The! Biggest! News! of! the! Day! - Not Countrywide, Black Friday, Abercrombie or the XM Satellite / Sirius Satellite Merger

Here are some of the contenders for today's biggest...news...of...the...day...

• New record highs for oil...
• A declaration by Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC) that liquidity is not a problem...
• A look at what Black Friday may hold...
• Earnings from Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF)...
• The Fed's forecast that next year should see the economy slow...
• Earnings from Deere & Co (DE)...
• A potential link between depression and Pfizer's (PFE) anti-smoking drug Chantix...
• The need for Freddie Mac (FRE) and Fannie Mae (FNM) to "raise billions of dollars of new capital"...
• A belief [subscription required] that the XM Satellite Radio Holdings (XMSR) - Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI) merger may go through...

While those are all stories worth watching, I think it is obviously clear that the biggest news is this trio:

• Dog owners go barking mad for fancy dress - which discussed the trend of putting costumes on dogs and notes "One of the biggest sellers is the rock superstar dog -- for anyone who fancies bedecking their immaculately bred golden retriever in a diamante Elvis-style cape, collar and flared trousers"...
• Cheetah escape baffles Mo. zoo officials - which discusses how St. Louis Zoo officials aren't sure "how a year-old cheetah managed to get out of its exhibit"...the event marked "the third time since 2000 that a cheetah has escaped from an exhibit"...
• Scientists find fossil of enormous bug - "British scientists have stumbled across a fossilized claw, part of an ancient sea scorpion, that is of such large proportion it would make the entire creature the biggest bug ever...8 feet long as big as some Smart cars."

At first glance this trio may not seem to be related, but I assure you they have a common bond. For some time now I have been discussing the potential for an animal uprising with yesterday marking the most recent example. One of the other themes has been people making bad decisions. The first article above plays into both themes under the heading of "dogs now have a reason to join the uprising." I don't want to be a traitor to the human race but in this case I think the dogs are justified. If someone force me to where an Elvis-style cap and flared trousers I would fight back.

The second article also plays into both themes, showing "why" the animals may actually have a decent shot at a successful uprising. To see what I mean consider the fact this is the third escape and then read the excerpt below:

"Zoo officials were still evaluating if additional changes need to be made. Grisham said a cheetah under normal circumstances shouldn't be able to jump to the top of a 10-foot fence. 'River's Edge is a very safe exhibit...This is one of those freak things that happens.'"

Based on this it would seem to suggest that since this "shouldn't" happen they aren't sure changes are needed??? After all, it is only the third time a cheetah has escaped and this is just one of those things that happens...What?!?!?!

And as far as the third story goes, I am just including that for future chapters of the uprising saga. You have all seen Jurassic Park and know how it goes - someone finds giant scorpion fossil...someone else says "hey let's clone it"...giant scorpion then breaks free...we then have to listen to Jeff Goldblum blather on about chaos theory and how you can't contain nature...we then all sit back and laugh as we hide from cheetah's that "shouldn't" have escaped...