"W" is for winner.

who's making up your mind?

If you haven't actually spoken to a soldier yourself, why don't you listen to this:

""Look--this gallery was put together so that my friends and family could see what I was seeing and doing in Iraq. It was never meant to turn into a political forum. I have been in Iraq for a year now and have seen so many different things and have learned an incredible amount. What we (soldiers) are doing for the people of this country is so amazing and I am so proud to have done my part. This is an experience that I will never forget and will hold in my heart forever all the smiles and hugs and laughter I have seen, felt, and heard. Please respect what I have done and what all my fellow soldiers have done for these people--keep your shitty comments to yourself. You haven't been here so you don't know how it is. Enjoy the pics and thank you to all those who have supported us in our endevours. Air Assault!"

Remember, it's your mind. You're the one who's supposed to make it up.

who’s your daddy?

'nuff said.

timing is everything.

Yes, it is. And coincidences don't happen very often, do they? So how is one to read the defacto nationalization of Russia's Yukos Oil? Being one of the largest producers in the world's second largest exporting nation, one would have to be unconscious to fail to grasp the buying panic this move would cause in the oil markets. And really unconscious to not see that such a trick would hit market economies below the belt -- one in particular, just before an election.

I don't like what this suggests about Putin's preference for President of the United States. I wish it were all a coincidence. But it seems like there are a few nations whose leaders would prefer a United States that isn't quite so strong.

Well, tough luck, boys.

who’s burning now, baby?

Recently, recordings of conversations among Enron energy traders were released to the media. These snippets painted pictures of arrogant and ruthless kids who weren’t afraid to disrupt the operation of an electrical generation plant in order to achieve the thrill of making a few more bucks. “Burn, baby, burn” chanted one, upon hearing the news that a forest fire would positively impact his long megawatt position. One can’t help but surmise that perhaps someone neglected to spank these kids when they tortured cats and charged their friends to see it, a few short years before.

There is a more enduring message in this spectacle, however, than the sickening thought of what happens when frat-boy mentality is coupled with too much power.

Consider the fact that it is a spectacle at all.

It is a spectacle because most of us find it revolting; it is a spectacle precisely because it is freakish in nature – it is an abberation of business, not business as usual.

To those who would call the Enron spectacle an example of “market failure,” I would point out rather that the whole debacle is a resounding market success, as witnessed by the fact that Enron is no longer around to bully the megawatt market. It is rapidly passing into history as less than a footnote, leaving a legacy of lessons learned with the absolute conviction that only comes from having paid such great price for them. We now pronounce the name “Enron” in a similar tone as we do “Benedict Arnold.”

Traders know that betting against fraud is a sure winner and Enron certainly did not disappoint. One of the beauties of free markets is that its participants ensure -- collectively, through the individual application of good sense by those with a stake in the game, a self-correcting action which, if allowed to work, reduces the damage done by rogue entities. As a result, Enrons always wind up crashing and burning.