Friday, January 23, 2009

Lazy afternoon links to chew on... 1.23.09

Economics:
Nationalization Linkfest. Another huge collection of links on the crisis. The last one about hanging the bankers sounds about right.

Two nations, one system: Chimerica. Related: after years of Paulson/Bush turning the "strong dollar policy" of the US into a joke, could Geithner turn things around? Obama's Treasury Secretary discusses the undervalued Yuan.

Huge milestone: Toyota passes GM for highest US sales. The General has been the largest US car maker for 80+ years. Not anymore. Don't get too comfy, though, Toyota. Detroit meanwhile is getting very depressing. Look at the last thing Jalopnik wrote about the Auto Show this year.

Spain loses AAA credit rating. Lots of other discussion on the downgrading of sovereign debt. This is a VERY tricky subject for an entity like S&P to get involved in. They should tread carefully, after their earlier boondoggles with mortgage backed securities. The blowback/ripple effects on this stuff is huge.

Money-laundering: the third largest global enterprise (after Auto industry and Financial industry). And then there are questions about what category much of the financial industry should fit in... Related: "Entire economy Afghanistan is nothing but crime."

Culture:
xkcd sums up dating.

Freaked-out reactionary racists.

"I had to drop out of college because my laptop came with Ubuntu on it. She's blonde.

The Bailout Game! Bernanke gets chased by an angry mob. Not a fully developed game, but interesting.

The Onion from when Bush took office. Prophetic?

Weird:
Dwarf glues Penis to Hoover. Ouch. Great headline, though.

Weapons of Mass Destruction found in Iran... by the Ancient Romans. Chemical weapons used by the Persians on the Romans. First use of WMD's?

"Quiverfull" women. VERY disturbing.

Ad placement from hell during a Battlestar broadcast.

Politics:
Unemployment lines full of Republican lackeys. Money quote: "There is nothing as desperate as a defeated politician looking for a job."

Everyone laughs at Tennessee Republicans:

More at Wonkette. Democrats with real balls.

"This land," he said, "was taken by the point of a gun -- and we are buying it back with American dollars." Political and legal maneuverings of one tribe. Imagine what the Houma's locally might do if they had recognition as a tribe, organization, and proper mineral (OIL) rights...

America closes secret torture camps! Yipee! Wait. Why have we fallen so far that we have to celebrate that?

Open Letter to Congress: Collectively you're a bunch of irresponsible opportunistic whiny ether-sniffing assface sissypants bedwetters until such time that you prove through your deeds that you're not.

One last link: hope for the future.

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