really be able to show us the full extent of his capabilities. It was a very encouraging display from him."



The win was France's first at a tournament in six years, and Blanc is hoping that the next victory will not be far away.



"We are very happy to win," Blanc said. "Six years is a long time to go without winning a tournament game so I hope that the next victory will not be another six away because I won't be here to talk to you because I will have been long fired before then."



Defender Philippe Mexes echoed the feelings of his manager, and saluted the efforts of the French forwards who put Ukraine under pressure.



"We created doubts thanks to our pressing," he told RMC. "The attackers were the first defenders.



"We stayed focused, it was essential and I think, with the rigour that we had this evening, the result was deserved."

Shevchenko a threat to France

A partisan home crowd isn't the only thing France has to keep quiet when it plays Ukraine at EURO 2012.



A resurgent Andriy Shevchenko has shrugged off a combination of back pain and criticism to steal the spotlight at the tournament, scoring two superb headers to give Ukraine a 2-1 win over Sweden in its opening Group D match.



The 35-year-old Shevchenko's time on the international stage is almost up because he will retire from international duty at the end of the tournament.



Yet a win for the co-host will guarantee it a spot in the quarter-finals and extend the striker's international career by at least one more match.



"We really have a good chance to make it out of this group," said Shevchenko, who has scored 48 goals for Ukraine.



"That's why we cannot fall victim to the euphoria."



Try telling that to the fervent fans who will turn the Donbass Arena in Donetsk into a blue-and-yellow wall of noise.



The fact that Shevchenko plays for Donetsk's arch-rival, Dynamo Kiev, will melt into insignificance, much the same way as the 1,000 French fans expected to turn up will hardly be noticed. They were barely audible against England.



"It's going to be hard against Ukraine. They will be very motivated and have the crowd on their side," France right-back Mathieu Debuchy said.



"But we were already prepared for that."



France had better be ready, because a loss will leave the team perilously close to a third straight first-round elimination at a major competition after early exits at the 2010 FIFA World Cup and EURO 2008.



Ukraine was the team tipped to struggle in Group D.



Reports before the tournament started were of a team in disarray, and coach Oleg Blokhin was heavily criticised for standing by the ageing Shevchenko, who scored 127 goals in 226 Serie A matches for AC Milan from 1999-2006 before his career started to fade.



"I was not surprised at all by his performance (against Sweden)," Blokhin said through a translator.



"I couldn't understand why he was written off before the tournament."



The early win hasn't fooled Shevchenko or any of his team-mates into dismissing the French threat.



Laurent Blanc's team is unbeaten in 22 matches and is far more technically assured than Sweden.



"The French team plays football differently and does more with the ball than the Swedish team," veteran Ukraine striker Andriy Voronin said.



"One chance could decide the game."

Abidal invited to attend group

France defender Eric Abidal is to attend the team's final Euro 2012 group match on Tuesday against Sweden if doctors permit him to travel two months after a liver transplant.



French football supremo Noel Le Great said on Wednesday that he has invited Abidal to come to Kiev on game day and to stay the night with the team in their hotel.



Abidal, 32, had a tumour removed from his liver last year and returned to playing action at his Spanish club Barcelona and for France. The April transplant of the organ donated by a cousin has sidelined him again but doctors believe that he may play again.



Abidal has 61 France caps highlighted by a runner-up finish at the 2006 World Cup. He last played for Les Bleus in February in a 2-1 friendly win in Germany.

Stricken M´Vila to travel with France

The French Football Federation (FFF) has confirmed Yann M'Vila will remain with the France squad for Euro 2012 despite an ankle injury.



The Stade Rennais midfielder picked up a knock in France's 2-0 friendly win over Serbia, and it was initially feared he could miss the European Championship due to the injury.



However, an MRI scan has revealed the 21-year-old's physical problems are less serious than previously thought, and he will not have to withdraw from the squad for Euro 2012.



"The MRI confirmed that it's a moderately serious sprain, without aggravating factors. It's running its course, there are no complications," an official statement from FFF read.



M'Vila will travel to Ukraine with the rest of the France squad on Wednesday, but he is unlikely to make a full recovery before their Group D opener against England on June 11.



After the England match, France take on tournament co-hosts Ukraine and then Sweden.

Gourcuff left out in France squad

Yoann Gourcuff and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa have been left out of France's squad for Euro 2012.



Coach Laurent Blanc made his final cut, ahead of his first major tournament in charge, with midfielder Gourcuff omitted just days after he played 75 minutes in the 3-2 friendly win over Iceland.



The Lyon midfielder, who has endured a season undermined by injury, left the pitch with France 2-1 behind before his replacement, Franck Ribery, levelled.



Defender Yanga-Mbiwa, who helped Montpellier to their first Ligue 1 title, also made way while striker Loic Remy had already been ruled out from the initial 26-man list due to injury.



Blanc included 12 France-based players in his squad, headed by skipper Hugo Lloris, while there are seven players from the Barclays Premier League including Manchester City's title winners Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri.



