A toned-down inaugural? ... One way to avoid recession ... More

ShareThis

WASHINGTON -- Long before Election Day, Washington's toniest hotels began hawking deluxe packages to lure the well heeled to stay with them for the 56th presidential inauguration, which is destined to be the most historic in decades.For instance, Ritz-Carlton hotels are offering a $99,000 "Politically Correct" package that includes a four-night January stay in a Presidential Suite, eco-friendly Gucci luggage, two tickets to the inaugural parade and a ball, a chauffeur and four nights in Grand Cayman to recover from the festivities.But now there's growing concern that the global financial collapse may stifle the ostentation that can drip at inaugural balls and other partying. So, look for a toned-down celebration, one that employs more of the common touch.X...X...XWant to avoid the recession? Join the military. The Stars and Stripes newspaper has found that U.S. troops and their families have been largely untouched by the foul economic climate and the fears it's brought with it.While civilian consumers are cutting back purchases -- causing U.S. retail and food services sales to fall 1.2 percent from August to September -- the comparable sales in military commissaries and base exchanges soared nearly 22 percent.Video-game systems and accessories, home-theater setups, toiletries, house wares -- all are flying off commissary shelves, reported the newspaper, which is editorially independent from the military.A main reason: Those in uniform have job security, a guaranteed retirement pension (if enough time is served), cheap housing and subsidized health care -- all of which help shield the troops from the financial heebie-jeebies besetting the rest of us.In fact, recruiting is always easier during tough economic times, and it's likely to be even more so now.X...X...XIt won't stop any meltdowns, financial or climatic, but at least a new book collaboration between the U.S. Geological Survey and Iceland's National Energy Authority captures the geographic names, history and images of all 269 of Iceland's glaciers. Icelanders have been mapping and describing their glaciers, some of which happen to sit astride volcanoes, for more than 300 years. At least six have disappeared in the last few decades.X...X...XJust as congressional investigators have raised eyebrows over reports of National Security Agency eavesdropping on phone calls between American citizens overseas and their homes, a new report from the National Research Council calls for periodic privacy audits of programs that collect or sift personal data. The report says all U.S. agencies that "mine" info such as phone, travel and Internet-use records should be required to regularly re-evaluate the programs for both effectiveness and lawfulness.(E-mail Lisa Hoffman at hoffmanl(at)shns.com and Lee Bowman at bowmanl(at)shns.com.)