Just reading over some of the business news I missed the last few days, turns out the EU (Eurozone) now faces 10% unemployment as well.

Unemployment in the eurozone breached the 10 per cent mark for the first time since the introduction of the single currency over a decade ago.

As of November, there were 15.7m jobless in the bloc, the highest since the data series was first compiled in 1994.

Seeing the US unemployment numbers came in worse than expected (85K) and that included seasonally adjusted hiring, and is beginning to account for census workers, one can see just how far off the labor market is here.

With the EU facing high unemployment, the US with the same factors, the nation – if not multiple economies – are simply sitting on the edge.

Here are a few things in the news that caught my eye over the last 24 hours:

• October surprise from bank earnings? Some experts worry results may be much more negative than investors expect

Bank stocks surged during the third quarter, but as companies prepare to report results from the period, several industry experts remain concerned.

• Toxic commercial loans plague small banks

Toxic commercial real estate assets held by small U.S. banks are threatening their survival and the broader economy, analysts say.

• Israel, US to simulate response to war

Israel and the United States, amid growing tensions with Iran, will simulate interoperability between missile defense systems this week during the biennial Juniper Cobra missile defense exercise.

With the market going into earnings season, it will be interesting to see how things play out.

Last Friday a U.N. Security Council resolution forbidding North Korea from spreading nuclear and missile technology and it seem the United States is ready to test the will of the United Nations as well as the intent of North Korea.

Kang Nam, a North Korean ship, left port Wednesday and is expected to carrying banned materials.  Apparently this vessel has repeatedly shipped band materials in the past and, as such, intelligence agencies believe it may be doing so once again.

Here is where things get, well, interesting.  The U.N. Security Council resolution forbids a foreign power from forcibly boarding the ship.  I kid you not.  This would mean the USS John McCain, the interceptor, would need to radio the Kang Nam and say…

“Hey, yea, do you mind if we come aboard, look around a bit… see if you have anything illegal…”

If the ship actually has materials the outcome of that request is rather obvious.   Even if they do not, I suspect the answer would be the same.

If there is absolutely no power to prevent the North Koreans from proliferating missile and nuke technology, what is the point of the resolution and why is the United States making it a point to press the North Koreans?

In regards to the U.N. resolutions, well, it’s because the group is a paper tiger.  They want to have the ability to say “Look, we did something” while not really doing anything at all.  They are trying to keep everyone happy, even those in violation of the law and regulations they’ve established; all in the name of world peace.

Yea, good luck with that.

I suspect the U.S. is sending the USS John McCain to test the reaction of other U.N. Security Council members – to gauge their reaction – in order to set the potential groundwork for a defensive attack toward North Korea if American interests are targeted.

Second, this may also be a way of calling out China.  If the Chinese government supports the North Korean ship, or interferes with the intercept, they will do so on the world stage thereby showing the a conflict of interest between what was said in the UN and their real motives on North Korea (which would be protection of that State)

Finally, I believe a message is being sent to North Korea that we are serious; that all within the law will be pursued if they launch an attack.

With news out that North Korea may be planning on firing a missile toward Hawaii on the 4th of July, and this intercept, the situation may get very interesting, very fast, in the next two weeks.

A few weeks back I bookmarked this story on a potential Russian treason law but never got around to putting my thoughts down.  The big thing that sticks out for me is this:

The bill would add non-governmental organizations based anywhere in the world that have an office in Russia to the list of banned recipients of state secrets. The government has repeatedly accused foreign spy agencies of using NGOs as a cover to foment dissent. 

For your records, an NGO = nongovernmental organization 

We are talking about organizations such as Amnesty International, Red Cross, or Human Rights Watch… The Russian Government fears that NGOs are tools of foreign governments that are attempting to influence events within Russia. 

That may or may not be true, but I would be hard presses to test the Russian government because…

In a separate development Wednesday, Russia’s upper house of parliament passed legislation that would end jury trials for those facing charges of terrorism and treason. Instead, they would face a panel of judges. 

