@not: "I was at the local Mall today and became aware of something I had not
noticed before.    There are several smaller shops closed 
apparently recently.    It's a typical two story Mall with about 200
stores and shops.     I walked the full length both upstairs and
downstairs.  I counted eight shops that were closed.   Prior to this,
I had never noticed more than one empty shop at any given time.  
Add to that the fact that even the experts are saying the real estate
bust will not bottom out before summer of 2009.  Plus another expert
said yesterday to look for a large bank failure pretty soon.   He
would not name the bank.   
I think what we are seeing is 1929 in slow motion.   Luckily for us it
is slow motion.     Just to show that I am myself a believer  in the
past year I have gotten about 85 % of our financial assets in accounts
that are somehow guaranteed by the US government.    If things will
stay good until next week - that will be darn near 100%.  "
    @billymaxwell: "<quote>
California's attorney general is reviewing a request by former 
employees of IndyMac Bancorp Inc to investigate whether a New 
York senator triggered the bank's collapse by releasing 
confidential information.
At issue is a much-publicized letter that Chuck Schumer, a 
Democrat, sent in June to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp 
(FDIC) and Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) questioning the 
company's ability to survive.
The FDIC took control of IndyMac on July 11 after depositors 
withdrew more than $1.3 billion over 11 days. It was the 
third-largest bank failure in U.S. history. At the time, OTS 
Director John Reich blamed Schumer's letter for causing the 
run on the bank.
In a letter to Attorney General Jerry Brown last week, 51 
former IndyMac workers wrote: "From the day (Schumer's) letter 
was made public on June 26 until the closure of the bank, a 
run on the bank took place and the failure became inevitable.""
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