Interlude: Bailout!

wincing.at.light — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 12:23:45 +0000

The best commentary I’ve seen on the proposed U.S. financial sector bailout comes from theseminal.com:

Dear American:

I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.

I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you.

I am working with Mr. Phil Gram, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a Senator, you may know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s. This transactin is 100% safe.

This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check. We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.

Please reply with all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds.

Yours Faithfully Minister of Treasury Paulson

Henry Merritt “Hank” Paulson Jr. is the United States Treasury Secretary and member of the International Monetary Fund Board of Governors. He previously served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs.

Interlude: Late to the Party

wincing.at.light — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 19:27:00 +0000

I’m always the last one to find out about stuff (ref., the non-existence of Santa, meningitis is BAD FOR YOU memo, etc). The latest incident in this long list is the SFWA’s (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America) copyright infringement debacle with the text file sharing site Scribd.

Why’s and wherefore’s of said debacle can be found via Cory Doctorow at BoingBoing here or somewhat more histrionically from Charlie Stross on his blog.

Bottom line is that the SFWA pissed some people off. Some of those other people and a bandwagon of erstwhile onlookers are telling them to suck it. A brouhaha has ensued and bandwagon trains have been boarded and encircled.

Without giving a rat’s ass about the politics or parties involved, I hate to miss a good brouhaha, so A Vessel for Offering is now also available via Sribd in a variety of formats if you’re into that sort of thing. And even if you’re not, it’s still available.

Download link here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/673094/Vessel-for-Offering-CC

Wincing at Light » Tempests

Interlude: Bailout!

Interlude: Late to the Party