Then heaven help us, we are doomed!

AMEN! re: the Gramms. He should spend a good long time with a cell mate named Tiny who has been well versed in the litany of greedy actions that Phil and Wendy have spent their lives perpetrating. And she with a cell mate named Hilga.

Just a sign of how corrupt and incompetent we have become.

Jefferson (help me out here MEH): “Democracy requires an educated populace”.

ok you can (without breaking the law) .. vote / buy (or not) / procreate (or not)

I always thought we needed referendum style democracy with elected people enacting the dotted Is and crossed T guidelines. These days in capitalism we would need quick recall or clawback facilities to keep business from going to far. Keep ‘em wondering if they are overstepping the line and it’ll cost ‘em.

but (always a but) I too, am worried at the 90% out to lunch …
Squeeky Wheels and Old can’t afford to replace broken Cars

Both of the Gramms deserve to rot in the nastiest jail on earth for the trillions in damage they have done to the US economy with their self-dealing ideological corruption. Leading exhibits for the sleazy Texas-bred corporatist cronyism the Bush wrecking crew brought to Washington.

The photo at the top of this is great. So much for the neutral and objective eye of the lens.

Of course whatever one thinks of Dugan vs. Bair, it’s still probably not inaccurate to say that Ms. Bair may have larger political ambitions.

I would have to agree with you on this one. I don’t take quite the pessimistic view on this as do many of the other posters here. My belief is that rather than an example of America’s decline, it is simply human nature that most people, wherever they are in the world, just go about living their lives, knowing full well that in the end, there is not a lot they can do about it. I used to talk to my grandparents a lot about The Depression and I was always fascinated that, at the time, most people just went about and lived their lived. They didn’t concern themselves with policy decisions or international banking rules.

Again, I think this is human nature, I have traveled quite a bit in the last several years and have kept in contact with many of the people I met around the world. From what I can gleam from my friends, they’re mostly about like us. The average Joe in Sweden, or Morocco, or Argentina, is not spending great amounts of time thinking about these things.

We, on the other hand, find these topics of great interest. What frustrates me is when I hear people lambaste the average Joe because they do not share our concerns. Reminds me too much of growing up in San Francisco where the typical attitude would be something like this: “What do you mean you’re not recycling? Don’t you care about the environment, don’t you see how important this issue is? What’s the MATTER with you?”
Last quick example. I do not have, nor do I ever want, children. I cannot understand what would compel a person to want to bring a child into the world as it is, knowing what we do about global warming, the future of the economy, indebtedness, etc. I do, however, respect those of you who wish to bring children into this imperfect world because I know that your priorities are not the same as mine . . . .

Just a thought

have tried some “flying dog”- not the porter though- will try sometime based exclusively on your recommendation- porter tends to be a bit on the sweet side though-

in the summer I buy the cheapest mass produced beer I can get my hands on- miller & PBR come to mind- just needs to be “ice cold”

dogfish-

I must have read a review or something on the “Shock Doctrine”- because it sounds very familiar- will have to give it a read- I know she has a few other books as well- so maybe I’ll start from the oldest and work forward- “hitman” sounds like its worth a look as well

I had no idea we had such reckless advocate of the big bad banks at the OCC.

I suspect John Doofus Dugan is sucking up and ass-kissing these big bad banks in hopes the revolving door will sweep him into some irresponsibly high paid banking job someday.

I hope Obama’s shoe leather kicks Doofus Dugan’s ass so hard that he can’t sit for a month. It is high time Doofus Dugan be given a permanent time out