Reality Check

Crude oil prices have yet to fall below $60 and the OPEC members are already comtemplating cutting production!

The debate comes as crude has tumbled sharply since midsummer, amid a softening world economy and a drop-off in big oil-supply outages. Unresolved, the tensions could intensify any rout in prices as members of the Petroleum Exporting Countries duke it out for market share. Several OPEC ministers have said the cartel will likely need to slash supply early next year - AWSJ

Prime Minister (or ex-) Thaksin Shinawatra taking refuge in UK (seen shopping with daughter in central London - been just acouple of days since he was ousted, good that he's taking it so well)

At the same time, the coupmakers appear to be preparing to move more directly against Mr. Thaksin, who was in the U.S. at the time of the coup and is now in London. In a step widely seen as a bid to build a criminal case against the ousted premier and help justify the coup, the military council has empowered Thailand's top graft investigator, Auditor-General Jaruvan Maintaka, to investigate allegations of corruption in Mr.Thaksin government. It isnt clear whether Mr.Thaksin, who said Thursday he was "resting" in the UK intends to return to Thailand - AWSJ

Amaranth losses top US$6b!!! Hmmm I've questioned time and time again, and I finally think I know why I love the world of finance! Aint it great to blow US$6b? Twice Fiji's GDP!

Amaranth Advisors, the hedge fund company that imploded after making wrong-way bets on natural gas, said losses swelled by US$1.4b this week after the firm had to unload assets at a discount to avoid a shutdown. As of Tuesday, Amaranth funds plunged 65 percent or more than US$6b, founder Nicholas Maounis said in a letter to investors. That leaves the firm with less than US$3.5b in assets - SCMP

The Pope has apologized to the Muslims for making offensive remarks. Dont think it's a good idea to critique an institution/religion that would go out of its way to promote its cause.

No one wants to offend, so we assume a public position of liberal tolerance, hoping that good-willed, nonconfrontational dialogue, which criticizes "our" possibly offensive behaviour while downplaying "theirs," will somehow lead to a more peaceful, ecumenical world - AWSJ