What Caught My Eye Today

Economy - You all may want to sit down for this one. Congress actually did something for a change. After one spectacular failure, the $700 billion financial industry bailout found a second life, winning lopsided passage in the Senate and gaining ground in the House, where Republicans opposition softened. Yeah, I'm sure that the fact that most Republican Senators aren't up for re-election in 5 weeks like most of the House is had not to do with this. Senators loaded the economic rescue bill with tax breaks and other sweeteners before passing it by a wide margin, 74-25. The rescue package lets the government spend billions of dollars to buy bad mortgage-related securities and other devalued assets held by troubled financial institutions. If successful, advocates say, that would allow frozen credit to begin flowing again and prevent a deep recession. The Senate added $110 billion in tax breaks for businesses and the middle class, plus a provision to raise, from $100,000 to $250,000, the cap on federal deposit insurance. On one hand, I'm happy to see that some progress is being made on the economy, yet part of me still cannot figure out why Congress cannot focus on just one thing--you'd think the economy was a big enough thing to warrant the Senate's full attention--without tacking on a bunch of unrelated legislation.

Afghanistan - General David McKiernan, the top American commander in Afghanistan, The U.S. and its allies should rush more troops "as quickly as possible" and warned that the fighting could worsen before it get better. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has asked the military for additional surveillance drones and armored vehicles right now for Afghanistan as a a short-term solution to a persistent shortfall of military assets in a seven-year war often overshadowed by the larger U.S.-led conflict in Iraq. The U.S. is in a tough fight against determined killers, President George Bush said. With that in mind, I'm sure you'll find this next bit completely unsurprising. The Pentagon announced orders to deploy about 26,000 troops to Iraq beginning next summer, evidence of the struggle to shift troops and weapons. The deployments would allow the U.S. to keep troop levels largely steady in Iraq through much of next year. Military leaders have made it clear they cannot shift more troops to Afghanistan until they can further cut force levels in Iraq. I was going to make a crack about 'military intelligence,' but in this case, I think the brain trust resides entirely with the rocket scientists in Washington.

AIDS - The AIDS virus has been circulating among people for about 100 years, decades longer than scientists had thought. In terms of geological time, that not even a blink of an eye. Genetic analysis pushes the estimated origin of HIV back to between 1884 and 1924, with a more focused estimate at 1908. Previously, scientists had estimated the origin at around 1930. AIDS wasn't recognized formally until 1981 when it got the attention of public health officials in the United States. Yes, apparently AIDS wasn't an actual virus until it started killing Americans. Experts say it's no surprise that HIV circulated in humans for about 70 years before being recognized. An infection usually takes years to produce obvious symptoms, a lag that can mask the role of the virus, and it would have infected relatively few Africans early in its spread. Now that I can believe. What with all the famine and genocide, it would have been difficult for the virus to spread very quickly. The hosts were dying off too fast.

Housing - I'm not sure if this last item is funny or tragic. With a winning bid of just $1.75 on eBay, a Chicago woman has won an auction for an abandoned home in Saginaw, Michigan. Her bid was one of eight for the home. You mean there were lower bids? There's a notice on the door of the home saying a foreclosure hearing is pending. She must pay about $850 in back taxes and yard cleanup costs. It's always those hidden costs that hit you in the wallet. Still, the notion that you can buy a house for the price of a cup of coffee is pretty remarkable, even if it is Michigan that we're talking about. (I'm probably going to get some flack for that one).