An unanswered invitation -- Lunch with Warren -- The prairie princes versus the princes of darkness -- The insatiable curiosity to know nothing worth knowing (Oscar Wilde was right) -- MAD mortgages : the "great" against the powerless -- Shell games (beware of geeks bearing grifts) -- Financial astrology : AAA falling stars -- Bear market (I'd like a review of the bidding) -- Dead man's curve -- Bazooka Hank and dread reckoning (AIG, Fannie, Freddie, Lehman, Merrill, and other fluid situations) -- Bond insurance burns Main Street -- Money, money, money (Warren and Washington) -- The fogs of war, religion, and politics -- Finding value