No fucking shit.

I made a mistake in presuming that the self-interest of organizations, specifically banks and others, was such as they were best capable of protecting their own shareholders.

- Alan Greenspan, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve.

No, really? Amazing. See, I figured that one out in the wake of the Savings and Loan debacle. I saw it again when I read about the robber barons and the birth of the labor movement. Anytime there is a chance to gain wealth, power, and/or prestige, unethical people will flock to it. People who will flout the laws, break the rules, and trample everyone to get their particular brass ring. They may even be a distinct minority, but when there are tens of thousands of bankers, even a 1% rate of occurrence for these thugs means hundreds or thousands of them.

Lord & Sons would be much better off if I had a pintel-mounted M2HB Machine Gun. I see a truck from White Cap or another of our rivals? BUDDABUDDABUDDABUDDABUDDABUDDA. But we have laws that keep us from doing that. So we are forced to beat them into the ground with better service and competitive prices. Darn it.

Folks, I am a high-school dropout. Why the FUCK do I grasp the concept of "people are greedy fucks, and given the chance, will screw their own grandmothers to make a buck" better than a man with a couple of advanced degrees?

Simply brilliant.

I love Ron Howard. Both as an actor and a director, and now as the guy who convinced Henry Winkler back into the Fonzie jacket.

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

Obama Tax Calculator Widget

Pretty good take on things.

Your result for Howard Gardner's Eight Types of Intelligence Test...

Linguistic

31% Logical, 0% Spatial, 55% Linguistic, 41% Intrapersonal, 27% Interpersonal, 51% Musical, 8% Bodily-Kinesthetic and 25% Naturalistic!

"Verbal-linguistic intelligence has to do with words, spoken or written. People with verbal-linguistic intelligence display a facility with words and languages. They are typically good at reading, writing, telling stories and memorizing words and dates. They tend to learn best by reading, taking notes, listening to lectures, and via discussion and debate. They are also frequently skilled at explaining, teaching and oration or persuasive speaking. Those with verbal-linguistic intelligence learn foreign languages very easily as they have high verbal memory and recall, and an ability to understand and manipulate syntax and structure.

Careers which suit those with this intelligence include writers, lawyers, philosophers, journalists, politicians and teachers." (Wikipedia)

Take Howard Gardner's Eight Types of Intelligence Test at HelloQuizzy

OK, time for the lyrics meme again!

Y'all know the drill. Artist and song title. Thanks to katster for starting the insanity again. Tracks are from the My Top Rated folder on iTunes.

1. Johnny told his mama, hey, 'Mama, I'm goin' away. I'm gonna hit the big time, gonna be a big star someday', Yeah.
Mama came to the door with a teardrop in her eye.
Johnny said, 'Don't cry, mama, smile and wave good-bye'.

Shooting Star by Bad Company (kath8562)

2. Make us fight on the hill in the early day
Constant chill deep inside
Shouting gun, on they run through the endless gray
On they fight, for they're right, yes, but who's to say?

For Whom The Bell Tolls by Metallica (dalen_talas)

3. My kingdom corrupt with dissent
Your sins erupt by my intent
I loathe your prayer, I wallow in sin
Let the nightmare begin

4. Cold and shaking
I crawled down alleys to try
And scrape away the tracks that marked me
Slammed my face into walls of concrete
I stared, amazed at the words written on the wall

The Needle Lies by Queensryche (rfeceo)

5. Whistles, shouts and more gun-fire
Lifeless bodies hang on barbed wire
Battlefield nothing but a bloody tomb
Be reunited with my dead friends soon

6. Well it's widely known that a ship alone
Would be burned up and destroyed
But the ship and crew brought with us too
An eleven mile asteroid

Falling Down on New Jersey (10binary_cats)

7. Still waters run deep
So be careful I don't drown you
You've got nothing to hear
I've got nothing to say

8. Don't it make you feel bad
When you're tryin' to find your way home,
You don't know which way to go?
If you're goin' down South
They go no work to do,
If you don't know about Chicago.

9. I've listened to preachers
I've listened to fools
I've watched all the dropouts
Who make their own rules

Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne (nimrodjcs)

10. Well-weathered leather
Hot metal and oil
The scented country air
Sunlight on chrome
The blur of the landscape
Every nerve aware

Red Barchetta by Rush (rfeceo)

and the one no one will get. I was wrong!

Eroding all alone like the mist upon the moss, eternal is my pledge an eternal holocaust
They summoned me, honorably, defend the cause, never repent, away I went, to defend the cause
When I was sent away they made a soldier from a boy
Victory will be achieved lethal weapons to destroy

Killing Season by Testament (fimbrethil)

We ARE the Revolution.

Making the rounds, and utterly repostable:

A "No" vote on CA Proposition 8 will annul no marriages.

A "Yes" vote on CA Proposition 8 will annul over 10,000 marriages (many with kids.)

Which vote is REALLY "protecting marriage"?

(NOTE: Each and every single vote WILL count. There is no "electoral college" for referendums.)

This is too freaking cool. Watch it.

May the four winds blow you safely home...

Merl Saunders has passed away.