What Caught My Eye Today

Recession - Apparently, the recession is over. Before you start mocking me let me remind you that I just report the news...I don't make this nonsense up. One last thing. I got this particular item from the BBC, so I'm pretty sure it is a legitimate story, as opposed to the stuff I usual get from The Onion. The US economy grew at an annual pace of 3.5% between July and September, its first expansion in more than a year. It is the first time the US economy has expanded since the second quarter of 2008, when it grew at an annual pace of 2.4%. Sounds promising, don't it? Of course there is always the contrarian view. Analysts cautious about the slow nature of the U.S. economic recovery point to the fact that the unemployment rate currently stands at 9.8%, and that the labor market traditionally lags behind any wider economic recovery. They also highlight the fact that the big car firms have already reported a sharp fall in September sales following the conclusion of the popular $3 billion cash for clunkers program at the end of August. What a bunch of kill joys. I for one applauded the news...right after I got home from picking up my unemployment check and being informed by my bank that my mortgage isn't worth the paper it is printed on.

H1N1 - Also known as "Swine Flu" Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that between 1.8 million and 5.7 million Americans were infected from mid-April through July 23. The figures are the CDC's most specific calculation to date. Yikes. That sounds like an awful lot. To come up with the numbers, the scientists assumed that most people infected with swine had only mild illnesses and did not get medical care or get tested. For every confirmed case, they estimated that probably 80 others occurred. And for every confirmed hospitalization, there were probably three others. 80? Okay, that sound like an awful lot too. I'm curious just how reliable that estimate really is. I mean, these dudes could be off by a factor of 80. That's more than just a rounding error, don't you think?

Turkmenistan - The United States has in recent months sought to improve relations with Turkmenistan, the secretive former Soviet possession that is home to rich oil and gas deposits and straddles a strategically vital central Asian location, sharing borders with both Iran and Afghanistan. I remember a simpler time when the United States wanted to improve relations with other countries because it was the right thing to do. Sigh. Now I imagine that the reason this made the news today is because the process has hit a bit of a snag. those efforts are being complicated by a government campaign against students seeking to study at the American University of Central Asia), located in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Some students have been barred from travelling abroad to the school and others have been subject to surveillance and harassment when they come home. Observers say that the Turkmen regime has become wary of US educational outreach, seeing it as an effort to slip U.S.-style democracy through the back door as politically engaged students return home. Honestly, what have the Americans done to warrant that sort of skepticism? Turkmenistan's major hydrocarbon reserves and its agreement to assist with NATO's Afghan northern supply route have helped mute US criticism of the regime. See what I mean? They have natural resources that we want. The last thing we're going to do is risk access to them over a little thing like human rights. These dudes are way too paranoid.

Fred's Note: This last item goes out to my sister on the very happy occasion of her birthday. You go, girl.

October 29 - For those of you who keep track of such things... October 29 is the 302nd day of the year (303rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 63 days remaining until the end of the year. Here are a few notable events that have taken place on this date since sis graced us with her presence way back in...

• 1983 – Over 500,000 people demonstrate against cruise missiles in The Hague, The Netherlands.
• 1991 – The American Galileo spacecraft makes its closest approach to 951 Gaspra, becoming the first probe to visit an asteroid.
• 1994 – Francisco Martin Duran fires over two dozen shots at the White House (Duran is later convicted of trying to kill US President Bill Clinton).
• 1998 – Apartheid: In South Africa, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission presents its report, which condemns both sides for committing atrocities.
• 1998 – Space Shuttle Discovery blasts off on STS-95 with 77-year old John Glenn on board, making him the oldest person to go into space.
• 1998 – Hurricane Mitch, the second deadliest Atlantic hurricane in history, makes landfall in Honduras.
• 2004 – The Arabic news network Al Jazeera broadcasts an excerpt from a video of Osama bin Laden in which the terrorist leader first admits direct responsibility for the September 11, 2001 attacks and references the 2004 U.S. presidential election.

And here are a few unworthy losers fortunate enough to say they share a birthday with sis:

• 1017 – Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor (he's dead now)
• 1943 – Don Simpson, American film producer (him too)
• 1947 – Richard Dreyfuss, American actor (hey, we have a live one)
• 1957 – Dan Castellaneta, American voice actor, Best known as the voice of Homer Simpson
• 1961 – Randy Jackson, American musician (from American Idol fame)
• 1971 – Winona Ryder, American actress
• 1981 – Amanda Beard, American swimmer (the fact that she is smokin' hot has nothing to do with me listing her here...I swear)