Otterblog

Our AP feed allows me to create a message alert each time a story moves with a word or words. So I get an email every time the words “Winston-Salem” appear in an AP story from anywhere. Among the other alerts I’ve set up is one that sends me a message every time a story or caption or agate listing has the word “Iceland.” Yes, Iceland. I’ve been fascinated by this country for years, dating back to a Scandinavian literature course in college, and last summer went there with OTTERBLOG Jr. An incredible place, filled with breathtaking scenery and friendly people.
For most of the past year, the alerts have been ho hum. Handball scores. Whaling treaties. The occasional Bjork publicity event.
No more. The country is in a freefall, its financial system is collapsing. In a year’s time, it’s gone from the success story of global capitalism to teetering on the verge of national bankruptcy.
Here’s a story from the Washington Post on the troubles. Essentially, Iceland’s banks were too big, and they were over-leveraged. The result: good times are great. Bad times are atrocious. Making matters worse is that the country’s currency (the Krona) is falling, and for a country that relies on imports for just about everything, the result is crippling for its residents.
I don’t know how it will all play out, but this is a scary time—for all 300 million of us in the USA, and for 300,000 people on a volcanic rock the size of Ohio in the middle of the Atlantic.

Sense of humor poetry department: Michelle Johnson, our team leader for multimedia, knows of my love for a good haiku. She sent me this email a short time ago:

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From: Johnson, A. Michelle
Sent: Friday, October 10, 2008 12:32 PM
To: Otterbourg, Kenneth D.
Subject: Market haiku

How about you finish it?

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So that is my challenge to all you OTTERBLOGGERS out there. Finish this Haiku. Send it to me. I will choose the winner, and he/she will get a special prize…