From the, "Gee I learned something Today" department come these two items courtesy the NYT:

THE WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT? AWARD

To Ralph Nader, for calling on the Federal Bureau of Investigation to include corporate crime statistics in its annual crime report.

"Because the F.B.I. does not collect data on corporate crime," Mr. Nader wrote in a letter to John Ashcroft, the attorney general, last November, "both the American public and the law enforcement community lack good information on what has become a pressing national problem - a corporate crime wave." Mr. Nader is right. Investors need a scorecard.

Way to go, Ralph! Now just put your ego in your pocket and leave the stage.....Quietly. Thank you. Yes, you know what I'm talkin' 'bout.

And this too!

THE BEST SECOND ACT AWARD

To Henry Blodget, the former Internet analyst at Merrill Lynch who left Wall Street in 2001 and recently resurfaced as a reporter for Slate, covering the Martha Stewart trial. His debut was a brilliant piece, full of self-deprecation and sympathy for the embattled Ms. Stewart.

ah, the admonished Mr. Blodget and Ms. Stewart in the same sentence. I had no idea Blodget was penning for Slate. Beats a term in slammer. You know why they call it the slammer, don't you, Henry? Good.

More Market Merriment and Manipulation courtesy the NYT. (pass the eggnog)