Peter Cox’s Blog

• “After 8 years of proud incuriosity and anti-intellectualism, we now have a leader who values nuance and careful thought” http://is.gd/6ClK #

• Refuse hugs from strangers… latest crime in Westminster involves strangers hugging victims and removing their property. #
• Councils ban use of Latin terms… quem deus vult perdere, dementat prius… http://is.gd/6bVp #
• Fish who listen to Mozart grow faster than those who don’t… guess what i’m getting my aquaria for Xmas… http://is.gd/6esR #

• Why sack them for telling the truth? First class on Virgin Atlantic is full of chavs… not a good experience…http://is.gd/5xOv #

• Facebook is burning money… http://is.gd/5mNQ #
• Arnold, you’re a creep. http://is.gd/5pLw And a creep built out of steroids. http://is.gd/5pLB #

This is a massive story that deserves headline coverage.  Reporter Joe Nocera dialled in to a JPMorgan internal conference call.  Subject: how will the bank use the free $25bn handout they’ve received from Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson for “recapitalization”.

Maybe to ease the credit crunch and start the lending cycle again?  That was, after all,  the stated purpose.

No chance.  As most of us knew from the outset, it was always going to be used for corporate welfare, state socialism at its most extreme.

This is what Nocera heard:

“What we do think it [i.e. the $25bn] will help us do is perhaps be a little bit more active on the acquisition side or opportunistic side for some banks who are still struggling. And I would not assume that we are done on the acquisition side just because of the Washington Mutual and Bear Stearns mergers. I think there are going to be some great opportunities for us to grow in this environment, and I think we have an opportunity to use that $25 billion in that way and obviously depending on whether recession turns into depression or what happens in the future, you know, we have that as a backstop.”

This is incendiary stuff - read the full article here.

• Yay! Back at my favourite gym @ 6;30am, the 1st customer in… they’ve tricked it out really well… I’m happy! http://is.gd/5jdV #
• Nice LITOPIA AFTER DARK tonite… Alan Gibbons (UK) and Lynn Price (US) specials guests, witty and fun episode. Will be up over the w/end. #
• Australia now joins China, N Korea, Burma etc in censoring the net - legitimizing it. Next up: UK, US and onwards… http://is.gd/53xn #
• The World At Night… What a beautiful site… motivates me to get a camera for the ’scope… http://is.gd/5nBG #

• Here comes the China Syndrome… the beginning of the end of free speech on the net… http://is.gd/5b5t #

• If you don’t use StumbleUpon, this won’t mean anything to you… if you do, well… http://is.gd/59b4 #

• Stunning… cost of Iraq war could have paved the entire U.S. interstate highway system with gold…http://is.gd/50w9 #

• Much truth in this… could it be the next Harry Potter lawsuit??? http://is.gd/4QUU #
• @brianclegg Ha! Many people will not comprehend “chuggers”, B… it does sound liquidly unpleasant… in reply to brianclegg #