Preparing for when the Bank of America implodes

Don't be concerned about the Bank of America - they are not in trouble by any measure.  But the government is finally doing what we all should do in order to be prepared for when an unthinkable disaster strikes:  the government is planning ahead.

 

Last week the Clearing House Association  - which is comprised of the largest banking institutions in the world - organized a simulation of a mega-bank collapse as part of an industry symposium in the state of New York.

 

The scenario was sculpted around the hypothetical implosion of a $2 trillion bank.  For ten months, the organization planned the fabricated catastrophe, attempting to see how members and government officials might employ the orderly liquidation authority established in the provisions of Title II of the Dodd-Frank Act.

 

The association organized 180 people to play various roles in the simulation of the fictitious bank's collapse. Some people played the executives who ran the failing bank while others were executives at competing banks. There also people playing the roles of regulators, investors, politicians and journalists reporting on the situation.

 

Although the results are still being analyzed, spokesmen are pleased that participants appeared to be able to address the different issues that arose.

 

I, myself, am just happy that the matter is being considered before the next market collapse.

 

If acorns are outlawed, only outlaws will have acorns

The anxious mother of two children with allergies has petitioned her hometown to have oak trees removed.

 

Donna Giustizia of the city of Vaughan in the province of Ontario appeared before the city council requesting that oak trees be cut down to prevent children from being poisoned by fallen acorns.

 

She was not specific as to the target of her animus.  Was she against the nasty Northern red oak?  The dastardly Dwarf chinquapin oak?  The brutish Bur oak?  The wily White oak? 

 

Giustizia has stated that to have a school "putting a sign on the door that says (that the environment is) nut-free", but then to have the school grounds covered with acorns gives parents "a false sense of security."  Giustizia has a child with food allergies who attends St. Stephen Catholic Elementary School, where the offending acorns lie. 

 

How concerned is Giustizia about allergies?   She is so concerned that she is chairman of the Saint Stephen School's Allergy Committee.  (Who knew there was such a thing?)

 

Vaughan is a good-sized town north of Toronto.  The population of people is about 290,000; the population of oak trees is unknown.

 

To allay the fears of those reading this article, medical experts have disputed the toxicity of acorns.  “For the most part, as long as they’re just handled and not ingested, there’s no scientific literature to suggest anyone has had a reaction” said Dr. Maria Asper, a pediatric allergist at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children.  (Out of curiosity, is there also a Hospital for Well Children?  Just asking.)  "You really have to eat them to have a reaction” agreed Dr. Paul Keith, an allergist at McMaster University.  

  

Giustizia is reported to have added, "I’m not a crazy mom."

 

One thing is certain:  the city of Vaughan has too many nuts.  Unfortunately, some of them are their citizens.