Tuesday Open Thread [11.22.11]

Remember the NY-based foreclosure mill who had the Halloween Party where they dressed up to mock poor and homeless people? Well, they are closing their doors. Hold your schadenfreude long enough to get a load of who they are blaming for their closure — the reporter who published the story about their stupid party. Yes, it is GOP play No.1 — Be Victimized By Something Other Than Your Own Actions. How about some personal responsibility here? Or better — how about acknowledging that this is how free markets work? Your customers are sorta likely to change lawyers if you turn out to be a douchebag. But hey, it’s Tiny Violins Tuesday.

Jack Abramoff is calling out Newtie Gingrich for his “consulting” (nudge nudge, wink wink) for Fannie and Freddie:

Noting that Gingrich — who now claims to be a Washington outsider — is one of the many who “use their public service and their access to make money,” Abramoff told NBC host David Gregory that Gingrich is “engaging in the exact kind of corruption that America disdains.” When Gregory noted that that corruption is a “heavy charge,” Abramoff insisted that “it is corruption.”

I’m thinking that you’re definitely in trouble when Jack Abramoff says you’re in his club, right?

This company is trying to kill credit cards. Dwolla has a neat model that has been attracting a decent bit of venture capital. And the key thing here? Not *wanting* to make a killing. Basically, they are in the business of moving money from your account to a merchant’s account — no credit cards in the middle — and are currently charging .25/transaction to do it. A thing to watch, especially since they are pissing off credit card companies.

The Pepper-Spraying Cop has a tumblr page, with lots of crowd-sourced images of the pepper-spraying cop cracking down on famous scenes from history. Then there’s this: