General Electric profits tank, panic follows.

Recently, John McCain said of the ever-growing mortgage crisis that "...it is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers." Now he has changed his tune, and I think it may have to do with some highly-placed people letting him know that the whole "I don't care if you all suffer and end up homeless" message won't work well on a button or a yardcard.

I'd just like to take this opportunity to say something fun that has nothing to do with politics at all: the Dallas Stars are in the playoffs again, and they spent last night destroying Anaheim in Game 1, 4 - 0. Go Stars.

With the Republican nomination decided, McCain has presumably had some time now to consider his running mate. He seems to be taking his time, and it's no wonder; there are plenty of prominent Republicans who might be considered, and none are without drawbacks.

For all you IMINT enthusiasts out there, how about some pictures of an Iranian space program / ballistic missile facility?

Coordination in 3, 2, 1... I'm not entirely sure how this is going to work, especially considering the divide in the party between the NeoCons and Pragmatists.

President Bush's latest approval rating: 28 percent.

We haven't heard much from former Secretary of State Colin Powell for years, but he's come out with something very interesting today. Powell says that no matter who the next president is, they will have no choice but to reduce troop levels in Iraq. That's about as tidy as it ever gets, and the reasoning is tidy as well. Says Powell:

Whichever one of them becomes president on Jan. 1, 2009, they will face a military force that cannot continue to sustain 140,000 people deployed in Iraq and the 20 (thousand) odd or 25,000 people we have deployed in Afghanistan and our other deployments.

The markets work in mysterious ways, my friends. Con Coughlin reports at The Daily Telegraph's blog Three-Line Whip that in one part of Afghanistan's Helmand Province, crop substitution is succeeding for the time being. It's not due to a NATO crop substitution program to coerce farmers to grow another crop besides poppies.

The full letter (with citations) that the Lone Star Project sent to Senator Kim Brimer concerning the 'rent to own' scandal is now available in PDF. You can also see a workup of the whole affair at LSP's site.