9/25    check out our next President:
        http://tinyurl.com/4a38uq
        \_ Palin's a side-show.  The more attention you pay to her, the
           more successful her candidacy is.  -tom
           \_ she got YOUR attention.
              \_ what do you mean?  -tom
                 \_ exactly.
                    \_ troll lvl 1 sez:  you responded - gotcha!
                    \_ troll lvl 1:  you responded - gotcha!

9/25    NK arcade!
        http://www.ukresistance.co.uk/2008/09/inside-north-korean-arcade.html
        \_ I thought reporters and cameras are banned in N Korea? WTF

9/25    motd palin guy, please view
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl4HIc-yfgM

9/25    Man, finally got Linux bck on my desktop.  Windows seriously sucks.
        When even my computer illiterate wife prefers Linux to Vista, MS
        has a problem.

9/25    Father abandons 9 children to be cared for by the State of Nebraska:
        http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hlZbpXbUt5CbF3Ra6tEc-6uzzToAD93DPJO84

9/25    In 1999 the Clinton administration pressured Fannie Mae "to expand
        mortgage loans among low and moderate income people."  The NYTimes
        warned "But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble
        in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that
        of the savings and loan industry in the 1980's."
        http://tinyurl.com/4ulb87
        \_ CLINTON AND BROWN PEOPLES FAULT!
        \_ This American Life has already found the culprits:
           http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1242
        \_ And in the same year, the LA times talked about how great it was
           http://articles.latimes.com/1999/may/31/news/mn-42807
        \_ http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/08/20040809-9.html
        \_ Most non insane economists believe this month's troubles
           are from the crazy securitization of home mortgages, not the actual
           defaulted mortgages themselves.  I am not quite smart enough to tell
           if they are right.
           Here in NYC Michelle Malkin keeps ranting in the NY Daily News
           that its all the fault of illegal immigrants getting mortgages.
           \_ McCain should have picked Malkin as his Veep, at least she
              is articulate and no less batshit insane than Palin.

9/25    McCain campaign not actually suspended
        http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/25/mccain-campaign-still-act_n_129327.html
        \_ How dare you imply McCain is telling a fib!
        \_ All this stuff runs fine autonomously, why would it stop?  Saying
           McCain is lying here seems like a pretty big strech.
           \_ So why did he "suspend" his campaign again?  Why is it vitally
              important to suspend the debate?
                \_ Allegedly because McCain's services are absolutely
                   essential for resolving the $700B banking crisis?
                   \_ And a debate would just be too tasking for poor
                      little McCain?
                      \_ Political compromises take time.
                   \_ According to this anyway: http://csua.org/u/mg8
              \_ Huh?  He is not campaigning, he's in Washington working on
                 the deal (aparrently).  He suspended his campaign activites,
                 why would that stop low-level volunteers from doing their
                 jobs?  Do you get off work when the CEO is on a business
                 trip?
           \_ No one is accusing him of lying.  It's more like people are
              accusing him of a meaningless political stunt, which is
              hard to argue with.
              \_ Aside from above guy?
        \_ The only people who are saying McCain made a bold move that will
           defend America are Republican strategists.
        \- i am quite demoralized by mccain lately, but this is a stupid
           stupid stupid issues.

9/25    Barack Obama hard at work...signing autographs
        http://tinyurl.com/4rpakj  [yahoo]
        \_ HOW DARE HE DEFACE THOSE ROLLING STONES!

9/25    What % of BA commuters commute via BART, Caltrain, and road?
        \_ Not exactly the numbers you're looking for, but the 2006 numbers
           for % of workers using public transit are:
           San Francisco:       30.29%
           San Jose:             3.92%
           http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_transit
           \_ 30% is not bad! NYC is 54%. How in the world did
              Los Angeles get 10%? No way!
              \_ A lot of poor people ride the bus in South Central.
        \_ You forgot Yahoo/eBay/Paypal/Google/Apple shuttles.
           \_ And the long-disance AC Transit transbay buses with free Wi-Fi.
              A few lines go as far as Fremont <--> SF.

9/25    Yah, we saw this coming, but congresscritters prevented Fannie/Freddie
        from being fixed
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgctSIL8Lhs
        \_ Mission Accomplished!
        \_ And the Bush Admin vetoed the fix congress sent them.
           \_ URL?
              \_ It was on the motd last week, but here it is again:
                 http://csua.org/u/mdd
                 \_ That's not what the article says.  The bill passed the
                    house but not the Senate, hence it was never vetoed.
                    I posted another article that claims Bush backed the
                    Bill.  I doubt it, but McCain apparently sponsored it.
                    It never made it out of committee in the Senate, the
                    committee is/was chaired by a Dem.
                    \_ No, the Senate was controlled by the GOP in 2005. When
                       you control the Senate, your party chairs all the
                       committees. That is how the Senate works.
        \_ Why are you so obsessed with F&F? It is the unregulated CDS that have
           caused the financial meltdown.
        \_ Why are you so obsessed with F&F? It is the unregulated CDS
           that have caused the financial meltdown.

