Saturday - 29 Nov 08

Will Canadian government topple in the next few days?

300 bodies taken to mosque in second day of Muslim vs. Christian riots in Jos, Nigeria. Almost 200 more bodies outside the mosque. Christian fatalities unknown at this moment.

The Chrysler white collar question: "Are you staying or going?"



Black Friday sales rise 3% year over year?


Parents short of money ask Toy manufacturers to quit marketing their wares directly to their children


List of eleven ships still held by Somali pirates


New York Giant wide receiver, Plaxico Burress, suffers gunshot wound in night club

Reasons why the economic policy establishment failed to see the current crisis coming

Mindless consumerism turns shopping into a contact sport

European inflation falls, unemployment rises

Flooding leaves 46,000 homeless in Costa Rica

Rocket attack kills three in Bagdhad's Green Zone

MSNBC's Chris Matthews to run for the Senate?

Growing discontent in Russia's military

Scientists find meteor debris in Canada

Italian town pays immigrants to leave

Hungarian workers protest wage and pension rollbacks

Indian troops control Mumbai

Saudi Arabia wants oil at $75 a barrel
OPEC refusing oil production cuts

Poverty spreading in the Suburbs

Thai protesters attack police

Banks: Start over or resuce?

Robert Rubin's hubris blinds him to knowing the truth when it smacks him in the face

Friday 28 Nov 08 - "Black Friday"

Rescued, tagged pilot whales have joined a larger pod offshore of Australia

Shots fired in Palm Desert, California Toys R' Us store leaving 2 dead

Brooklyn couple dead in Mumbai, worked at Jewish Center

Is Bank of America (buyer of Countrywide) going to get the Citi treatment? US Banks said to be undercapitalized by $1 Trillion

GM may cut Pontiac, Hummer and Saab lines from their brands

As mortgages went bad, executives at New Century were cashing out

New mortgage crisis: malls and hotels going into foreclosure

NY Times: The 100 Notable Books for 2008


Three cheers for Bar Harbor, Maine! The town near Acadia National Park . . . with excellent starwatching views . . . votes to limit manmade light!

Three young men, 17, 19 & 21, swept off rocks at Point Magu by wave and drown

Five hostages killed in Mumbai Jewish Center, Indian special forces kill two gunmen, new battle erupts at "cleared" Taj Mahal, death toll now rises to 150

SOMALI pirates hijacked a chemical tanker today with two British security guards and dozens of Indian crew members on board

Black Friday shoppers camped out . . . even a Circuit City (now in Chapter 11) store had 35 people in a line

Long Island shoppers stampede a Wal-Mart at opening, smash doors off hinges, trample a Wal-Mart employee and pregnant woman: Wal-Mart employee dies, woman miscarries, no one stopped to help, witness calls shoppers "Savages"

Suicide bomber detonates his bomb laden vest inside a Shiite mosque South of Bagdhad: 9 dead

So much corporate welfare to administer . . . and not enough staff to dole the bailout money at the Office of Thrift Supervision

Bush Economist Greg Mankiw can't admit he was wrong

About 20 Lufthansa and Air France Westerner employees rescued from the Oberoi Hotel

Fast decelerating factory output points to long Recession in Japan

Video of Robert Shiller of the Case/Shiller Housing Index saying crisis may run for "years and years"

"Nana's on the computer screen!"

OPEC wants to cut oil production

Japan to withdraw their airforce from Iraq

Give thanks for blowout football games: Rosie O' Donnell's new variety show bombs with critics

World's oldest person dies at 115 years of age

Indian Special Forces rapel from helicopters, storm Jewish Center in Mumbai

German Chancellor Merkel criticizes unabashed "printing of money"

Thanksgiving Thursday 27 Nov 08 - PM

Photo #28 of 32 on the Big Picture Blog wishing the ISS a Happy Birthday!

Happy 10th Birthday, International Space Station! Great photos from Alan Taylor's "Big Picture Blog" on the Boston Globe website!

