The Lehman Postmortem: Zerohedge Breaks it Off
FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
Zerohedge is carrying Tyler Durden's (the Brad Pitt character in Fight Club) remarkable analysis of the Lehman Examiner Bankruptcy Report. Some of the highlights of his summary include:
- Lehman accountants falsified its ledgers in ways similar to Enronesque "Mark to Market" methodology.
- In addition to looking the other way with Madoff Securities, the SEC turned a blind eye to Lehman's shenanigans.
- Taking risky positions in speculation on junk "leveraged buyout loan positions."
- And thanks to the corporate veil, and compliant mainstream news media, the heat is off.
So, to recap, FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
Presenting The Lehman Bankruptcy Examiner Report | zero hedge.
CIA + LSD + France = Mal Jour
"So there were drugs in the food!"
In 1951, a quiet, picturesque village in southern France was suddenly and mysteriously struck down with mass insanity and hallucinations. At least five people died, dozens were interned in asylums and hundreds afflicted.
For decades it was assumed that the local bread had been unwittingly poisoned with a psychedelic mould. Now, however, an American investigative journalist has uncovered evidence suggesting the CIA peppered local food with the hallucinogenic drug LSD as part of a mind control experiment at the height of the Cold War.
via French bread spiked with LSD in CIA experiment - Telegraph.
Dude, Where’s My 401(k)?
If you're wondering where your retirement money went, we've found a few clues.
Indeed, last year's wealth wasteland has become a billionaire bonanza. Most of the richest people on the planet have seen their fortunes soar in the past year.
And so, it appears, that this latest stampede/transfer of wealth is almost complete.
via worlds-billionaires-2010: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance.
Icelanders Decline Debt Slavery
This is bad news for Greece and Ireland. And it may monkey with currency markets.
Voters in Iceland have overwhelmingly rejected proposals to pay the UK and the Netherlands in the wake of collapse of the Icesave bank.
With a third of results counted, 93% of voters said "No" in a referendum.
The British and Dutch governments want reimbursement for the 3.8bn euros (£3.4bn; $5.2bn) they paid out in compensation to customers in 2008.
Mofo to Tax You Mo, Fo Sho
This plan is nothing new: increase the tax rate on the income of middle class in order to shave a small amount off for the rich.
Economically, that's like turning on all the accessories when you're trying to start an old car on a cold day.
Rep. Paul Ryan's tax and spending "roadmap" is a fascinating critter: conservatives all praise it to the skies but none of them want to actually commit to supporting it. The reason for their hesitation is obvious: Ryan's plan would cut spending dramatically, and supporting it would mean having to explain what, exactly, they'd cut. That would be electoral suicide and they know it. They much prefer their usual game of loudly denouncing "spending" without ever having to say what spending they're actually opposed to.
Computer games disguised as Excel and Word prove a hit with office workers – Telegraph
Computer games disguised as Excel and Word documents which allow office workers to waste time without attracting the attention of their bosses are taking off on the web.
via Computer games disguised as Excel and Word prove a hit with office workers - Telegraph.
Kiwi Throws Back Taliban Grenade
A New Zealand infantryman's quick thinking saves his comrades.
Rifleman James McKie from Recce Platoon, 3rd Battalion The Rifles was under fire from three directions on a roof when the grenade hit his platoon commander and landed at his feet.
"My first thought was I hope this doesn't hurt too much," the New Zealander said. "That, and I've really only got one chance to do this.
"If it fails, either way, doing nothing, I'm going to get the same amount of hurt. So I picked it up and threw it off the roof."
via Soldier tells how he threw back Taliban grenade - Yahoo! News.
Get Multiproxy Switch to Work in Firefox 3.6
I love having the newest version of Firefox, but it always seems to stop working with some of my favorite add-ons and plug-ins. Like multiproxy switch.
One way to get "unauthorized" plugins to work is with the Add-on Compatibility Reporter 0.4.2. It's like sudo for Firefox plugins. It'll ask you if you're sure you want to do this, then let you go ahead.
