Hugo Chavez: Comedian

However unfair and unfitting it may be, this is still funny.

Kiss With A Fist!

Mmm... domestic violence in the morning.

http://www.myspace.com/florenceandthemachinemusic

Sarah Palin: Embarrassment

Sherry and I were having a discussion late last week about the upcoming election. The conversation focused on the opinion that it will be an embarrassment to the nation of Palin is elected. The little sidewalk chat we were having generally revolved around how mendacious and sinister a pick for the VP / P she is and how her selection for this role, especially if elected, is indicative of so much that is wrong with the contemporary US within which we live. Then, what do you know, one of my favorite reporters / writers / journalists goes and writes nearly everything I was thinking far better than I was able to articulate the concept myself:

In the latest (Oct. 2) issue of Rolling Stone, on sale now but not yet available online, writer Matt Taibbi calls out the American electorate in a major new piece called 'The Lies of Sarah Palin.' A snippet:

What $1 Trillion Is

If you're having difficulty conceptualizing what $1 Trillion is and what it means to the country, consider this post:

It's [$1 trillion] 19% more than NASA's budget for the entire half century the space agency has been in existence.

That's right, according to this post, and if it is correct (I'm not sure how to verify such a claim) the amount the administration is currently seeking for it's most recent leg of spending is more than the amount of money required to get men to the moon multiple times, build the US contribution to the ISS, send multiple robots to Mars, build and service Hubble, develop hyperjets, and do all of the other amazing (and less than amazing) things NASA has done over its entire existence.

I think that's perspective. Don't let the big numbers confuse or obfuscate what this very real money can actually do. And to think that Hank Paulson originally wanted control and discretion over 19% more money than NASA's budget for its entire existence without being "reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency?" Seriously?

We should all, most definitely have a problem with this. From the left, from the right, I don't see how anyone other than the bankers and Paulson could possibly be satisfied with such a plan.

Where The Money Has Gone

With many of you, between January and April of this year, there was an ongoing discussion regarding, "Where will the money go?." The answer, appears to be nowhere. Losses have been generated and write-downs taken and money printed by the government to fill in gaps.

We, however, know that this is not the only place money has gone. As discussed earlier this year, a lot of the money has gone to the European banks. The United States no longer has investment banks, and the strongly regulated depository institutions with investment banking arms based in Europe have done well. From Bloomberg:

``Those are definitely winners of the financial crisis,'' said Lutz Roehmeyer, who helps manage about $21 billion at Landesbank Berlin Investment, including shares of BNP, Barclays and Deutsche Bank.

Shares of the three European banks outperformed their U.S. competitors during the turmoil last week.

Barclays has risen 13 percent, BNP is up 6.2 percent and Deutsche Bank is little changed since Sept. 12, the last trading day before Lehman's bankruptcy. By comparison, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, both based in New York, dropped 20 percent and 18 percent, respectively.

So, the question remains, where will money go from here?

The War On Christmas Starts Earlier and Earlier

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Taking A Stand

One of the 799 companies listed on the financial securities short selling ban list, a company named Diamond Hill, has opted out of the protection offered.