I read the news today - oh boy (Monday edition)

It's Monday! Time to refocus our attention on financial chaos!

LONDON (CNNMoney.com) -- Stock around the world took another heavy beating Monday, with shares in Japan falling to their lowest level in 26 years, as fears of a global recession continued to sweep markets.

U.S. futures, which offer an indication of how Wall Street may open when trading begins in New York, were sharply lower.

European shares tumbled, with Britain's FTSE 100 down 4.8% in midday trading. The CAC-40 in Paris was down 6.5% and Germany's DAX fell 4%

In Asia, Japan's benchmark Nikkei index finished the session 6.4% lower -- its worst closing level since October 1982. Hong Kong shares were pummeled, with the Hang Seng index plunging 12.7%.

Meanwhile, here in these United States, the layoffs have begun in earnest:

Layoffs have arrived in force, like a wrenching second act in the unfolding crisis. In just the last two weeks, the list of companies announcing their intention to cut workers has read like a Who’s Who of corporate America: Merck, Yahoo, General Electric, Xerox, Pratt & Whitney, Goldman Sachs, Whirlpool, Bank of America, Alcoa, Coca-Cola, the Detroit automakers and nearly all the airlines.

When October’s job losses are announced on Nov. 7, three days after the presidential election, many economists expect the number to exceed 200,000. The current unemployment rate of 6.1 percent is likely to rise, perhaps significantly.

There isn't much more to say. This is just more of the same economic pain and chaos we've watched unfolding for weeks. We built our economy on sand - the sly manipulations of greedy men - and now the waves are washing it all away.

Greenspan has admitted to Congress that he greatly underestimated the power of greed. I find that darkly amusing. Many of us have been watching this travesty in disbelief for half a generation. I'm sure it was simply convenient to look the other way. Like the breached levees in New Orleans post-Katrina, this was all entirely predictable (and planning for the obvious outcome -- terribly inconvenient.)