Floyd Mayweather Burns Money In Atlanta Club…WOODS

Oh to be young, rich and full of free time.

Well, sort of young. Floyd Mayweather is going to be 35 in February.

And rich, we think he's rich, he says he's rich, but when the IRS has hounded you for back taxes for a few years, that might cause some to wonder.

As for free time, fighting once a year, or less, leaves Floyd Mayweather with time to do as he pleases.

And recently, the man formerly known as “Pretty Boy Floyd,” who lately has been going by “Money,” seemed quite pleased with himself in an unnamed Atlanta nightclub as he lit a $100 bill, held aloft by a man, afire. He then repeats the trick, with another bill, or bills, in video running on the TMZ.com website. (http://bit.ly/oXqoIF)

In certain circles, throwing money up in the air, and watching the poor slobs scramble to get a bill, is an amusing pastime.

Burning money is sometimes used for symbolic effect, to convey a distaste for the currency, and by extension the creators and backers of the paper. For Mayweather, we'd guess he just did it to show off, to send a message that he has so much of it, it is disposable to him. In this economic climate, a few days after we got news that the country added a beyond-aanemic 18,000 jobs in June, as the regular Joes wrestle with the knowledge that this economic downturn is entrenched, and the promised “green shoots” have withered on the vine, which hasn't gotten any nourishment from the trickle-down-trough, Floyd's move resonates in a bad way. And gets him onto TMZ, which he likes.

It's Floyd being Floyd, and it's me keeping him relevant.

Oh, by the way, looks to me like what he did is illegal, per Title 18 of the federal penal code:

“Whoever mutilates, cuts, defaces, disfigures, or perforates, or unites or cements together, or does any other thing to any bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt issued by any national banking association, or Federal Reserve bank, or the Federal Reserve System, with intent to render such bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt unfit to be reissued, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.”

Seems like a minor charge; considering the more serious ones he is facing, we're guessing he won't lose a minutes sleep.

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