SAR 10272

Voters aren’t always blind or stupid, it's just their default mode.

Who, What, Where & When: 1) Some terrorists, 2) Coordinated series of commando-style attacks, 3) In parts of Europe and maybe the US.  4) ”The plan was in the advanced but not imminent stage.”  Brought to you thanks to interrogators at the super-duper torture chamber prison at Bagram, Afghanistan practicing enhanced interrogation techniques on a German citizen kidnapped in Germany and whisked off to the Gulag last summer. Thank goodness he finally told them what they wanted to hear.  So be afraid, be afraid.

Pudding's Proof:   A firm hired by most of the big Wall Street banks back at the height of the feeding frenzy told the banks that about 28% of the mortgages they were bundling into MBS and selling to the suckers failed to meet basic underwriting standards.  The banks made sure that the investors didn't learn this.  Yes, it's fraud – but they are still too big to fail jail .

Suspense Builds:  Corporations want the Supreme Court to rule that they have the same claim to personal privacy exceptions as any other person in the US.  T hey'll get it, too, from Roberts, Inc.

They're Back:   The Republicans in the Senate have killed another bill that would favor US workers over corporate profits.  This one would have taxed US corporations that send jobs out of the country . The Republicans claimed this would (all together now) harm corporate profits.

Consequences:  If  it gets to market, they used to claim, it gets there by truck.  Conversely, when nothing's going to market, the trucks do run quite so much.  Truck tonnage fell nearly 3% from July to August, biggest m/m fall since March 2009. Caution, steep hill ahead.

Realty Check:   Even with an immense number of houses on the market, about one third of Americans cannot get mortgages.  Some see this as a problem . Others suspect that at least one third of Americans should not try to become homeowners – even if both still have their jobs at the local Grab and Run.

Because: Goldman Sachs says that US unemployment will remain “sky high” for “a very long time” because of the oversupply of houses. Don't you love those technical terms?

At the Bar:   JPL scientists’ suit against NASA for invasion of privacy will be heard by the Supreme Court next month.  The question is whether the federal government has a right to investigate the personal lives of employees who have access to federal facilities, even if they never go near sensitive or classified material citizens for no particular reason.

Flip a Coin:  A study shows that Viagra is useless in half of all cases.  You feeling lucky?

Quietly: The government took over three of the largest wholesale credit unions and has “an unusual plan” to manage $50 billion of their troubled assets – by issuing government guaranteed bonds backed by the same shaky mortgage-related assets that caused the credit unions to fail.  "Officials said the plan won't cost taxpayers any money." (Applause, Applause)

Echo, Echo, Echo:  The Bank of England is urging Brits to get out there and shop, shop, shop, spend, spend, spend.  George W. gets a royalty each time his speeches are re-used.

Porn O'Graph:  Where the boys are – George, Abe, Andy and the rest.