Monday Newsbreak: 11/10

--Now that Barack Obama is the president-elect, people are wondering whether he will reveal an all-encompassing economic plan on the order of FDR’s New Deal, or simply tackle the various problems one by one, with restraint. I don’t believe that we in America, our problems notwithstanding, are anywhere near the level of trouble that we experienced during the Great Depression of the thirties. Making a complete overhaul of everything may be counterproductive. Part of what makes such a complex world economic system work is a sense of trust, derived in a large part from a feeling of continuity. Ironically, the cascading demise of financial companies makes government intervention necessary to restore this continuity. The stop-gap measures recently taken (“bailout”) may reflect agreement between Bush and Obama, but under the incoming president we should see a dramatic increase in regulation of the financial sector in order to ensure that this very continuity (and trust) continues into the foreseeable future.

--The American auto industry is undergoing bad times. The problem is largely due to the fact that they did not get ahead in technology and production to save mileage and promote alternative sources of fuel (while foreign companies did). Although they enjoy blaming the labor unions for their troubles, the simple fact is that they haven’t been making the products that people want to buy in large enough numbers to sustain their industry. Quality has to come first.

--Hurricane Paloma, a category-three storm, slammed into Cuba Saturday. It is the third hurricane to punish this island nation this season. Meanwhile, speculation is mounting on how far the new U.S. president will go toward lifting the economic embargo against Cuba. The way I see it, all that the U.S. accomplished by ostracizing Cuba and its Communist leaders Fidel and Raul Castro was to shield their people from the more liberal influences of the outside world (and thus help consolidate their hold on political power). We were so concerned that their ideology would spread to other countries in Latin America. But look now at Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Brazil (I’m probably leaving some out), all countries with DEMOCRATICALLY-ELECTED leftist governments sympathetic to the Castros! And Mexico is teetering on the edge of joining this group. Just who do we think we are kidding with this embargo, anyway?

--The state constitutional amendments in California and Florida designed to outlaw gay marriage (under the guise of “saving” marriage) both passed. While we’re standing around patting ourselves on the back about electing an African-American as president, I can see that we’ve still got a long way to go in this country…

--My favorite football team, NFL’s Miami Dolphins, won their third straight game, 21-19 over Seattle. They are now 5-4 and in the running to make the playoffs. The Dolphins are what I would call a “complete team”, with both the offense, defense, and special teams playing important roles in their success this year (last year they went 1-15). Plus, like I’ve said before, they look like they’re having a lot of fun out there! And clearly their fans are as well!

--The University of Florida Gators football team achieved one of their main goals this season by clinching the Eastern Division of their Southeastern Conference with a convincing 42-14 win over Vanderbilt. Like the Dolphins, the Gators are a balanced team this year with strengths in every department. And also like Miami, UF is in the running to win the overall championship if they keep winning.