The DoJ is high on crack
The Department of Justice wouldn't know an anticompetitive hookup if Standard Oil bit them in the face.

The Recession is over - hello, Depression!
From the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) report used to pronounce the recession is dead. They forgot to add "The Depression is here."In the 1st paragraph the Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that 2Q GDP decreased 0.7%, but increased 3.5% in the 3rd quarter.(Ed. note: No consecutive 4 quarters of growth here.)In the 2nd paragraph the BEA hedges by saying source data is incomplete and the “second” estimate for 3Q will come out 11/24/09.(Ed. note: Pretty sure that will be downward revisions – and not covered in the press.)Motor vehicle output added 1.66% to 3Q – in other words, the cash-for-clunkers is responsibl

The World Reacts (when pressed on it)
New York City: Chicago Mourns, New York SympathizesFrom the New York Times:“I think it’s a shame,” said Andrew MacNair, 60, an architect who lives on Central Park West. “It’s the sister city. It’s the cowboy town. We’re the sail port.”Not exactly sympathy.[A] majority of New Yorkers supported this city’s Olympic bid, contrary to the perception that New Yorkers cared little for the Games. But Chicago seemed particularly taken with the notion of hosting the Games, at least in terms of publicly expressed enthusiasm

Chicago skates on this one
And Chicago heaves a big sigh of relief.

Bears showed up at Pamplona
The spirit of Generalissimo Franco is alive in Spain. A brigade of bears stalked the bulls at Pamplona, ate them, then ran amuck throughout Spain.[The Hartford elk had no comment to this reporter.]UK