A modern fairy-tale.

Helga is the proprietor of a bar.

She realizes that virtually all of her customers are unemployed alcoholics and, as such, can no longer afford to patronize her bar.

To solve this problem, she comes up with a new marketing plan that allows her customers to drink now, but pay later.

Helga keeps track of the drinks consumed on a ledger (thereby granting the customers’ loans).

Word gets around about Helga’s “drink now, pay later” marketing strategy and, as a result, increasing numbers of customers flood into Helga’s bar.

Soon she has the largest sales volume for any bar in town.

By providing her customers freedom from immediate payment demands, Helga gets no resistance when, at regular intervals, she substantially increases her prices for wine and beer, the most consumed beverages.

Consequently, Helga’s gross sales volume increases massively.

A young and dynamic vice-president at the local bank recognizes that these customer debts constitute valuable future assets and increases Helga’s borrowing limit.

He sees no reason for any undue concern, since he has the debts of the unemployed alcoholics as collateral!!!

At the bank’s corporate headquarters, expert traders figure a way to make huge commissions, and transform these customer loans into DRINKBONDS.

These “securities” then are bundled and traded on international securities markets.

Naive investors don’t really understand that the securities being sold to them as “AA” “Secured Bonds” really are debts of unemployed alcoholics.

Nevertheless, the bond prices continuously climb!!!, and the securities soon become the hottest-selling items for some of the nation’s leading brokerage houses.

One day, even though the bond prices still are climbing, a risk manager at the original local bank decides that the time has come to demand payment on the debts incurred by the drinkers at Helga’s bar. He so informs Helga.

Helga then demands payment from her alcoholic patrons, but being unemployed alcoholics they cannot pay back their drinking debts.

Since Helga cannot fulfil her loan obligations she is forced into bankruptcy. The bar closes and Helga’s 11 employees lose their jobs.

Overnight, DRINKBOND prices drop by 90%. The collapsed bond asset value destroys the bank’s liquidity and prevents it from issuing new loans, thus freezing credit and economic activity in the community.

The suppliers of Helga’s bar had granted her generous payment extensions and had invested their firms’ pension funds in the BOND securities.

They find they are now faced with having to write off her bad debt and with losing over 90% of the presumed value of the bonds.

Her wine supplier also claims bankruptcy, closing the doors on a family business that had endured for three generations, her beer supplier is taken over by a competitor, who immediately closes the local plant and lays off 150 workers. Fortunately though, the bank, the brokerage houses and their respective executives are saved and bailed out by a multibillion dollar no-strings attached cash infusion from the government.

The funds required for this bailout are obtained by new taxes levied on employed, middle-class, non-drinkers who’ve never been in Helga’s bar.

Now do you understand?

Good morning world.

1. Pre-game pep talk before facing England – “Look what these bastards have done to Wales. They’ve taken our coal, our water, our steel. They buy our houses and they only live in them for a fortnight every 12 months. What have they given us? Absolutely nothing. We’ve been exploited, raped, controlled and punished by the English – and that’s who you are playing this afternoon.” Phil Bennett (1977)
2. The relationship between the Welsh and the English is based on trust and understanding. They don’t trust us and we don’t understand them. Dudley Wood (1986)
3. “Ray Gravell Eats Soft Centres.” Banner at Cardiff Arms Park (1970s)
4. You’ve got to get your first tackle in early, even if it’s late. Ray Gravell
5. We’ve lost seven of our last eight matches. Only team that we’ve beaten was Western Samoa. Good job we didn’t play the whole of Samoa. Gareth Davies (1989)
6. The Holy Writ of Gloucester Rugby Club demands: first, that the forwards shall win the ball; second, that the forwards shall keep the ball; and third, the backs shall buy the beer.
   Doug Ibbotson
7. Rugby is a wonderful show: dance, opera and, suddenly, the blood of a killing. Richard Burton
8. “Get your retaliaton in first” Willie John McBride / Carwyn James
9. History has shown that what’s happened previously – good or bad – means nothing come kick off.” Richie McCaw
10. “Rugby is a tough sport, but what motivates players to go into the battle with no fear? The answer is passion. Passion means not dying wondering how good you and the team could be.” Nick Farr-Jones

& Finally “Oh, that fellow Edwards!” Cliff Morgan

From the BBC magazine www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14475741 

While the looters had cleared out the stock of Currys, Claire’s Accessories and Phones4U, nearby Waterstone’s had been left “without a scratch”

Here’s Springsteen’s take on his old friend, a wonderful eulogy.

If you don’t appreciate The Boss, Clarence takes the helm at 4 minutes 18 seconds.

Before you read it take a quick look at where google takes you when asked about fleadh.

“I will record a small piece for RTE Radio to celebrate Bob D’s 70th birthday and I look forward to playing with him at The London Feis in Finsbury Park on June 18th. It’s great that this gig is back. It used to be called The London Fleadh but apparently some impresario has copyrighted the word “Fleadh” and the promoter was advised not to call the gig by its original name. I intend to call all my future London Gigs “Fleadhs”. We may have a bit of fun with the honchos of the greasy wheel. for anyone who might be curious about the words, the word “Fleadh” is taken to mean a collective event which encompasses all that might take place at a weekend Festival of music, dance, song and celebration. A “Feis” would describe a more formal event where competitions take place with poise and decorum. I suspect the London Feis will be a Fleadh in all but name….”

Or is this just an excuse for me to suggest you take a few minutes to enjoy the man.