Fergie's financial meltdown leads to voluntary bankruptcy recommendation

Sarah Ferguson, commonly known as 'Fergie' and officially as the Duchess of York, has been advised to file for voluntary bankruptcy as her financial troubles culminate to something that resembles a small personal financial meltdown.

An embarrassing video released to a British tabloid several months ago illustrated the extent to which the Duchess has sunk with regard to her financial situation. The clip shows her arranging a deal with a journalist to meet her former husband Prince Andrew - from whom she gets her royal title.

Following this incident, Ferguson publicly admitted her financial troubles after many years of speculation in the press.

According to the Sunday Telegraph, the Duchess' debts have risen to around £5 million ($10.9  million). The newspaper also reported that one known advisor working for Buckingham Palace has advised Ferguson to file for voluntary bankruptcy. 


David Cameron, the recently elected British Prime Minister, has reportedly been briefed on the issue. It was noted in the report that no member of the royal family has ever been declared bankrupt before. 

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Wikileaks only spends 10% of all the money it takes

It has been revealed that 'secret-spilling' website WikiLeaks only spends 10% of its budget - which is made up of donations by individuals who use and support the site.

Perhaps not exactly in keeping with the group's mission of supporting transparency within society and the organizations that operate within it, both the website and its founder, Julian Assange, have been reluctant to comment with regard to the economics of the website.

According to Wired:

Wikileaks has received 400,000 euros (U.S. $500,000) through PayPal or bank money transfers since late December, and spent only 30,000 euros (U.S. $38,000) from that funding, says Hendrik Fulda, vice president of the Berlin-based Wau Holland Foundation.

The money has gone to pay the travel expenses of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and spokesman Daniel Schmitt, as well as to cover the costs of computer hardware, such as servers, and leasing data lines, says Fulda. Wikileaks does not currently pay a salary to Assange or other volunteers from this funding, though there have been discussions about doing so in the future, Fulda adds. The details have not yet been worked out.

“If you are drawing from volunteers who are basically doing stuff for free and if you start paying money, the question is to whom, and to whom not, do you pay, and how much?” Fulda said. “It’s almost a moral question: How much money do you pay?”

[Via Wired Magazine/Threat Level]

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Although the Catholic Church may be powerful, it's certainly not profitable

The Vatican has posted a financial loss of 5.2 million dollars (4.1 million euros). Vatican Radio, however, said that the organization would have posted a profit, had it not been forced to absorb losses from 2008.

Don't be too harsh on them though - not everybody has the spiritual money-making powers of Brian Tamaki. [Breitbart]

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