They blame the bubble on his aggressively cutting the prime rate to get the United States out of recession in 2003 and restraining it at low levels for over a year. Others say he ignored warnings about aggressive and unscrupulous mortgage originators enticing "subprime" borrowers with mortgage deals they could never afford.

The scrutiny of Greenspan's record and the failure of Bernanke's rate cuts so far to reignite bank lending has raised serious doubts about the effectiveness of monetary policy in warding off a recession that is now seen as all but inevitable. Nor will fiscal policy or putting money into the hands of consumers do the trick, according to some weighty voices. The $156 billion stimulus package recently approved by the White House and Congress consists largely of tax rebates, and most of these, according to New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, will go to those who don't really need them.

Would You Bomb Iran, Yes or No?

If the only conversation about Iran that they ever prompt is one that demands to know whether or not we are going to war, then they shouldn't be surprised when that is the rhetoric that dominates the national discourse on this matter. To the Democrats' credit, unlike the Republicans, they usually don't take the bait. For the most part, they refuse to consider hypotheticals and demand that different kinds of questions be asked. Journalists manning these debates should listen. They can either help initiate a productive exchange about Iran and the options available to a future leader or they can shut down the conversation completely. In a setting such as the one last night, they have that kind of power and they should use it wisely.

BLOTTER: Police reports published Feb. 8

A Town of Tonawanda gas station attendant got an early Valentine's Day present that he didn't want Wednesday night.While the man was working his shift around 9:30 p.m., Lewis S. Mancini, 56, allegedly entered the store and gave the man a Valentine's pillow, according to reports. Mancini then allegedly gave the man a nude photograph of himself with his phone number written on the back, and when the man looked back up Mancini had dropped his plaid shorts to expose himself, according to reports.After the exposure, Mancini allegedly pulled up his shorts and took off running toward his apartment. When police followed the tracks of Mancini's sandals left in the fresh snow to his door and confronted him about the incident, Mancini allegedly admitted to the exposure, claiming that he liked the attendant, according to reports.Mancini was released on an appearance ticket.North TonawandaCHARGED: Todd M.

Defending Constellation

Bush will leave when his final term ends next January. It's not something novel to this administration, of course: the same ruminations took place eight years ago in the final year of the Clinton Administration, and twenty years ago as the Reagan Administration wound down.

Nor are such discussions limited to the presidency and front-page issues. Many in the space community believe that NASA administrator Mike Griffin is in his final year (or so) in office, unlikely to be retained regardless of who takes the presidential oath of office next January 20th. If true, what sort of legacy will Griffin leave NASA? It may be a little premature to make those judgments now, but clearly one of the biggest impacts Griffin had on NASA, and the future of American human spaceflight, was his implementation of the Vision for Space Exploration.

Wartime bravery award for women pilots

Flying unarmed, and without wireless or instrument training, they were at the mercy of both the weather and the Luftwaffe, and one in ten members of the ATA died for their country.Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, is expected to make an announcement today about the survivors, awarding them a special badge of honour in recognition of their wartime work.Although the women did not play a part in the Battle of Britain, without their expertise in delivering planes to RAF squadrons to clear the skies of German bombers, the battle would never have got off the ground.Freydis Sharland, 87, from Oxfordshire, is one of only 15 women pilots still alive. She told how she took up the government's offer to subsidise her local flying club, giving her the chance to fly. "You were aware of the mortality rate and you were told when your friends were killed," she said.

Video Conferencing As It Should Be: Multi-Party, Affordable, Cross ...

OoVoo is a new free videoconferencing solution that works across PCs and Macs (Linux version coming) and which allows up to six participants in a video call, as well as recording, text chat, direct file sharing and a lot more.

This new video conferencing technology from OoVoo is not launching today and it has been available for over six months already, just enough time to make it ready for prime time and for a full review.

Ferry services are disrupted by strike

Unions representing the workers said they decided to take industrial action because talks with the local authority had broken down.

But, according to the council, services were "not overly affected". The unions had agreed to exemptions for ferry services, piers and winter maintenance where the emergency services make a specific request.

2 dead, at least 2 wounded after Riley Dr. shooting

Moss, who was not at the scene, said he was unsure of how many people were shot because initial reports from the scene were sketchy.“It's a madhouse out there, as you can imagine," Moss said.A man who appeared to be in his 20s or 30s was pulled about 8:55 p.m. from a pickup truck about 15 feet from the intersection of Riley with Mecherle Drive. The man was talking to rescue workers as he was loaded in the ambulance.Moss said the man may have been shot in the building and was possibly trying to leave the scene when he was found in the pickup truck. The truck was headed west, away from 333 Riley.Another man was taken about 9 p.m. from the pickup truck scene in handcuffs. His status was unclear late Tuesday night.Police blocked traffic onto Riley at Mecherle and onto Bradley Drive at Rowe Drive.

Shoppers become stingy with gift cards, the latest sign of consumer ...

NEW YORK (AP) — Here's a sign of how shaky the economy has become: Wal-Mart says its shoppers are redeeming their holiday gift cards for basic items — pasta sauce, diapers, laundry detergent — instead of iPods or DVDs.

Open Thread

He's the only one running that doesn't have scandal after scandal dragging behind him.

Council to slash 425 jobs as tax freeze bites

More than 400 posts will go at Scotland's largest local authority to help meet the national target of freezing council tax for the following year, sparking fears of further job cuts across the country.