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December Zingers: Obama, prayer, education, car bailout

In December we do something a little different—we round up several happenings from the week into tiny takeaways, or zingers, to prepare you for those holiday parties and those encounters with Uncle Fred around the eggnog, but also to give you peace of mind that you know what's happening in the world while trying to stay on top of everything else (as usual, you’re just even busier during the holidays). So here goes:

Obama and the opening prayer

Sparks flew this week as Barack Obama invited the evangelical pastor Rick Warren to give the invocation, or opening prayer, at his inauguration on January 20. Warren is head of the Saddleback Church, a 20,000-member mega-church in southern California, and the best-selling author of "The Purpose Driven Life," which has sold some 20 million copies.

Warren has conservative views on gay marriage and abortion, most recently supporting Proposition 8 in California, which overturned the rights of same-sex couples to marry in November. But he’s also fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa and supporting other causes there and internationally with the profits from his books.

The choice upset gay-rights leaders who backed Obama in the election but Obama told reporters on Thursday it’s all about inclusion.

Another czar

It’s funny that we keep hearing the word czar thrown around in regard to the people Obama is choosing to run certain departments or issues. The definition of czar is the “ruler of Russia until the 1917 revolution.” Of course the word is used more casually these days but still, there’s talk of a car czar, an energy czar, and just this week he named an education “czar.”

Technically he nominated Arne Duncan—head of Chicago Public Schools—to be Education Secretary. Battle lines had been drawn among Democrats over this choice and Duncan is seen as a compromise. He supports helping teachers get the resources they need to be better teachers while holding schools and teachers and students more responsible for success. Translated: he walks the line between people who want the education system totally overhauled while being sensitive to the powerful teachers unions.

Bush ends the week on a high note

The week began for President Bush with images of an Iraqi reporter hurling his shoes at the president on his farewell tour to Baghdad. By Friday he came to the rescue of the car makers, sending them a $17.4 billion lifeline (short of the $25 billion they asked for)—a holiday gift for the struggling companies, particularly General Motors which is quickly running out of money to conduct business, and Chrysler is shutting down production at its plants until January 19 to save costs.

Here’s the skinny: They get $13.4 billion now and $4 billion in February. If they can show major improvements by March 31 they may get more aid or will be asked to repay the loan. The money will come from the $700 billion bailout money approved by Congress earlier this year. (Many of our readers thought they should be forced to file for bankruptcy.)

And that’s just some of the news out there in a nutshell!

Illinois in focus: Blagojevich, bankruptcy, sit-in

It was a week that saw a major media publisher file for bankruptcy, a governor arrested, and an old-fashioned sit-in. And it all happened in The Prairie State: Illinois.
It’s where John Deere was founded and home of flat, fertile prairie land. It's called the Land of Lincoln because Abraham Lincoln launched his political career there (though he was born in Kentucky). It is the birth place of another Republican president, Ronald Regan. It's also Barack Obama’s political launching pad.
And while Obama's win thrust Illinois into the spotlight, it's this week’s news that brought it under the microscope. Here's a recap with the usual December zingers (for you to throw out at those holiday parties):
 
The bankruptcy
On Monday the publisher of The Chicago Tribune and owner of the Chicago Cubs—Tribune Co.—filed for bankruptcy protection, saying its debts ($13 billion) exceed its assets ($7.6 billion). The Cubs aren't part of the filing, but the Los Angeles Times, the Baltimore Sun, and about 100 other publications owned by Tribune Co. are. Many blame Chairman Sam Zell for taking the company private last year in a controversial deal to save the company. That said, the newspaper industry as a whole is struggling—ad revenues are off 15% this year and sales are down. 
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The top three newspapers by circulation are: 1) USA Today (2.3 million subscribers), the Wall Street Journal (2.1 million) and the New York Times (1.1 million); the Chicago Tribune ranks 8^th (540,000).
The arrest
It would have been hard to miss the arrest of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (pronounced bluh-goy-ya-vich), whom prosecutors allege tried to sell Obama's senate seat, among other corrupt doings. The governor's still on the job but the state’s attorney general says she may ask the state supreme court to declare him unfit to govern.
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Blagojevich's arrest comes just as a former Illinois governor seeks a presidential pardon before President Bush leaves office. Former Gov. George Ryan, who had the job before Blagojevich, is serving a 6 ½-year sentence for racketeering. He wants his sentence commuted to time served (one year so far) so he can help care for his sick wife.
The sit-in
In a throw-back to the 1960’s, 250 laid-off employees at a window and door manufacturing company in Chicago staged a sit-in for six days, demanding unpaid vacation money and underscoring the plight of workers in the weak economy. The company gave workers just three days notice that the plant was closing. On Thursday Bank of America and JP Morgan loaned the company money to pay out the vacation days and severance. 
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So far 1.9 million jobs have been lost this year, 500,000 of them in November alone.

Mumbai, Venice & more

We bring these out every December—zingers, or tidbits, to get you through those holiday parties. And while the economy may put a damper on how many holiday fetes there are this year, and you may be drinking Franzia out of the box, you’ll still be ready to rock around the mistletoe, the menorah, the water cooler, and show 'em what you know...

 

Kashmir and Mumbai

Indian intelligence is pointing fingers at a radical Muslim group for orchestrating last week’s Mumbai attacks. Ten people are blamed—only one survived—and are said to be part of Lashkar-e-Taiba, now a proxy group for the Pakistani government in its interests for gaining control of the Kashmir region.

Kashmir is to the north of India and east of Pakistan. India took control of the area in 1947 when Britain relinquished control of both India and Pakistan. They’ve been fighting over the area since then. Part of the U.S. agreement with Pakistan after 2001 ($10 billion in exchange for terrorist fighting efforts) was that they would quell the activity of radical groups. 

 

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The attacks come just months after Pakistan’s former leader, General Pervez Musharraf, who the U.S. struck the deal with, left his post.

 

Venice afloat, acqua alta

On Monday, Venice, Italy flooded. Waters inside the famous canal city were five-feet above normal tide and flooded across 95 percent of the city. The acqua alta, or high tide, was the worst in 22 years and the fourth highest tide since the city began keeping tide records in the 1870s.  

 

One of our readers in Venice, Jill, waded through the waters herself (see photos) and told us: "The high water peaked at 10:45 a.m. and was already well on its way to receding by about 3:30 p.m., leaving behind a big mess. Venetian floods are fairly routine, several occurring every year, and residents usually take it all in stride, using hip waders and knee-high rubber boots to maneuver around the city. Acqua alta occurs when certain events coincide: A very high tide, low atmospheric pressure and a warm southern wind that forces water into the Venetian Lagoon." 

 

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While Venice is working on a fix to the flooding--Project Moses (in reference to the Biblical Moses who parted the Red Sea), which will install retractable flood gates, its target completion date is 2014. Let's hope all the art and beautiful buildings are spared between now and then! 

 

The bad economy's silver lining, or not

There may be some bright spots to the ailing economy: Discounts abound! Even luxury goods at Saks Fifth Avenue were 70% off after Thanksgiving. Gasoline prices are falling! Prices at the pump averaged $1.80 a gallon this week, down from the high $4 high in July. Mortgage rates are coming down! Rates on a 30-year loan dropped to 5.5% this week, the lowest point since January.

 

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While all of these points are good because they'll get folks back in the economy, they're also food for thought: Do we really need another purse? Shouldn't we be walking more or driving hybrids? Do we want mortgage rates to fall when helping people get loans who couldn't afford them in the first place is what got us into this economic mess in the first place?