Weekend America

Good News, Bad News, No News

The Dow's Drop, Wiretapping, and Aging Endearments

John Moe

Angela Kim

OCTOBER 11, 2008

Traders in Chicago watch the Dow rise and fall.

(Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Our panel of non-experts weigh in on this week's news events in a parlor game to gauge what kind of week America had. Joining us on this week's panel are: Robert Ferrigno, author of "Sins of the Assassin"; Stacey Grenrock-Woods, sex advice columnist for Esquire Magazine and author of a new memoir, "I, California"; and Tak Toyoshima, creator and artist of the syndicated comic strip "Secret Asian Man."

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You can't spell "Down" without Dow, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average tanked this week, dropping 20 percent. Markets around the world followed a similar pattern. Meanwhile, the federal government indicated it may buy a stake in various banks in order to give those banks more power to make loans and thus spur the economy by getting things pumping again. This is something they're able to do because of the $700 billion bailout. Is this investment good news, bad news, or no news?

This week, two former military intercept operators told ABC News they participated in widespread wiretaps of Americans living overseas, especially in the Middle East, despite pledges from the administration and the intelligence community that this was not taking place. The men report that it was mostly routine phone calls, and that people in their group would save recordings of favorite passages and play them for one another. Is this charge good news, bad news, or no news?

If you refer to an elderly person as "sweetie" or "dear," you might think it's nice, but you're killing them. The New York Times reported this week on a new study that claims all those patronizing little terms of endearment lead to more negative views of aging. The person's overall health suffers and they die seven-point-five years earlier than people with more positive views--a greater difference than exercise or smoking. What kind of news are these findings?

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  CD: Secret Rhythms 3 (Nonplace)

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