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In a basic and fundamental way, a nation's finances reflect its character.

And that character can be charted like a profit and loss statement.

That is the main conclusion that can be derived from the book "Boomerang" by Michael Lewis.

Lewis has previously written a book about Paul O'Neil, George W. Bush's Secretary of the Treasury.

For "Boomerang," he toured a group of nations with the most interesting stories to tell about the world's financial condition.

Pay as you go
The America in the 1950s was funding the Marshall Plan to help rebuild Europe while paying its World War II debts.

So when a Democratic Congress and a Republican president set out to build one of the world's great public works projects, the interstate highway system, it was pay-as-you go. Gas taxes were used to build highways in stages.

Our problems now, Lewis implies, are as much about our character as our finances.

In Greece, he wrote, "The banks didn't sink the country. The country sank the banks."

That is, avoiding taxes is so common in Greece that tax avoidance is part of the national character.

"The extent of the cheating — the amount of energy that went into it — was breathtaking," he wrote.

Tax collecting was treated like theater where actual collections almost never happened.

Lewis described what happens when cheating becomes ingrained. It's democracy run amok.

Freedom begets lawlessness.

Free speech begets abusiveness.

Progress turns into anarchy.

California's excess
Ireland was another example of a country that had long been poor not knowing how to handle prosperity. All the abuses in America were taken to a greater extreme in Ireland.

"Ireland's banks had not been managed to withstand doubt; they had been managed to exploit blind faith."

As for Germany, its citizens did not take the bait of unlimited debt.

"Given the chance to take something for nothing, the German people simply ignored the offer," Lewis noted, while serving as co-dependents for nations that did.

As for the United States, we know the story all too well.

California is the ultimate example of financial excess.

Pension funds turned into investing speculators, promising 8 percent average returns.

Money that used to be spent on education went to a prison building boom.

Last year, the average Californian had debts of $78,000 vs. income of $43,000.

"Everywhere you turned, the long-term future of the state was being sacrificed," he wrote.



 

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Wickliffe-Lake Bolac has claimed its first premiership points of the Mininera and District Football League season with a strong performance against Woorndoo-Mortlake.

The Magpies fielded one of its strongest sides for the year and led for the entire match to defeat the Tigers, 18.16 (124) to 6.4 (40).

Wickliffe-Lake Bolac captain Tom Gibson said the win is a good confidence booster for the 2011 runners-up.

"It sets us up for next week's game against Glenthompson and then Great Western after that, so it was an important win," he said.

The Magpies had plenty of fire power up forward, with Nic Willox leading the charge with six goals.

Ben Johnson was an important player in the midfield for the Magpies, as was coach and ruckman Brad Keilar, who also went forward and kicked two handy goals.

Gibson said the team didn't underestimate its opposition heading into the match.

"We thought it was a fairly even contest going in, we just ended up being too strong in the midfield," he said.


 

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As many as 5,000 people may pack an East County megachurch and its older Family Center April 22 when conservative commentator Glenn Beck visits for two afternoon talks.

The controversial former Fox News star will be joined at Skyline Church in Rancho San Diego by James Robison and Jay Richards, who co-wrote the book Indivisible: Restoring Faith, Family, And Freedom Before It's Too Late, the church said Wednesday.

“Glenn is coming to Skyline at the simple request of [lead pastor] Jim [Garlow],” said a spokesman for the church. “Due to an overwhelming response, Jim requested two speaking engagements and Glenn has agreed.”

Beck's topic will be “America's Return to Her Moral & Fiscal Foundations,” said Brian Williams, the spokesman.

Beck's goal will be “to equip people with the principles that matter—because the answer is not in a party or person (candidate) or policies but principle—principles that have ongoing value,” said the church.

The church said that when Richards finishes “you will know how to defend the biblical principles re: national issues (debt, taxation, immigration, defense, Social Security, life, marriage, the nature of government) without using a single Bible verse.”

No admission is being charged for the Beck appearances at 2 and 4 p.m. Sunday, April 22, but people are being asked to bring a nonperishable food item for the Skyline Church food bank.

