Dow(n) and out? was Dow.

[Gary MacLennan]

At 05:00 PM 8/17/98 -0400, you wrote:
>The rouble was devalued this morning, every stock market in the world is
>down, the yen is falling again. Yet the Dow is up 150 points as of now.
>It looks like a flight to "quality" to me, but I get the feeling that
>tonight's newscasts will not portray it as such. Today's rise will
>probably be explained as some kind of rally or recovery, perhaps further
>assuring small investors that stocks are A-OK. Mightn't this be one more
>reason Greenspan feels he needs to further deflate, as Doug hinted?
>
>Seth Ackerman
>
The world of finance is beyond me in many ways - some very uncomfortable.
But I cannot help thinking that we are walking up and down the deck.  Some
are staring at the iceberg and some are throwing handfuls of ice at each
other and the orchestra is warming up their version of "Abide With Me."

Sounds far fetched I know or does it?  Yet this morning I awoke to news of
the dress and the prospect of the President of the "free world" admitting
that he had sex but he didn't inhale or something.

What is there with this relentless trivialising through the mass media?  Is
it because they dare not face the big questions that we are all supposed to
wonder about Bill and Monica.  Is it really a case of 'It's the DNA, stupid!'

The word decadent springs to mind.  I know it is no longer fashionable
though I saw an article recently that resurrected it.  But the Clinton
circus *is* decadent.  If Mark  - he of the Apocalypse Now - is correct, if
we are about to plunge into the abyss, then the dimension of
irresponsibility in all this is truly criminal.

regards

Gary