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Former Countrywide executives are forming a new company that will restructure sub-prime mortgage debt (at their discretion) by buying it from banks (at a discount) and profiting on the new loan.

Why is no one else complaining that the executives who created this mess are not only allowed to profit both from the creation of the problem and cleaning up their mess?

[From Marketplace: New profits from the ashes of subprime]

The Economist has a very poignant obituary for Lazare Ponticelli, the last French veteran of the first world war.

[From Lazare Ponticelli | Economist.com ]

Now I’ve got a ceiling cat of my own! Make one of your own here!

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) cut the federal funds rate by 75 basis points today, on continuing concerns that the US economy is going down the tubes fast. With inflation on the rise, the dollar on the slide, and more and more jobs simply ceasing to exist, it’s hard to argue.

According to the BBC, the Bank of New York is quoted as saying that “By cutting 75 points rather than 100 points, the Fed sought to restore leadership over the market and indicate that its actions would not be entirely dictated by market expectations.”

How exactly is this not giving in to “market expectations” entirely? Its as if the Fed said to the (stock) market: “Okay. We’ll bake you a cake. We’ll ice the cake for you. We’ll even put candles on the cake. But you better believe we’re not going to light the candles for you. You can’t tell us what to do.”

From [BBC NEWS | Business | Federal Reserve slashes US rates]

After a week, I’ve finally been able to put two words together without wondering if someone is trying to trick me. It’s finally time to talk about the bar exam.

First, it is an absolutely miserable experience. The morning of the exam, I likened the bar to a fraternity hazing ritual à la “Animal House”. Second, the exam does not require any depth of knowledge. As Brandon puts it, the bar exam is “a test of minimal competency”; incidentally, if you look up the phrase “minimal competency” in the dictionary, my picture is there.

Okay, to the exam itself:

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