STP

So, ideology transcends genetics. But society or segments thereof can serve as a culture medium for radicalization and society is commonly closely allied with genetics.

I don't believe the Republicans have a monopoly on dirty tricks or hypocrisy. I just get the feeling that we're arguing about a lot of ultimately meaningless things re: who's the better party or who's the best candidate to handle the next four years. The gravity of this economic thing is mightier than either party could influence greatly. However, the most salient development I see is that the next President could choose as many as three Supreme Court justices. But politics and power will remain the same. People will fall.

This is getting to resemble the emotional act of rooting for your favorite sports team. Sure, you can rationalize it but do you really know what outcome to expect given that both candidates have shown a tendency to change their positions in favor of political expediency. Not that I see altering your beliefs as a bad thing but for what reasons? The way I see it, there's a lot of uncertainty today, economically as evidenced by the stock market gyrations and despite signs to the contrary the political arena is also uncertain. Everything could change in an instant. Whomever wins I would hope that he would have the wisdom and foresight to guide the nation through crisis, a situation that appears to be deflationary but could transition into inflation. In any event, it appears we are in recession. Reagan once said, "Recession is when a neighbour loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours." Let's hope it doesn't turn into a depression.

It Is Here! The Banned SNL Skit Cannot Hide

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Access to credit is key to the survival of maritime trade and insiders now say the supply is being severely restricted. More than 90% of the world's trade by volume goes by ship. Grain piles up in ports What do you think will be the fallout, political or otherwise, of this development? And FYI, on an unrelated note: If the government won't protect you, then you have to take responsibility for your own self-defense and that of your family.

The Bush Administration and many banks clung to what is known as "preemption." It is a legal doctrine that can be invoked in court and at the rulemaking table to assert that, when federal and state authority over business conflict, the feds prevail — even if it means little or no regulation. States warned about impending mortgage crisis--BusinessWeek

Good friends, family, neighbors, climbing buddies, etc. are golden.

The Japanese stock market closed today at less than a quarter of its value from 1989. One of the problems there was hyperinflated property prices and bad mortgages used to pay them. Hmmm. As details of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's plan to revive the U.S. financial system by pumping as much as $700 billion into the markets emerged Sept. 19, bond investor Michael Cheah was reminded of Japan. When that country's real estate bubble burst, leaving a trail of bad real estate loans, officials flooded the economy with cash only to see banks hoard the money instead of lending it out. The result has been a series of recessions and persistent deflation for more than a decade. -- Treasuries Prove Irresistible as Deflation Bet Trumps Paulson (Bloomberg) Money-Market Rates Climb as Banks Hoard Cash, Crisis Deepens Another Reason for Cash Hoarding: Big Credit Default Swaps Market Test Imminent ...Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac auctions on October 6. Then, Lehman is settled on October 10, and Washington Mutual is scheduled for October 23. Settlement day approaches for derivatives Credit markets are based on trust and when there is no trust, markets can freeze up . . . . Imagine yourself at the drive-thru ordering a Big Mac. At one window you order and pay, at the other – 20 feet ahead – you pick up your lunch. What if you thought that after paying at the first window, your 1000 calorie sandwich might not be waiting for you a few seconds later. You might not pay; business as usual might not take place. That is what is happening in the credit markets. They are frozen in “McFear.” After the failure of Lehman Brothers – an investment bank which took orders at one window, and promised to pay at another for trillions of dollars of those CDS, swaps, and other derivative “sandwiches” – institutional investors said that they’d prefer to stay at home and have peanut butter instead of risking their money ordering a Big Mac. And so their money goes into that figurative mattress instead of the register at McDonald’s, people are laid off, profits go down, bank loans become less available, our economic center cannot hold. Nothing to Fear but McFear Itself

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That's not King Crimson but how about some this Monday? [video:youtube]zHkisNZH77Y

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It might not matter which party wins. Next: The Mother Of All Bank Runs? The Dollar is Doomed

Do ya mean "shining city on a hill"? Because if you do, JFK invoked that image before Reagan. Besides, aren't Obama/Biden more representative of those ideals mentioned in JFK's speech?

I always thought former Senator Slade Gorton was the original Skeletor.

Shit yeah, check out that funny lookin' cap!

"The last official act of a government to loot a nation." [video:youtube]wK2QjMydQpU If unemployment soars, what'll happen to tax revenues? And not just at the Federal level but we're seeing it already at the local level with decline of property values (and thus property taxes)along with losses of sales tax revenue. Are we just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic? Under Strain, Cities Are Cutting Back Projects Subprime Finds New Victim as Muni Defaults Triple: Joe Mysak Municipal Bond Deals Squeezed By Credit Crisis California warns it may need $7B loan

GE Capital credit-default swaps soar

Buffett: My fix for the economy "If we don't get it solved next week," added Buffett, "I may go back to delivering papers." Riiiight, Mr. Buffett. The voice of Mr. Reason.

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Oh shit, Palin's really a pagan and now she's the personification of the Goddess Reason? Check out that Phrygian cap on Columbia. Lady Liberty and Columbia are synonymous. Maybe Palin's really a Jacobin in disguise.

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Hey, don't misunderestimate her. It doesn't take much to be the Decider. [video:youtube]e7miLffG_Dg