Mumbai - 119 dead, Taj Mahal Hotel Cleared of Attackers

Brit saves shot Japanese man by pulling him into elevator as gunman bore down on them: "I was splattered with blood"

Witnesses describe the many horrors: "They came in with all guns blazing"

Elite Indian Commandos are fighting room to room in two hotels against militants who've taken hostages

Identity of Mumbai attackers still a mystery

Excellent Interview: Christiane Amanpour suggests motives for Mumbai attacks and who might be behind them



The Revolution has moved online - How activists embrace the Internet

Islamist militants assassinated mayor of the North Ossetian capital, Vladikavkaz

AIRBUS 300 (Air New Zealand) on training mission crashes off coast of France, 3 dead, 4 missing

Deflation/Recession sets in, yet again, in an aging Japan


Should taxpayers bail out GM retirees?

Greenland wants self-rule Could become the first Independent Innuit state

Stiffed restaurant owner uses Facebook to track down five young diners who bolted on $340 tab

China postpones summit with EU over France's support of the Dali Lama

Fired hospital worker in Anchorage, Alaska returns to work, shoots ex-bosses, killing one . . . State Troopers shoot gunman dead

18 Women From Iraq Suicide Bombing Network Surrender to U.S. Forces

Sierra Leone Navy kills four pirates



Mish explains how Ontario, Canada's teacher's pension fund might not get stuck with a dying phone company, Bell Canada, because of "solvency issues". . .and then we learn who else might slip off the hook and why this could mean then end of leveraged buyouts for a while

Police arrest man in murder of popular Arkansas anchorwoman

Tourism dying as second Thai airport overwhelmed by protesters and closed down

Thailand declares State of Emergency

Former President of Mexico nails why the USA has failed in the War on Drugs

Mr. Flat Earth, Thomas Friedman, explains his gullibility about how Wall Street really works.

Vladimir Putin thinks Russian people cannot handle the truth of the Stalin Era

Suicide bomber plows into rush hour traffic in Kabul, Afghanistan . . . killing four

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Thanksgiving Thursday 27 Nov 08 - AM

Ten people died here at the Mumbai Train Station. Photo courtesy of BBC News

Indian troops surround two hotels, exchange fire with gunmen holding hostages Head of Mumbai's anti-terrorist unit now dead, along with two other senior officers. Rabbi of Chad Lubavitch held hostage along with Westerners. Officials still not sure if it's Hindu or Islamic terrorists behind attacks.

Mumbai: day two, the Lede blog

"They were very young, like boys really"

Biggest 4 day rise since 1933 for stock markets

Another Wall Street Record: Highest number of company dividends cut since 1958

Lame duck pardons turkey

Housing prices still free falling

S&P/Case-Shiller home price index drops with 10 city and 20 city composites both posting the biggest year over year decline ever, 18.6% and 17.4% respectively

Mish email writer tells of California homeowners who were not reckless and who deposited money on homes during the runup, now thinking of walking away

Turkey rescue?

First time ever - 10 year treasury bond sinks below a 3% yield due to demand

S&P 500 dividend yield now surpasses the 10 year treasury yield

Fannie Mae plans a reverse stock split

Wednesday 26 Nov 08 - PM

Terrorist chaos in Mumbai, India!

Gunmen have opened fire at a number of sites in the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay), killing at least 78 people and injuring about 200 more. Police say these are co-ordinated terrorist attacks. Gunmen have taken hostages at two hotels, the Taj Mahal and the Oberoi, and are looking for tourists with British and American passports. Taj Mahal hotel is said to be on fire. Open this link to see BBC video

Death toll rises

Targeted hotels, restaurant, police station, crowded train station and sites in the financial district

Will these new autos help save the Auto Industry?

American drivers cut back on miles traveled for 11th straight month, putting crimp on OPEC, gas tax revenues, and those with alternative energy plans.

Russian firms will layoff 200,000 workers within the next two months

Cyber-bully mom convicted of lesser misdemeanor computer charges

Fed aid announced yesterday sets off a rush to refinance loans; as rates drop by half a percentage point calls double to lenders

US durable goods orders fall twice as much as forecast

New home sales fall to slowest pace since 1991 Recession

Quartet of government reports show a battered Economy

Wednesday 20 Nov 08 - AM

Shopping malls are running on empty

Jim Kuntsler on "Zombie Economics"

Nebraska's infamous "Butt Bandit" charged with 10 misdemeanors

Web Star: The Running Shrimp

Sarah Palin could rake in $7 million on book deal

Current Defense Secretary Gates will stay with Obama White House for at least one year

Indian Navy says now that sunk"Mother Ship" of Somali pirates was actually a Thai fishing trawler

World's first digital camera with a built in printer

Brazilian death toll from floods raised again, this time to over 100

Somali gunmen kidnap two more Western journalists

Justice handed down to just caught acid attackers of Afghan schoolgirls: public execution

REUTERS PHOTO Factory workers surround an overturned police car during a protest outside Kaida toy factory in Dongguan, China, Nov. 25, 2008.

