Photos of the Myanmar Disaster:

For those who can't get enough news about the cyclone/tsunami in Myanmar, The New York Times provides "The Lede" blog site, posting photos sent in by readers, as well as descriptions and comments.

Will a Tech Boom Save Us from a Recession:

Can you even have a tech boom during a recession, might be a more appropriate question. The New York Times reports that Sprint Nextel, Google, Intel, Comcast, Time Warner and Clearwire are partnering up to challenge Verizon and AT&T in the wireless market. These companies are tossing in $14.5 billion dollars to build a network for cell phone users.

The Times quotes Clearwire chairman Craig O. McCaw as stating,

The power of the mobile Internet, which offers speed and mobility, home and away, on any device or screen, will fundamentally transform the communications landscape in our country. We believe that the new Clearwire will operate one of the fastest and most capable broadband wireless networks ever conceived, giving us the opportunity to return the U.S. to a leadership position in the global wireless industry.

In the meantime, the stock market continues to be volatile, with a late Wednesday afternoon "tumble," to use the Times' terminology. The Dow was down 206.48 points and Standard & Poor's 500-stock index dropped 1.8 percent, its worst showing in nearly a month.

Sen. Clinton Vows to Fight On:

The media is awash with predictions that the narrow victory in Indiana coupled with a resounding defeat in North Carolina spelled the end of her campaign. The big key here is a financial one. Once again Sen. Clinton, it turns out, was forced to loan her campaign millions of dollars to remain viable.

If nothing else, this campaign has shed more light on precisely what democracy means in the United States. The vote for these two candidates remains relatively close, both in the popular count and the delegate count. And there are still two states about which no one seems to know what to do, Florida and Michigan. But the money difference is well documented as heavily favoring Sen. Obama. His campaign has consistently set records for its ability to raise money. Sen. Clinton may be able to rally millions of poor white working women behind her, but they haven't funded her the way Obama's supporters have funded him.

Here's the kicker, if Sen. Clinton does not win the nomination and the White House, she will be spending considerable effort over the next few years raising money to repay the loans she made to her own campaign. "Why won't she need to do this if she becomes president?" Well, she will still need to repay the loans, but as president or former president, depending on when she sets out to raise this money, the effort will need be far less. (See The New York Times story.)

Bush Again Calls for Drilling in ANWR:

Bush once again called for domestic exploration for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, despite the fact that oil taken from their would provide little or no relief to current energy problems. Currently, it is believed that the amount of oil would be relatively small compared to current needs, and that it would take too many years to bring the oil to market to have any significant impact. However, oil drilled in ANWR would greatly benefit a few oil men. Can you guess to whom these people are connected?

What the Dude told the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag about the best moment of his presidency: "I would say the best moment of all was when I caught a seven and a half pound largemouth bass in my lake." — George W. Bush, May 2006. (I know, you'd really like to have a beer with this guy. Well, the sooner the better.)

China Facts: "Authorities have added 171 new pop culture phrases to China's national language registry." (Source ngm.com)

Oil Price to Peak in June, Temporarily:

Forecasts are for the price of oil to peak in June, according to a New York Times report; however, the best analysis is that will only provide a momentary lull, followed by a steady increase over the next two years to somewhere between $150 to $200 per barrel, as demand in China and India continues to skyrocket.

The price of gasoline is expected to run as high as $7 a gallon, with home heating oil and diesel fuel to be even higher. Thus the cost of everything else will accelerate, including the price of food, which has already taken a marked jump.

In the meantime, the issue of global warming, which looms in the not so distant future, seems to be a forgotten issue.

The Haves and the Have Nots:

While the economy is in the throws of a recession and the U. S. is in the middle of a major political campaign, while millions of people have no health care and 40 percent of the world's population lives in extreme poverty, millions of others have so much money and so much time on their hands that they can afford to spend the money and the time on video games.

Don't misunderstand. I'm not opposed to video games, but surely the irony cannot be missed in the juxtaposition of news items about the high cost of energy and its effects with the news that a video game had sales of $500 million within the first week of its release. (See The New York Times story.)

For another insight into who has loads of money vs. the rest of us, see The Times story on who's buying art for hundreds of millions of dollars. (Keep in mind that none of the artists is alive and in any way benefiting from these sales.) Monet's "Railroad Bridge at Argenteuil" sold for $41.4 million. Granted, it is impossible to place a monetary value on how enriched our lives are through art. But the question here is just who has the money to do this? And we could add, why spend the money this way? The painting already exists and could easily be displayed in a museum where all who could get to that museum could have their lives enriched by it, so how is it that someone has that much money just to own such a painting? No doubt the purchaser will declare the purchase an investment, but it seems more likely to qualify as hoarding. Investing one's money in a pile of gold that is locked in a vault is decidedly different from investing one's money in a business.

This Day in History: 63 years ago today, Germany signed the unconditional surrender that ended World War II in Europe.

60,000 Missing or Dead in Myanmar:

The Washington Post is now reporting that the tsunami numbers of missing or dead past 60,000 as emergency supplies began arriving yesterday.

States Rush to Murder Inmates:

Georgia claimed the first execution last night at 7:51 p.m. as states around the U. S. rushed to begin executing convicts. Virginia Attorney General Robert McDonnell (R) stated that "The commonwealth has suffered, and continues to suffer, serious and irreparable harm each day the stay remains in effect," although he failed to explain just what that harm is since the man he wants to kill is securely locked up in prison. One supposes he means the harm to his reputation as a professional, hired killer. (See The Washington Post story.) Virginia has been under a stay of executions pending the outcome of the recent Supreme Court ruling with regards to the "cruel and unusual punishment" issue regarding the "three-drug" method of killing prisoners currently employed by most death penalty states and the fact that this method is outlawed by most states because it is considered cruel when used on animals.

The Dude's perspective: "And one of the things we've got to make sure that we do is anything." — George W. Bush, Washington, D. C., May 7, 2002. (Spoken, no doubt, with extreme sincerity.)

China Facts: "China has the world's largest number of Internet users—220 million—surpassing Web surfers in the U. S." (Source: ngm.com)