So much for the promised sanctions within “a day or two” by the U.N. in response to North Korea’s latest nuclear testing missions.  It’s now been over two weeks and a draft proposal has just now been announced.  In the meantime, North Korea has now had all this time to do whatever it is that’s making it so confident in their declaration of war should the sanctions be applied. 

For some reason, the White House is calling this threat “rhetoric “.  I’m not so sure.  It sounds as though the communist country means business, especially since any response to the imminent sanctions has been non-plussed.  The threats haven’t worked and now, it’s culminated to today’s promise by North Korea of a “merciless offensive” should these sanctions be passed. 

So what does the Security Council promise these sanctions will do?  They’ll bite.  Oh, wait…they’ll bite in a “meaningful way”.  The truth is, sanctions imposed in the past have done nothing to slow the development of these nuclear weapons.  North Korea simply isn’t intimidated.  The new sanctions promise to freeze North Korea’s business assets, expand the current arms embargo and North Korea will no longer be allowed any

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financial dealings with any other country on the planet.  These sanctions sound severe enough, but still, the most troubling aspect is the fact leaders in Pyongyang have yet to flinch.  In fact, the country as a whole seems no more concerned than Google is over its new competition, Bing.

The probability of these nuclear testing operations coming to a halt seems to be non-existent.  The country has adamantly refused to cease the tests.  Still, the five permanent nations believe this new resolution will pass on Thursday and are in hopes the sanctions will be enough to thwart North Korea’s plans for further testing. 

The draft includes language that suggests it’s no stronger than the one passed in 2006.  Countries will be prohibited from providing supplies or fuel to the country’s vessels only if reasonable doubts exist over what the vessel is carrying, such as weapons.  Force will not be authorized to ensure these vessels agree to on-board inspections. 

Only time will tell if the latest threats of war will come full circle.  Somehow, this just has a feeling of there being no need for too much time to pass.

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The acting director of the Centers for Disease Control, Dr. Richard Besser, was quoted over the weekend as saying although we’re near the end of this year’s flu season; his agency is viewing the newly-declared public health emergency, Swine Flu, as more of a marathon.  He further states how difficult it would be to give any timeline regarding its containment.  This could not have come at a worse time.  An outbreak such as this and with the government announcing it would be releasing close to 13 million doses of anti-viral

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medications as well as millions of face masks and other precautionary items, this just might be what finally brings the insurance sector to its knees.  For an already overburdened and unpredictable economy, few things could be worse.

In these situations, panic reins.  With Mexico reporting over eighty deaths, the U.S. is dealing with its own number of both confirmed and suspected cases.  As of Sunday, there have been twenty confirmed cases in five states, with another eight awaiting confirmation in Suffolk County, NY alone.  Before now, there were only fourteen cases reported in this country since 2005. Still, Mexico is reporting the most alarming numbers; more than 1,300 have tested positive in the country over past two weeks alone.

Insurance companies are feeling the heat, no doubt, and they’re probably pulling some late hours in their own efforts to encourage proactive reactions versus reactive fears.  They, along with the government and medical profession, all have the same message: don’t panic.  The fact is, many medical professionals insist its symptoms aren’t nearly as bad as some other influenza strains and despite there being no vaccine, Swine Flu does respond well to anti-viral medications.

The World Health Organization is providing assistance as necessary and PR officials in the White House are working double time to assure a jittery public that despite its name, Swine Flu is not transmitted via pigs in any way.  Add pig farmers to the groups of people who’ll be losing sleep for the next several weeks.

Finally, health officials are encouraging those who are sick to not attend school, work or otherwise place themselves in situations that could jeopardize the health of others.  Visit the CDC’s Swine Flu page here and to see a breakdown of which states have confirmed cases, see this page.

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One of the most enduring figures in the American justice system died Monday at the age of 90. Griffin Bell made history on many fronts that shaped the way our current legal system operates today. He was the attorney general for President Jimmy Carter and is said to be one of only a few to have passed the bar exam even before graduating law school. He served in the US Army Quartermaster Corps until 1946 as well as served as a city attorney for Warner Robins, GA. One of his highest-profile cases

Former AG Griffin Bell

before entering the political arena was the investigation into E.F. Hutton & Co. in 1980 for check kiting activities. Before being sworn in as the attorney general during the Carter administration, he served as a chairman in John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign in 1960. From there, President Kennedy appointed him to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals a year later.

While awaiting Senate confirmation for President Carter’s attorney general nomination, there were a few less than pleasant questions he fielded regarding his membership in private segregated clubs as well as some of his controversial decisions made while he was a federal judge. Still, he was confirmed shortly after Carter took office.

Born in 1918, it’s reported he was a son of a Georgia cotton farmer who helped build the well-known Atlanta law firm, King and Spalding. It wasn’t until the late 1970s that he returned, after his political works, to retire from this same law firm. Most recently, he was one of the few Democrats who supported President Bush’s re-election in 2004 and was also responsible for a study that criticized the FBI’s internal policies for disciplining agents. He’s quoted in this report as saying the methods for agent reprimands are “seriously flawed”.

Perhaps one of the most important contributions he made, however, was the public confidence that was restored after the Watergate scandal that he’s widely credited with. It’s said he restored professionalism by posting publicly every day each third party contact he’d made, including all contacts with those in the White House, Congress and others.

President Carter, after hearing of his death, released a statement saying he was “a trusted and enduring public figure with integrity, professionalism and charm that was greatly valued across party lines and presidential administrations.”

On a personal note, he was the first politician to ever grace Mr. Blackwell’s best dressed Americans list.