Barney Frank shall be remembered as the nation’s leading protector of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac before their fall.

For years Barney helped block meaningful reform of the mortgage giants while pushing an “affordable housing” agenda that helped to enlarge the subprime mortgage industry.

“I do think I do not want the same kind of focus on safety and soundness that we have in OCC [Office of the Comptroller of the Currency] and OTS [Office of Thrift Supervision],” Mr. Frank said on September 25, 2003, in one of his many legendary rhetorical hits. “I want to roll the dice a little bit more in this situation towards subsidized housing.”

BZ

The human being has always pushed the envelope into and beyond the realms of danger. This is the seventh of various weekend postings displaying how restless Man is with the mundane and how he purposely crosses the threshold into danger willingly — and sometimes unwillingly.

This is the Isle of Man TT (tourist trophy) race for motorcycles, in which it is not unheard-of to reach 160+ mph on bumpy country lanes. Official website is here. Please note the dangerous chassis shifts encountered when riders don’t come down completely parallel to the road after having crested hills and acquired air.

The video is, again, best viewed in full screen and with headphones plugged into your confuser. Mine are either Bose or Sennheiser.

As you can clearly see, there is a nasty penalty to be paid for failing to stay on course. It’s full faces and clip-ons and tear-offs and fully padded and braced leathers. It’s youth and micro-second reactions and adrenaline and mandatory High Visual Horizon. It’s fires and spraying champagne and back-braces and asphalt friction cutting through your leathers and past your skin to the bone. It’s winner and loser. And the difference might be no more than one-degree of separation.

BZ

P.S.
Thanks, Chris!

From YahooNews:

Plagued by allegations of sexual harassment and marriage infidelity, businessman Herman Cain announced Saturday that he is officially suspending his campaign for president of the United States.

“As of today, with a lot of prayer and soul searching, I am suspending my presidential campaign,” Cain said at what was supposed to be new campaign headquarters in his hometown of Atlanta. “I am disappointed that it came to this point that we had to make this decision.”But he added, “Before you get discouraged, today I want to describe Plan B. . . . I am not going away. I will continue to be a voice for the people.” With that, he unveiled the headquarters of his new website, TheCainSolutions.com.

Standing with his wife Gloria by his side, Cain vowed that he would make an endorsement before the primaries were over and said that he “will not be silenced.”

This resolution was seen brewing for some time.

Possess gun. Shoot foot. Self-inflicted.

BZ

Crimso live in Japan:

The above iteration of King Crimson came replete with

• Robert Fripp: guitar
• Bill Bruford: drums & percussion
• Adrian Belew: guitar & vocals
• Tony Levin: bass guitar

In some ways, this second version may be as good or even a tad superior to the original 1973 song (which I featured last Saturday, here). With the addition of Adrian Belew as second guitar (formerly played for Frank Zappa and David Bowie, also toured with Talking Heads), he is able to take the place, to a degree, of David Cross from the original — with some high fretboard sonic works and whammy bar usage.

The above concert was filmed in 1982.

BZ