We've seen a pretty wild ride this week on the stock market.  Yes, there has been troubling news coming out the sub-prime mortgage market (in my opinion, the bad news is that there IS a sub-prime mortgage market), but the wild extremes of highs and lows has been a little scary.

Why?

Because wild negative swings in value are what cause margin calls, and margin calls are what start runs.  It was margin calls that started the subprime crisis, as lenders starting calling their chits and the mortgage companies became cash-strapped.

So why the wild swings?

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Runaround Sue keeps pushing the lies.  In a comment to my post here, Runaround Sue continues to push this notion that I sent the "real fightin4th" a two page letter.

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Well, Runaround Sue has re-appeared over at his old blogspot address.  And he is claiming once again that the hackers are ruling the roost.  Only his story today has shifted.  Yesterday, they were "tracking down IP addresses".  Today, he "needs to contact our server and find out what the problem is".

But wait, I thought you and your host were teaming up to bring down the big bad mighty hacker. Today, you can't get in contact with them?

Very suspicious, very suspicious indeed.  Which story is it, Runaround Sue?  Or is this just another one of those claims like you will root out and expose the real Fightin4th?  Because we know it is never your fault.   Nothing you ever do could cause a shutdown. Like maybe violating the Terms of Service of your host.  Or being so amaturish that you can't even optimize a couple photos so you don't suck the bandwidth out of people's connections.

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Runaround Sue's sbynews.com has been suspended.  At 11:33 pm, the site is showing the following:

This Account Has Been Suspended

Please contact the billing/support department as soon as possible.

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Runaround Sue is now claiming that someone is trying to hack his site, and they are tracking down the IP addresses as they speak.  Hmm... so did they issue subpoenas for that information yet?

The reality is that his site is slow because he is a complete and utter moron who does not know how to scale and optimize images -- or use tools like Picasa or Flickr -- to do it for him.

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Runaround Sue has a post on his blog today titled Honored To Be In The Presence Of Four Great Men Yesterday.  He was referring to Guvnah Marty the Mick O'Malley, Ricky Pollitt, John Cannon, and Mike Lewis.

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The Real Scandal in Salisbury City Government was not that the Mayor tried to ramrod through a water fee increase is not that there was $5 million dollars in the surplus fund than was publicly announced at the Council meeting monday night, or that the Mayor tried to deny council members access to this information.

The real scandal in Salisbury City Government is that at any point during the month, the government offices do not seem to have any type of accurate picture of the City's financial standing.

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Today is the 30th Anniversary of the King, Elvis Presley.  Do you know where you were when you heard?

I was sitting in a green Ford LTD outside Cherry's Inn on Middletown Road with my cousin Todd when we heard the news. My uncle was in Cherry's enjoying a beer -- as was his custom -- while we waited outside listening to the radio.

Earlier that day, whilst bailing hay, my eight year old cousin was driving the tractor, when he took the turn a little too tight, flipping the wagon, its load, and several us to the ground.  He also bent the tongue to top it off.

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This time, it's in Maryland, as an illegal alien was charged with a hit-and-run murder on US 29.  The Baltimore Sun has details here.

It's a good thing we don't grow lettuce here in Maryland.  Secretary Chertoff might be worried about the ability to actually pick the crop.

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The attack of Jarritt Sybert in Willards last week has ignited a new mini-controversy in Wicomico County over the issue of animal control and liability.  There is apparently an issue over whether dogs (in particular) can be automatically seized and destroyed after inflicting a vicious attack.  A number of solutions have been proposed, but I don't think any adequately address the issues AND provide an effective deterrent to dog owners to keep their animals secured.

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