Economy

Here is a good 4 minute summary of what the bailout hopes to accomplish.

As with every huge financial endeavor involving public markets, its largely a psychological gambit. There is no way a government could save all its banks. What they are basically doing is buying the debts (like your home mortgage)which are most likely to not get paid back from the banks in the worst shape. This makes the bank look stronger financially so that other banks are willing to led it money. This is necessary because no bank has enough money at any one time, they are all tied together with short-term loans (often as short as overnight); so if a bank can't take out more loans it'll default on previous loans its taken which are due. The bank then goes bankrupt.
So if money isn't in the banks, where is it?
[taps temple with concentrating look on face]

Detour

The work in Athens is almost completed.  I have met a few awesome rockers and we've had good times.  Also I met a fellow into Green Energy venture capital (for lack of a better paraphrase) and we have talked extensively about some synergistic ideas.  This alwasy gets me in a mood of talking ownership percentages and ROIs.  

With the economy becoming real and not dreamt up by the Fed's last fifty years of creating money out of nothing and lending it to banks it could be the perfect time to be invigorating companies, helping them bloom and working without Wall Street ('s banks).  

(PS don't worry about China owning the US Treasury, they're selling their children to Marlboro they won't last long)