Concern about the weakness of the dollar grows as banks shift their currency reserves into yen and euros. This will strengthen American exports and weaken European and Japanese exports in the short run, but what about the long run?

State employees here in New Hampshire reject a furlough plan, which will force the governor to impose layoffs in order to reach his budget numbers. Almost all the states, if not all of them, are facing these kinds of problems, many of them far worse than what we are dealing with here.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, in a fiery speech to the Israeli Parliament, says no Israeli will face a war crimes tribunal, despite a U.N. report that accuses both the Israelis and Hamas of war crimes in the most recent round of fighting in Gaza. It seems to me that the Israelis are feeling more besieged than ever, which may make it more likely that they will strike at the Iranians when they think all other options are exhausted.

Ralph Peters says the appointment of an American general to a position overseeing the training of Afghan soldiers may be our last chance to get things right in that war-torn country. The real problem, of course, (and Peters says so) is Pakistan. The Pakistani government nurtured the Taliban in the first place, and they want to keep their control over some elements of that group, but they are reaping the whirlwind. They have not yet realized that, by nurturing and Islamist movement, they have been riding the tiger's back, and are about to be thrown off.