Today's weather

News headlines.

Dick Cheney's Heart Health.

This is news? The only thing that stirs me is the wonderment that Dick Cheney is believed to have a heart. I doubt it, and if the Cymothoa exigua analogue that is imitating his heart was to get out and find another gig, I wouldn't be unhappy.

The Oil "Spill"

This "spill" (gusher) is an unmitigated and unmitigateable disaster of unprecedented proportions. It's the biggest thing to hit America since the economy. The fact that most people think it's less important than the World Cup or someone's breakup on reality TV only magnifies its importance. This thing can not be capped. It will spew all 5 million barrels, or whatever BP originally estimated as the size of the strike, right into the ocean. The first hurricane of the season will pick up the water and oil, froth it, and spread it over four southern states. After which, they'll need to be evacuated. Actually, to save lives, they should be evacuated first. Is TV news telling you that? Why not?

Austerity Packages

Germany, France, Greece and the UK (and Italy to come) have sharply cut government spending, raising pension ages and taking out social programs designed to catch the poor as they fall. The thing that makes the economy move is spending. If governments cut spending, and we have no money, the economy shrinks. This is otherwise known as a recession – or if it gets worse, a depression. When multiple governments try the same tack worldwide, there's no possibility of flying over it. We have a recession. I have no desire to live through another recession, much less a depression.

Whooping Cough

There's an epidemic of whooping cough in California. It's easily vaccinated against, but it wasn't, and babies are dying. Guess who I blame.