What Caught My Eye Today

Economy - How best to describe the current state of the U.S. economy? I'd like to say 'train wreck', but that would be sugar coating it. A stunning makeover of the Wall Street landscape sent stocks falling 500 points in their worst point drop since the September 2001 terrorist attacks. Stocks posted big losses in markets across much of the globe as investors absorbed Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy filing and what was essentially a forced sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America for $50 billion in stock. The market also remained anxious about American International Group Inc., which is seeking emergency funding to shore up its balance sheet. A faltering of the world's largest insurance company would have financial implications far beyond that of Lehman, the largest U.S. bankruptcy in terms of assets. Wall Street had been hopeful six months ago that the collapse of Bear Stearns would mark the darkest day of the credit crisis. Looks like they got that one way wrong. Wall Street will be waiting anxiously for the Federal Reserve's regular policy-making meeting. The central bank is widely expected to keep rates steady, but the market will be looking for signs from the Fed that it is willing to lower rates amid the nation's continuing economic problems and also because the price of oil has retreated sharply from its highs of $147 in mid-July. The drop in oil gives the inflation-wary Fed more room to maneuver. Oil closed below $100 for the first time in six months (off $5.47 to settle at $95.71) as investors worried that a slowing economy would hurt demand. Maybe it's just me, but seeing as the guys making all that coin off $147 a barrel oil didn't seem too concerned about my well-being, I'm not sure I'll be shedding too many tears on their behalf. Not to mention the fact that prices at the gas pump have nudged down only a couple of pennies. Here's a thought. Maybe if these dudes wanted too stabilize demand for oil based products, like gasoline, they could take some of those multi billion dollar quarterly profits and do something to improve oil refining capacity.

2008 Presidential Race - If you thought the U.S. media was getting bashed by the GOP for being unfairly critical of Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin, you should see how the foreign press is going after everyone's favorite "hockey mom." Here are a few samplings:

• (from Britain's The Times): "It's not just that the Republican vice presidential candidate is a gun-toting moose hunter or an evangelical creationist opposed to abortion, two female types in short supply in Europe. It's her feistiness."
  To be honest, I'm not sure if this was an insult or a compliment.
• (also from Britain's The Times): "Her breathtaking political incorrectness is certainly entertaining--this is a woman who wants to drill for oil in the parks and kill polar bears. But her utter lack of qualification for high office is not amusing; it's frightening."
  Now this, I'm pretty sure, is a dig at Palin.
• (from Switzerland's Le Temps): "Palin seems to have been chosen not just for her gender, but also for her attack-dog skills. Her main qualification seems to be that she comes from a small town, which supposedly makes her more authentically American than Obama."
  Again a bit ambiguous, but I'm going to go with another dig--not much glowing praise in this one.
• (from Britain's The Guardian): "You can't claim a higher moral standing for coming from a great big empty on the map. Canadians know Alaska well. Alaska is our redneck cousin, a frontier state full of drunks and crazy people. It is the backwoods even by Canadian standards."
  No ambiguity here. This person definitely has a high opinion of Palin.
• (from Germany's Financial Times Deutschland): "What's truly alarming is that it's not far fetched to imagine that Palin could end up as president--and sooner rather than later. American presidents are extremely vulnerable to attack. And, of course, there is the matter of McCain's advanced age."
  Okay, I have to call this dude to task on this assertion. We totally asked her if she was ready to step in as president if need be, and Palin said yes. So there.

Intelligence - Sometimes you read a news item and you scratch your head wondering how in the world things like this are allowed to happen. U.S. intelligence agencies have set up a new social networking site like Facebook, where intelligence analysts with the requisite clearance can share tips on Al Qaeda and other threats. An intelligence official said, "It's a place where not only spies can meet but share data they've never been able to share before." Where to begin on this story? Let's start with the obvious. Last time I checked one of the hallmarks of clandestine services was keeping a low profile. I'm not sure that having your intelligence assets plastered all over Facebook is the best way to do this. As for the assertion that only those with the requisite clearance will be able to access the site--yeah, sure. Sensitive information has never been illegally accessed over the Web. Dream on. And finally, here's something that perhaps these rocket scientists ruling our intelligence agencies should consider; just because you have the means to do something, doesn't mean it's a good idea to do it.

Potpourri - We have follow up item from our Word of the Day posting on September 13.

• Word of the Day - While "change" was the most used word by speakers at the Democratic convention, the Republicans top word was "taxes"--mentioned an average of 46 times per day, followed by "business" (38), and a tie for third place between "God" and "change".
  So I'll ask again, where does "win" appear in these lists. It makes you wonder if either the Democrats or Republicans are actually interested in winning the Presidency in November.
• Pregnancy - Of those pregnancies in which Down syndrome is diagnosed in the womb, 90% end in abortion
  One wonders how many of those diagnoses are performed on pro-lifers?
• Oil - Thanks to Alaska's oil wealth, every man, woman, and child in the state will receive checks for $3,269 as their cute of the state's annual oil revenuess. Last year's pay out was $1,654.
  I don't wnat to stray too far off the reservation here, but do you think that these oil revenue payouts have anything to do with the locals' desire to start drilling for oil in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge?
• Representation - Just 36 of the 2,380 delegates attending the GOP convention were black--the smallest percentage since the racial makeup of conventions was first measured 40 years ago.
  I'm sure that it's purely coincidental that the majority of blacks are planning to vote for Barack Obama in November.