U.S. border guards pepper-sprayed, handcuffed, roughed up, and arrested a Canadian returning to Canada before releasing him into winter weather in his shirtsleeves. What’s up with that?  Peter Watts arrested at border.

U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter delivers his ruling in the case of Capt. Pamela Barnett, et al., vs. C-in-C Barrack Obama, et al.  Hat tip to Mike Dunford at The Questionable Authority for “Orly Taitz gets slapped around by yet another judge.”

Some bloggers, such as Evolved and Rational, are reporting that the cult of Scientology appears to be in disarray. We can always hope. As people needing psychiatric care have died under their treatment, they are reported to engage in attacks by litigation, and their founder’s principles for raising children remind me of Dickensian child abuse, the sooner the better. And who drowned the judge’s dog when the judge was presiding over a $cientology case?

Pop over to the Gawker and read John Cook’s round-up of things and activities that the Republican right has declared to be “un-American” as soon as Barack Obama acquired or took part in them: “Americana that Barack Obama has made un-American”.

Americana

Wall Street used classic Ponzi scheme moves to create gut the U.S. economy while giving themselves ever-larger bonuses.

[Janet] Tavakoli told the IMF:

Wall Street gave mortgage lenders large credit lines (similar to credit card debt) and packaged the loans into private-label residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS). Most of the RMBS was rated “AAA” … But many RMBSs were backed by portfolios comprising risky fraud-riddled loans. Most of the “AAA” investment was imperiled, and subordinated “investment grade” components were worthless. Wall Street disguised these toxic “investments” with new value-destroying securitizations and derivatives.

Meanwhile, collapsing mortgage lenders paid high dividends to shareholders (old investors) and interest on credit lines to Wall Street (old investors) with money raised from new investors in doomed securities. New money allowed Wall Street to temporarily hide losses and pay enormous bonuses. This is a classic Ponzi scheme…