Well, it happened ...

Washington Mutual has gone tits-up.  WaMu was seized by the FDIC late yesterday, and acquired from the FDIC by JP Morgan Chase.

This is the biggest single bank failure in US history.  JP Morgan Chase paid $1.9 billion to the FDIC, will sell $8 billion in stock to raise additional capital, and will take a $31 billion markdown on the value of subprime and option-ARM mortgages ... but hey — that's cheap at the price when you're acquiring $307 billion in assets, $188 billion in deposits, and a pre-built branch network in several states.

Meanwhile, Capitol Hill is running in circles snapping at its own tail.  (Link from randwolf)

Spinning Space

China's Xinhua news site published a glowing story about China's Shenzhou 7 space mission.  The lengthy article even included such details as in-flight dialogue between the taikonauts.

There's just one problem:  At the time the article was published, the mission hadn't actually left the ground yet.

All together now:  "Oops."