Things must really be bad with the US economy. According to the AP wire as of an hour ago, you can add American Express to the list of companies asking for a handout.

American Express Co. shares plunged Wednesday after a report that the credit card issuer is seeking $3.5 billion in funds under the government’s plan to directly invest in financial firms.

AmEx received approval earlier this week from the Federal Reserve to become a bank holding company, which is a similar structure to traditional commercial banks. The credit card company now has access to financing from the Fed and the ability to grow a large deposit base.

Via Forbes

STARBUCKS
“Come into Starbucks on Nov. 4th, tell us you voted, and we’ll proudly give you a tall cup of brewed coffee on us.”

KRISPY KREME
“Receive a free star-shaped donut with sprinkles for voting.”

BEN & JERRY’S
“Get a free scoop of ice cream from 5-8 PM for voting.”

BABELAND
“Ladies, voting never felt so good…stop by a Babeland store in New York or Seattle 11/4-11/11 and bring your voter registration card, voting stub, or word of honor. If you voted, we’ll give you a Silver Bullet or a Maverick sleeve (get it?) for free! Yes, FREE. It’s because we value voting that much. God bless America and I love NY!”

FREE MP3 DOWNLOADS
Maroon 5 - Not Falling Apart
Sara Bareilles - Many The Miles
Phantom Planet - Dropped
Raining Jane - Incline
Menomena - Wet and Rusting
Michael Franti and Spearhead - Hey World (Don’t Give Up Version)
Ry Cuming - Home
The Duke Spirit - This Ship Was Built To Last

www.rockthevote.com/pledge/

Alternet.org is running a very interesting piece about differences between McCain and Obama, and what they could mean to your pockets moving forward. Make sure to vote people!
Check it out here.

The government today announced that it is changing its emblem from an Eagle to a condom because it more accurately reflects the government’s political stance. A condom allows for inflation, halts production, destroys the next generation, protects a bunch of pricks, and gives you a sense of security while you’re actually being screwed.

From an unknown source

Via The Highsnobiety Blogs Village Slum Column

http://view.break.com/583241 - Watch more free videos
(Video Deebo-ed via Kilos&Grams)

Check out this article New York Magazine published about the fight to keep the 1520 housing building in the Bronx in the hands of the working class community.  The Building is the birth place of hip hop, where Kool Herc first spun some break beats at his sister’s back to school party in 1973.   Things have never been the same.

We caught this on our boy Kaos’s great Kaos Effect blog. Serious business.

NEW YORK (AP) — Lehman Brothers, a 158-year-old investment bank choked by the credit crisis and falling real estate values, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from its creditors on Monday and said it was trying to sell off key business units.

The filing was made in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the bank’s holding company. The case had not yet been assigned to a judge.

Lehman’s last hope of surviving outside of court protection faded Sunday after British bank Barclays PLC withdrew its bid to buy the investment bank.

Lehman learned at a last-minute meeting on Friday with federal officials that it would not be getting any emergency funding to give it the liquidity it needed, Chief Financial Officer Ian Lowitt said in an affidavit.

Lehman fell under the weight of $60 billion in soured real estate holdings and tighter a credit market that forced it to seek court protection. (more…)

In the Tuff Gong chapter of Frank151, we investigated Jamaica’s ongoing environmental crises that is being caused by bauxite mining on the island. Bauxite is a key ingredient used in manufacturing aluminum, and Jamaica happens to have some of the largest reserves in the world. The process of mining and processing bauxite can also be extremely toxic. While mining this resource should be economically beneficial to the people of Jamaica, politics and the business interests of international mining corporations have prevented much of the profits generated from reaching the people. In fact, the mining seems to have done more harm than good for your average Jamaican.

Now, from the Jamaican Bauxite Environmental Organization comes Jamaica, Nuff Problems Man, a new documentary shedding more light on the harmful practices of the bauxite mining industry. We implore you to take notice. The problem of bauxite mining in Jamaica highlights the dangerous effects of what happens when greed overshadows the basic needs of human beings.

(Part 1)

(Part 2)

(Part 3)

Please don’t hesitate to forward this post or re-post the videos on your own blogs. The bauxite crisis in Jamaica has been destroying the land and peoples lives for far too long.