In the news:

- American stabbed at the Olympics by a guy who commits suicide. AP story on it

- Bernie Mac just died.

- Georgia declares war after 2000 die in the attacks. And yes, they have oil.

- Paul Newman is taking it like a man

- (Sorry Danny) The price of pot might be going up

- You can get paid $4,000,000 if you are a Nigerian witch doctor.

- Phelps just broke his own record. Phelps had ADHD as a kid, and he turned out just fine. So don’t worry parents of ADHD kids, just take them to the pool.

- This nation has nukes. Who’s going to end up in the hot seat?

- This guy was a very successful serial loser. He’s like the “Catch me if you can” b-squad. Who would play him in a movie?

Hey, what do you guys think about the banks, sitting on all of this housing inventory from foreclosures? I assume that they won’t be able to move it for a long time, so do you think they might start massive rental (or rent-to-own) programs? I mean, what else are they going to do with all of this property that is decaying and accumulating property tax? If banks do this, rents will drop in surrounding areas, as individual landlords compete with the banks. More people will default on their mortgages, driving the nail in the coffin of their hopes and dreams of “striking it rich” in the housing rush of the early 2000’s. So solly.

The alternative is that the banks just hang onto tens of thousands of empty properties until people can buy them. Considering that nobody can get a loan right now, I’m thinking that these places are going to stay empty. Also, with states and municipalities running into cash-flow problems, do you think that there will be sufficient resources to protect these empty homes from the likes of squatters, nonpublic drug manufacturers (meth labs), and swindlers? Unscrupulous assholes are renting empty homes out to suckers, who move in only to find that they can’t get the electricity turned on, and their deposit check has been cashed.

Look for massive bank owned rental programs in the near future, run by huge property management companies. That is my prediction.

edit: Who the fuck is taking my stars away? One of them was me, but I want the other one back.

Bonus: I’m over the ratings manipulation scandal, to bring you a contest:

Hip-hop Chinese granny vs. Russian granny vs. American granny olympics

Bonus2:

Beastie Boys: