“So far, Russia has failed to take any of the steps that I have mentioned. In fact, Russia’s support for the separatists and violations of Ukraine’s sovereignty has continued.”

So, President Obama is gonna up the sanctions. Get real tough, so to speak. I guess a few travel restrictions didn't really get their attention, huh? I'm sure that this new sanction will be super-duper, tough.

NEW SANCTION: "The new measures will severely restrict access to American debt markets for the targeted companies."

Ooooooh, snap! We won't loan some Russian companies some money.

That's the kind of tough sanction that's sure to cripple the Russian Bear, because nothing says you're serious like refusing to finance your adversary. Hey, you! Quit beating up on that small kid, or I'll...I'll refuse to loan you money.

Yup. I'm sure that this set of sanctions will work. Seriously, you guys.

Coastal Carolina's Head Football Coach Followed an Unconventional Path

Today at 1:00PM, my South Carolina Gamecocks host the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. However, the most interesting story of this game doesn't involve a player. It involves the head coach for Coastal Carolina. His name is Joe Mogila, and he's followed an unconventional path to end up coaching college football.

Coastal Carolina's Head Football Coach: Joe Moglia

After being a defensive coordinator for Dartmouth for two years (1981-1983) Moglia took a job with Merrill Lynch, and ended up working his way up through the ranks of the investment bank over the next seventeen years.

In 2001, Mogila left Merrill Lynch to be the CEO of Ameritrade (now TD Ameritrade). In his seven years at the head of Ameritrade, he grew the company through a series of record earnings and mergers and acquisitions. However, being a high-flying wall street banker isn't what he wanted to do.

He wanted to coach college football.

Accordingly, in 2008, he stepped down from the top post at TD Ameritrade and took an unpaid internship with the Nebraska Cornhuskers under head coach Bo Pelini. He then coached some semi pro teams for a few years, before taking the head coaching job with the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers.

In his first year leading the Chants, Moglia guided the team to an 8-5 record, and a share of the conference championship. This year, the former Wall Street CEO has the Chants sitting on a 10-1 record, already clinching a share of the conference championship yet again.

In discussing his approach to the game, Moglia is more analytical than emotional, comparing the game of football to chess.

We have to be able to compete at the national level. We’re not quite ready to do that, but we’re making good progress. I’ve never been a wild football fan, but I’ve always loved the strategy of the game. To me, it’s advanced chess with 22 people functioning at once with a lot at stake. The game has changed, but it’s still about having a well-executed plan. Hopefully, one day we’ll win a national championship.”

Now his team comes into Williams-Brice stadium for what is undoubtedly their biggest test of the year. We'll see how well Moglia can match moves with Spurrier across the chessboard.

SC Supreme Court Leaves Questions Unanswered

For all you lawgeeks, the Palmetto Financial Services Forum has a good breakdown of the Supreme Court's most recent decision regarding lenders who do not use lawyers to close mortgage loans.

Cyprus Banks to Stay Shut Until Thursday

The EU just decided to take money from everyone who had a savings account in Cyprus. Oh, you want to get your money out of the bank? Too bad, the banks will be closed until Thursday.

This is not going to end well. There are going to be some nervous folks in Greece, Spain, Italy, Ireland, and Portugal right now. Would you keep your money in a bank in one of those countries?

Archduke Franz-Ferdinand could not be reached for comment.

Mortgage Reform Settlement a Total Failure

"Because they have no idea how many borrowers were harmed, the regulators are spreading the cash payments over all 3.8 million borrowers — whether there was evidence of harm or not."

The government is giving out the settlement money randomly because they can't figure out who actually got harmed. Is Lillian McBride in charge of this as well?

End of the World Loan Acceleration Provision

Those hilarious bank lawyers; you gotta love 'em.

Too Big To Fail...

...but not too big to sue? The US Government is suing the banks. Let me make sure I understand this: We had to save the banks, but now we want our money back for saving them?

Maybe we should have just let them fail.