Notes and Miscellanea

Sad News: "The daughter of Sen. Dick Durbin died Saturday from a congenital heart condition, the Illinois Democrat's office said. "Chris Durbin, 40, fought a heroic lifelong battle with heart disease and our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Durbin family," said Durbin's spokesman, Joe Shoemaker. Her death comes as Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, seeks a third term in Tuesday's general election."

If old JP were alive today, lord knows, he'd be grabbing the bull by the horns, or the bear by the ears, or something like that. From the Wall Street Journal: "J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. launched an ambitious plan Friday to modify the terms of $70 billion in mortgages for borrowers who are behind on their payments or soon could be. The move by the New York bank will cover as many as 400,000 borrowers. They'll be moved into loans carrying lower interest rates, smaller principal amounts or other more-affordable terms. The changes will particularly focus on a type of loan structured in such a way that the borrower's outstanding balance sometimes grows month after month. J.P. Morgan inherited $54 billion of such loans with its takeover of the beleaguered thrift Washington Mutual Inc. in September."

Doonesbury is supporting Obama of course, but don't jinx us, Garry!!!! We're Democrats, remember? Anything could turn an election against us.