A category 5 blamestorm

As the monster continued to wreak havok on both Main and Wall Street, everyone was looking for someone to blame in the wake of the failure to pass the $700 billion bailout package. First up, the leadership in the House is being blamed, partly for a lack of leadership and partly for not taking the fiscal crisis seriously enough. Next up is the media. Did the media in general, and the business media in particular, drop the ball and fail to clearly explain both the mess and the bailout bill that was meant to clean it up? But the voters have made their own decision on whom to blame: the GOP and the Gentleman from Arizona (and the horse he rode into Washington on). It seems his scheme to play the hero has backfired on his campaign. It seems the only one to gotten in right was faux pundit Stephen Colbert, having offered a pitch perfect description of Cthulunomics.

Oops! Bailout fall down go kaboom.

The House choked on the bailout bill, with the holdouts being Republicans. The markets collectively choked with the Dow crashing 700 points before bobbing up to a 500 point downturn. And King George's appeal fell on deaf ears in the House, though it is expected to pass the Senate. The House leadership was scrambling for a second vote, but even if they succeed, a vote on the bailout bill in the Senate will be held up by the Jewish High Holy Days. And the problem was even more widespread as European banks scrambled to bailout banks that caught the contagion. So the question now remains is who will administer the necessary Heimlich maneuver to save the economy from choking on its own bile?

In case you missed it

The pirates of Somalia did not know who they were dealing with: CNN

Sinonauts steppin out: NYTimes

And the new prime number is ...: BBC

A bird in the hand is worth 200 in the bag: Reuters

Wasting away again in bailoutville

The oracle has spoken. Warren Buffett has declared that the nation could face it's greatest financial meltdown in all of history if it doesn't pull it together and hammer out a bailout. Apparently the man worth $50 billion (all in Euros) was consulted on the phone by Senate supplicants. But the economy was unravelled by the intricacies of derivatives which spread the housing market meltdown across the financial markets like the black plague. But Congressional leaders swear they've arrived at a compromise and that their peeps were going to pull an all-nighter to post the proposed stone tablets comprising the bailout plan in the series of tubes that is the Internets for all to look upon and despair.

Never rains but it pours

While the monster continued to eat the economy, the Gentleman from Arizona was seeking a stay of his own electoral execution, the U.S. government rushed head first to bring the nation closer to insolvency, U.S. Naval personnel were engaging in target practice in the newly renovated Somali firing range, North Korea has helpfully decided to bar inspectors, removed seals and shut off cameras at its main nuclear plant. This newest spat couldn't come at a worse time for the GOP. King George is set to try to convince the American people (those who still have homes, televisions and the time to watch them) this evening that this bailout plan is in their best interest, even as Captain Hope's poll numbers begin to advance both beyond McCain's and beyond the margin of error. The net result is likely to be that the monster presently squishing the economy under foot is likely going to eat the GOP's presidential hopes.

Into the fire

You try going before Congress, hat in hand, and ask for a $700 billion bailout. Especially when that money is for a disaster you had a hand in making. That was what befell U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and Federal Reserve chairman, Ben S. Bernanke as they felt the wrath of the Senate. Senators don't dispute the necessity. They did blast Team Bush for their adhocery, the plan's details (or lack thereof) and who should get the blame. The fact that the wrath is bipartisan in an election year makes it all the more extraordinary. The razzle-dazzle dynamic duo gets to face the House tomorrow. The voters are beginning to see things in ever more dour tones which seems to be helping Barack obama. So while Paulson claims to share the senators' frustration, it may only be a matter of time before he shares the taxpayers' pain.

Less than meets the eye

The gala opening will still take place on Oct. 21, but everyone's favorite, fun time supercollider will be reduced to the world's most expensive paperweight. A 30 ton transformer dashed the hopes for scientists manning the Large Hadron Collider to start low level end of the world experiments this month. Everyone can breathe a little easier for a little while longer.

Debates that may actually matter

On deck for this coming Friday it'll be in this corner, the Gentleman from Arizona and in this corner, it's Captain Hope. We'll be presented with two different visions: Bush 3.0 vs the World of Tomorrow. With the race so close, it's hard to know which way this will go. Stay tuned.