That means due process is out the window.  If you are accused of terrorism or treason in Russia, you will face a panel of judges – not a jury trial. So, if a Russian based member of Amnesty International accuses Russia of Human Rights volitions in Chechnya you now have a treasonous act.

Scary, no?  

That said, the United States hasn’t been the best when it comes to due process the last few years…

About a month ago, right after the predictions of Gerald Celente came out, a Russian academic came out stating that the United States was going to break apart in 2010 due to our poor economic situation.

“There’s a 55-45% chance right now that disintegration will occur,” he says. “One could rejoice in that process,” he adds, poker-faced. “But if we’re talking reasonably, it’s not the best scenario — for Russia.” Though Russia would become more powerful on the global stage, he says, its economy would suffer because it currently depends heavily on the dollar and on trade with the U.S. 

Right away it seems odd that he puts it at a 50% chance – I mean, isn’t there a 50% chance of something happening at any point to begin with?  Anyway, here is how he expects the break-up to shake out:

(via WSJ)

I also find it interesting that Russia is facing, and using the military to put an end to, dissent due to the devaluation of the ruble because of the plunging price of oil….

Anything can happen, don’t get me wrong, but it looks like Russia has more issues right now than the US.

I found this to be very interesting – The International Journal of Health Geographics released spatial patterns of natural hazard mortalities with in the United States at the county-level for the U.S. from 1970-2004.

To define “natural hazards” we are talking about events like flooding, earthquakes, heat/cold, hurricanes… turns out normal,  “everyday weather” accounts for the majority of weather fatalities.

I was going to embed the PDF in the site, but it’s rather big. Instead, you can download it here.

The internet was slow. Yes, it could have been a router issue, or a service provider interruption, but something was different. I realized it wasn’t that the internet was slow; the major news sites were unavailable. I knew there was something wrong almost immediately but no sure exactly what.

Every morning I would sit down at my computer and have a bagel and read the news before I kicked off my day of coding. Annoyed by the fact that my morning routine was thrown off, I was about to head off and speak to the network team to determine the source of the network decay. Just as I was pushed my chair back a friend of mine, who sat just over the wall from me, started a conversation I will never forget.

KH: “Van, did you hear the World Trade Center was hit by a plane?”

Me: “Was it an accident? Was it small?”

KH: “I don’t know my wife just called me to let me know.”

My initial reacting wasn’t to think the United States was under a terrorist attack it was “how could some guy in a personal plane hit a building like that!” Now I understood why the internet was slow. Automatically I pick up the phone and call my father who happened to be just about to leave the house. He answers, unaware of what is going on. I don’t even say “Hi”.

Me: “Did you hear what happened in New York”

Dad: “No.”

Me: “Get to a TV, now.”

Dad: “I’ll call you back.”

Moments past and my phone rings again, it’s my father. Again, no one says hello. Pleasantries seem like a luxury at this point; he goes right into the conversation.

Dad: “A second plane hit the World Trade Center just as I turned on the TV, this is a terrorist attack.”

From that moment on the day becomes a blur – maybe I blocked out the details – but the first hour is burned into my memory like someone who has retina burn from looking at a solar eclipse. I remember every conversation, word for word, every emotion, every sensation like it just happened. No matter how much time passes that hour of my life feels like it just happened.

As the week went on the surreal sensation grew. Everyone was friendlier to one another, people kept waiting for the next shoe to drop, there were no planes flying in the air and the moment of silence at Noon, 9/14/2008…to be in a loud restaurant and have everyone stop talking at once, in a second, was eerie. It was a shared moment with 300 people I will never see again, but for that single moment it was as if we were all feeling the same emotion.

Time goes on but I will never be able to let go of the sensations from that day. For better or worse, 9/11/08 is a part of me until the day I no longer have the privilege of life on this earth.

