>> oooh, can I put dead stuffed animal heads all over

>> my home(s) to prove what a man I am?

You'd best avoid it. Either you are or aren't a man. It has nothing to do with any kind of trophy - whether your trophies are dead critters, banged women, or home theater systems. In other words, everyone will see right through your display.

I suggest doing something that builds character. Perhaps Habitats for Humanity, working a line at a crisis, or helping feed the homeless. You may emerge as a man in a few years.

Good Luck.

In this situation, I think the Chinese government would do three things. It would step in to fix the situation so that the nation didn't suffer too much. It would also arrest some of the "best minds on wall street" and award prison terms and executions. Finally, they would step back and see how the new "best minds" do.

I bet the new guys would do a better job.

It is possible to rescue the banks while severely punishing the individual crooks. Hell, if those "great minds" really did have their futures on the line then they might be worth their obscene salaries.

Lamenting her decision would not make hillary palatable. We always knew she was a self serving political animal. With the Iraq war resolution, we learned that she put her own political ambition above the lives of others. We can't, as a nation, afford to reward her for her murderous ambition. That tells the next political animal that we'll forget about the dead and wounded. Hillary should leave political life and wash bed pans at Walter Reed. Maybe then she can remove some of the tarnish from her soul.

As for the "100 year occupation", it really weakens your arguments when you use it out of context as a punch line. Do you even recall the context? The US still occupies Germany, Japan, and South Korea. Those nations have been at peace for many many decades. They are our allies. Why shouldn't we hope the same for Iraq?

You mention that a vocal minority knew that bush was lying to get his war on. That is maybe true if you stay within the US border. The rest of the world knew what was going on. That is why our traditional allies refused to partake - except for the UK puppet regime. Do you remember the moniker "coalition of the billing"? From a global perspective, only a very small minority of the people believed the lies coming out of DC.

Disbarred, just like B. Clinton and for the same reason. Lying in the wrong place at the wrong time. The big difference is that scooter has been abandoned by his "friends" as no longer useful.

Mea Culpa!

I checked wikipedia; "Clinton was disbarred from his Arkansas law license for five years and ordered to pay $25,000 in fines to that state's bar officials."

I forgot that he withdrew from the Supreme Court bar before being disbarred there.

I guess it is different. Libby was disbarred for perjury. B. Clinton, on the other hand, was disbarred as part of an agreement that prosecutors wouldn't pursue federal perjury charges against him.

Wow. OMFG Wow!

Now I have another artist to track. I checked around a bit. Ken Ishii isn't a new guy. Very established. Quite a few CDs and mp3 downloads over at amazon. I wish I could get the video (in an open format like mpg). Thank you Andrew!

Now, if only I could find a decent torrent ...

I've always used the term "wall street's best and brightest" cynically and as a term of derision. Maybe it's time to rethink that. Once again, they've pulled a slick maneuver to enrich themselves. You've got to be pretty smart to make that kind of money as your broken rickety works crash to the ground.

I've always thought that these guys main goal was to steal my money - but more through a mix of incompetence and embezzlement. Now I see they can steal what isn't even trusted to them.

It reminds me of that scene in "back to school" when the prof says that a company makes "widgets". Dangerfield asks what a widget is. The prof looks at him snootily and says that it doesn't matter what a widget is, just that the compana makes them.

Well, the finance guys figured out how to make widgets. No one knew what they were or how to value them. Then, in best business school form, they marketed and sold the widgets. Secondary and tertiary markets ensued. Puts, calls, and straddles appeared as market makers flashed into existence. All for widgets. Even more perfectly - widgets aren't covered by any law because no one knew what they really are or if they actually exist.

And now we're bailing them out because they made a bad deal on a widget.

Hmmmm, I have some luminiferous ether for sale.

I only park money in index funds - and only in ones that incur the lowest costs/fees. My view of investing is basically that I'm wading through a swamp of leaches but have some input into which one latch on.

Mostly, I directly invest in companies. Note, I do not invest in stocks, but in companies. Some of my criteria for companies are that the board/insiders do not steal from the owners. For example, awarding stock or in the money options to management that has not performed well. Usually, you can only observe this in down markets. Another one is "revaluing" vested options because the stock has tanked.

Essentially, the longer I play the game, the more I look to the oracle of omaha. Yes I do own some of that.