Mark Memmott

We had to read on after spotting this line atop a BBC News story today:

"A Glasgow-based company has installed its first commercial 'alkaline hydrolysis' unit at a Florida funeral home."

And just what does that involve? As the St. Petersburg Times explained last October:

The six-year deal announced Monday night that will keep Michael Vick with the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles could be worth up to $100 million for the quarterback who just a little more than two years was finishing up an 18-month prison term after being convicted on charges related to dog fighting.

Deep in the heart of Texas, home to one of his toughest rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney declared today that:

"I have spent most of my life outside of politics, dealing with real problems in the real economy. Career politicians got us into this mess and they simply don't know how to get us out."

"Critics here at home" argue that the war in Iraq has hurt the reputation of the United States around the world, former Vice President Dick Cheney acknowledged this morning. But he doesn't believe that's true.

"In fact I think it was sound policy that dealt with a very serious problem" — then-Iraqi leader Sadaam Hussein — Cheney said on NBC-TV's The Today Show.

Blunt words from The Conference Board in its just-released report on how consumers are feeling:

"The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had improved slightly in July, plummeted in August."

The widely watched index now stands at 44.5, its lowest point in more than two years, vs. 59.2 in July. In good times, the index often stays well above 100.