Is this bigger news than Iraq?

Foreign Interest Appears to Flag as Dollar Falls

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Japan and China, which together have amassed nearly $900 billion in United States Treasury securities, have both slowed their buying sharply from the frenetic pace in February and March.

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Can China give up on attempts to keep the Yuan pagged to the dollar? It would be the ultimate irony if this lead to a collapse of the dollar - and American economic power.

I took an unplanned break from blogging, and Spiralsands of Wayward Winds suggested I get back to work. I'm glad somebody besides me noticed.

I guess it's a little early to start thinking about the next election, but it's been on my mind lately, and it may help understand and deal with the results of this one. I think the Democrats need an Evangelical next time around. At first some parts of our base may have trouble with an Evangelical candidate, but one who can talk sincerely about how W is always convinced that the hunch he feels in his gut is divine guidance might pay huge dividends. Those who believe in Papal infallibility only believe it happens under certain special circumstances, and other denominations often try to talk differences over with an open mind even when people on both sides have prayed and are convinced their opinions are revealed truth. Even if you're uncomfortable with certain kinds of religion, genuinely religious leaders are much better than fake ones. I'm not saying Bush's beliefs are phony, but more knowledgable leaders seem less likely to claim divine guidance for the hunches they can't justify when other well meaning people who share many of their beliefs disagree with those hunches.

What the heck, let's find a candidate before the slate for 2008 becomes set. Deborah White of Heart, Soul & Humor thinks the time may be right for moderate Evangelicals to play a greater role in politics, and quotes one:

"There's a lot of good in other religions. A lot to be learned from them. The only difference is belief in Jesus Christ." (Imagine the frustration of Christian apologetics professors at that glib statement.)

George Bush has not-so-subtly moved to the left from his pre-election hard-right stances. (See my post of Nov 17.) Rick Warren, stated admirer of politically-neutral Billy Graham and business world guru Peter Drucker as seminal figures in his ministry, has likewise been newly converted to the ranks of evangelical moderates.

Or perhaps they were always evangelical moderates. They just closeted it at election time. Perhaps all that arrogant, Pharasitic blather about only far-right voters having "values" was just so much.....clever election-year babble crafted to garner votes.

One can only hope. And pray.