Robison also is set to speak at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. services that day and Richards will appear at the church at 6 that night, the church said.

The church's new sanctuary accommodates 2,000, but others might be able to watch from the Family Center, which can be equipped with screens, the church said. About 2,000-2,500 people per engagement are expected.

Shuttle bus service will be offered from nearby Cuyamaca College.

According to Beck's website, his “comedy tour” of the nation begins April 20 in Phoenix and moves to San Diego's Copley Hall on April 21, where tickets range from $43 to $83, not counting fees.

“Glenn's hitting the road with his comedy tour, Unelectable 2,” says his website, which also lists a June 8 visit to Oklahoma City and a June 9 date in Charleston, SC. “It's your chance to see one of the most dynamic and unique live performers of his generation.

“If politicians said the kinds of things that Glenn does—you know, the truth—they'd never get into office. That's why Glenn Beck is unelectable—he can't help but tell it like it is.”

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Deccan Chargers captain Kumar Sangakkara kicked off ticket sales for the second edition of the Grand Prix of India when he was formally handed a replica for the October 28 race at the Buddh International Circuit here on Tuesday.

With the first edition of India's maiden Formula One GP a raging success, Jaypee Sports Internati-onal chief executive Sameer Gaur presented Kumar Sangakkara and team-mates Dale Steyn, J.P, Duminy, Shikhar Dhawan and Parthiv Patel with formal invitations to the event.

The five Chargers' men were also given a taste of a Formula One track — a first-time experience for them all — as they were driven around the 5.14 km track in a posse of Mercedes SUVs for three laps to give them a taste of life at high speed.

To give more motorsport enthusiasts a chance to watch an F1 race, JPSI has increased the seating capacity by almost 2,000 to a total of just under a hundred thousand seats from this season onwards.

And while the minimum ticket price for the three-day action-packed event has been pegged at Rs 3,500 for what used to be the Picnic and Natural stands, seats in the 20,000-plus seater main grand stand have been reduced by Rs 5,000 to Rs 30,000 per head, inclusive of a certain amount of catering.

Asked why ticket sales had started to early this time, Gaur said the idea was to give people more opportunity and time to plan their vacations around that time to India,

“Many people did not get an opportunity to buy tickets last year. That is why this time we have started sales early so that they can plan their vacations well in advance,” said Gaur.

He also promised better facilities at the venue. “We have taken notes of all the feedback we got last year and have worked on those. Facilities at BIC had been improved further and you can look forward to a far more entertaining F1 race this year.

We're also trying to bring some other international races to BIC, details of which will be announced soon. We are trying to have at least four events,” said Gaur.

He was however reticent on the anticipated arrival of World Superbike and MotoGP action in India.
“The window is just about five months, between October and February when we can host such events so we are looking to maximise events as well as earnings.

“But I assure you there will be news very soon on more events here,” Gaur added.
 

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I usually don't waste my breath talking about golf, but I did yesterday.

There's only one reason for it — Tiger Woods.

A friend and I talked for a few minutes about one of the greatest golfers of all time, who has won 14 major championships.

As the conversation went back and forth, he said, “I like Tiger more than I like golf.”

This view is shared by numerous other golf enthusiasts across the country. When Woods is on top of his game, he makes golf a viable sport. People actually watch.

Everyone agrees that Woods' win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational is a positive sign for the golf world. Everyone loves a juggernaut.

It's not a coincidence dominant teams in the 1990s like the Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bulls and New York Yankees marked the height of popularity for their respective sports as well.

Woods will win the Masters and continue his campaign for major No. 19, one more than Jack Nicklaus' 18. He hasn't won a Masters tournament since 2005, but he's due.

Winning the Masters is the only way for golf to regain any of the popularity it possessed when Woods was winning tournaments left and right.

After Woods took down Rocco Mediate with one good knee in an 18-hole playoff to win his 14th major in 2008, he was on top of the world. He won six major championships from 2005 to 2008.

