Ups & Downs

As she packs up the Alaska governor's mansion and pushes back against the latest ethics brouhaha, Sarah Palin's got other problems: A more negative public image than she held during the 2008 campaign – and broader questions about her grasp of complex issues.
ABC News report HERE
Direct from Alaska:
Palin trotting out her 'poor little me' campaign strategy yet one more time
Palin legacy of quitting will leave a sour taste

U.S. stocks ended sharply higher on Thursday, as more upbeat earnings and housing data helped the broad market reach new highs for the year and led the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a close above 9,000 for the first time since January. more HERE
and...
World markets rise on improving data, earnings

The image of the United States has improved markedly in most parts of the world, reflecting global confidence in Barack Obama. In many countries opinions of the United States are now about as positive as they were at the beginning of the decade before George W. Bush took office.
Pew research data HERE