A Minor Humiliation

Reading the Grey Lady this morning, I came upon an intriguing headline: German Tank Trainers Attacked in Chile.

What kind of tank? Like a Panzer tank? What were they doing in Chile of all places? Who attacked them and why?

Reading the story answers these questions and reveals a humiliation for Germany. It seems that nine German soldiers were captured by five youths in what turned out to be an ill-advised money making scheme of some kind.

What about the martial tradition paved by brawlers like Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher and Sepp Dietrich, visionary planners like Albrecht von Roon and Heinz Guderian, and the elan of dashing figures like Erwin Rommel and Manfred von Richthoffen?

How did a bunch of Chilean teenagers manage to capture a group of German soldiers almost twice their number? Ah well, I'm guessing the Germans were off duty and unarmed. Plus, I guess they did manage to escape.

I tried to gain some insight from several German media sources - Das Bild and Der Spiegel - but couldn't find any stories. Perhaps it's too emarassing to report.

The Decline and Fall

I'm captivated this morning by the ongoing meltdown in financial markets.

A year ago, Bear Stearns traded at $170 per share. Friday, it closed at $30 per share. By Sunday, it lost over 90% of THAT value before being purchased by JP Morgan in a deal where the U.S. taxpayers are assuming much of the risk.

The value of the dollar continues to erode.

Lehman Brothers shares are off 22% this morning and it may be next to fall.

Meanwhile on cnn.com, the lead news story is, of course, the divorce settlement between Paul McCartney and Heather Mills.



Actually, upon consideration, the divorce settlement was equivalent to 20% of the $240 Million sale price of Bear Stearns: America's 5th largest investment bank.

Does that say more about the extent of the financial crisis or Paul McCartney's net worth?