Crouching leaders, rampaging dragon

King George, the Decider, is canceling a trip to 'Bama to hammer out a plan for slaying the dragon currently trampling the economy underfoot. Not that it would normally take a crisis to cancel a trip to Alabama, mind you, but it also resulted in the canceling of a trip to Florida, which does require a crisis, at least in an election year. In the meantime, Congress is suffering from ED -- economic dysfunction -- and is sending Barney Frank to get in the executive branch's grill over where it should have sole economic war powers. And in the meantime, the Fed continues to open the dikes and flood the market downstream with greenbacks. But Michael Bloomberg is warning that the fiscal retention lake may dry up and create yet another crisis downstream. Chances are, by then King George will have made his last trip to Crawford and someone else will be the Decider.

And another thing ...

Just another day in Trafalgar Square: Jam

New real estate market just 500 light years away: NatGeo

Artemis Fowl meets Arthur Dent: Reuters

Abandon your posts! Flee, flee for your lives!

The Dow continues to plunge down the rabbit hole, losing 333 points in morning trading. AIG will get the government bailout that Lehman Brothers didn't get. In the meantime, Barkley's is picking at the helpless body of Lehman Brothers like a vulture. There are some good suggestions about how to fix this mess for the future. Unfortunately that body responsible for fixing this mess is Congress. Like a bunch of Wagnerian sopranos, they're preparing to think about staging a dramatic entrance (translation: we're not doing anything of substance in a presidential election season that might give our opposition an advantage) into this mess. They are also considering legislation to execute a Chesire cat.

It was a financial market adjustment

To call the current bailouts, the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, the purchase of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America, and the lifeline thrown to AIG an adjustment "in our financial markets" seems rather akin to the Black Knight in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" referring to his injuries as "just a flesh wound." In response, the market proceeded to eat itself, losing 500 points in trading Monday. And while Team Bush opted not to bail out Lehman Brothers, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has not ruled out possible future bailouts. Which of course begs the questions "How many more of these will we have to bailout? And who is next?"

Just another manic Monday

Economic Cloverfield continues to unfold on Wall Street. The monster, having ravaged Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac along with Bear Stearns has now claimed Lehman Brothers, which filed for bankruptcy. Merrill Lynch has agreed to be sold to Bank of America. AIG could be next, with it's stock tumbling 52 percent. In morning trading the stock markets tanked. The Dow was down 300 points, Nasdaq was down 42 and the S&P 500 tumbled 32 points. The damage is wide spread with stock markets plunging in Paris, Asia and the UK. Only the NIkkei index in Tokyo was up. The European banks attempted to calm things by pumping up the money market. The Euro shot up to $1.4479. The dollar dropped against the Japanese yen. So now, as the monster comes home to roost on Wall Street, the question on everyone's mind is when will this end.

Pakistan: Not in our backyard!

The Pakistanis are not happy campers. Pakistan's top general is declaring his intention of defending the country's borders "at all cost." Pakistan's government of the hour is now stuck with the conundrum of what to do since it wasn't told beforehand of the loosened rules of engagement. This comes in the wake of the Sept. 4 attack by the coalition forces in South Waziristan and allegations that Team Bush signed off on a secret plan authorizing attacks by special forces against the enemy hanging out in Pakistan's tribal region. The new orders seem to be driven by a mistrust of Pakistan's security apparatus, though the revelations may have forced the Pakistanis to kick it up a notch. Admiral Mike Mullen has probably provided the most honest appraisal of the war in Afghanistan, which will almost certainly get him sacked. He has noted that Afghanistan and Pakistan are linked in the current violence and that Afghanistan's problems run deep and wide. "We can't kill our way to victory."

MMS Chicks gone wild

No wonder they were chanting "drill, baby, drill" at the RNC convention. In a scandal worthy of the tradition of Warren G. Harding, it seems the Minerals Management Service became all about sex, drugs and gifts for oil deals. The Interior Department's inspector general released a report showing misconduct over a period of four years. Earl E. Devaney described matters at the agency succinctly as “a culture of ethical failure.” Reports submitted to Congress show Big Oil firms providing MMS employees with alcohol-, cocaine- and marijuana-filled parties, along with other, less interesting outings. As the agency is one of the government's biggest cash cows, it's no wonder they're chanting "drill, baby, drill."

