Cassandra Award Winner

I'm sure you remember Cassandra, one of the daughters of King Priam of Troy. She was given the gift of prophecy by Apollo, but when he wanted something in return for his gift (if you know what I mean), she refused. So Apollo added one little stipulation: she would have the gift of prophecy, but no one would take seriously what she was saying. (I know the feeling.)

So does Byron Dorgan, senator from North Dakota, who in 1999 warned us:

"I think we will look back in 10 years' time and say we should not have done this but we did because we forgot the lessons of the past, and that that which is true in the 1930's is true in 2010. I wasn't around during the 1930's or the debate over Glass-Steagall. But I was here in the early 1980's when it was decided to allow the expansion of savings and loans. We have now decided in the name of modernization to forget the lessons of the past, of safety and of soundness."

(Oh, the picture? That's not Cassandra the prophetess, it's Cassandra Wilson, a jazz singer. Go here to hear her version of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song". Maybe you'll like it better than Joe Strummer's.)