I'd like to go into a bank and get a loan...
and for collateral - i'd like to use an old dr pepper bottle, some duct tape, half a security alarm control, and a guitar pick. Under the new rules set by the SEC yesterday - I value said property at $1,000,000,000,000.... so i'd like all the money you have, in small bills please... i'm going to be converting it into something REAL like gold soon enough.

Want to know why we're in this mess? That's why.

Fuck these people. Maybe the only answer really is to nationalize the banks.

"The US will continue to be the world's largest economy for a while longer, but it will be the new rising powers that, once the crisis is over, buy up what remains intact in the wreckage of America's financial system."

Couldnt have said it better myself. Note - the fed has gone ahead and decided to burn through $650b without congressional approval, without the lockdowns on executive pay, and without the oversight and rule changes that were in the bailout proposal. So I guess now we're really relying on the goodness of men to get us through this... good luck and god speed.

Happy Monday

Here's one that boggles the mind... I dont think the onion could do better.

I guess the only thing that would improve McCain's chances would be a Palin sex tape. Paris Hilton - you have a future in politics - and I'm afraid.

sigh...

Watched the debate...
somehow my sense of wanting to dance through them was a little different...

McCain's talk about Musharraf taking over in Pakistan when it was a 'failed state' resulted in me beating my head into a table... and a long series of "NO NO NO NO" with jake via IM... I was hoping Obama would just stuff his ass on it - but he didnt. Maybe the press will do the job instead.

Watched this excerpt from CNN...

i dont know... seems like Jack needs more caramelldansen in his life... but less happy tree friends...

Explaining some of this mess

Ok - I've found myself in a position of having to explain some of this fiasco a couple of times now... and i think charlie rose's show does a great job with the basics, and this forbes piece is a great flashcard primer...

But i want to point you at credit default swaps.

Primer
when they made regulation of this space illegal back in 2000 - they created an environment where people could play shell games with subsidiaries without govt oversight - this thing was a giant fucking confidence game - and it was passed in the lame duck session of the congress at the end of Bill Clinton's term - when there was almost no accountability for anyone's actions.

Buffet was right - this was an economic weapon of mass destruction - and maybe we need to hold the people responsible accountable for their actions. A new wing at gitmo for Harvard MBAs seems in order...

coolest job evar

"the company’s new chief executive, Alan H. Fishman, was in midair, flying from New York to Seattle at the time the deal was finally brokered, according to people briefed on the situation. Mr. Fishman, who has been on the job for less than three weeks, is eligible for $11.6 million in cash severance and will get to keep his $7.5 million signing bonus"

the more i read of this situation... the more i think these people should pay... and the less likely it seems they will...

I know it's wrong to hope for some outcomes... but damn.

So McCain suspended his campaign...

he was supposed to be on Letterman

Letterman is a little upset by all this... and, well, just watch it



and Bush giving his 'RUN FOR YOUR LIVES' state of the union pitch was terrifying.

i swear, after hearing about Lehman raiding the British offices for cash for payoffs to it's NY execs i find myself more and more in the 'seize their assets and soak the rich' camp. maybe letting the entire festering mess that is banking fail catastrophically is the right answer...

gonna need me a shotgun though...

an hour of your life (at least watch the first 20 min) that you should watch...
charlie rose and some very serious heavies explaining the financial crisis

i think The Economist article is a bit 'let's not overreact' for me, but when i think of trying for a consensus rational approach to this mess i cant help but think that's probably about as good a change to the system as I can hope for.

Why is it that Stewart is the only one acting like a fucking journalist.

Jake - I think I have the answer for Chomp Chomp Chomp...

See - what's funny here is that this really is how this works. NPR ran a story on this last night where they explained that some banks would have assets listed at 60 cents on the dollar on their books - and others might have the same sorts of assets at 8 cents... now in theory the govt is going to use a 'reverse auction' - where the banks offer their assets and lower and lower prices until they stop and the fed buys. What keeps them from stopping at 99% of their estimated value by collusion? Why.... ummm... nothing... and they're making noises that it wont just be bad 'financial assets' but any assets.

Paulson was terrifying on sunday... though the 'what's a hedge fund' people on fox and friends and 'i want my free lunch crowd' on the view this morning was almost as bad. 'we need to have the government pay off all our mortgages' - what the hell? freaking morons... There's 2 trillion in bad mortgages out there... someone is going to pay for that...

We're going to have to do something - honestly - that or i need to buy a shotgun and some canned food.

Just making sure people are aware...
according to one popular cable news show "John McCain wants to harvest the organs from sleeping toddlers"

We're doomed.

John McCain needs moar enemies...
apparently they're to be found in Europe...

Jake suggested that ManU might need new shirts...

Hehehehehe

McCain's Victory 2008 chair Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, tells a St. Louis radio host that Palin would've been unqualified to lead HP--a slightly less demanding role than leading the free world. Today's exchange:

HOST: "Do you think she has the experience to run a major company like Hewlett Packard?"

FIORINA: "No, I don't. But that's not what she's running for."

No... Palin is not executive material - but this should come as no surprise. It's not why she was chosen.