Squad: Carrasso (Bordeaux), Lloris (Lyon), Mandanda (Marseille); Clichy (Man City), Debuchy (Lille), Evra (Man Utd), Koscielny (Arsenal), Mexes (AC Milan), Rami (Valencia), Reveillere (Lyon); Cabaye (Newcastle), Diarra (Marseille), Malouda (Chelsea), Martin (Sochaux), Matuidi (Paris St Germain), M'vila (Rennes), Nasri (Man City); Ben Arfa (Newcastle), Benzema (Real Madrid), Giroud (Montpellier), Menez (Paris St Germain), Ribery (Bayern Munich), Valbuena (Marseille).

Breaking News from France

Papa B:


I don't know where this illustration originated from, but until I hear otherwise I'll credit iOwnTheWorld.

You'll never guess who's behind the foreclosure crisis about to crush the housing market again (hint: it begins with a Fannie and ends with a Mae)

The financial blogs have been atwitter for months over paperwork problems in the housing industry related to foreclosures. Around one-quarter of all recent home sales are foreclosures and now it appears many of those transactions -- and, worse, the mortgage-backed securities that undergird much of the economy -- may be at risk.

For example, the title insurance business -- which protects homeowners from the risk of faulty ownership paperwork -- may be next to implode.

Old Republic National Title Insurance, among the nation's largest title insurance companies, will no longer write new policies for homes foreclosed upon by J.P. Morgan Chase and Ally Financial's GMAC Mortgage unit –– a sign that concerns about faulty foreclosure paperwork could now endanger new sales of foreclosed homes.

Just when you think things can't get any worse, we discover that Democrats are thinking of implementing a foreclosure moratorium, which would literally freeze the entire housing market in its tracks.

A major securities lobbying group said on Monday that a U.S.-wide foreclosure moratorium would be "catastrophic" ...Investors who buy mortgage-backed securities free up money that can be used by lenders to make new loans...

The market for such securities nearly dried up during the height of the 2007-2009 financial crisis but the instruments have rallied since March 2009 as investors bet depressed prices more than account for losses that will come as homes backing bad loans are liquidated... Moody's Corp warned on Monday that most residential mortgage-backed securities could see losses increase because of delays in foreclosures.

Who's behind the effort to stop foreclosures, even though no one is disputing that the homes really should be foreclosed upon? I'll give you three guesses and all of them end with "Reid".

[Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid's latest ploy has been to demand a moratorium on home foreclosures because of a faux scandal about banks using robo-signers to sign massive numbers of foreclosure documents. Never mind that Nevada, a subprime ground-zero where thousands of Mr. Reid's constituents are defaulting on loans they never could afford, is not a state where the document snafu is even alleged to have occurred.

Did criminality occur? Absolutely -- and it should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Just how much fraud occurred during the foreclosure process? Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism describes the sort of bogus paperwork used by the foreclosure mills.

We’ve said for some time that document fabrication is widespread in foreclosures. The reason is that the note, which is the borrower IOU, is the critical instrument to establishing the right to foreclose in 45 states... The pooling and servicing agreement, which governs the creation of mortgage backed securities, called for the note to be endorsed (wet ink signatures) through the full chain of title...

Evidence is mounting that for cost reasons, starting in the 2004-2005 time frame, originators like Countrywide simply quit conveying the note. We are told this practice was widespread, probably endemic... We finally have concrete proof of how widespread document fabrication was... you can view the entire Lender Processing Services price sheet here, and here are the germane sections:

Not only are there prices up for creating, which means fabricating documents out of whole cloth, and look at the extent of the offerings. The collateral file is ALL the documents the trustee (or the custodian as an agent of the trustee) needs to have pursuant to its obligations under the pooling and servicing agreement on behalf of the mortgage backed security holder...

...This revelation touches every major servicer and RMBS trustee in the US... And this means document forgeries and fraud are not just a servicer problem or a borrower problem but a mortgage industry and ultimately a policy problem. These dishonest practices are so widespread that they raise serious questions about the residential mortgage backed securities market, the major trustees (such as JP Morgan, US Bank, Bank of New York) who repeatedly provided affirmations as required by the pooling and servicing agreement that all the tasks necessary for the trust to own the securitization assets had been completed, and the inattention of the various government bodies (in particular Fannie and Freddie) that are major clients of LPS.

Put simply, if there is a widespread issue -- and despite Yves' sensationalistic descriptions, there really is no proof of structural problems at this point -- but if there is, the Democrat payoff centers known as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are once again at the center of the storm.

James Howard Kunstler asks the proper questions even if the name of his blog can't be repeated in mixed company.

Did nobody, for instance at Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, review any of the paperwork fluttering in from places like Countrywide or Ditech and scores of other boiler rooms where mortgages were hatched like Peking ducklings? There was an awful lot of it, I'm sure, but aren't there a lot of seat-warmers at Fannie and Freddie who collect their salaries for the express purpose of reading mortgage documents? Was nobody the least bit suspicious about the mysterious flurry of "restaurant employees" and "lawn-care technicians" buying million-dollar condominiums with no money down at terms that would make a three-card monte dealer weep with laughter?

