Friday Round-up

Whee!! My bank failed this week (Washington Mutual). I don't think it means much as I'm not in danger of eclipsing the FDIC $100,000 mark. I'm barely in danger of eclipsing the $100 mark. Looks like Chase scooped up WaMu anyway. It's still scary stuff, though. Largest bank failure in US history. Is the shine off of unregulated and untethered capitalism yet? I hope so, but I have my doubts.

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There's no point in even making jokes even more:

Sarah Palin Unplugged

Early on, she was like the car wreck that you craned your neck to gape at, out of curiosity. After you got a better look, you discovered how gruesome the sight was with dismembered bodies and blood everywhere and you had to turn away to avoid vomiting. Her answers to Couric reminded me of Miss Teen South Carolina.


courtesy of Steve Bension & Arizona Republic

Note: I just noticed that JA also posted this video. Check out his blog for more discussion: It's Like an SNL Skit, Only Real

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Get Your War On now has animated shorts. Check this one out (just maybe not at work). The Atlas Shrugged and Thomas Friedman lines are classic:

"The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries." -- Winston Churchill

Nigerian ... err, I mean American e-mail scam

Now it all makes sense - as a country, we're just victims of an elaborate phishing scam (from Raw Story):

Dear American:

I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you.I am working with Mr. Phil Gram, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a Senator, you may know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s. This transactin is 100% safe.This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check. We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.Please reply with all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds.

Yours Faithfully

Minister of Treasury Paulson