Links for Thursday, January 15, 2009

• Michael Rozeff: How to Steal Billions in Plain View: Bernanke’s Robber Banks – “Bernanke urges Congress to absorb the bad loans. The details of his three alternative plans are secondary to the fact that they all ask that others pay for the losses that the bankers caused, or else they involve the government in a variety of complicated maneuvers by which the government ends up shoring up these banks and bankers while taking on various risks of owning portfolios of bad loans. The idea is for the bankers to offload their mistakes onto taxpayers.“
• The Big Picture: Earth Observed – “Gathered here are some standout photographs from the collections in the Earth Observatory over the past several years.“
• Washington Post: A Tweet in Foggy Bottom – “The other reason to Twitter my trip was simple: Communicating in this peppy, informal medium helped to personalize my visit and enhance my impact as a U.S. official. When I met with students at the University of Bucharest, and later with Moldovan bloggers, we were connected before I even arrived.“
• Kathleen Parker: A New Generation Discovers the Pain of Unemployment – “Something has gone terribly wrong with the American dream. No longer is a college degree – or even an advanced degree – a guarantee of employment or job security.“