Chilling Reads

"Basically, It's Over: A Parable About How One Nation Came to Financial Ruin."

--Charles Munger; Slate (2/19/2010)

"The Fat Lady Has Sung."

--Thomas L. Friedman; The New York Times (2/20/2010)

Anyone else note the eerily similar notes struck by Thomas Friedman and Charles Munger?

If you didn't know, Munger is Warren Buffett's long-time right-hand man and sidekick at Berkshire Hathaway.

Buffett, of course, is better-known as the the Wizard of Omaha, the nation's most successful investor, and it's second-wealthiest citizen.

One last little tidbit: Edina Realty is owned by a chain of companies that ultimately are owned by . . . you guessed it!

Munger's piece is harrowing, sobering, and extremely cautionary.

The tone is leavened only a little bit when you realize the title is a play on the "mythical" country, "Basicland," that Munger describes.

Too bad there's not an easy way to dismiss Friedman's headline.

P.S.: And no, I couldn't bring myself to post this at 11:59 p.m. -- I changed it to 12:01 a.m.