Monday

I consider myself a fairly well-read individual, with an above-average vocabulary. I have no recollection of ever seeing the term "sclerotic" used in any way in any story any where. This week's BusinessWeek ran a big story about the problems in India, and the sub-title made reference to the country's "sclerotic"political leadership. I had no clue. Finally looked it up and it means "hardened". Doubtful if it will make my normal speakage (sic).

Equally distressing from the same article was the realization that all this talk about the Indian city of Mumbai was actually about events in Bombay. They made this name-change over 10 years ago. Missed it entirely. Does that mean I've been drinking mis-labled Bombay gin for a decade?

Then I had to check out the regional geography on Maps because it was my recollection that Pakistan or Bangladesh or one of those places actually had locations on either side of India. Well, Pakistan did have a West and an East state, but East Pakistan became Bangladesh. In 1971. What planet have I been on the last 40 years?

I've commented several times in the recent past on particularly bad days in the stock market. Today was an "up" day and a little easier on the faint of heart. Lots of uncertainty in the future though. Can all the sure-to-come bad news already be "baked in" to today's stock prices? I don't think so. That doesn't mean that we couldn't have a little further run up in the near-term. But I think that the averages will chase downwards again before we get a jump beyond 10 or 10.5.

That advice, a gold card, and a buck and a half will get you a grande at SB's.

The Big Three bailout remains in the news. The Big O makes not-so-veiled references on the Sunday talk shows that the GM guy may need to go. Barney, Harry and friends all have their own wisdom. Any bets that whatever the bad result, it will be Dubya's fault?

I'm not sure if this is a case of Murphy's Law or one of the anti-Murphy's Law. The forecast calls for some snow accumulation tomorrow so I hauled out the blower from the back of the garage tonight to see if it would fire up. I poured in a guesstimate of the gas/2 cycle oil mixture, pushed the primer several times, and gave it a go. With no snow to plow, it came to full life on the second pull. In year's past, usually under the duress of several inches of snow on my drive way, the thing has frustratingly failed to start until a visit to the tune-up shop at the hardware store. Maybe this means we'll have a low-snow Winter.

Finally, with today's new stand price increase to $1 for USA Today, I am officially a non-buyer. Another sign of trouble in print media. Relatedly, the Tribune Company filed for bankruptcy today (carefully excluding the Cubs and Wrigley Field). Will the venerable Gray Lady be next? Do I hear a "TARP, TARP, TARP" refrain echoing from the chorus?

Have a great evening/day. Thanks for reading.

BCOT