Coyoty Writes a Journal

When someone tried to pass a bad check at a Bank of America in Newington, CT, the bank staff called the police, who caught him.  While the police were processing him at the bank, another person came in and tried to pass a check from the same bogus company.  While he was being arrested, a woman came in to try to cash another of the bad checks.  And then her husband came in...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30726991/

According to financial advisor Brian P. Beck, the current financial crisis is due to Citicorp's merger with Hartford's Travelers Insurance.  When the president of Citicorp, Sandy Weill, wanted to merge the company with Travelers 11 years ago, it was forbidden by the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 because it had been determined after the Great Depression that a key cause of that crisis was the monopoly of banks that had merged with insurance companies.  Instead of diversifying Citicorp enough to qualify for a merger under Glass-Steagall, Weill got the law repealed in 1999 with the help of his friend Robert Rubin, then Treasury Secretary, who later resigned to work for Citicorp.  The repeal allowed banks to engage in risky business such as junk mortgages and merging with radically different companies, and moving assets between them with no accountability for actual value, leading to the current situation.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30724861/

Kenwood Jack London Vineyard 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon. From Jack London's Sonoma Valley ranch in Glen Ellen, California. Purchased at Log Cabin Package Store in Farmington, CT.

I normally don't buy $40 bottles of wine, but I wanted this bottle because of the gravitas and the emblem, which is from a bookplate on one of London's books. A passage of London lavishly describing the vineyard is on the back.

The wine itself is pretty good, and worth the money. That's another reason I bought it, to see how a more expensive wine tastes. It's mellower, richer, and a little sweeter than most younger, less expensive wines. It's not a great enough difference to make paying more a habit, though.

Two great tastes that taste greater together! From Tunxis Community College's Corner Cafe in Farmington, CT.