Grahame

The tsunami of cheap credit that rolled across the planet between 2002 and 2008 was more than a simple financial phenomenon: it was temptation, offering entire societies the chance to reveal aspects of their characters they could not normally afford to indulge. Icelanders wanted to stop fishing and become investment bankers. The Greeks wanted to turn their country into a piñata stuffed with cash and allow as many citizens as possible to take a whack at it. The Germans wanted to be even more German; the Irish wanted to stop being Irish. Michael Lewis's investigation of bubbles beyond our shores is so brilliantly, sadly hilarious that it leads the American reader to a comfortable complacency: oh, those foolish foreigners. But when he turns a merciless eye on California and Washington, DC, we see that the narrative is a trap baited with humor, and we understand the reckoning that awaits the greatest and greediest of debtor nations EDIT: Content also available directly via http://www.vanityfair.com/contributors/michael-lewis

Happy Birthday Shelly!

So, Justin Bieber is louder than Motorhead, AC/DC and The Sex Pistols… – wait, WHAT ?

You might prefer to use Dan's spelling in future ...

I can heartily recommend it for top down zombie killing action. at $2 its a no braaaaaaains-er

Time to add a few more 127.0.0.1 entries to the hosts file or use a pre-configured one http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm

Have you tried visiting the other site to see what it says, mikey?

^ You're having venison?

Scofflaw! Before you pack that hostess gift or favorite holiday treat in your carry-on, remember liquids, gels, and aerosols in containers larger than 3 ounces are not permitted through the security checkpoint. Never fear, cakes and pies are permitted. TSA's list of holiday items that you should put in your checked bag, ship ahead, or leave at home: Cranberry sauce Cologne Creamy dips and spreads (cheese spread, peanut butter, etc.) http://www.seatguru.com/articles/tsa_prohibited_items.php

Bubba is their new coach?

Less likely to meet Bubba in the showers? Better on your resume?

CJ, better Penn State than the state penn.

Gene, enjoy de Red Stripe; Irie, mon.

From: http://www.wickedretarded.com/~crapmame

It's also On Amazon instant Video, free if you have Amazon Prime. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002P3GM5C

Good thoughts to all those enduring suckage in their lives. May it un-suck before too long.

http://www.nytimes.c...diers-hero.html via: http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/04/27/1455243/ww2-vet-sent-300000-pirated-dvds-to-troops-in-iraq-afghanistan

I was lucky enough to see a launch. Holiday to Orlando for the obvious reasons from the UK, Shuttle launch kept getting delayed due to weather / technical issues , which saw us driving from one coast of Florida to the other to see stuff and catch the actual launch. Finally with the launch a "go" we drove across Florida, listening to the countdown on the radio, finally found a vantage point in the form of an upper deck in a bar, where other locals had gathered. We were about 5 miles from the launch tower. I'll never forget seeing the Shuttle rise on a pillar of flame, brighter than the sun, in an eerie silence, and then the sound hit, and kept on coming. Impressive.

Although people have tried

Happy Birthday, Kevin Enjoy the (non-lie) Cake!

Micro Men Given that it's the Speccy's 30th Birthday. 10 PRINT "HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPECCY" 20 GO TO 10 go on try it http://jsspeccy.zxdemo.org/ you might need these too http://slady.net/Sinclair-ZX-Spectrum-keyboard/layout/ http://slady.net/Sinclair-ZX-Spectrum-keyboard/

Werner Herzog is absolutely fuming with his cleaning lady. Livid... Rosalina. Woman. You constantly revile me with your singular lack of vision. Be aware, there is an essential truth and beauty in all things. From the death throes of a speared gazelle to the damaged smile of a freeway homeless. But that does not mean that the invisibility of something implies its lack of being. Though simpleton babies foolishly believe the person before them vanishes when they cover their eyes during a hateful game of peek-a-boo, this is a fallacy. And so it is that the unseen dusty build up that accumulates behind the DVD shelves in the rumpus room exists also. This is unacceptable. I will tell you this Rosalina, not as a taunt or a threat but as an evocation of joy. The joy of nothingness, the joy of the real. I want you to be real in everything you do. If you cannot be real, then a semblance of reality must be maintained. A real semblance of the fake real, or “real”. I have conquered volcanoes and visited the bitter depths of the earth’s oceans. Nothing I have witnessed, from lava to crustacean, assailed me liked the caked debris haunting that small plastic soap hammock in the smaller of the bathrooms. Nausea is not a sufficient word. In this regard, you are not being real. Now we must turn to the horrors of nature. I am afraid this is inevitable. Nature is not something to be coddled and accepted and held to your bosom like a wounded snake. Tell me, what was there before you were born? What do you remember? That is nature. Nature is a void. An emptiness. A vacuum. And speaking of vacuum, I am not sure you’re using the retractable nozzle correctly or applying the ‘full weft’ setting when attending to the lush carpets of the den. I found some dander there. I have only listened to two songs in my entire life. One was an aria by Wagner that I played compulsively from the ages of 19 to 27 at least 60 times a day until the local townsfolk drove me from my dwelling using rudimentary pitchforks and blazing torches. The other was Dido. Both appalled me to the point of paralysis. Every quaver was like a brickbat against my soul. Music is futile and malicious. So please, if you require entertainment while organizing the recycling, refrain from the ‘pop radio’ I was affronted by recently. May I recommend the recitation of some sharp verse. Perhaps by Goethe. Or Schiller. Or Shel Silverstein at a push. The situation regarding spoons remains unchanged. If I see one, I will kill it. That is all. Do not fail to think that you are not the finest woman I have ever met. You are. And I am including on this list my mother and the wife of Brad Dourif (the second wife, not the one with the lip thing). Thank you for listening and sorry if parts of this note were smudged. I have been weeping. Your money is under the guillotine. Herzog. http://www.sabotaget...-cleaning-lady/