Isn't it amazing how great a role the worldwide financial collapse has played in destabilizing decades-old political arrangements in the Mideast? Some silver lining.

I'm still looking askance at the Egyptian military, but am keeping fingers crossed. So are workers in Egypt, apparently - a great story today in the LA Times about the military and labor warily working together to get the textile industry functioning again:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/…

Admirable that non-violent protest has made so much progress for the people of Egypt, Bahrain, Tunisia, and Yemen.

But in Libya, they're raiding the armories and taking up all kinds of weapons. Not all tyrants can be shamed out of office.

@1 most of that has to do with worldwide weather changes causing wheat and corn prices to skyrocket, actually.

Which, surprisingly, contrary to what Jon Talton of the Seattle Times may think, is GOOD for our state, even with $100 a barrel oil, cause we get most of our energy from OTHER SOURCES. And we ship all of that out of the Port.

By the way, kiss your 15 mpg truck goodbye, cause $5 a gallon gas will be a fond and distant memory by 2020.

@3, just to be clear, I did not ask you, and never, ever would.