Monday, September 29, 2008

Good news and bad news


The financial world is collapsing around us, but I had a great day yesterday. For the first time in almost two months, we went for a hike in the mountains on an absolutely gorgeous day. It was the first time I'd been up in the Mt. Rainier National Park, and we picked a fabulous day to do it. The weather gods really shortchanged Seattle this summer, but they're making up for it in September. We took a short, 1.3 mile hike up Pinnacle Ridge. It was a good hike to try out my mostly-healed back on. My back was great, and I still have a bit of lung power. It felt good, and the views were awe-inspiring! That's Mt. Rainier behind me, and Mt. Adams looking the other direction from the top of the ridge.

I watched the presidential debate on Friday, and would have scored it as a narrow win on points to McCain. Obama was on the defensive a lot, and couldn't seem to grab the initiative. McCain on the other hand, didn't make any major goofs, but he seemed angry and petty; not even acknowledging Obama's presence. I thought that was something that bugged only me, but reading the post-game analysis and polls showed that I was wrong.

I hope I'm also wrong about the coming financial meltdown. I made a bet early this year that the DOW would hit 10,000 in 2008. Right now, that looks like a pretty safe bet, but it's one I'd rather lose. Paul Krugman put it best in his blog:
So what we now have is non-functional government in the face of a major crisis,
because Congress includes a quorum of crazies and nobody trusts the White House
an inch.As a friend said last night, we’ve become a banana republic with nukes.

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