The Last Mystery of the Financial Crisis | Politics News | Rolling Stone

Thanks to a mountain of evidence gathered for a pair of major lawsuits, documents that for the most part have never been seen by the general public, we now know that the nation's two top ratings companies, Moody's and S&P, have for many years been shameless tools for the banks, willing to give just about anything a high rating in exchange for cash.

In incriminating e-mail after incriminating e-mail, executives and analysts from these companies are caught admitting their entire business model is crooked.

"Lord help our fucking scam . . . this has to be the stupidest place I have worked at," writes one Standard & Poor's executive. "

The Last Mystery of the Financial Crisis | Politics News | Rolling Stone

Surprise Winner in Thomas Friedman Porn-Title Contest | Matt Taibbi | Rolling Stone

"It seems there's going to be a surprise shocker-ending to our contest from last week, "Come Up With the Ultimate Thomas Friedman Porn Title." I had Friedman porn-stache mugs wrapped and ready for mailing, and was actually going to name not one winner but four, since we had so many outstanding entries. The winning entry came in last Sunday morning, and once it came in, even many of the readers who had entered the contest with their own painstakingly-thought-out ideas bowed out, realizing they'd been beaten soundly. The winner, of course, is Thomas Friedman himself, whose very next column after this contest was announced was entitled, "This Ain't Yogurt." "Jesus Fucking Christ," noted a friend, impressed. "This Ain't Yogurt is more obscene than anything a mere commentator could think of." "

Surprise Winner in Thomas Friedman Porn-Title Contest | Matt Taibbi | Rolling Stone