California City Moves Closer to Bankruptcy Filing
Bondholders will likely be asked to sacrifice some of their investment if the city seeks bankruptcy protection, an attorney for the municipality said last night. Vallejo faces ballooning labor costs and declining housing-related sales-tax revenue, leaving budget officials projecting that money will run out within weeks.

And so it begins
BREMERTON, Wash. Bremerton police said four banks were vandalized early Thursday, with each incident involving windows broken with pieces of concrete that had notes taped to them...
Police said the content of the notes were all the same and read as follows:
"Directions: Attach to brick and throw through window"
"Here is your brick back."
"Recognize it? You should."
"It is part of the wall that you, as one of the elite upper class, have helped to build between the minority ruling class, and the majority working class throughout history. By flaunting your decadence, you have made yourself a target."
"Get used to it!"

Current account balance
From the CIA World Factbook
Rank Country Current account balance Date of Information
1 China $ 363,300,000,000 2007 est.
2 Japan $ 201,300,000,000 2007 est.
3 Germany $ 185,100,000,000 2007 est.
4 Saudi Arabia $ 88,890,000,000 2007 est.
5 Russia $ 74,000,000,000 2007 est.
6 Switzerland $ 67,890,000,000 2007 est.
7 Netherlands $ 59,280,000,000 2007 est.
8 Norway $ 55,820,000,000 2007 est.
9 Kuwait $ 51,490,000,000 2007 est.
10 Singapore $ 41,390,000,000 2007 est.
11 United Arab Emirates $ 36,110,000,000 2007 est.
12 Algeria $ 31,500,000,000 2007 est.
13 Sweden $ 30,190,000,000 2007 est.
14 Canada $ 28,460,000,000 2007 est.
15 Malaysia $ 25,930,000,000 2007 est.
16 Taiwan $ 23,800,000,000 2007 est.
17 Hong Kong $ 19,870,000,000 2007 est.
18 Iran $ 19,000,000,000 2007 est.
19 Finland $ 17,120,000,000 2007 est.
20 Venezuela $ 17,020,000,000 2007 est.
Wait for it...
...

163 United States $ -747,100,000,000 2007 est.

Here Comes The $739 Billion Taxpayer Bailout
The banking system is in terminal distress; collapsing from hundreds of billions in worthless assets, bad bets, and poor decision-making. Their capital impairment problems were all brought on by themselves. And they should be forced to pay the consequences, whatever that may be. They managed to take a simple, revenue-generating activity like mortgage lending, and turn it into a textbook case of grand larceny. It's pathetic.

In their present condition, many of the banks will be back for another handout in a matter of months. Next will be commercial real estate (CRE) which is already slumping and on its way down. Then it'll be the $160 billion in private equity deals and leveraged buyouts (LBOs) which need refinancing. Then it'll be the maxed-out credit cards, and delinquent student loans and defaulting car loans all of which are failing at a faster and faster pace. It is not just the “structured investment” market that's unraveling now; it's the whole speculative paradigm of hyper-inflated assets, toxic bonds, over-priced equities and bizarre-sounding derivatives which are crashing down in one great debt waterfall.

Wall St. Banks Confront a String of Write-Downs
When banks make loans, they hold them until they can sell the debt to institutional investors like hedge funds and mutual funds. But lately the market for this debt has seized up and many banks have been unable to unload the loans. As the value of this debt declines, lenders must recognize as a loss the difference in the value at which they made loans and the prices of similar debt in the secondary, or resale, market.

“This correction feels a lot deeper and wider and more prolonged than what we have seen historically,” said one senior Wall Street executive who was not authorized to speak to the media.