The Daily Grill

From The State That Gave Us Sarah Palin

Alaska's Senator Ted Stevens, convicted of failing to mention the more than $250 grand he took in home remodeling services and other gift, said today that its  “a temporary situation.” Which is a lot like his current term in office is probably going to be.

POST-ELECTION UPDATE: A good chunk of the folk in Alaska have proven that they deserve whatever indisgressions Senator Ted tries to get away with, whatever shenanigans he wants to pull and whatever further embarrassment he may bring upon their state. Why? Because a majority of those proud people looked the other way and voted him back into office for another term.

POST, POST- ELECTION UPDATE: I take it all back! As of today, with most of the final outstanding ballots counted, it seem that Stevens is out and his opponent, Mark Begich, will be taking up the reins of Senatorial office for the great state of Alaska instead. I think after 7 consecutive terms and a criminal conviction, at the age of 85, Stevens deserves a well-earned and permanent break from political office.

The Oil Barrens

As of yesterday, the price of oil had dropped beneath 70 bucks a barrel. And the weird thing about the way it's being reported (at least in the NYTimes) makes it seem like it's a bad thing. Nothing overt. Just like the news is being lumped together with the plunging value of stocks and whatnot. Warnings that a drop in oil prices might slow down the search for alternative fuel sources. Also that the OPEC ministers (a title that makes the members of OPEC sound like priests in the Church of Petrol) are having emergency sessions about the situation. Sort of like the school bullies getting together to figure out new ways to kick our asses.

The Naked Truth

Okay, maybe it's just because my own hairline is making a beeline for my behind (a classic line from my comedian  buddy Rick Overton) but I found it a little disturbing when it was announced this weekend that "researchers at McGill University, King's College London and GlaxoSmithKline Inc. have identified two genetic variants in caucasians that together produce an astounding sevenfold increase the risk of male pattern baldness."

I never regarded growing bald as "risky". You can bet if it were only the universities involved in the study it would have been simply "increase the chance of male pattern baldness." But the minute you get Big Pharma's Glaxo in there, losing your hair becomes a risk. C'mon! An increase in the chance of heart disease or cancer is a risk. An increased chance of baldness? That just pretty much means you're a better candidate for buying hats.

Putting The Total In Totalitarianism

Loving the fine print. It turns out that part of the $700 Billion Bailout bill -- the "good" one -- allows the government to step right into America's banks and grab an ownership share of the place. Even healthy ones. As long as the bank requests government assistance to keep lending money, Big Bro can help himself to a chunk of banking pie. This move is supposed to raise confidence. After 230+ years of resisting a central banking system (a government-run one -- the Federal Reserve doesn't count...), they finally figured out a workaround: just take over all the banks bit by bit. One question -- since our democracy is "We the People", does that mean that we actually own a hunk of banks we're borrowing from?