>>In light of the continued attacks upon the American non-recession I'd like to welcome Europe to the fun. Let's see just how well they hold up to an economic slowdown pumped by media speculation and political pandering. Will it actually fall in two consecutive quarters? Will the individual countries and how will it be reported? After enduring the non-recession over here for over a year now it'll be nice to enjoy the show across the pond and to see how it's treated by the global media and our European citizens.
>>
>>The US has had to endure this trumped up crap while the dollar dropped, oil spiked, the housing bubble burst and credit crunched. Yet we're prevailing with positive growth, minimal unemployment, expanding exports, increased tourism and of course political pandering both in words and bailouts.
>>
>>Lets just see how Europe fairs while the dollar rises, the oil trade unwinds and their housing markets contract. Supposedly constructed as a trading power to rival the US, it'll be interesting to see how they handle their first real economic test.
>>
>>http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=at.u1aw0Pjy8&refer=worldwide
>>http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3547486,00.html
>>http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jMTrFbdxH2pvvDVmej46d0ubHR4g
>>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/08/08/do0801.xml
>>http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080808153356.tmuj1avt&show_article=1
>
>"Trumped up crap"? Wow. Even Bush concedes the economy is not exactly the picture of health. You can use some different, and IMO more accurate, adjectives -- slumping dollar, record oil prices, decrease in home values, rise in bankruptcies, slowed growth, and rising unemployment. Add a huge decrease in consumer confidence. It stuns me that you can take in this financial landscape and see a healthy economy.

On a totally different note, although it doesn't appear the U.S. will go after Pakistan as you wish, perhaps the Chinese will:

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/A-US-Monitor-Says-Chinese-Islamic-Group-Posts-New-Video-Threatening-Beijing-Olympics/Article/200808115073304?lpos=World%2BNews_1&lid=ARTICLE_15073304_A%2BUS%2BMonitor%2BSays%2BChinese%2BIslamic%2BGroup%2BPosts%2BNew%2BVideo%2BThreatening%2BBeijing%2BOlympics

The TIP is an ethnic Uighur and Muslim organisation that is seeking to create an independent state in China's heavily Muslim Xinjiang province.

It is believed to be based across the border in Pakistan, where security experts say it has received training from al Qaeda