Ok guys...
this one needs to get around - because it's stunning

"...well you say you're sure she has the experience, but again i'm just asking for an example - what experience, does she have, in the field of national security?"

think about the ways McCain can answer that one for a second...

his answer is at -4:15

"Energy. She knows MORE ABOUT ENERGY THAN PROBABLY ANYONE ELSE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. She is the governor of a state that 20% of America's energy supply comes from there, and we all know that energy is a critical and vital national security issue - we've got to stop sending 700 billion dollars of american money to countries that dont like us very much. She's very well versed on that issue - and she happens to also represent, be governor of a state that's RIGHT NEXT TO RUSSIA - she understands Russia and their newly aggressive behavior in the world which is also something that we have to be very concerned about."

i cant even dance to that...

55% of our 'foreign oil' is from Canada... damned canadians... we need to invade...

Dear world.
We're crazy.
Start looking for mine-shafts now.


EDIT: my follow up question to Palin during the debates...
'John McCain has called you the most knowledgeable person on energy in this country. With that in mind, when the US stopped research into the Polywell fusion reactor in 2005 they had reported a neutron rate of 109 per second running D-D fusion reactions at only 12.5 kV. Assuming superconductors are used for the coils, and thus the only significant energy loss channel being through electron losses proportional to the surface area, and if the density scales with the square of the field (constant beta conditions), and the maximum attainable magnetic field scales with the radius -- then the fusion power produced would scale with the seventh power of the radius, and the energy gain would scale with the fifth power. In theory this would enable a model only ten times larger to be useful as a fusion power plant. Does your administration believe in the construction of Polywell Fusion reactors to reduce our dependence on Canadian oil?'

Anniversary

With a straight face, tell me that 19 assholes didn't win.

You know...

I'm just not a big fan of this hurricane thing.

105mph winds on saturday? no thanks...

What's the worst that can happen?

Here's a story that needs to be told.

While Sara Palin was mayor of Wasilla and trying to raise money to build a sport stadium, she was cutting back on 'wasteful government spending' by having women who were victims of sexual assault PAY FOR THEIR OWN EVIDENCE COLLECTION KIT. At what point do you get to stand up in American politics and say 'this is a bad person' and not get flack because it's a woman. Her speech drew 40 million and polls show a 20 pt flip in white women from Obama to McCain as a result... if 2000 and 2004 didnt prove it already, 2008 is on track to show once again that this nation is a giant reeking cesspit of idiocy.

So when they turn on the LHC tomorrow and the world collapses into a quark star...
just a friendly note to all - thanks, it's been great - see you on the other side of the quantum tunnel...

EDIT: Booo... they aren't actually smashing atoms until Oct 21... ah well, 6 weeks to get to your bucket lists

It's nearly over.

One of the two Americas has found a nazi they can believe in. Add to that the voter purge and this thing is going exactly as i expected - and considering the turnaround there's almost a mandate.

Happy Monday

One from the 'must read' file

"“So Sambo beat the bitch!”

This is how Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin described Barack Obama’s win over Hillary Clinton to political colleagues in a restaurant a few days after Obama locked up the Democratic Party presidential nomination.

According to Lucille, the waitress serving her table at the time and who asked that her last name not be used, Gov. Palin was eating lunch with five or six people when the subject of the Democrat’s primary battle came up. The governor, seemingly not caring that people at nearby tables would likely hear her, uttered the slur and then laughed loudly as her meal mates joined in appreciatively."

just wow

I watched all 4.
Biden made me angry when he went off fearmongering.
Obama said the right things but seemed caught up in his own crowd.
Palin was a bitch - but there are a lot who'll love her for it.
McCain was steady and dull - exactly what most people want in a president.

The real issue here is that half this country doesnt make these decisions based on 'who's the better leader for the country' - or 'who's the most qualified'... i see folks on DU or TPM or KOS making logical arguments as if these people can be reasoned with. They cannot. When Jon Stewart ripped Rove a new asshole with the Keane/Palin comment conflict - the reality is that they dont make these decisions based on logic. Look - i'm very very very familiar with this sort of thinking - they make the decisions based on emotion and let that dictate what logic they feel they want to apply. It's a broken way to view the world... clinically... but it is what it is - and it leads to absolutely crazed policy agendas like 'we're going to go up against a Russia bent on imperial expansion' like we saw from McCain last night.

No matter who wins there's a real problem in this country in that half the people are bugfuck crazy. They may not elect Ann Coulter this year, but they'll be back in 4 to try again.

Bwahahahahaa..... Here's to Mr and Mrs Republican Strategist... turn off the mic next time you're going to say things like 'it's not going to work' and 'it's over'

Honestly, after hearing that jackass Lieberman last night...

My friends, before I conclude, I want to ask the indulgence of all of you here in this hall tonight, because I want to speak directly to my fellow Democrats and independents who are watching or listening tonight. I want to speak directly to you out there. I know many of you are angry and frustrated by our government and our politics today, and for good reason.

You may be thinking of voting for John McCain, but you're not sure yet. Some of you may never have voted for a Republican before and, frankly, in an ordinary election, you probably never would. But I want you to believe with me that this is no ordinary election -- (cheers, applause) -- because -- and it's no ordinary election because these are not ordinary times. And, trust me, John McCain is no ordinary candidate.

If anything is going to convince me to vote for Obama it's those 2 paragraphs right there...