Yes things are F'd up.

But I want to point out some things to readers here.

Russia halts trading after 17% share price fall

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6ff9306c-83f1-11dd-bf00-000077b07658.html 

the Bank of China cut interest rates for the first time in six years and lowered capital reserve requirements for its smaller banks.

http://www.moneymorning.com/2008/09/16/central-banks/

I guess the argument of China was, when on thin ice, reduce reserve requirements~~

The ECB allotted roughly $43 billion (30 billion euros) in a one-day money-market auction that was more than three times oversubscribed,

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a4CbU4pfZ9kc

http://www.fdic.gov/edie/ 

I saw some pretty irresponsible news reporting, that FDIC would not cover banks and deposits.

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/56994/Top-Economist-Americans-Should-Worry-About-Bank-Deposits-if-Congress-Doesn't-Act?tickers=LEH,MER,BAC,AIG,WM, 

The above FDIC link will allow you to fill out a very simple questionare to know your coverage. 

If you are short on insurance, fill out beneficiary forms to extend your coverage so that it is, a.) insured and b.) does not on your death get taxed.

Note, you can add or remove immediate family at anytime.  

But the general news headline was misleading.   Check your insurance, contact your bank and get the forms for beneficiaries, and don't drink the koolaid.