How did we get in this subprime mortgage mess?

Obviously all those Harvard MBAs couldn't be wrong. Could they?

“I’d lie if I said every piece of documentation was properly signed and dated,” said Mr. Parsons, speaking through wire-reinforced glass at a California prison near here, where he is serving 16 months for theft after his fourth arrest — all involving drugs.

While Mr. Parsons, whose incarceration is not related to his work for WaMu, oversaw a team screening mortgage applications, he was snorting methamphetamine daily, he said.

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A Christmas Message from This Blogger

Just made the once-yearly visit to Church. The good thing with being Catholic is that the service is exactly the same every week, so you know you'll be out in exactly 45 minutes (or 1 hour if there's singing)

Anyway as usual there was the sermon about not being materialistic, followed by what for me is the most spiritually moving part of the mass, namely when the collecting tin is passed round.

Times are hard in the Catholic church. The subprime mortgage fiasco has caught the Vatican Bank on the hop; some cardinals in Rome are down to their last Jacuzzi, and the supermodels are beginning to stay away from what they call 'the pontiff circuit'.

Not only that but the Church continues to hemorrhage money in settlements to people who have been abused by its priests. Only last week I heard of a congregation shocked by news that their trusty deacon had been discovered with twenty young boys playing bingo in the nude. His excuse was that they were feeling "hot".

I give the last word to the brilliant Rowan Atkinson. Some time ago, the BBC in the UK had an obligation to show some vaguely religious content every Sunday night. They had a show called 'Songs of Praise' where the TV cameras visited some dismal parish or other. Here's Rowan's take on it.

How could this possibly have ended badly?

Tom Cruise as German officer Claus Von Stauffenberg

How _could_ prettyboy Tom's performance have been anything less than totally convincing?



He is one of the greatest stars of our age, after all

"Option One is we bring him in alive. Feel free to consider option two!"

A great look, and a great scriptwriter. You don't often find them in the same place on US TV.

My all time favorite Vic Mackey quote:

He has just burst in on a gangbanger humping his girlfriend. Needing information, he holds the gangster's head in a tank full of poisonous snakes. Naturally the girlfriend gives up the information. He pulls the guy's head out - by now he's the worse for snakebite - and as he leaves advises the shocked girl: "If you want him to live, you'd better start sucking face!"

This is not The Onion

"Amid pressure from local politicians, some Chuck E. Cheese's have stopped serving alcohol and added security guards who carry pistols."

It's the Wall Street Journal

Justice!

Truly this news has made the decade worthwhile!

It's the occasional ray of sunshine like this, that makes life worth living.

Some Business Plan

1) Make one decent British gangster movie

2) Shag Madonna for eight years

3) Walk away with 32 million quid

Master Criminal Busted

A Chicago police officer who had been relieved of his police powers was arrested in Rosemont for impersonating an officer, authorities said today.

Victor Brown, 35, of the 10000 block of South Wallace Avenue has been in custody since Tuesday on the felony charge. His bail was reduced Thursday to $5,000.

Rosemont detectives arrested Brown after he went to a hotel and asked for a free room to conduct an undercover vice investigation, authorities said. Hotel employees called police after he asked for lotion and on-demand movies, authorities said.

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More financial fallout

How Symantec Apps Are Built

Here is a screenshot of the build environment for Symantec applications.