At that point, Woods couldn't be stopped.

Then everything that could go wrong did go wrong for Woods. In the span of a year, he lost his wife, his game and numerous lucrative endorsement deals.

Woods hit the worst slump of his career. Injuries from the car accident and a nasty divorce left Woods out of sorts and off the golf course for most of 2009.

The 749 days between Woods' win at Bay Hill and his last tournament victory saw unknowns Martin Kaymer, Darren Clarke and last year's Masters' winner Charl Schwartzel all win major championships.

Golf fans in the United States don't want to see players from foreign countries come in and dominate majors, especially a national pastime like the Masters. They want to see their best American golfer, Woods, dominate the sport like he did only a few years ago.

Even the golfers playing against him say Woods getting back to his winning ways raises the competition within the sport.

No matter the sport, it's always good to have someone that leads the pack to cause the other competitors to raise their game. Woods is more than happy to wear a bullseye on his back.

After hearing his former allies, caddy Steve Williams and swing coach Hank Haney, betray him publicly, Woods has come out with vengeance on his mind.

Doubters and critics will only fuel his fire.

Woods is on a mission to prove he's still got a lot of golf left, despite being 36. After all, he's already ahead of Nicklaus' major winning pace.

If Woods does manage to win Sunday, he will make sponsors like Gatorade and Tag Heuer, who dropped him after his car accident and high-profile divorce, look like fools.

There's a reason Woods still made $90.5 million in 2010 despite not winning a tournament. He's one of the most identifiable athletes in the world.

Not only would a win at the Masters be a great win for Woods' comeback story, it will create a buzz around golf for the first time in a while.

Golf will once again become a sport with a legitimate superstar.

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CAIRO (Reuters) – The Arab League said on Thursday it was giving Syria 24 hours to sign a deal to accept Arab monitors under a plan to end an eight-month crackdown on protests, or risk sweeping economic sanctions.

The League, which usually shies away from punishing member states, took the decision at a ministerial meeting after Damascus pursued violent measures against protesters, even though it said it had accepted an Arab peace plan this month.

The pan-Arab body said in a statement it was informing the United Nations and urging it to take “necessary measures according to the U.N. charter to support the Arab League's effort to settle the complicated situation in Syria.”

One diplomat said this clause was not intended to provide the basis for foreign intervention, which Arabs have rejected.

A League call for a no-fly zone over Libya in March led to a U.N. resolution that paved the way for NATO air strikes.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said earlier Syria had agreed to sign a protocol to allow in monitors.

But a diplomatic source told Reuters that Syria had called League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby on Thursday morning to say it would wait to see what the ministers decided.

The League statement said Syria was given till Friday to sign the protocol on monitors, or an economic and social panel of ministers would draw up sanctions. Foreign ministers would review those measures at a meeting on Sunday, it said.

“There will be no ministerial meeting if Syria agrees to sign the protocol,” Egypt's envoy, Afifi Abdel Wahab, told reporters after the meeting in Cairo.

The Arab League had originally planned to send 500 observers, including military personnel and delegates from human rights and other civil society groups.

The League listed potential sanctions including suspending air flights, stopping dealings with the Syria's central bank, halting commercial trade with Syria's government, freezing government bank accounts and stopping all financial dealings.

It said it would avoid steps that hurt ordinary Syrians.

The statement said Damascus risked penalties “in the case that Syria does not sign the protocol … or that it later violates the commitments it entails and does not stop the killing or does not release detainees.”

FRENCH PROPOSAL

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe gave more details of his proposal for a “secured zone to protect civilians” in Syria and had said he would propose it to the Arab ministers in Cairo.

He said international monitors should be sent to protect civilians, with or without Assad's permission. He insisted the proposal fell short of a military intervention, but acknowledged that humanitarian convoys would need protection.

France's idea for international intervention moves away from a previously shared determination among world powers to avoid any direct entanglement in a core Middle Eastern country.

Arab diplomats said the French idea was not on the agenda at Thursday's meeting. One source said: “There is an open line between France and the Arab League but the proposal was not proposed for discussion in the meeting.”

