A Norton Internet Security dialogue box just popped up to say, "A recent attempt to attack this computer was blocked."

Great, but wouldn't it also be useful to say: "A recent attempt to attack this computer succeeded. Sorry about that. We'll try harder next time."?

Salon's Andrew Leonard attempts to walk people through the causes of the stock market freakout of recent days (free with a day pass).

Leonard singled out this letter in response:

OK, Andrew, here's my problem about your write-up: you're setting up this opposition between the "real" economy with "real men" and the speculative, derivative economy of finance capital. This opposition between real and unreal is in essence, uncritically Heideggerian. That is, it ascribes a moral valence/superiority to "real" -- real work, real life, real men -- vs. the derivative, speculative, unreal world of global finance. As long as you use these binaries to try to critically explain the movement of capital, you are in fact disarmed. That is, you are postulating that somehow, somewhere, there is a "good" and "real" economic (i.e., capitalist) ethos -- the hardworking, manly one. And that those hedge fund speculators just fuck it up with their greed and their credit swaps. In short, by creating those binaries -- which in and of themselves have a dubious history (hint: it starts with Sorel and Mussolini) -- you are misrecognizing and misrepresenting what is in fact a unified social form -- capitalism. In that sense, you are reiterating the strategic misunderstanding of the reformist left, who still believes that there is a good form of capitalism. Capitalism has become nature -- it is neither good nor bad. It is the Hegelian totality, and therefore knows no outside and -- as a corollary -- cannot be the object of moral judgment. Just like nature, it subjects us to random catastrophic events.

"Cannot be the object of moral judgment?" Oh my! :)

Here's an excerpt of a Globe and Mail story that attempts to humanize this economic debacle. Speaking is Gertrude Barron, who is 77:

Ms. Barron, who is on dialysis, used her home as collateral for a $50,000 (U.S.) loan to pay for mounting medical bills. The initial interest rate was enticingly low. But typical of many subprime loans, the payments shot up after the second year and again this year. Monthly payments of $518 (U.S.) now consume half her meagre fixed income. Unable to pay her taxes, she recently filed for personal bankruptcy. Desperate to renegotiate the loan, she wonders how long she'll be able to keep her home, the value of which sinks ever lower.

“They knew my age and they knew my income,” Ms. Barron said yesterday, stifling tears. “They just took advantage of me.”

The company that holds her mortgage (give it up for Litton Loan Servicing LP!) is refusing to renegotiate.

What does all this have to do with us up here in the GWN?

The ripple effect of Ms. Barron's misfortune and thousands like her has even reached Canada. That's happened for two reasons: First, lending has tightened up around the globe; and second, there is concern that the United States – our key trading partner – may be headed for recession.

“The problem is the domino effect and the spillover,” explained economist Clément Gignac of National Bank Financial in Montreal.

Because so much of Americans' net worth is tied up in their homes, falling real estate prices will curb spending and borrowing in the months ahead, reducing demand for homes, cars and virtually everything else.

“Credit crunches have the potential to have an impact on the real economy, on Main Street,” Mr. Gignac added.

Russia announced Friday it would restore long-range patrols with its strategic bombers, something that hasn't happened since 1992.

Those Russians who would like to hear the BBC's Russian service broadcast on FM? Fuggedaboutit:

The broadcaster's last FM distribution partner in Russia, Bolshoye Radio, said it had been told to remove BBC content or risk being shut down.

Two other Russian FM stations have dropped BBC programming recently.

The BBC's Russian Service can still be heard online and on medium and short wave frequencies in Russia.

Update

Journalist Mark MacKinnon has more on the BBC angle at his blog.

From the AP story on CTV.ca:

Giving its green screen a temporary rest, the Comedy Central series will air "Operation Silent Thunder: `The Daily Show' in Iraq,'' several onsite dispatches filed by Senior War Correspondent Rob Riggle.

Riggle will provide what the network calls "in-depth coverage and insights from the front lines.''

Riggle is a major in the U.S. Marine Corps reserves. I saw him in Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story, and he was very funny as a Corps-inspired paintballer ("when I get out there, I'm 110 per cent; it's just Kill! Kill! Kill!").

But I gotta say, I haven't been overly impressed with his Daily Show work to date. Give me John Oliver, Larry Willmore, Samantha Bee or Aasif Mandvi any time.