Well, here are some reasons to remain positive!!!!
The House of Representatives has approved a renewal of the Patriot Act today, thereby continuing to grant the federal government almost limitless power to check up on who we are hanging out with and what we are reading, as well as increased powers for eavesdropping on our phone conversations and email and for (and this one's my favorite) sneaking into our homes to have a look around while we're away. Good thing we're in Iraq fighting for all of this freedom and democracy. Look, digital cable and credit cards with outrageous spending limits really aren't a good trade for our civil liberties. I know that things feel okay at the moment, but eventually you're going to miss all of those rights you've heard so much about. Trust Steanso on this one.

And here's some more good news! The U.S. trade deficit has now hit a record high of $68.9 blillion dollars. That basically means that we're buying a lot more stuff from other countries than they're buying from us, which is pretty darn bad for the U.S. economy (all of the money spent on foreign goods is basically helping to pay people who manufactured those goods in foreign markets rather than paying the salaries of U.S. manufacturers and employees). So far I've heard that our unemployment figures are actually not bad, but if this deficit continues, it's gonna be bad hoodoo for the U.S. economy. Maybe a little bit of protective taxation (on foreign goods) wouldn't be a completely terrible thing (especially in light of the fact that countries like China have already been using these kinds of tactics against American goods for years). I'm looking your way, George.

And last, but not least, crocodiles have now topped the list as the animal most likely to kill or maim you if you live in Zimbabwe. They've passed up the old favorite- the rampaging elephant- as the critter most likely to kill you before you can kill it. Apparently the crocs tend to snatch people off of riverbanks while the people are bathing or fishing or whatnot. Elephants, which I've always (apparently foolishly) though of as fairly peaceful, tend to stampede and trample people when they become alarmed, or maybe just annoyed. Crocs eat people just because they're hungry. Also, if you're in Zimbabwe, look out for the hippos because they'll charge your fishing boat and f*%k you up.

OK, that's it for now. Hope everyone is doing alright.

Peace.