The FBI arrests Rod Blagojevich , the corrupt IL Gov. (D).  Good riddance.

The Tribune Company , owners of a media empire and the Chicago Cubs, files for bankruptcy.

If Bush signs it, an automotive bailout will arrive today.

Hopefully the birth certificate gibberish gets put to rest today.

Obama, doing his best McCain impression, says the pork stops here .  In tangentially related news, Ireland wants help tracking down tainted pork .

I'm not sure how this bodes for fiscally-minded conservatives, but Huckabee and Palin lead the polls for Republican leadeship.

Obama points to infrastructure, schools, and green jobs as a way toward recovery in his weekly  address to fend off the criticism that he is too mum on the economy.

Some new diaries have been posted that you will enjoy checking out. In the news, the big 3 are making their case again for a bailout, but face increased skepticism after their last attempt. What's happening?

Promoted for discussion by Brendan

Nuclear power has some very good and vey bad aspects and partisans on both sides argue passionately about these issues.  Ultimately though it is the pedestrian issue of fuel availability that should preclude us from embarking upon the type of massive scale nuclear power plant building that some have advocated.

Is Saxby Chambliss going to take the 41st Republican Senate seat today? I bet he will.

Have fun!

Hat tip Peter Boettke .

Hayek as a special on Meet the Press in 1975 discussing inflation, employment, stimulus, recessions and economic policy and monetary policy. A Gem. Well worth a listen. Much of the discussion is so very relevant to what we are seeing today. His answers with the benefit of hindsight only serve to make him more correct and more brilliant than he might have seemed live in 1975.

The horrible attacks in Mumbai continue to dominate the news. On a more cheerful note, there will be a close conjunction between the moon, Jupiter, and Venus on Monday.

I hope everyone had a nice week. I've been enjoying seeing family and friends over Thanksgiving and will get back into town sometime late Monday. Open thread for weekend chatting -- what's on your mind? 

Here's a place to talk turkey about politics, or talk politics about turkeys, or chat about whatever else is on your mind. Hope everyone has a fun and relaxing week.

Well, maybe they are.

Hat tip to Tyler Cowen.

The case of the 8-year-old boy charged with killing his father and another man takes another strange twist, as prosecutors file to drop one murder charge. IMHO a full review of police and prosecutorial decision-making in this tragic affair would be beneficial.

Big weekend for college football, as Texas Tech tries to get past Oklahoma tonight. Seems like winter is finally here, with snow in our area. What's happening this weekend? 

Promoted for discussion by Brendan

Nancy Pelosi has asked the Big Three automakers to present a plan by December 2 .  

Pelosi, D-Calif., laid out her expectations for an auto bailout plan, emphasizing that "it must be innovative, accountable and viable."

The decision to call the House back into session next month does not depend on the quality of the plans offered, she said, but rather on the automakers meeting the deadline. 

If this is true , it's a real downer for my hopes of Obama's economic outlook as president.

Liberals have warned of the possibility of Bush utilizing (some might say abusing) his Presidential discretion to issue preemptive pardons to shield anyone involved in "enhanced interrogation" techniques, including the high-level members of his administration who approved the policies, from future criminal prosecution. Such a scenario generates understandable outrage from some liberals who feel this would be tantamount to legally excusing war crimes, while some conservatives feel it is only fair to protect the executors of a policy for which Bush himself must take ultimate responsibility. I propose that blanket pardons would serve a positive purpose. 

As I drove to work today, I saw that the gas price at station I pass is now $2.13 per gallon. Yesterday, it was $2.15, the day before, it was $2.17 and $2.19 the day before that. We have all watched with some relief as gas has slipped and tumbled down to prices that we haven't seen in a few years. And while it all seems good from a consumer standpoint, I still reflect on what it all means geo-politically.

Is Hillary going to get the SoS job or what?

Hope you are having a great Wednesday (Thursday)!

And Friday! -- stinerman

Sheldon Richman almost feels bad for Paulson...almost. But in the end, not really. I certainly don't. It's a pretty simple display of the politics of intent going awry...quite easily and quite predictably.

1. Paulson grandstands by selling Congress an impossibly and foolishly ambitious bag of goods about how he can somehow intervene with billions of dollars and bailout the financial industry from its debacle.

Financial services giant Citigroup says it will cut more than 50,000 jobs, slashing staff to 300,000.

It looks like there will be some good sales deals for this holiday season. Are you going to take advantage of them or are you done with shopping? :)

During the GOP primaries I gravitated towards Romney and thought that he would make a much better candidate than McCain. In retrospect it is obvious that Romney would have been in his element during this economic crisis. Since there is nothing we can do about the past election, we can at the very least begin helping GOP to move towards remaking itself into the Romney party.

Ahead of the eagerly anticipated new Bond movie comes this list of the best and worst Bond theme songs. More on star Daniel Craig here . Open thread for matters both weighty and trivial...