Syria has turned tanks and troops on civilian protesters, as well as on armed insurgents challenging Assad's 11-year rule. The United Nations says more than 3 Vintage Dresses,500 people have been killed.

Syria was not represented at the Cairo meeting because the League has suspended it for not implementing the original peace plan.

The November 12 agreement to suspend Syria was backed by 18 of the League's 22 members. Lebanon, where Syria for many years had a military presence, and Yemen, battling its own uprising, opposed it. Iraq, whose Shi'ite-led government is wary of offending Syria's main ally Iran Party Dresses, abstained.

One source who attended Thursday's meeting said it went smoothly. “All states agreed to the statement and no single Arab state showed any reservations over this statement,” he said.

Arab ministers met in a Cairo suburb instead of the League's headquarters in Tahrir Square, occupied by protesters after days of clashes with police in nearby streets.

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The opening round of the 2012 UCI BMX Supercross World Cupseries got underway in Chula Vista, Calif. on Friday with Connor Fields (Henderson, Nev./Chase BMX) winning the men's time trial superfinal and Americans scoring four medals. Nearly 200 of the world's best BMX racers challenged the Beijing-replica track on the campus of the U.S. Olympic Training Center in the race against the clock with 31 Americans qualifying for tomorrow's main event.

With the start of an Olympic year the field was stacked with nearly 200 riders and all the major players in attendance. After one round of time trials the best 16 men and ladies qualified for the time trial superfinals. Fields posted the fastest time of the nearly 150 elite men in the opening time trial heat with Americans Corben Sharrah (Tucson, Ariz./GT Bicycles) and Mike Day (San Diego, Calif./GT Bicycles) right on his heels in second and third. The 19 year-old then went on to score a track-record 33.648 on his second run to knock 2008 Olympic gold medalist Maris Strombergs (LAT) out of the hot seat and win the time trial superfinal. Reigning USA Cycling National Champion Corben Sharrah (Tucson, Ariz./GT Bicycles) posted a 34.685 on his second run to put two Americans on the podium of the time trial superfinal.

“I grew up on this track,” explained Fields. “I started riding it in 2008 and so I know it like the back of my hand now. It was a good start to an important season, but you are only as good as your last race and there is another race tomorrow.”

Like Strombergs on the men's side, Australian Caroline Buchannan was the only rider standing between an American podium sweep in the time trial superfinal. The fourth-ranked rider in last year's UCI BMX Supercross World Cup standings, Buchannan posted a 36.073 in her superfinal run to edge American favorite Arielle Martin (Spanaway, Wash./Intense BMX) by less than 4/10ths of a second. Along with Martin, Amanda Carr (Punta Gorda, Fla./ Endeavor-Paul Williams) upped her game to record a 36.567 on her second run to secure the bronze in the superfinal.

“I always want to win, especially on my home track, but I won (the time trial) in 2010 and I was totally nervous the next day,” explained Martin. “Last year I took third in the time trial and then won the race, so I'll take the difference. It was a good lap in the superfinal. I could have pushed it a little harder in that last turn. I think that is where Caroline got me, but all-in-all I have to be happy. I made podium, got my points and I'm moving forward.”

Fields and Martin will be looking to repeat their gold medal-winning performances in last fall's final 2011 world cup in tomorrow's main event. In total, 21 American men were among the 64 who qualified for Saturday's 1/8 finals and 10 American ladies among the 32 women for the quarterfinals. Tomorrow they will race against each other in heats of eight riders over three motos. The best four of each heat will qualify for the next round through to quarterfinals and finals.

The winners of the opening round of this year's BMX Supercross World Cup will be decided tomorrow during this first stop of the 2012 UCI BMX Supercross World Cup. Supercross racing begins at 2:30 p.m. PT and the action can be viewed live from approximately 2:30 – 6 p.m. PT at www.bmxlive.tv. Watch a wrap-up of all the action on the Universal Sports Network at 4 p.m. ET on April 16. *Time is subject to change.