Enjoy

Israel positions then pounces against Palestine, killing more than 140, after Hamas launched missiles into Israel. Great. I’m sure that will put an end to the violence.

Pakistan diverts troops from its Afghan border to its Indian border, in a slower response to the accusations following the Mumbai attacks. I wonder about what the planners of the Mumbai attacks intended. Perhaps this is all part of the plan. The U.S. has continued to pressure Pakistan to pursue lawless militant groups in the Afghan-Pakistan border region, but the accusations about Pakistan’s involvement in the attacks in India have stirred hostilities between the nuclear-armed neighbors. So even though India’s prodding is about the pursuit of the attackers, who might also be in the region the U.S. wants raked, Pakistan is responding not by actually pursuing the attackers, but by further arming their border with India, presumably because of Pakistan’s umbrage with any sort of finger pointing from India. This is so asinine.

All this insecurity about the Middle East and India gave a kick (Bloomberg)to gold and crude oil prices in recent days, causing them to rise 4% and 7% respectively.

According to Ralph Preston, a commodity analyst at Heritage West Financial Inc., the doom and gloom news precipitates retreat into bullion, especially during the unprecedented low return on U.S. Treasury Notes.

What a mess.

That’s a weak excuse, but I’ve recommitted to regularly posting here.

I was even given a bit of inspiration about my blogging from a few unlikely sources. Thanks for the encouragement.

(A video from the ASU/KAET poll )

These results, along with data from a number of other state polls, indicate a marked decrease in Sen. McCain’s lead, which was at one point estimated at as much as 21 points.

Poll director and long-time political consultant, Dr. Bruce Merrill said that in addition to the closing numbers, he sees a number of intriguing trends in the new data.

Merrill points the the narrow slice of the electorate that might still be swayed during the last days of the campaign as one of the most interesting trends from his poll.

“[Voters] are firmly committed and won’t change their mind before Election Day,” Merrill said.

94 percent of Obama’s supporters, and 93 percent of McCain’s supporters say they will not change their mind before the election.

According to Merrill, Obama’s broader strategy for winning the traditional swing voter has proven successful in Arizona, and that McCain’s nationally secured base is reflected in his home state.

“Obama has been closing the gap by attracting independents and women to his campaign,” Merrill said. “McCain does well among conservative Democrats and evangelicals.”