The Daily Show is cracking me up....

Last thing that made me smile?

Jon Stewart

I haven't been that wholly impressed with the "superior" taste of organic fruit and veggies, and I'm not supposed to be buying organic on my jobless budget, but they were filed out of place.

Good mishap. I've been pathologically having cereal and porridge so I can put them in and it's nummy.

However, this is unlikely, because in the US the government happens to be debt addict and gambler number one. As individuals, we may have been as virtuous as we wished, but the government will have still run up exorbitant debts on our behalf.

While it may be true that the government is addicted to debt, a big part of the problem is that most people are too.

I think my most recent smile would be the msbelle and mac show, although Isaac putting on his sister's Dorothy-esque sparkly red shoes and running around the playground shouting "here comes the astronaut! OH NO! Ready for BLAST OFF!" was also made of win.

From Kos (quote of former Republican Rep. Mickey Edwards):

Oh, brother. What idiot came up with this stunt?

It ranks somewhere on the stupidity scale between plain silly and numbingly desperate. McCain and Obama are both members of the senate and they're both able to help craft a solution if they wish to do so without putting the presidential campaign on hold; after all, I’m sure congressional leaders would be willing to accept their calls if they have some important insights to impart. And while one of them will eventually become president, neither one is president yet, nor is either one a member of the congressional leadership; I’m confident that somehow the administration and the other 533 members of congress will be able to muddle through without tapping into the superior wisdom and intellect of their nominees. Sorry, john; it really sounds like you're afraid to debate. This sounds like the sort of ploy we used to use in junior high school elections.

[link]

I'm with Dana in the wanting to have a tantrum camp.

billytea, I'm here looking for you. I was just talking to a coworker who teaches an evening journalism class and we got talking about Komodo Dragons. She referred me to an article that she uses in class, an interview with Sharon Stone about what happened when Phil Bronstein was bitten. It's from 2001 so maybe you've seen it, but, well, anyway, here: [link]

I'm with Dana in the wanting to have a tantrum camp.

Count me in and pass the bottle.

The solution to both these pitfalls is to combine any bailout with improved regulation and oversight (I think transparency is a good place to start, let the markets know what risks the banks are taking), and to make sure that there's plenty of pain for the captains of finance who forgot in spectacular fashion that markets go down as well as up.

Totally and completely agree with you, billytea.

I'm sure the current administration will get right on that.

And, if it weren't apparent before, it's official. I love billytea so so much.

I agree with the regulations. And I have a particular thought about the consequences. I think the actual bailing out should consist of taking over the institutions that need bailing out. No buying of assets no accepting of warrants that leave a stake for existing stockholders. You are profitable or able to pay your debts or can work out a deal with your creditors, more power to you. You can't, congratulations, you are now government owned. Not the only thing that needs to be done, but should be part of the bailout.

Timelies all!

Need to do a couple of things, then I head to the airport. Whee!