Others Remember:

Rocco: Pope Benedict’s Prayer at Ground Zero
Dick Meyer: 9/11 & the Non-crisis of values
Bookworm: Horrifying picture
Michelle Malkin: Remembrance & Resolve
Lucianne Goldberg: What do I tell the pilot
Siggy: In search of a nation’s soul
Blackfive: Stand & Never yield
Ace:Remembers 9/11
Lorie Byrd: Never Forget
Day by Day: no words
J’s Cafe-Nette: Do You Remember?
Brutally Honest: “The room shook”
Andrea Shea King: We remember
David Warren: The Anniversary of Sept 10
Lileks: Archived, but prescient and worth re-reading
Bush 7, Terrorists 0
video tributes
PMJ: Remembering Not to Forget
AlQ’s failed attack on our economy
Built from the scraps: The USS New York
Rightvoices: We will never forget

Much like the residents of 49 of these United States, I know very little about Sarah Palin.  My first exposure to her came in April of 2008 when she gave birth to her son Trig who happen to be special needs.  The news had coverage of the story, and that she was a rising star within the Republican Party, but I never really gave her much attention after that.  Then came Friday, August 29th, 2008.

So, who is she?  What does she stand for?  What does she believe?  I’m very curious…let’s see what we can find out.

The Basics:

• Name: Sarah Louise Heath Palin
• Born: February 11, 1964
• Education: BS in Journalism from the University of Idaho
• Party: Republican
• Current Occupation: Governor of Alaska
• Family: Married with 5 children

The Experience:

• Two Term Wasilla City Counsel member
• Two Term Wasilla Mayor
• Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission
• Governor of Alaska

Her views:

• Abortion: Pro Life
• Marriage: Anti-Gay Marriage
• Death Penalty: Supports
• Energy: For Bio Fuel, Supports Drilling in ANWR
• Evolution: Supports creationism to be discussed in school
• Gun Control: Supports the right to bear arms

Controversies:

She is under investigation for the firing of Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan.  Palin stated Monegan was released due to not filling vacant state trooper positions, as well as adhering to the budget. Palin offered Monegan a position as executive director of the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, which he turned down. Monegan claims he was let go as retaliation for his reluctance to fire Palin’s former brother-in-law, an Alaska State Trooper.

I hope this gives you a good starting point to understand who Sarah Palin is. No doubt, more information will come out within the next 60 days.  As it does, I will continue to update.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin cranked up the rhetoric again today by accusing the United States of orchestrating the Georgian conflict in order to benefit a presidential candidate. While I do no believe this claim I wondered what, exactly, are the facts surrounding the conflict. Is Russia the “bad guy” in the story, is Russia trying to bring together the old communist union or is this country simply defending their rights as an independent nation.

Who attacked who?

The tension between Russia and Georgia has existed since 1991, if not longer. In this conflict, Georgia attacked the Russian backed Ossetian militia on or about August 7th. Russia responded by sending tanks in to support the militia. (source)

What has the rest of the world done in response?

The United States and NATO called on Russia to suspend it’s military operations. Furthermore, the US has sent two shipments of aid to Georgia.

Will the U.S. join in this conflict?

While I do not have a crystal ball, I do know that Georgia is not a member of NATO. My guess would be no.

My take on the situation is this: you have years of emotion and national pride on both sides. It looks like Georgia attacked Ossetia first, but not Russian territory and, as a results, both sides are pointing fingers attempting to lay the blame on the other party.

Did the U.S. orchestrate this attack? No. Did the U.S. do anything to stop this attack? No. Why? I think it is safe to say simply because the U.S. has no control over the Georgian government, they can choose their own path as an independent country.

With the cold war talk flying around between Russia and the US, I can see how tension between our two countries has grown. Russia has quickly turned from poor communist country into a wealthy power to be reckoned with due to their abundance of natural resources and it seems that as their wealth has grown, so has their desire to set the political tone in Eastern Europe. In this case, however, I believe the national pride on both sides (Russia and Georgia) are to blame.