Remember, remember the eleventh of September

Today marks the seventh anniversary of the terrorist attacks. The irony is that while a new CNN poll shows that only one in 10 Americans think terrorism is an issue now, Team Bush doesn't get much credit for the present feeling of security. The memorials to those who died are also moving sluggishly. And while President Bush took the day to dedicate the Pentagon memorial, New York City Mayor wants the World Trade Center memorial open no later than 10th anniversary of the attacks. Both presidential candidates were expected to appear together at Ground Zero to remember the nearly 3000 people who died there.

Kim Jong's ill?

What if you threw a party and didn't come? That seems to be the case in North Korea where the country celebrates 60 years of, well, umm ... surviving? The always reliable CIA and the Japanese intelligence service both believe that North Korea's maximum dictator for life suffered a stroke in August. But the North Koreans bravely soldiered on with a lower-key party, attended by civil defense units rather than the real army. The cabinet, however, declared that its army could still "mercilessly punish invaders" whether it had "Dear Leader" or not. So even though the old man didn't come out and play, the nation partied anyway. Hail to the chief.

The beginning of the world as we know it?

The new Large Hadron Collider goes live on Wednesday and there is much sturm and drang over whether flipping the switch -- by Lyn 'the Atom' Evans -- on this thing under Europe will mean the end of everything. The collider is designed to smash atoms in such a way as to pry open the secrets of the birth of the universe and uncover the theorized Higgs Boson. And while the "doom mongering" is likely to ultimately amount to so much background radiation, be sure to check that your insurance is up to date. Just in case.

Smarter than the average bear?

The Prince of Darkness, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, has been making the rounds through eastern Europe. Starting in Georgia, he announced a $1 billion dollar U.S. aid plan for reconstruction in the wake of the war with Russia. Then, Lord Cheney's arrival in Ukraine was heralded by yet another acrimonious meltdown in President Victor Yushchenko's and Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko's dysfunctional marriage of inconvenience. Yuliya Caesar seems intent forging a westward looking policy while trying to balance against the ambitions of Czar Putin and the dim-witted, though incredibly dangerous, bear in her room. And while the dark lord insists on backing Ukraine's entry into NATO, it's bid to join the EU may have ground to a halt. So while Cheney can afford to continue shouting at the bear with harsh language, it's the Europeans who have to live with being stalked by it.

Freddie, Fannie: Off with their heads

After considering all options Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced that the U.S. Government was taking over mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The two are laden with $1.6 trillion in debt and this will likely result in the largest bailout in U.S. history. The two companies apparently have lost nearly $14 billion dollars during the last year and investors are itchy because they had no idea where the mortgage companies left it. Heads rolled at both firms. The poor souls who "won" this Clearinghouse sweepstakes are Herb Allison picked to pilot the Hindenburg that is Fannie Mae and David Moffett was named the captain of the Titanic that is Freddie Mac. Of course, it'll be the public that picks up the tab for the two giants' bad behavior, and rest assured, they won't reap any of the rewards when the two are returned to something approximating economic health.

Acadiana blues

Gustav was downgraded from a Cat 2 to a Cat 1 hurricane Monday, after making landfall in Cocodrie, La., about 70 miles southwest of New Orleans. The storm has flooded streets, thousands of homes are without power, and there's still some question as to whether the levees will hold, even as water was lapping over them. Stay tuned ...

School's out

It's not like there wasn't an education crisis before the housing bubble burst. The spiraling costs of energy and food, and cuts in funding are helping to accelerate the crisis. Not only are schools being forced to cut back, but the number of poor and homeless pupils is on the rise. As if that wasn't bad enough, there's also a decided failure of leadership. It seems the Clayton County (Ga.) school district is the third school district in the nation in 40 years to lose its accreditation. This means that, failing an appeal, students graduating from the district could have trouble getting into college and getting scholarships. The main problem seems to be that the students were failed by their school board. Today's students have enough to worry about as it is, and that doesn't even include when their teachers are being accused of providing their students with cocaine.

Beam me up

Another Star Trek franchise goes down the subspace manifold: CNN

Four is enough: BBC

He'll no longer be your neighbor: ChiTrib

Going to one dog: Reuters