Let the conspiracy theories begin...

From the WSJ:

The sudden, sharp decline by the Dow Jones Industrial Average shortly before 3 p.m. Eastern time today was triggered by a tabulation delay by Dow Jones data systems, which calculates the average. There was a temporary lag in calculation of the 30 large-stock average due to a surge in order flows as the market continued to tumble in afternoon trading, much like a clogged pipe. Just before 3 p.m., Dow Jones Indexes switched over to a backup system to calculate the average, which nearly instantly registered the huge move.

I can see it already: Haliburton made the computer system, which was installed by KBR, and run by Diebold. The explosion in Afghanistan was the way the VP signaled his cronies to begin the Ricochet Scheme. The President approved it, btw, to get NPR to stop talking about Iraq. It should make an interesting made-for-tv movie.

Follow up to the last post

The Weekly Standard has a great article about Blackwater. Jon, they are definitely an outfit you should check out.

Blackwater is a company most Americans first heard of when four of its contractors were murdered in Falluja, Iraq, in March 2004, and their bodies desecrated on camera. It is the most prominent of the private security contractors in Iraq. You might think of the North Carolina facility as Blackwater's Fort Benning or Quantico.

I sort of wonder why Boeing doesn't do the same sort of thing with refueling and airlift. I bet they could be really competitive, cost-wise, and provide some surge and flex capability for our aging fleet.