Er, hello?

Not sure whether Guambat is rousting from his "gone walkabout" or just has to pee.

Whatever, he's not talking much, just shuffling past and muffling on about, what was that, Northern Rock?

On the off-chance, Guambat's attentive minder googled and came up with this link:

It's such a good idea, why doesn't Paulson nationalize Countrywide (and all the others while he's at it)

Looking further askance, the minders came acrosst: US 'nationalises' mortgage lenders.

Seems someone has been reading Guambat's mail whilst he was in whatever it was that induced a coma, or comma, or commie or something or other; let's just say, he's been living on burrowed time.

"the US Government announced it would place the major players in the home mortgage market, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, into "a conservatorship", essentially nationalising their activities.

The bail-out, the biggest in US history, is designed to ensure that the mortgage market continues to operate and that instability does not flow into other credit markets, after it became clear that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae had lost the confidence of the market, had low capital reserves and were having difficulty borrowing."

Why it seems just a day or two ago that Mrs. Guambat had tried to rouse Guambat, whacking him lovingly about the head with her best cast-iron skillet, saying, alternately, "you've got a granddaughter" and "what does it mean?"

Guambat, of course, took the latter question to ask, "what are the implications of Paulson and the US Treasury taking effective ownership of Fannie Mae (particularly special to Guambat, who had a much-loved Great-Aunt named Fannie Lou) and Freddie Mac (much despised by Guambat, who had a pronounced dislike of things Friday the Thirteenth and "will you have fries with that?").

Maybe it was that jog that jigged loose all the pee.

Whatever, Guambat was last seen burying himself beneath his pile of dampened and soiled pillows, saying he might get up before or after or while this all "plays out".

Said he, "this could be either the best thing ever engineered, or the best engineering job the government ever did". And then he snorted, and snored.