Tuesday Trivia

Tuesday has arrived in the usual fashion; nothing abnormal about it so far. I have my coffee in front of me, sweetened with just a dash of Torani raspberry syrup. Hazelnut, Crème Caramel, Ginger Spice and Vanilla Bean are my usual favorites for this time of the day, but I saw the raspberry and had to try it. It’s quite good!

I just had a sudden flood of email. When I woke up my computer this morning, I found a log-in screen for my mail service. Sometime last night, the service failed to remember who I was and waited for me to acknowledge, with an “OK” that I was who I claimed to be. Since I was asleep, the mail had to wait. But, now I can see what is happening in the world.

Wal-Mart Forecasts Big Season. Is one of the headlines. The hidden headline is this; “Trade Deficit with China Increases, Again”. But a growing U.S economy is a good thing for China, since they own so many of our bonds. And you don’t even want to think about what would happen if China decided to dump those bonds. So be a patriot and Buy Chinese! (Actually, you can’t help but do that, no matter where you shop.)

Other Nations Hope to Loosen U.S. Grip on Internet. Here’s a paradox. It’s called the World Wide Web, but the rules and the backbone are strictly American. As for myself, I love the concept of a world united by technology, with people in far away places sharing their thoughts and, yes, their commerce. At the same time, I believe that American entrepreneurship and expertise is the driving force behind the Web. Do I want to give up familiar structure for an unknown one? That’s a tough decision, but to be fair…the whole world has to share in this. So be nice, share.

Iraqi Chalabi meets Cheney, Rumsfeld. Here’s a guy that is perfectly at home with Dick and Don, the puppet masters. The Pentagon wouldn’t allow TV coverage of this meeting and I can understand that. I’m sure it was a meeting for the purpose of getting their respective stories straight. Want to know more about Chalabi? http://counterpunch.org/chalabi05202004.html See? I told you he would fit in with the puppet masters.

Time for more coffee, with Caramel Crème this time.