The critics won. Today’s “Capitalism and Its Critics” lecture hit a snag when Professor Doug Rae started a sentence with “Assuming the congressional bailout passes—” only to be informed by a student that Congress had, in fact, just voted the bill down. Shocked, Rae dismissed the class — 10 minutes early.

Four out of the five members of the House of Representatives from Connecticut voted in favor of the $700-billion bailout package. Joe Courtney, a Democrat, was the only representative to vote against the bill.

As the Dow sped toward a 777-point plunge this afternoon, Yale investments czar David Swensen and his lieutenant were spotted waiting outside the Woodbridge Hall office of President Richard Levin.

Apples and honey, anyone? Rosh Hashanah, marking the start of 5769 on the Hebrew calendar, began at sundown last night. With enough local organic honey for all visitors to dip, Yale’s Reform Chavurah organized the first dinner of the new year. L’shanah tovah!

Claustrophobia did not phase one Trumbull junior who spent two hours of her evening stuck in a Bass Library elevator. Lacking cell-phone reception, she said she “just got really bored” and waited — until she figured out she could press a button for help.

Supporters of Barack Obama will wear blue today and aim to register two voters each.

Spotted: Former CNN host Paula Zahn dining in Davenport College on Monday. Zahn ate lunch without removing her sunglasses.

Ralph Nader’s campaign for president has debuted on campus bulletin boards with wallet-sized flyers. The flyers compare Nader’s positions to those of “Obama McCain.”

Woody Allen blames you for his recent box-office troubles. In a New York magazine interview, he said Yale students had the taste of Midwestern “churchgoing barbarians.” Added the comedian, “Those same kids that you see in the movie house doubled over with laughter over fraternity toilet jokes are very often kids from Columbia and Yale.”

Food fight? YSFP-affiliated social justice group Food From The Earth holds its first meeting today. “We will take up asparagus spears and we will fight,” Dave Thier ’09 wrote in a post on the newly-launched YSFP blog.

THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY

1957 Underage students enjoyed their last day of liquored freedom. The next day, a state law would take effect requiring them to present ID cards proving they were at least 18 to purchase spirits.