Congratulations on a long well fought race. Now, “fasten your seat belts, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.” The classic line from Betty Davis seems appropriate. No matter who won this race, they were inheriting a hell of a mess. No need to go into detail, just the list is daunting enough.

The debt, the deficit, two wars without end, the banking crisis, the mortgage crisis, the worldwide economic slow down, Social Security, a deadlocked partisan congress, health care, a tax system that everyone thinks is unfair, collapsing US auto manufacturers, jobs being exported at light speed, the defense of our northern and southern borders, a recession, still no energy policy, and what appears to be a complete collapse of our image abroad.

Why would anyone want this job? It’s beyond me. The real question is now that he has done what seemed like the impossible, how will it affect

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Congratulations on a long well fought race. Now, “fasten your seat belts, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.” The classic line from Betty Davis seems appropriate. No matter who won this race, they were inheriting a hell of a mess. No need to go into detail, just the list is daunting enough.

The debt, the deficit, two wars without end, the banking crisis, the mortgage crisis, the worldwide economic slow down, Social Security, a deadlocked partisan congress, health care, a tax system that everyone thinks is unfair, collapsing US auto manufacturers, jobs being exported at light speed, the defense of our northern and southern borders, a recession, still no energy policy, and what appears to be a complete collapse of our image abroad.

Why would anyone want this job? It’s beyond me. The real question is now that he has done what seemed like the impossible, how will it affect

...

I wanted to share a personal story I recently discovered that I thought was interesting, and also chilling and heartwarming at the same time. Please read this entire entry (even though it is long), because I feel strongly about reminding people that we still have great, brave men and women overseas fighting for us. In order to understand the story, though, I need to explain the history of how I got involved.

As most of you know, I’m an actor, not a model. However, occasionally I am asked to do some print work for different clients. One of these, Dillon Precision, is a large company that provides guns, ammunition and supplies to our military, as well as law enforcement, etc. For the past four or five years I’ve been honored to be on the cover of their calendars and many of their magazines. These are distributed worldwide to hundreds of thousands

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Pakistan said Friday that it would seek $4 billion in financial assistance, mostly from the World Bank, the Financial Times reported. Pakistan, a nuclear power and neighbor to Afghanistan, is on the verge of bankruptcy and if it does not receive the assistance it requires, the economy could collapse resulting in political upheaval and social unrest.

Pakistan has been wracked by inflation, currently running at 25% and its foreign reserves are dwindling. The nation’s currency, the rupee, last week sank to a new low of 84.4 to the dollar and has tumbled more than 33% against the greenback this year. Pakistan’s foreign currency reserves have shrunk to about $4.5 billion, or just six weeks worth of imports, the FT reported.

Unchecked political spending and poorly designed tax codes have also contributed to the nation’s economic shortfall. Less than 1% of Pakistan’s population of 164 million pays income taxes.

At least $2 billion

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Most readers of this blog are used to occasional coverage of freedom of press issues in Russia, and discussions of the impact on civil society and democracy when the state targets journalists with impunity. As I announced yesterday in a blog post, I recently starting working a pro-bono case representing Singapore's leading opposition party, and it is in this area of freedom of press that we can observe some of the strongest parallel trends in both countries. According to a study by watchdog reporters without borders, Russia ranked a dismal 144 in the Freedom of Press Index - which is below scores awarded to Yemen and Afghanistan. Singapore ranked only slightly better at 141. Whereas government critical journalists in Russia, from Anna Politkovskaya to Ivan Safronov to Magomed Yevloyev, tend to find themselves killed in mysterious circumstances, ...

With all the excitement in financial markets, I almost missed this story on the bailout for automakers.

Breitbart reports:

The US Senate Saturday approved 25 billion dollars in loan guarantees for the financially strapped US auto industry, intended to spark a wave of automotive innovation. The loan guarantees were included in a continuing resolution that included funding for the US government and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. President George W. Bush has indicated that he intends to sign the bill....

The bill, which was approved by the House of Representatives on Wednesday, are the first loan guarantees for U.S. carmakers since Congress approved a similar 675 million dollar measure for Chrysler Corp. in 1980. Chrysler Chairman Robert Nardelli, however, said this week the loan guarantees should not be considered a rescue package for struggling carmakers. "This is not a bailout," he said.

Well, if the loans are repaid, you

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With all the excitement in financial markets, I almost missed this story on the bailout for automakers.

Breitbart reports:

The US Senate Saturday approved 25 billion dollars in loan guarantees for the financially strapped US auto industry, intended to spark a wave of automotive innovation. The loan guarantees were included in a continuing resolution that included funding for the US government and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. President George W. Bush has indicated that he intends to sign the bill....

The bill, which was approved by the House of Representatives on Wednesday, are the first loan guarantees for U.S. carmakers since Congress approved a similar 675 million dollar measure for Chrysler Corp. in 1980. Chrysler Chairman Robert Nardelli, however, said this week the loan guarantees should not be considered a rescue package for struggling carmakers. "This is not a bailout," he said.

Well, if the loans are repaid, you

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An overwhelming 78-12 vote by the Senate sends a massive $634B spending bill to President Bush, who is expected to sign the measure before the government's fiscal year-end comes to a close on Tuesday. The bill contains provisions for $25B in subsidized loans for automakers in addition to removing a ban on offshore drilling on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Participating companies from the auto industry would not have to begin repayment of the loans for five years and the proceeds are meant to be used in the development of more fuel efficient vehicles through new technologies and revamped manufacturing plants. Since companies such as Ford (F) and General Motors (GM) are below investment grade, company officials argue they cannot access capital at reasonable rates which hampers their ability to compete with global giants such as Toyota (TM) ...

There's a lot of commentary -- more comprehensive and up to date than I can provide -- on the crisis and the attempts to resolve the logjam in the financial markets.[0], [1] But I stilll have a couple of thoughts about the causes, and the implications, of the process that has resulted in so much turmoil this week.

First, what is the source of the crisis? Is it as is asserted here in this statement from John McCain today?

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There are certainly plenty of places to point fingers, and it may be hard to pinpoint the original event that set it all in motion. But let me give you an educated guess. The financial crisis we're living through today started with the corruption and manipulation of our home mortgage system. At the center of the problem were the lobbyists, politicians, and bureaucrats who succeeded in persuading Congress and the

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There's a lot of commentary -- more comprehensive and up to date than I can provide -- on the crisis and the attempts to resolve the logjam in the financial markets.[0], [1] But I stilll have a couple of thoughts about the causes, and the implications, of the process that has resulted in so much turmoil this week.

First, what is the source of the crisis? Is it as is asserted here in this statement from John McCain today?

....

There are certainly plenty of places to point fingers, and it may be hard to pinpoint the original event that set it all in motion. But let me give you an educated guess. The financial crisis we're living through today started with the corruption and manipulation of our home mortgage system. At the center of the problem were the lobbyists, politicians, and bureaucrats who succeeded in persuading Congress and the

...