Friday Lite

With the week almost done, bracing for a weekend of retrospectives and next week's perhaps tumultuous conclusion of Alan Greenspan's long career as head of the world's most important central bank, there are but a few unrelated items to share today.

GDP Disappoints

The advance report on fourth quarter GDP really stunk up the place this morning. That's not going to make things any easier for Ben Bernanke who will begin next Wednesday morning filling out new-hire forms, selecting health care and retirement options, after sitting through the 45 minute video about safety hazards and sexual discrimination in the workplace.

As if there wasn't already enough foreboding historical precedent for the transition from one Fed chief to another, an extremely disappointing economic growth report coming out a few days before you take over at the central bank, well, that's just not fair.

The advance fourth quarter GDP came in at 1.1 percent - that's far below the consensus estimate of 2.8 percent and the lowest quarterly growth rate since 2001.

If you figure that inflation is understated just a wee bit, those are recessionary growth figures, and of course, it doesn't help that price pressures continue - good luck Ben.

A True Work of Art

Erin Crowe paints lots of pictures of Alan Greenspan as discussed in this story that will likely have rolled off of the front page of Yahoo! News by the time you read this.



This fascination with Alan Greenspan appears unhealthy and Ms. Crowe really should try to expand her choice of subjects a bit - too much focus on one man surely can't be a good thing.

What's In a Name?

On a completely unrelated subject, many readers have asked whether or not the name of this blog will be changing anytime soon. That is, with the retirement of Alan Greenspan next week, is it now time to retire the name, The Mess That Greenspan Made?

This name was never envisioned as a something that would last for many years, however, the timing seemed right when this blog was conceived nearly a year ago.

Today, readers are asked for their opinion - if and why, or why not.

For those favoring a change, suggestions are encouraged, however, comments containing proposed names that include personal attacks on this blog or its author will be immediately deleted - unless of course they are funny.

Why is Plastic So Strong?

Is it me or is plastic packaging about ten times as strong as it needs to be? It seems that not so long ago, a thin layer of plastic surrounding a product (e.g., a case of 24 one pint plastic bottles of water) could be easily penetrated with a sharp poke of a finger.

Once compromised, the plastic could be quickly removed.

Today, it seems that this approach would sooner land you in an emergency room than quench your thirst. In this consumer household, the utility knife is now reached for almost automatically in cases such as this.

Why is plastic so strong and are people injuring themselves in trying to remove it?

Should We Fear China?

This is what the main page of ChinaDaily looked like yesterday. There have been lots of recent stories about the Chinese military build-up, and joint exercises with the Russian military have raised some eyebrows, so at first glance the main page looked kind of threatening.

Alongside news of agreeing with Russia on a proposal about Iran's nuclear ambitions, and talks scheduled with Japan (all of which seems to leave the good 'ol U.S. out in the cold) is the image of a Chinese soldier.

A Chinese soldier striking fear in the heart of readers around the world.

Or, is it?



If you clicked on the photo, a larger image would appear as shown below. With more detail available, it is clear that this soldier not only wields a cross-bow, but has a quiver full of arrows.

Is this still scary?