...And what of the numberless agencies, federal on down, starting with, say, the Office of Thrift Supervision, or the Comptroller of the Currency, or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, or the chairpersons of a dozen senate and house subcommittees on matters related to finance, or the various inspectors general from sea to shining sea or the attorneys general of all fifty states plus the US Department of Justice, or the countless fiduciary officers of the pension funds who tripped over each other buying all the tainted paper churned out like so much Purina Rat Chow - or, for Godsake, a lonely loan officer here or there with something resembling a conscience?

Yes, what indeed?

I'll say it for the umpteenth time: whenever the government gets involved with extra-constitutional pursuits, it screws them up. This is a failure of Democrat policies, not the free market. Agency after agency, bureaucracy after bureaucracy, politician after politician failed to unwind the disastrous policies of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, HUD and the other Statist programs hatched by Bill Clinton, Andrew Cuomo and Janet Reno to make homes "affordable".

Fannie and Freddie were raped and pillaged by connected Democrats like Franklin Raines, Jim Johnson, Jamie Gorelick, Tom Donilon, and many others. It was wracked by accounting scandals that mysteriously spawned generous bonuses for these executives. With the help of Democrats in Congress, it blocked eighteen separate attempts by the Bush administration to audit the entities and to implement traditional risk management controls.

Should the housing market collapse again, a large part of the blame must once again be assigned to the Democrat Party and its policy of wealth redistribution. The central planners' plans can't work, won't work and have never worked.

And you and I -- the beleaguered taxpayers -- are on the hook for their idiocy.

Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Maxine Waters and the rest of the social engineering geniuses who protected Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from regulatory oversight during the Democrat housing boom -- and their own outrageous and damning testimony can be seen here -- should be serving life sentences in Leavenworth.

Return Of The Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys

Dan from New York:

From those wonderful folks who brought you Ayatollah Khomeini...

'Strike on Iran nukes no longer viable'

Top French general says military intervention too risky.

So true, Monsieur Le General. When you fly a Mirage with a bottle of cheap red wine in one hand and a white flag in the other, the odds are stacked against you.

 

1940 Tour de France

Denny's friend Ron sent him this rare photo of the 1940 Tour de France.

Government Spending: Please Sit Down Before Reading This One

To put the Obama-Pelosi-Reid spending frenzy into historical perspective, I turn to this graph, culled from Grant's Interest Rate Observer, dated August 21, 2009:


No government in the history of the world has engaged in this kind of orgiastic spending spree. The results thus far?

Prime mortgages (those issued to borrowers with the highest qualifications) are defaulting at an unprecedented rate.

And, in every loan category, losses are demolishing the balance sheets of financial institutions.

Over the last two years, mutual fund assets under management have diminished by 20% annually.

On the February earnings call, James E. Rohr, PNC’s chairman and CEO, sounded as cheerful as Barack Obama used to before he took office. “We’ve been open for business throughout this period by adhering to our business model and leveraging our success at building long-term relationships with our clients, and by allocating capital based upon risk-adjusted returns, we’ve delivered significant value to the shareholders over time.”

So far as the dividend is concerned, there will be 85% less of it, PNC disclosed on Monday, suggesting it was the regulators’ idea. Up til then, the Pittsburgh-based super-regional had been on the offensive. At the end of December, it doubled its customer base by swallowing Cleveland’s National City Bank for $5.6 billion of stock and an odd lot of cash. The combined entity shows $291 billion in assets, $175 billion in loans and $193 billion in deposits. It has a 33% ownership stake in Black-
Rock, a capital-markets business and a custody business. Nonperformers stand at 74 basis points of total assets, and the allowance for bad loans covers 236% of known duds. National City was choking on bad loans, home-equity credits among others, and PNC was able to mark some of these assets as low as 42 cents on the dollar.

Come the turn, shareholders will thank CEO Rohr for his courage and foresight in buying low. Pending that happy event, however, they will have to live with the possibility that Rohr did not, in fact, buy low, but rather, like so many others on Wall Street, mistook a calamity for a business cycle. As the regulators count capital, PNC is amply covered, with a so-called Tier 1 ratio of capital (equity and preferred) to assets of 9.7%. But the market puts no more stock in the bank regulators these days than it does in the ratings agencies, and the market is focused on tangible common equity. Preferred doesn’t count. “Owing to the National City acquisition,” colleague Ian McCulley observes, “PNC has a tangible common equity ratio of just 2.9%. Asked on last month’s call if another capital raise is in the offing, management was noncommittal...

But don't worry, the vast amount of real world, executive experience among the likes of Frank, Obama, Pelosi, Rangel, Reid and Schumer are certain to lift us out of this mess.

Just trust 'em. They insist they know what they're doing.

Mon Dieu! It's unmitigated France-bashing!

Selected a choice few from Denny's large collection.