“What’s in the cookie batter?” she wanted to know. “Lots of sugar,” he said. “Just remember I’m not responsible if you don’t like them.”

Goldman Sachs charged with fraud by SEC “These charges are far more severe than anyone had imagined,” and suggest Goldman teamed with “the leading short-seller in the industry to design a portfolio of securities that would crash,” said John Coffee, a securities law professor at Columbia Law School in New York. (Reuters)

Abacus Allowed Goldman to Shuffle Mortgage Risk Like Beads “The SEC said that Goldman Sachs created and sold Abacus 2007-AC1 without disclosing that hedge fund Paulson & Co. helped pick the underlying securities and also bet the CDO would default. Paulson was proved correct, and his hedge fund eventually turned a $1 billion profit and CDO investors lost a similar amount, according to the SEC.” (Bloomberg)

The product was new and complex but the deception and conflicts are old and simple. Goldman wrongly permitted a client that was betting against the mortgage market to heavily influence which mortgage securities to include in an investment portfolio, while telling other investors that the securities were selected by an independent, objective third party.
Quotation from SEC Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami

A reader left a comment here yesterday: “Yeah, yeah. Let’s shower each other with compliments. You scratch my back, I will scratch yours. All are happy. I’m fed up with the over-sugarness in the photo-blogosphere. “Brilliant!”, “Incredible!”, “Great!” … blah.”
Having grown up in a negative household, I prefer having my back scratched. Too much sugar is preferable to sourness and the occasional bitter taste that life insists on feeding us. But, dear reader, I appreciate the honest comment. Thanks!

They loved my friend Adam
But he always got caught.
Man, that kid made fucking up look cool.
Aren’t we all so cool now? No.
Lyrics from Something Corporate, Cavanaugh Park

It’s the day after Christmas. This is also a time when family violence increases. People are together more, amid the additional stresses of holiday spending and often alcohol. Don’t allow it in your life, or in the lives of your loved ones. Domestic violence is NOT acceptable, even at Christmas.

Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) if you need help or shelter.

Quod erat demonstrandum might as well mean “Quickly ends discussion.” It’s a somewhat pretentious notation placed at the end of a mathematical proof to indicate its completion.

Freud may have been too conservative in his characterization of the unconscious. The architecture of the mind is such that a great deal of mental processing occurs outside of conscious awareness.
Quotation from Timothy D. Wilson, Know Thyself

I am who I choose to be. I always have been what I chose, though not always what I pleased.
Quotation from Lois McMaster Bujold

People should come with warning labels. “Use at your own risk.”

But I’m a creep, I’m a wierdo.
What the hell am I doing here?
I don’t belong here.
She’s running out again.
She’s running.
She runs runs runs runs
Runs.
Lyric from Radiohead, Creep

Subconscious parenthood is an interesting subject. If the goal is to live a fulfilled, meaningful life, why get pregnant “accidentally on purpose?” If the desire is to have a child, make the experience a positive one. Absent a willing partner, explore artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization or adoption as valid “Plan A” options. Ambitious or predatory seduction should be relegated to Plan B. Or am I being a total priss?

Kate Spicer explains why getting pregnant after a one-night stand would be a happy mistake. (Daily Mail) This story is the inspiration for today’s comic.

Judge Orders FDA To Let 17-Year-Olds Use “Morning-After Pill” (NPR.com)