218619 instructions total: mov 57251 26.19% add 20011 9.15% call 11086 5.07% je 10684 4.89% pop 7659 3.50% test 7541 3.45% and 7112 3.25% push 6745 3.09% jmp 6092 2.79% lea 5975 2.73% or 5853 2.68% cmp 4909 2.25% jne 4772 2.18% nop 4649 2.13% xor 4062 1.86% movl 3835 1.75% sub 3067 1.40% inc 2800 1.28% jb 2706 1.24%

WARNING: A file lock request which is blocked can be interrupted by a signal. In this case the lock operation returns EINTR. Thus you may think you got a lock when you really did not. A solution is to block signals when locking. Another solution is to test the value returned by the lock operation and relock if the value is EINTR. Another solution, which we adopt here, is to do nothing about it.

2008-09-26 - 2008-09-30 Congress is planning on taking $700 billion of taxpayer money and using it to buy worthless subprime mortgage-based securities that investment banks own.

Info:

Update:

2008-10-04 Credit markets to Washington: Bailout isn't enough
2008-09-30 Lawmakers scramble to revise bailout bill
2008-09-30 White House, lawmakers plan new bailout deal
2008-09-30 Section-by-section breakdown of the "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008," otherwise known as the $700 billion Wall Street bailout bill.
Hey, it was rejected! I believe because of American citizens writing to their Congressmen (really it was the fear of losing their jobs soon, but close enough). Great news. And the sky no longer seems to be falling. Good job, everyone. Perhaps one positive legacy of Bush Jr. reign is reminding us not to cave in to fear and rush to pass poorly-understood legislation (Iraq war, Patriot Act, etc)
2008-09-29 U.S. House defeats $700B bailout bill
2008-09-29 Bailout plan rejected
2008-09-29 House defeats financial industry bailout bill
- "Like the Iraq war and patriot act, this bill is fueled by fear and haste." — Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas
- "This legislation is giving us a choice between bankrupting our children and bankrupting a few of these big financial institutions on Wall Street that made bad decisions." — Rep. John Culbertson, R-Texas

Basically what this means is that banks have invested their own money in stocks (securities) that were backed by subprime mortgages. These were bad investments because the people who took out the mortgages usually can't afford them (which is what makes them subprime in the first place). Since the bankers lost their own money, they want the American taxpayers to borrow or print $700 billion and give it to them to replace their losses.

If bankers make money (and they do), everything is fine and their Swiss bank accounts get fatter. However if bankers lose money, that's a disaster! Lose? They may have to wait a few months before they buy that 3rd Bentley or second yacht. So instead of absorbing their own losses, YOU (the American taxpayer) are going to pay them for it. We are privatizing gains and socializing losses. It's like welfare for rich people.

This is the biggest fleecing of America in recent memory. The Treasury wants to take $700 billion (they'll get this by either printing new money or by taking out loans from other governments) and apportioning that money however they see fit, amongst the owners of the investment banks that recently failed because they invested in securities backed by subprime mortgages. This plan will:

Raise inflation

Your own money will be worth less because there will now be $700 billion new dollars printed up just for the investment bank owners. That's over $3,000 for every man, woman and child in the United States.

Reward unwise investment

This is the least tangible of my complaints, but still smacks of socialism. It's not fair. Why reward those who made poor decisions; where is the

Perpetuate the moral hazard that already exists

If banks are too big to fail why should they bother making wise decisions in the future? No matter what the course of action the men at the top are guarenteed a golden parachute.

Most importantly, this plan WILL NOT FIX THE SYSTEM

It simply perpetuates it by rewarding today those who lost money yesterday. Tomorrow there will be a new bubble and a new bailout.

$700 billion is not the actual price

As with anything the government does, the real price will be [ StatedPrice * n ] where n is some multiple between 3 and 10.

Credit markets to Washington: Bailout isn't enough

Keep watching...

Now that the floodgates have opened, I predict you will see plenty of other 'me too' allocations on the order of hundreds of billions. They will use this current fiasco as a smokescreen to pass other bailouts and laws. Just watch, I'm right. [1] [2]

Unless you own an investment bank or feel like giving thousands of your own dollars to them out of your own pocket then you should write your representative in Congress and tell them you're against the bailout plan. You may inevitably get screwed by the rich and powerful, but you don't have to sit there and like it.

It is sadly amusing that the behavior reflected here seems all so familiar after reading The Creature from Jekyll Island. Bank owners and the politicians they own continue to take from taxpayers to line their own pockets whenever they lose money. It is a system designed by the rich few to keep themselves rich.