Workers riot at Chinese toy factory, flip police car, destroy computers all over a pay dispute

Economic crisis dampens building boom in Persian Gulf

British father of nine jailed for life after raping his daughters for 25 years

Joe Biden to have a broader role as Counselor to Obama

Fewer Americans going "home" for this Thanksgiving

Taliban, drug lords await $770 opium harvest

Five kids' - ages 8 to 15 - have joyride end tragically with the deaths of two of them

Pro-peace Somali factions agree on power sharing

Brazilian bee rampage kills one, hospitalizes nine

Brazilian floods death toll rises to 84

Two men, one wearing what appeared to be an Iraqi military uniform, gun down two American troops on a humanitarian mission in Iraq while others are injured

Latin America has the highest murder rates in the World

It's not good to be the richest man in China

Russia accuses US troops of running one of their Embassy cars off the road in Bagdhad

The Atlantic bluefin tuna is threatened with extinction

Analysis: Tuna a victim of gutless politicians and myopic industry

Al Qaeda shifting its focus from Afghanistan to Pakistan says U.S. Senior Commander

Not the brightest zoologists in the world: zookeepers tried to mate two female Polar Bears

Sri Lankan Army poised to take the Tamil Tigers' HQ and end the 25 year old civil war?

Drunk driver drives over himself

European Union jumps on the Bailout Bandwagon . . . will offer $260 Billion to rekindle the Continent's economy

Afghan President Karzai criticizes US and NATO for being unable to defeat the Taliban. Asks for timetable to end of the war.

US claims coalition troops kill 25 Taliban in Afghanistan




Cult of Personality idol, Britney Spears, trying for a comeback at age 26


Girls Gone Wild - Female students at a Gaza University throw fists and chairs in Hamas vs Fatah Smackdown

Iraq Shiites, Kurds meet Sunni demand on US pact

The mayor of Vladikavkaz, a southern city in Russia's conflict-prone North Caucasus region, was assassinated
Thai Army calling for new elections, airport still closed down by sitting protesters

Nasty looking quarterly banking review from the FDIC shows a clear trend of rapid deterioration of asset values, earnings, and income.

Former Fed Reserve Chairman, Paul Volcker, will be head of Obama's new White House advisory board called the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board


Zimbabwe - where a T-shirt cost 3,000,000,000 Zimbabwe dollars. Open this link to see a blogger's photos of the runaway hyper-inflated currency

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Tuesday 25 Nov 08 - PM

The State of New Jersey is Insolvent

The anti-Obama ads which never ran

Shopper clubs car jacker with frozen turkey

Total blackout in Virgin Islands due to blown transformer

Australian teens involved in fatal accident, ordered take-out as two people in other vehicle died

Venezuela gives Russian Navy a 21 gun salute upon its arrival

Thai protesters flood Bangkok Airport stopping all flights

Fifty-three people died from Cholera in Zimbabwe yesterday, raising toll to 366 dead since August

Bad day: Thief falls down a 50 ft hill with 3,000 pound ATM and ski loader, both of which he'd stolen

A Visual Guide to the Fiancial Crisis form the Big Picture blog. Worth seeing and following all the way down the page.

New $800 Billion bailout plan provides for Credit Card Debt . . . so . . . let's ask the daily question again, "When and where will it all stop?"

Google: Looking back at Wired's excellent presentation of what makes Google's new browser, Chrome, tick. If you've been thinking about giving Chrome a try, you need to read this to understand its features and benefits. I will be downloading Chrome today for a try. I'll write my own review later on the Rock Trueblood Watchworld blog which will let you know if the speed is mind blowing.

Microsoft: Ray Ozzie, the man handpicked by Gates to retool Microsoft, sees a very different Microsoft for the 21st Century. Microsoft is poised to leave the PC and go into "the cloud". Outstanding read about how Microsoft is trying to shake Google and Apple out of its head.

