A little light sabre-rattling

Two hot items are being discussed with growing frequency. One is the prospect that our economic recovery will be less fast and complete than earlier predicted. This comes with news that our recession was much worse than thought. Should I read 'much worse than we were told'? Credit remains scarce and as one commentator put it, the Obama administration is spending lavishly and in hope that it can do something corrective later on about our soaring debt. We are far from being out of the woods yet and are very much at risk of an economic aftershock that will at least protract recovery for months if not years.

The other item consists of statements here and there about the probability of our attacking Iran. The frequency of items on this subject is somewhat alarming. One observer recently warned that we are now at risk of opening two confrontations, one with North Korea and one with Iran. The latter very much involves our relationship with Israel and the historical need for a strong alliance to counter threats from other Middle Eastern powers such as Iran, Southern Lebanon, Palestine, and the list goes on. Part of the concern here is precipitated by the movement of US warships to the Arabian (Persian) Gulf and by Israel's having obtained permission for military aircraft to fly over a Saudi Arabian along a designated air corridor.

Much of the recent news is dedicated to Chelsea Clinton's wedding, especially the obscene amount of money that was spent on the event. I for one see no earthly reason for such extravagant spending. It can only stem from egos that are out of control. Such spending does not guarantee a flawless event, future happiness, high character, loyalty to one another, or even a good feeling the day after. If the parent's intention had been to better endear their only daughter to the public, a considerably more modest and low profile event would have been in order.