Modified from this Bail Bonds photo by Lance McCord and the US Capitol photo from Wikipedia

The problem with the Bailout Plan, according to the White House, is that it has the word "bailout" in it! Here's what White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto prefers us to use instead of the B-word:

To hear the White House tell it, one factor in the House vote yesterday against the administration’s bailout plan – was the word "bailout."

"It’s really unfortunate shorthand for a very complicated issue." says White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto. He says the administration plan to rescue the financial markets is "not a bailout for Wall Street" and "certainly not a bailout for Wall Street CEOs."

Okay then – what should we call it?

"It’s an effort to fix this problem of a frozen asset class that has implications over our entire economy," said Fratto at the daily White House press briefing. That certainly rolls off the tongue: "an effort to fix the problem of a frozen asset class."

Link

One of the neatest things on the Web is the plethora of "how-to" videos that tell you how to do practically anything. Problem is, the videos are everywhere: YouTube, metacafe, and so on.

Enter Wonder How To, a website that did for DIY video guides what Yahoo! did for the early Internet: it categorizes thousands of free how-to videos from over 1,700 websites into 35 categories (from arts & crafts to disaster preparation, magic & parlor tricks to pranks & cons).

I'm currently browsing the How to Hack section, which has over 600 videos on how to hack your gadgets, computers, and even video game consoles. Many of the videos are duds - which is why Wonder How To lets its viewers sort the clips by grade (from A to F).

For example (links open in a new browser/tab)

Greg LeNoir really, really loves his dog Jake. When a shark suddenly grabbed the rat terrier during its daily swim, Greg jumped in and punched the shark until it let go of the dog!

A big dark green shape which I realized was a big shark's head zoomed up from under Jake. Jake screamed ... Oh, you don't ever want to hear ... it's such a death scream and it sucked him under.

The shark clamped down on jake but its owner Greg LeNoir wouldn't have it. I dove straight down in like a battering ram. I drove my fist under the water into the shark and pushed it down. It felt like concrete on my hand ...

Link

If you want to save a few bucks, skip the car wash and wash your car in your own driveway.

Except if you live in Washington State, that is. There, washing your car in your own driveway is illegal:

Washing your car or boat in the driveway or street is a residential ritual as American as backyard barbecues. But the state of Washington is telling its local governments they must prohibit home car washing unless residents divert the wash water away from storm drains, where they say it causes water pollution.

"I understand this is something people have done for a long time," says Bill Moore, water quality specialist with the Washington state Department of Ecology, which is requiring the ban. "It's not something we should be doing any longer."

He says the soapy runoff is toxic to salmon and other fish and that small metal particles that wash off cars, such as brake dust, is harmful, too.

Link

After Sarah Palin announced her now oft-repeated line that "you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska," Gary Tuchman from CNN's news show Anderson Cooper 360° went to find this island. Here's his report:

The island is called Little Diomede. It looks like a rock plopped into the Bering Strait. Only about 150 Alaskans live on the whole island. And just about two miles away; in full view of every single house on the island is the nation of Russia. Specifically, it is the Russian Island of Big Diomede which sits about 25 miles from the Russian Siberian mainland (which you can also see from the American island.) [...]

We were curious what the Little Diomeders thought about Palin’s claim of foreign policy experience because of the proximity of Siberia. Interestingly, many of these Alaskans had no idea who Sarah Palin was! It turns out they have no TV on the island, and therefore, many don’t follow the news.

Link

Ten months ago, a 15-year-boy and his friends were attacked when they tried to stop a friend from being robbed at a bus stop.

The boy was stabbed in the forehead with a kitchen knife ... yet he survived. The Daily Mail has the gruesome X-ray and the story: Link

A 13-year-old Indian girl named Twinkle Dwivedi has a medical condition that baffles doctors: she bleeds through her skin without being cut or scratched!

Twinkle Dwivedi, 13, has a strange disorder which means she loses blood through her skin without being cut or scratched.

She has even undergone transfusions after pints of it seeped through her eyes, nose, hairline, neck and the soles of her feet.

Sometimes her condition is so bad she wakes up with her entire body covered in dried blood.

