What Caught My Eye Today

Space Shuttle - I appreciate that this may not be the most interesting of subjects to many (but then again, this is my blog so I can pretty much put in anything I want, can't I?), but I find it to be a welcome diversion from the depressing news that dominate the headlines here on planet Earth. Incidentally, I'll be covering some of those items right after this. Shuttle Endeavour and a crew of seven blasted into orbit on what will be the longest space station mission ever, a 16-day voyage to build a robot and add a new room that will serve as a closet for a future lab. For the first time since space station construction began nearly 10 years ago, all five major partners are about to own a piece of the orbiting real estate. The launch of the first section of Kibo, or Hope, finally propelled Japan into the space station action. The main part of the Kibo lab will fly on the next shuttle mission in May, with the final installment, a porch for outdoor experiments, going up next year. A porch? What do they need a porch for? They're in outer space for crying out loud. Altogether, the Japanese Space Agency has invested about $6.7 billion in the space station program, including a Kibo control center near Tokyo. Canada's $200 million-plus Dextre is designed to eventually take over some of the more routine outdoor maintenance chores from spacewalking astronauts. This is the second of six planned shuttle missions this year, all but one to the space station. NASA faces a 2010 deadline for finishing the station and retiring its shuttles.

Beer - Okay, this is a far cry from depressing, at least in my opinion, but how cool is this? Washington lawmakers have approved a pilot program that will allow beer and wine tasting in 30 grocery stores statewide in an effort to market local products. Finally some legislation that I can get behind. The one-year program, strongly supported by the state's microbrewery and wine industries, allows shoppers to sample as much as 4 ounces of beer or wine. Supporters say it allows small wineries or breweries with no marketing budget to get their products out to the public. Opponents contend the program sets a bad example by exposing children to alcohol consumption. Yeah, that'll be the reason. All that exposure that children are subjected to on TV, print ads and the Internet haven't had any influence at all, but that little sample that mom or dad tries at the grocery store, will definitely put the kids over the edge. Gimme a break.

Economy - Still in the crapper as far as I can tell, but for a change there is one item that offers a glimmer of hope. A new economic report suggests the U.S. economy will suffer as the slumping housing market eats away at job creation and consumer spending, but the nation should avoid slipping into a recession this year. The forecast anticipates job growth remaining sluggish in 2008, with the U.S. unemployment rate rising to 5.5% by the end of the year. The February rate was 4.8%. The forecast expects the economy to post gross domestic product growth of about 1.5% this year, rising to about 3% growth in 2009. GDP grew 2.2%in 2007. The no-recession forecast runs counter to the outlook among many economists and financial pundits, who contend the economy has already started to shrink amid rising unemployment, job losses, record oil prices, and the lingering effects of the housing and credit crises. It's not often that the contrarian point of view offers a more optimistic perspective on things, but then again, we do live in strange times.

Lest you were under the mistaken impression that things are looking up, I offer you this next items as proof that the economy is in lousy shape. The United States' trade deficit grew larger in January as imports — including crude-oil prices — zoomed to all-time highs. The latest report on trade activity, showed that the country's trade gap increased to $58.2 billion. The United States' appetite for imported crude oil figured into the increasing demand for overall imports. Yeah that may have had some bearing on the trade deficit. The trade gap widened even as exports of U.S.-made goods and services totaled a record high of $148.2 billion in January. The declining value of the U.S. dollar, relative to other currencies such as the euro, is helping to make U.S.-made goods cheaper and thus more attractive to foreign buyers. One hesitates to contemplate just how big the gap could have been if not for the upswing in exports. How about giving some props to the free-falling dollar? Way to save the day, Mr. Greenback.

Britain - The idea sounds simple: Build British pride with a new pledge of allegiance, a new national holiday and citizenship ceremonies for children and immigrants. But the proposal from a government panel calling for the introduction of American-style patriotic rituals raises thorny questions in the sometimes fractious United Kingdom. The initial response to the pledge proposal, part of a report requested by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, suggested a tough road ahead for his campaign to emphasize British pride and British achievement. Maybe that's because these proposals are based on American traditions. In case these folks hadn't noticed, the U.S. is in the midst of a public relations catastrophe when it comes to the rest of the world. Opponents said the proposal will fall flat in Wales and Scotland, where many people want to break free of control by the central government, as well as with those opposed to the monarchy. I'm not saying that I'm not patriotic, but honestly, when I said the pledge of allegiance every day in primary school, I wasn't exactly swelling with patriotism--more than likely, I was sweating over that spelling test that I didn't study for. I guess my point is that in spite of the honorable intentions this proposal has, it's likely to cause more dissent than anything else.