News Roundup: Egypt, Edward Snowden, Arizona firefighters
Protests in Egypt
I’m not sure what’s going on in Egypt, but there are big protests and rallies once again. It appears that the Egyptian population has grown tired of the Muslim brotherhood and President Mohammed Morsi. The military appears to be stepping in and demanding that the government meet the needs of the people. This is going to be interesting. I wonder how conservatives will spin this as somehow being Obama’s fault.
It appears that Edward Snowden is still in Russia. It also appears that he has applied for asylum in Russia. You cannot tell me that this guy is not somewhere between a rock and a hard place. I’m guessing that Edward Snowden had the original plan. It appears that plan has fallen apart. It appeared that at first he was worried about the NSA spying on Americans. Okay. That is probably a legitimate concern. Then, he decided to talk with China about the NSA spying on China, the European Union, and other countries. This I don’t understand. The fact that we spy on other countries isn’t a revelation. As a matter fact, the fact that other countries spy on us isn’t a revelation either. This is what national intelligence agencies do. At best Edward Snowden is misguided. At worst, he appears to be someone who thinks he is smarter than he really is. He is really in deep kimchi.
Yesterday, 19 firefighters were killed in Arizona. These firefighters were fighting a forest fire which suddenly changed course. This represents the largest loss of life in a single day in over 50 years. My prayers go out to the family and friends.
No Sign of Inflation
There is no hint of inflation. Remember, several years ago when conservatives were all up in arms over the multiple stimulation packages that injected money into the economy in order to try to save the economy? Conservatives yelled that we were going to have runaway inflation. Not only have we not seen anything that resembles runaway inflation, inflation has been stagnant. On one hand, this can be looked at as a good thing. Consumer prices are really not rising significantly. On the other hand, this is a very bad thing. Wages are also stagnant. With stagnant wages that means our buying power is also stagnant.
In Texas, there is a huge rally in support women’s rights. As you recall, Gov. Rick Perry has called another special session in order to try to curb a women’s right to choose.
This continues to be the most unpredictable Wimbledon in recent memory. Serena Williams, five-time Wimbledon champion, has been bounced out in the fourth round.