Link (Photo: Barcroft Media)

Police arrested 32-year-old Michele Allen for disorderly conduct ... while wearing a cow costume!

Saturday night, people in the 3100 block of Wilbraham Road called police to report a woman wearing a cow costume was chasing kids, and blocking traffic. Michele Allen also allegedly urinated on the porch of one neighbor.

Link - via Boing Boing

Confused about the 2008 financial meltdown? Conor Friedersdorf of Culture 11 has a run down on the bailout legislation, why so many members of Congress were against it, and what the big plunge in the stock market meant. For example:

2) Why did its Congressional critics -- especially House Republicans -- vote against it?

Daniel Larison dissents from the conventional wisdom:

"The failure of politics that culminated in the defeat of the bill was the failure of the proponents of the legislation to make an argument that did not rely very heavily on prophecies of disaster.

There was no real attempt at persuasion, and the haste in which everything was done generated far more intense opposition than was necessary. The supporters of the bill wanted to ram it through with as little deliberation and scrutiny as possible. On any other issue, on any other bill, this would be seen as outrageous and you would hear about the wisdom of having a lower chamber that was more responsive to the people.

Now opposition to this hasty adoption of a bad plan is derided as irresponsible? Let me break it down for you: if things are indeed as bad as the proponents say, and if they are the responsible, sober voices of wisdom that they pretend to be, the truly irresponsible thing was to wait up until the last weeks before the recess, rush out a terrible plan, demand immediate adoption of this terrible plan (which they were happy to admit in public was a terrible plan) and then not even correctly gauge the level of support for the legislation before bringing it to a vote."

http://www.culture11.com/node/32500?from=feature

Well ... technically it's almost correct! Found via Bits & Pieces

Photo: freemarketmyass [Flickr], at a protest against the bailout in Chicago

So. Today, the House of Representatives said no to the Mother of All Bailouts™ (with the majority of the Democrats voted for it, and the majority of Republicans voted against it). The Dow dropped like a rock, falling 777 points, making it the worst single-day point loss ever. Democrats blamed Republicans, Republicans blamed Democrats. Oh, and Citigroup gobbled up Wachovia and the Fed pumped $330 billion into the market anyway.

I went to lunch with my lovely wife and had a delicious Korean BBQ meal. I paid cash and left a generous tip to the nice waiter. Then I went back to work, and now, I'm typing up this post.

My point is this: Wall Street may be burning (and the New York economy is undoubtedly going to take a lickin') but I doubt it'll take the rest of the country down with it, despite the all doom-and-gloom we've been told. Most of the people I talked to don't have the same sense of urgency that Wall Street and the politicians have, or wanted us to have.

The economy in general has been kind of sucky - business is down (and we've made adjustments to cope with it), but that has been the way it is for a long time - well, before the hulaballoo at Wall Street.

I live within my means, own a house we can afford, pay cash for most of my purchases. We save for a rainy day. And I worked my butt off every day for all of this - I don't think the Wall Street meltdown or a Super Bailout is going to affect us all that much.

But I may be wrong. So let me ask your opinion: what do you think of the bailout failure and what it may mean to you? Are you fearful for your economic future? Is it because of the failure of the bailout or something far more fundamental?

Photo: Hermann Erber

Austrian photographer and climbing enthusiast Hermann Erber took this amazing photo of two ice climbers climbing a frozen waterfall when right beside them the falls collapsed!

Link

Photo: fixbuffalo [Flickr]

The "Red Mark of Death" is left Government inspectors on condemned buildings slated for demolition in Buffalo, New York. Flick user fixbuffalo has an interesting Flickr photoset of these marks, which often include notes to warn of the dangers present in the house.

Link - via Growabrain

"Dead Star" is a sculpture by Michel de Broin made from used up batteries:

Dead Star is made from residual battery at the end of their duty. Left to itself, the sculpture will slowly cool down since there is no longer electronic activity taking place in it. The hundreds of batteries were once used to power appliances before they finish their cycle in a recycle facility. Retrieve from death, they were assembled again in this whole structure.

Link - via NOTCOT

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