Smoking: 43.4 million Americans still hooked after all these years

Ocean's acidity off Pacific Northwest coast has rised 10 times faster than expected

Tuesday 25 Nov 08 - AM

Credit card use flatlining as more Americans opt to pay in cash

Which ant should be "Employee of the Month"? A specialist or a generalist? Interesting read

Tibetan glaciers melting at stunning rate - surface ice now dates back to 1944

Relief in Omaha, Nebraska: Police think they've captured "The Butt Bandit"

Time for a Bank Holiday - No more free money, no more Masters of the Universe, no more business as usual

The Vietnam expose which got covered up by Editors at Newsweek . . . the analysis of disproportionate kill ratios shows mass civilian deaths . . . how the story of ex-Democrat Senator Bob Kerrey was given a Bronze Star for what his most senior member of his Navy SEALS team called a "massacre"



Ten "Enemies of Education" Taliban arrested for acid attack on unarmed Afghan schoolgirls

When will it end? Bailing out Citigroup yet again creates Moral Hazard and encourages other banks to take bigger risks

Bush White House changed its website on the Coalition of the Willing . . . alters History . . . but got caught

Thai protests turn violent

Must Read: You will want to read twice this brilliant piece by Option Armageddon writer Rolfe Winkler, CFA titled "Leverage by the Numbers" This explains all too well why our nation's banks are near collapse

Milky Way Galaxy: A simple sugar that is one of the ingredients of life has been found for the first time in a relatively hospitable part of the galaxy.

Mish on the $7.7 Billion bailout pledge

Random House to almost double its online books form 8,000 to 15,000 as digitalization of reading material becomes ever more popular

Average nationwide price of a gallon of gasoline is now $1.88

Going to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come . . . lowest gas prices in the nation: $1.37 per gallon!

Astrophysicists are abuzz with theories which explain the recent experiment results suggesting a "Shadow Universe" of dark matter

Are you a substance abuser? You are not alone. Over 5 million Americans go to self-help groups such as AA, NA, etc., during these Hard Times



Reykjavik, Iceland: Thousands of protesters take to the streets demanding ouster of their Prime Minister and Central Bank Governor over their handling of the country's financial meltdown
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lethal robots could perform more ethically in battle?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Arrogant Czech Republic President about to assume the rotating Presidency of the European Union.

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Monday 24 Nov 08 - PM Edition

The Medical Crunch in America



Martin Feldstein, Ronald Reagan's chief economic advisor, spoke to a dinner for Economists this past Monday and said the Housing Crash will become worse


Obama's pro-stem cell research stance looked at in the Wall Street Journal

Say good-bye to Vic Mackey and "The Shield". Last episode and 90 minute finale tonight

American Music Awards highlights

6 financial blessings to give thanks for this coming Thursday



That which nations fear, Global Deflation, is now realer than real



Paul Farrell asks, "Are you worried about a Depression? How about a 100 year bear market?"

Sports television entering the 21st Century as you call the camera shots

Science: How Dolphins swim so fast is finally solved

NFL experiments with 3-D next week, broadcasting LIVE into theaters in Los Angeles, Boston & New York

Bush Issues 14 Pardons and Commutes 2 Sentences


Commercial Real Estate next to drop . . . America to be dotted with "Ghost Malls"


The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, once the nation's largest Muslim charity, loses its court case. Convicted on 108 counts of financing terrorism.

Judge fines Canadian $873,000,000 for spamming Facebook users



Dow has it's biggest 2 day advance since 1987


Iraqi killers of American troops now employed by the US Government

Apocalyptic Catholic sect in Mexico loses both its leaders while it keeps its Christian Taliban attitudes

New York State Controller estimates 225,000 jobs will be lost and $6.5 Billion in tax revenue will disappear by October 2009

Florida police are investigating moderators and discussion board members who posted to chat room while teen was committing suicide by drug overdose

Move over iPhone: hundreds wait in line at Verizon stores this AM for release of new BlackBerry Storm

Will structural problem in US Economy mean the unemployed will take longer to find jobs?

Is China about to experience a violent contraction in its economy?

Zimbabwe is close to total implosion

Indian emigrants and their children return home to India from America

A female suicide bomber blew herself up near an entrance to the U.S.-protected Green Zone

Thai protesters overtake streets, surround Parliament, push to overthrow government


BBC producer shot in Somalia felt she had to go to prove herself to doubting bosses

Chavez supporters suffer setbacks in Venezuelan elections

Thousands left homeless after killer floods in Brazil