Refco

Have you heard that a company larger than Delta Airlines recently filed for bankruptcy protection? I’m not surprised. It is receiving surprisingly little coverage for as momentous an event as it is. Read about it here.

The bankruptcy filing came a week after Phillip R. Bennett, Refco's president and chief executive, was arrested and charged with hiding $430 million in debt owed to Refco in a separate company he controlled.

And this:

With the hearing pending, Refco made a new bankruptcy filing showing total assets of $16.5 billion through the end of August -- a sharp reduction from the $48.8 billion as of Feb. 28 listed in its initial petition filed on Oct. 17.

Liabilities were also cut to $16.8 billion in the new filing from $48.6 billion listed earlier in the week.

$32 Billion, gone….ppoooff…in 8 months. This is astounding. This is worse than Enron and Worldcom combined. I cannot wait to see how this unfolds. And, then, there is this simply priceless position taken by Refco’s accounting firm Grant Thornton.

"We anticipate the legal costs will be expensive, as they are in every case," he said. "But Grant Thornton is very sound financially and we anticipate any legal costs will be absorbed by the firm. We have insurance if needed."

Insurance? I am pretty sure Arthur Andersen had insurance too.

Avian Flu

Enough already, anyone with a brain got this story onwe of the first few times the MSM tried pushing it on us. Chickens get the flu and some know-it-alls in the media are certain that people are going to get the same flu and it will kill us all.

For a group that collectively would shun the rapture-ists into oblivion, it looks like they have found their own rapture ready to go. Just remember, we are powerless over the almighy bird flu and when it comes to take us be sure to cluck properly if you want to enjoy eternal bliss.