Curiositech

http://www.theythinkyouarestupid.com/blog/2009/04/16000-people.html
http://walkerreport.blogspot.com/2009/04/san-antonio-tea-party-draws-thousands.html
http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2009/04/tea-parties-code-pink-and-sickness-of.html
http://jammiewearingfool.blogspot.com/2009/04/whole-meeting-was-really-kind-of-creepy.html
http://www.bobkrumm.com/blog/?p=2247
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/dc-tea-party-republicans-should-not-be-rejoicing-quite-yet/?print=1
http://voices.kansascity.com/node/4274
http://www.freep.com/article/20090415/NEWS15/90415036/Tea+Party+protest+movement+heats+up+in+Lansing
http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20090415/NEWS01/90415020/1004
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/04/15/massive-tax-day-tea-party-usa/
http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/blog/g/e8947008-0f75-49c6-a76b-70853d02e136
http://news.cnet.com/2300-13578_3-10000738-1.html?tag=mncol
http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-tea-party-capitol-0416.artapr16,0,4753332.story
http://www.foundingbloggers.com/wordpress/2009/04/breaking-chicago-tax-day-tea-party-pictures/
http://www.10tv.com/live/content/local/stories/2009/04/15/story_protest.html?sid=102
http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/dtennapel/2009/04/15/why-i-took-my-family-to-a-tea-party/

http://www.theythinkyouarestupid.com/blog/2009/04/16000-people.html
http://walkerreport.blogspot.com/2009/04/san-antonio-tea-party-draws-thousands.html
http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2009/04/tea-parties-code-pink-and-sickness-of.html
http://jammiewearingfool.blogspot.com/2009/04/whole-meeting-was-really-kind-of-creepy.html
http://www.bobkrumm.com/blog/?p=2247
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/dc-tea-party-republicans-should-not-be-rejoicing-quite-yet/?print=1
http://voices.kansascity.com/node/4274
http://www.freep.com/article/20090415/NEWS15/90415036/Tea+Party+protest+movement+heats+up+in+Lansing
http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20090415/NEWS01/90415020/1004
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/04/15/massive-tax-day-tea-party-usa/
http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/blog/g/e8947008-0f75-49c6-a76b-70853d02e136
http://news.cnet.com/2300-13578_3-10000738-1.html?tag=mncol
http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-tea-party-capitol-0416.artapr16,0,4753332.story
http://www.foundingbloggers.com/wordpress/2009/04/breaking-chicago-tax-day-tea-party-pictures/
http://www.10tv.com/live/content/local/stories/2009/04/15/story_protest.html?sid=102
http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/dtennapel/2009/04/15/why-i-took-my-family-to-a-tea-party/

From The Big Picture:

Citi (C) = $2.80
GM (GM) = $3.50
B of A (BAC) = $5.10
Alcoa (AA) = $8.35

If all four of these stocks went to zero on today’s open, the DJIA would lose only 157.3 points.

These are big enough companies that it should matter when they fail. Somebody’s not doing their job.

“Bush’s decisions don’t seem principled. I’ve tried to find the underlying philosophy what will knit together the last eight years. I can’t divine it. Maybe you can. I certainly don’t recognize him as a conservative. He has increased government size and oversight in ways that appall me. ”

“For me, the heart of conservatism rests on the concepts that small government is better than large government, local government is better than remote government, and private property and individual freedom and more important than social good. ”

“American conservatism is much more libertarian than not and we’ve lost sight of the strong appeal that the desire to be left alone has for people. Rather than being defined as the party of less government intervention, Republicans have settled for being about some kinds of intervention and not others. The key difference between Republicans and Democrats today is what kind of intervention you favor. ”

Read it all.

“In younger couples, the increasing availability of pornography on the Internet, which has been shown to affect sexual attitudes and perceptions of “normal” behavior, may be playing a role in rising infidelity.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/28/health/28well.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

David Hasselhoff is laughing all the way to the bank.

Here’s the most complete analysis of the economic melt-down that I’ve seen so far.  It’s amazing that we could see this coming so far ahead of time.  If I’d had the money to take the risk, I would’ve shorted WaMu a long time ago.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=29009

Saw this today: http://gigaom.com/2008/09/05/forrester-defines-the-cloud-but-we-beg-to-differ/

 It’s an interesting debate as to what is in ‘the cloud’ and what is simply ’software as a servoce’ or SaaS.  I’m leaning towards an inclusive definition for cloud, myself, but will track this further.

 Another good man passes on.

Below I posted about how someone’s finally paying attention to the Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs).  However, as Bloomberg points out, the Banks are just as culpable - and perhaps more, if they rated identical investment vehicles differently depending on whether or not the Banks themselves owned the vehicle in question.

Update:  I really must read the whole thing before I comment.  I agree with what he says - the rest of the article points out how ephemeral such a ‘consensus’ must be.

“There is a consensus in the northern latitudes of the Western Hemisphere that the US Federal Reserve under chairman Ben Bernanke will magically solve the markets’ woes.”

 I don’t know what he’s thinking - there most certainly is NOT consensus that the Fed will solve the problem.  Lending and monetary policy cannot solve problems stemming from poor credit rating and poor lending practices.  Bernanke will not clarify the value in poorly-rated CDOs, and he cannot pay mortgages for those who borrowed more than they could afford.  Short a major correction in the mortgage market, and all of the clarifications that Fitch, Moody’s, and S&P will be issuing in the near future, the problems will not go away.  [Unless of course he takes on all of the CDOs and mortgages himself, and makes them all go away.  That would be a bailout of massive proportions, amid moral hazard writ large.]

 More here, if you must read it.