Ahem....

It would seem that a new chant/slogan is called for since the recent oil discharge off the coast of Louisiana resulted from a defeat of the "fool proof" safeguards that BP and other oil companies assured us would keep such an event from occurring.

Instead of "drill, baby, drill" this other cliche may be more useful.

Oh, that's the slick as seen from space.

Holy Zoonoses Batman!

This image was one of several from a Newsweek/MSNBC slideshow on cute little animals that can vector nasty diseases to humans. It seems to me that this poor guy is frightened of contracting something evil from humans. The credit goes to Stephen Foster/Getty images (didn't he write My Old Kentucky Home?)

I've Heard Of Russian Roulette, but.......

At the Senate hearings that have explored Goldman Sachs operations, a common analogy that has cropped up has to do with gambling and the nature of "risk". According to an AP story today, "Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein testily told skeptical senators at a hearing Tuesday that clients who bought subprime mortgage securities from the Wall Street powerhouse in 2006 and 2007 came looking for risk "and that's what they got."

Now, Russian Roulette is also a risky game. I submit that GS is being charged by the SEC with using an approach suggested by this image in "playing the game" with some of their "less sophisticated" (or more greedy) clients. I think some such clients may have expected significantly more empty cylinders than GS had actually loaded in GS's favor.

Current Political Cartoons...No Additional Comment Needed

Wait For It, "Marmaduchess", and I Didn't Know That

Two of today's cartoons stood out for me. Perhaps it was too early for me and I hadn't had a second cup of coffee, but I had to "wait" for the punch line of Parker and Hart's Sir Rodney epiphany to sink in.

Anyone familiar with our new pup Maggie may appreciate today's Marmaduke (by Brad Anderson). When taking Maggie for a walk, I sometimes feel a bit like Phil hanging onto the leash. As usual, you might have to click on an image to enlarge it somewhat.

What I didn't know (of the myriad of things I don't know) is that naturalist John J. Audubon was born on April 26, 1785 in Haiti, I presume of U.S. parents. Check it out "birthers".

Health Care Barter System?

Perhaps you have heard of the idea advanced by a candidate for U.S. Senate from Nevada that health care reform might center around a return to the 19th early 20th century barter system. "Chickens for Checkups". Take a look at this handy dandy calculator web site that might be useful for this (at least in Nevada)

http://lowdenplan.com/

Another Skyline

It looks like 1,000,000 does not attract much attention, so all bets are off. I guess skylines are not all that intriguing. Try this one, it may be the last. At least the "sky" part is striking.