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 -- Mark to myth and the black box -- Bond insurance burns main street -- Money, money, money (Warren and Washington) -- The fogs of war, religion, and politics -- Finding value.