Morning Babble 3

It's Thursday, which is usually one of the more peaceful and hopeful days of the week, coming as it does just before the clash of frantic catch-up work and weekend planning that is Friday.

Peaceful, but that doesn't mean there is nothing to wonder, worry, or complain about...

The price tag goes up - I guess the Big Three had to exact their pound of flesh for the humiliation meted out to then the last time they came to Washington.  They were sent home chastised on many levels, and shamed into shelving their beloved private jets.  Some were even bullied into publicly stating that would only accept $1 in salary for the next year.  No wonder then that they returned (in cheaper transport, including a hybrid car) to the Capital asking for $34 million in loans, up $9 million from the original $25 million requested.  Hmm, I wonder if 9 million is somewhere near the annual costs for upkeep on three corporate jets?  Revenge is sweet ...

Gas prices go down, down, down - This is a good thing, right?  Well, yes and no, but maybe not.  True, greed drove prices for oil (and therefore gas) to ridiculous highs this year - a year we now know was in recession, but the scale of the price drop has at least one serious implication.  All those SUV and truck drivers who parked their vehicles when prices were high, can happily hop back in now that prices have reverted almost to those of the good old days of pre-9/11.  Sure global warming is still a threat, but distant compared to the daily assault on the wallet high gas prices represented.  This return to excess might help perk up some of the auto industry's flagging sales, but it will also terribly confuse those responsible for leading the industry.  The sheer greed of sticking with high-profit SUVs and trucks might be too much for them, and low fuel prices might be a cue to do nothing, once again.

Implacable foes, back at it again - The past thirty years have seen some remarkable progress in international relations.  The cold war ended (more or less).  Apartheid ended and South Africa gained majority rule, and communist 'red' China is now just plain China and an essential partner in the US economy.  But there are some problems, it seems, that are harder to solve.  The smoldering enmity between India and Pakistan, which on occasion has turned to open armed conflict, is heating up again over the Mumbai attacks, just when it seemed to be cooling from the Nepalese conflict.  Both countries have nuclear weapons, and sadly, neither seem to be well-controlled by their governments.  At least that is the impression given by western (mainly US) media.  If India and Pakistan fall once again into direct armed conflict, it's hard to imagine how terrible the outcome could be.