Show business versatility

Who is the only female performer to have won an Emmy, Grammy, Tony and an Oscar. Aswer after the jump.

Rita Moreno.

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Happy Thanksgiving

For all U.S. readers, have a wonderful, safe and healthy Thanksgiving holiday.

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Scams running amok?

What a difference a year makes. Or perhaps, maybe not. In January of this year I wrote this post titled "All Ponzi all the time." There were quite a few scams going on at the time with predictions for more to be uncovered. Now the U.S. Attorney for New York's Southern District is saying that white collar crime (a fancy term for scamming) is running amok. He should know, after all New York is one of the financial centers of the world right? Actually it is more like one of the Ponzi scheme capitals of the world it seems and the authorities are having a hard time catching up with all the schemers.

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What can we bring?

The big question around holiday time. You are invited to a party and ask, "What can we bring?" The host says you don't have to bring anything. Bringing a bottle of wine is typically a safe bet. The duo as the WSJ give you some ideas about what to bring in this article so you don't have to put a lot of thought into it.

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The Mummer's Dance

Loreena McKennitt performs The Mummer's Dance in concert. Everyone in the band is so talented that this version, although a little hurried, is very fine.

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Should he stay or should he go?

Mommy lost her cool at a Joint Economic Committee hearing last week and Kevin A. Hassett says this is an indication she should go. After Giethner deflected criticism of his performance so far by saying that the present administration inherited an economy falling off a cliff Hassett provides this gem in his article.

"It is an iron law of Washington that policy makers lose their cool when they are on shaky ground in terms of substance. Geithner must know in his heart that he, far more than Brady or Burgess, is responsible for the financial crisis. That's why minor political theater sets him off.

Look at the facts. Geithner was president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for the five years leading up to the financial crisis. The crisis occurred, in part, because Wall Street firms spun out of control. The New York Fed is the cop charged with patrolling Wall Street, the eyes and ears of the financial regulatory system. It fundamentally failed on his watch."

Read the whole thing.

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Belle du Jour

Now that she has outed herself, Freakonomics Blog interviewed Belle du Jour aka Dr. Brooke Magnanti, a neurotoxicologist at the Bristol Initiative for Research of Child Health about her experience as a high class call girl and blogging about it.

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