THIS CAT was trapped in an SUV and driven across town. (Cat survived.) READ MORE

A month ago, it was announced that 1 in 6 job-wanting, working age Americans are not working. Now it is closing in on 1 in 5. Who is surprised about this morning's new unemployment numbers? If so, you are a person who does not know anyone, perhaps you have been forced to live in a basement for decades and therefore miss all kinds of wonderful sporting events. Officially, now, unemployment is at 9.8%! The official unemployment rate for Latinos is 12.7%; for black folks, it is 15.4%. Between August and September, 807,000 new people were counted as "not in the labor force." (Also, unemployment rose in the 16 nations that use the Euro, to 9.6%.) There are, officially, 15.1 million working-type people in the U.S. without any job at all! Related: 100 banks went bankrupt this year, so far, more than four times the number that went bankrupt last year! But 13.5% of the population is unable, or has given up, looking for work, and the underemployment rate is now a whopping 17%. These are great times in which we live. And here is an interesting footnote! 53,000 government jobs disappeared in September alone.

It is the beginning of the end, perhaps, the introduction of a local currency in towns like Pittsboro, North Carolina. There, you can exchange this homegrown currency for "Custom Mosaic Individual and Couples Counseling" and "Technical Tree Climbing Tutoring." Then you can only spend that currency at the local organic bread store, thus ensuring that the bailed-out U.S. banking system cannot utilize your cash, and destroying America. Actually what is wrong with this plan is that it is an aggregated barter system! And real barter systems-ask the lesbian communes of Australia!-work just fine and really we should all be doing them.

What follows is a picture of the legal disclaimer that you "sign" just by walking into one of New York City's fine public spaces today: Madison Square Park. This is it! This is the moment that the machines and the lawyers have taken over, creating a Bloombergian cyst of revoltingness! (The lawn of the park, by the way, is closed, so don't try to use your public space today, because the CITY HAS SOLD IT TO HSBC.) What is going on is that the bank called HSBC is having what they call a "soapbox" thing where you, the "park attendee," stand in a kiosk, in front of a picture of a baby or a gadget or a nuclear power plant and explain to cameras how it makes you feel, while you are digesting your Shake Shack burger. THEN THEY WILL MAKE ADS OUT OF YOU. READ MORE

Ah, an evening walking trip in New York City. What delightful sights can be seen? READ MORE

Tom Scocca: Am I the only one who sort of wishes that nice Matt Taibbi wouldn't use all those swear words? READ MORE