In Economic News Today...

Yeah, yeah, the Dow, the S&P, and Nasdaq all tumbled 3-4 percent today on the heels of a Chinese market sell-fest and Greenspan (Really, how does this man still wield so much power? Gotta love the smoke and mirrors that comprise the power of the Fed. Give Ben some time and he'll catch up to heavy-hitters Volcker and Greenspan in this regard.) opened his mouth for the first time in ages to say a recession is coming, but the really big news...$2.35mil for "the Holy Grail of baseball cards!"
Holy bejesus, who'da thunk a little picture of a Pittsburgh Pirate could ever be worth so much. That's right, the Honus Wagner tobacco card...the only one still in pristine condition, though others still exist...sold today to an anonymous collector for 2,350,000 simoleons. Let's think about this for just a minute. For that amount you could put a roof over your head, a nice car in the driveway, plenty of food on the table, buy a college education, and still have a bit left over, yet someone (well, ok a lot of someones) has enough cash lying around to spend it on a piece of cardboard with a photo on it that came out of a cigarrette box. Now, don't get me wrong, I collected (ok, so I still have them) baseball cards and used to beg and plead with my parents for a few bucks to buy a pack or two. And I used to gawk at pictures of the Honus card and many others in the Beckett magazine, but it still makes me question our economic system when a baseball card sells for this kind of moolah. Supply and demand...supply and demand, yoy.

FINALLY!

We're finally, yes, FINALLY going to talk to Iran and Syria! And, holy cow, nobody in the world is accusing us of rolling over and playing dead in making this decision. I'll be darned. I coulda sworn from all of Shrub's rhetoric over the years that the walls would just come tumbling down if we ever decided to hold a conversation with these "rogue states." Maybe they caught a glimpse of my foreign policy platform. It warms my heart to see the US finally at the table with both Iran and North Korea. I'm still fearful of the administration's rhetoric and seeming moves towards a war with Iran (as yesterday's post on WhirledView hit on the money) but at least I've got a little hope. It's kinda like standing in bunker deeper than I am tall but still catching a glimpse of the pin. It may take 5 or 6 swings to get out, but we'll make it.

"The Redirection"

PHK at WhirledView put up a great synopsis today of an upcoming New Yorker article by Seymour Hersh on the recent Middle East policy shift of the Bush administration. It's an absolute must read. I haven't gotten to "The Redirection" yet, but it's on my reading list for the week.

Yoy!

Where the hell have I been? Everyday I think about posting but just can't bring myself to do it. I've been busy...embarked on a new relationship :-), working, trying to maintain a social life...but I've also just been plain lazy, and I need to get over that. I've been having some health issues (not to bemoan you all....is anyone still reading?...with my ailments) that have been spurring some nasty headaches and just zapping my energy, but I need to stop being a baby about it and get back on this horse.

I missed out on the Edwards' bloggers fiasco...when will Dems stop allowing themselves to be bullied? I've missed out on numerous presidential candidacy announcements. God, doesn't this seem early, I hope we don't burn ourselves out...it seems somewhat ridiculous. But, I do have to say, I LOVE OBAMA! Missed some Iraq excitement...the Brits are pulling out, we're "surging." What happened to regional diplomacy, what happened to the Baker commission? At least the House did something in essentially registering a vote of no confidence in the administration, but let's put forth some alternatives before we start sending thousands more soldiers abroad. Yoy, so much to talk about, so much I've been quiet about.

Final note...I've started hearing back from grad programs and apparently the ACC is not a big fan of this lil' ol' PA boy, looks like I won't be going to school in North Carolina, but that's alright, still 5 more to hear back from and the possibility of applying to one or two more MA programs. I have to admit, I'm a little scared...I'm starting to second guess whether I went about this application process in the right way. But it's too late now for second guesses, I've poured a lot into this and I gotta ride it out and see what happens...

Anyways, my pledge, if not to you then at least to me, is to post at least 3 times this week. I don't know what I'll have to say, but I'm sure to spout of on some craziness or another going on in the world. Until then...