VBVW for January 26, 2007:
Budgets, Bluster & Blasphemy
• The Very Best
A team of adventurers, using only skis and kites, reached the Pole of Inaccessibility at the center of the Antartic. No one else has ever completed the 1093-mile trek without using vehicles. And the four man team did it to raise money for a UK-based charity. It looks like the indomitable human spirit may not be dead after all.
A rare deep sea frill shark was discovered off the coast of Japan. The creature, which lives thousands of feet below the surface, has rarely been seen alive. Coupled with last year’s first-ever discovery of a live giant squid, this proves that Japan isn’t necessarily turning everything in the ocean into sushi.
The Congressional Budget Office predicted that the federal deficit would actually shrink this year, despite the cost of the Iraq War. The deficit is expected to decline to about $200 billion, which Bill Gates and Warren Buffett could cover if they wanted to. The federal budget is all smoke and mirrors, however, so we shouldn’t be uncorking the champagne just yet. Maybe a beer or two . . .
• The Very Worst
Twenty aid workers in Sudan were detained and beaten by police. The workers’ heinous crime, in addition to trying to bring some relief to a country that even God has given up on, was having alcoholic drinks at a social function. And that, according to the Muslim police, is reason enough to beat people with rifles and sexually molest them.
Israeli president Moshe Katsav stepped down from his post amid allegations of rape and sexual harrassment. Katsav and his cronies could no longer dismiss the accusations as a smear campaign when eight women came forward to testify against him.
Vice President Dick “Shooter” Cheney took offense to a question Wolf Blitzer asked about his gay daughter, and Blitzer visibly recoiled in fear. This is what our once strong media has been reduced to? Cringing in the face of a government stare down?
VBVW for January 21, 2007:
The People vs. The Planet
• The Very Best
The Governator proposed universal health care coverage for Californians. It may not gain much traction, but it’s a first step. Had we known what would prompt it, we would have sent someone to break one of Arnold’s legs long ago. At the same time, San Francisco became the first US city to require employers to give workers paid sick leave.
The American Cancer Society announced that there were 3,014 fewer cancer deaths in the U.S. between 2003 and 2004 than in the previous year. It attributes the change to a trend rather than a “blip.” Projections for 2007 are still frightful but may represent continued change in the right direction.
Inflation in the U.S. is up by only 2.5%, the best showing since 2003 when it rose 1.9%. Unemployment claims were the lowest in 11 month, which is good news for all those workers who have to make up for the wages they lost over the past five years.
• The Very Worst
China shot down a satellite 537 miles above the Earth. China didn’t do this for fun. It did this to prove to the world that it could, and the repercussions are chilling. Government-run industries in China make our clothes and our electronics. Next they might be shooting down our communications systems. Maybe it’s just us, but something is really wrong with this picture.
The worst weather in years assaulted the planet, killing more than 70 people in North America and nearly three dozen in Europe. Hundred mile-an-hour winds, ice storms, and relentless rain resulted in power outages, airport shutdowns, remarkable car wrecks and building damage worldwide. Mother Nature has apparently decided enough is enough. Maybe we ought to start listening.
Los Angeles paid $250 million to get washed-up and petulant soccer star David Beckham to move into the neighborhood. An entire section of California now qualifies as the single biggest starf*cker on the planet.