Below are links of an eclectic variety.

Woolly Mammoth to Be Cloned – Discovery News
Within five years, a woolly mammoth will likely be cloned, according to scientists who have just recovered well-preserved bone marrow in a mammoth thigh bone. Japan's Kyodo News first reported the find.

A Government Censors a Blog – techdirt
Be thankful for your liberties and freedoms, as some governments secretly censor information (in this case, a blog) without apparent due process.

Expose an Alleged Financial Crook and be Fined Millions – Seattle Weekly
Apparently bloggers need to be careful writing about crooks and ponzi schemes.  The unintended consequences of the Court's actions will likely be more anonymous, offshore blogging.

Aunt Midge Not Dying in Hospice Reveals $14B Market – Bloomberg
When private equity firms salivate about for-profit hospice investments, what is the probability that Medicare (i.e., taxpayers) is being pillaged and plundered?

Stephen Hawking on Time Travel - Letters of Note
This one is short and comical.

Below is an extract of a cease and desist letter mailed to TPM Media LLC (dba TPMMuckracker) regarding its writing about the NYSE and using a photo depicting the exchange.  A full summary can be read on Reuter’s blog, Felix Salmon: A slice of lime in the soda or at Wired.com.
  
NYSE has common law and Federal trademark rights in and to NYSE’s name and images of the Trading Floor… Moreover, NYSE owns Federal Trademark rights in one depiction of the Trading Floor and common law rights in the Trading Floor viewed from virtually any angle (collectively, “Trademarks”). Accordingly, NYSE has the right to prevent unauthorized use of its Trademarks and reference to NYSE by others.
 
Apparently some ignoramus is using NYSE letterhead and signing Chief Counsel Kendra Goldenberg’s name to stupid letters.

             

Oh, the age-old correlation-implies-causation argument.

Please reference the blog titled "How to Spot Advocacy Science: John Taylor Edition" posted yesterday by Freakonomics.  It depicts charts prepared by Stanford professor John Taylor and acknowledged by Harvard professor Greg Mankiw (who also linked to the charts without a word about their veracity...until others publicly did so - including Krugman in his blog titled "What’s Behind Low Investment?"). 

Perhaps these two economists, and like-minded peers, will author a book titled "Predictably Disingenuous."

Since we shared an infographic about the non-alcoholic carbonated beverages industry this summer, it seems reasonable to share a graphic regarding the adult beverage of choice.  [Much obliged to CaféTerra.]    

For those near Cleveland we recommend the seasonal Christmas Ale from Great Lakes Brewing Company.  And, for those living in the Mid-Altantic, we can recommend the small-batch specials from Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales based in Milton, Delaware.

And, if the infographic doesn’t have enough information to help you reveal your inner nerd, then included below are links that address the psychological aspects of imbibing too much (it’s not necessarily the alcohol talking) and the history of alcoholic beverages:

●  McGovern, Patrick E. Uncorking the Past: the Quest for Wine, Beer, and Other Alcoholic Beverages. Berkeley: University of California, 2009. Print.  Find at Powell's Books.

●  Carey, Benedict. "When People Drink Themselves Silly, and Why." The New York Times. 8 Mar. 2008. Web. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/health/04mind.html.
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And, Bailout Wednesday is read “Quantitative Easing II,” also known as printing money. 

Basically the FED creates money out of nothing and then buys assets from institutions.  Some, if not most, of these purchases may consist of distressed assets (market value is meaningfully below book value).  Taxpayers are awfully generous to enable banks and other financial institutions to indirectly dump their bad assets on them.

To wit, taxpayers are so generous they even elect their representatives and politicians who are backed by financial institutions and other lobbyists.  Fortunately, there are unlimited campaign contributions to help determine the best politicians money can buy (see link below):

Who Owns Congress? A Campaign Cash Seating Chart 

Nevertheless, in developed nations, there is a saying that a people deserves its politicians; or, the politicians are a reflection of their people.