Tension fails to mount as East Asian Games near
Spike columnist JON MARSH contains his enthusiasm as he provides an update on perhaps the least important international sporting event of the year, the 2009 East Asian Games. There's nothing like a major sporting event to get the pulse racing, jangle the nerves and generally create a buzz among the public at large: think the Olympic Games, the World Cup finals, the World Series, the Super Bowl, the Stanley Cup, Wimbledon or one of the four golf majors. And then there's the 2009 East Asian Games, which is nothing like a major sporting event. Read More

An Economy in Need of Holistic Medicine
The American economy is having what doctors call an acute episode. Employment won't throb. The circulation of capital remains weak. Industry is breathing, but barely. And if we can agree on anything one year into this mess, it is that there is little we can do when the patient arrives already this bad.  That is why the talk now is so often of prevention. Prevent the next crisis through health insurance and a green-energy sector, the American president says. Prevent it by cutting spending and nurturing personal responsibility, American conservatives retort.  Full Article