9/25    Osama Bin Laden: "We don't have to screw with you infidels anymore,
        your financial market is already in ruins. Alalalalalalaah"

9/25    have you called/e-mailed your congresscritter today?
        remember:  barney frank is a slimebucket
        \_ And George Bush is a War Hero: Mission Accomplished! Do you still
           call them Freedom Fries, I am kind of curious.
        \_ And George Bush is a War Hero, so of course none of this is
           his fault.

9/25    Palin on CBS: ouch
        http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=11420
        \_ Actually a lot of good 'ol farm land belt Americans prefer
           he colloqialism(sp) and her honesty and her FEISTYness.
           Don't underestimate the power of CONSERVATIVES!!!!!!!
           Remember 2000 and 2004?
        \_ Maybe this whole "no deabate" thing is just an excuse to cancel
           the VP debate. Too bad, I was really looking forward to it.
           \_ No maybe about it.
              \_ Argument from final consequences.
               \_ Truth hurts
        \_ http://preview.tinyurl.com/4t38ja
           She is totally incoherent here.
        \_ http://preview.tinyurl.com/45cft8
           Even conservatives are starting to talk about the Palin Problem.

9/25    American public overwhelmingly wants debate and campaign to continue:
        http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=5e756118-0e6c-4a5e-a5e4-6080de9dab6a

9/25    Palin stood out for ignoring Russian issues in Alaska
        http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008174647_palinrussia12m0.html
        \_ "Palin has never visited Russia and until last year the 44-year-old
           Alaska governor had never traveled outside North America. She also
           had never met a foreign leader until her trip this week to New York.
           In the CBS interview, she did not offer any examples of having been
           involved in any negotiations with the Russians."
           http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080925/ap_on_el_pr/palin

9/25    How much tax can you deduct from selling a property at a loss?

9/25    WaMu deposits and branches to be owned by Chase
        Unclear what will happen to WaMu mortgages and debt - some say Chase
        is taking that too
        If I were to guess, JPM got another non-recourse loan from the govt!

9/25    Why is mtd no longer world executable? Has this been obsoleted?

9/25    "BART gets an equivalent to 249 miles per gallon during the peak
        commute hours."
        http://www.bart.gov/news/barttv/?&cat=27&id=362
        \_ I assume that 249 miles per person per gallon,  which means my
           carpool gets 120.
           \_ That's correct.  My carpool of two on a Prius only gets 102. --OP
        \_ Do they publish their data?  What's the MPG during off-peak?
           What's the total MPG for all operational hours?
           \_ According to link:csua.org/u/mgc they use 300 GW/year of energy, at
              a cost of $31 million; according to link:csua.org/u/mge they carry
              1.3 billion passenger miles a year.  If gas is $3.80 a gallon,
              then that's the cost equivalent of 160 person miles/gallon.  I'd
              like to know the pollution equivalent, too, but that sounds like
              more work to calculate.
              then that's the cost equivalent of 160 person miles/gallon
              overall.  Anyone want to calculate the pollution equivalent?
        \_ http://www.google.com/search?q=gallons+per+mile

9/25    How the hell do I unblock Safari popup? CTRL/ALT don't work.
        Also why does it keep opening new links in a new browser when
        I told it to open in new tabs in the menu?

9/25    Can someone please get Barney Frank a speech therapist?
        \- can someone pls get Sarah Palin a brain
           \_ We're off to see the Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

9/25    How much tax can you deduct from selling a PRIMARY residence at a
        loss?
        \_ It's a capital loss.  You can deduct up to $3K per year if
           it's not offset by capital gains.  (You can offset as many
           capital gains as you like).  You can carry forward capital loss
           from one year to the next.  Assuming it's not the home you live
           in, in which case the rules are different.  -tom
           \_ All true, and I think you can carry forward for 10 years (= $30k)
              \_ ALL WRONG. Will the IRS let you claim a write-off for the
                 loss? Nope. You can only claim a tax loss on investment
                 property. A loss on a personal residence is considered to
                 be a nondeductible personal expense for federal income tax
                 purposes. Most states follow the same principle. Double ouch!
                 http://www.smartmoney.com/tax-advice/index.cfm?story=20070405
                 \_ hey nimrod, the post originally said "selling property
                    at a loss" and didn't specify it was a primary home. -tom

9/25    How the Bush Administration forced Fannie to lend money to
        sub-prime borrowers and feed the housing crises:
        http://preview.tinyurl.com/3l4enj

9/25    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_transit
        LA mean travel time is 29.2min, which is only slightly more
        than SF at 29.0. See, Los Angeles isn't such a bad place to live!
        \_ "figures shown for central city only, not metropolitan area"

9/25    Chase buys WaMu deposits, branches, whole mortgages and HELOCs
        (all consumer and business accounts safe, even over $100K)
        Pays $1.9B to FDIC
        Debt, common stock, and preferred stock left in WaMu holding company
        WaMu holding company taken over by FDIC
        All WaMu branches will re-open tomorrow at normal business hours
        (although now owned by JP Morgan Chase)