News in a nutshell: Oct. 24-30

Sound smart
On Thursday, Harriet Miers, whom Bush had picked for the Supreme Court, withdrew her nomination before confirmation hearings had even begun. Miers had come under fire from both parties for not seeming to have an opinion on anything -- except how totally dreamy Bush is.

On Friday, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the vice president's chief of staff, resigned after he was indicted in the investigation of who leaked CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity. After the whole "Brownie" debacle, this was strike two against guys with elementary school nicknames in positions of power. And it doesn't bode well for Scott "Snot" McClellan...

Mother Nature is still on the war path with Hurricane Beta battering Nicaragua on Sunday. And Hurricane Wilma hit southern Florida on Monday as a Category 3 storm, cutting power to 6 million people, causing a lot of flooding and killing 10. The storm's strength surprised many people who had chosen not to evacuate.
Gee ... if only there had been some past event to indicate that we should be taking hurricanes seriously ... oh, if only ...

The president of Iran said Wednesday that Israel should be "wiped off the map." So ... does this mean we're not going to have peace in the Middle East soon?

Boring but important
To be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, President Bush nominated Ben Bernanke. If confirmed, he would replace Alan Greenspan who is retiring in ... oh, hell, I lost you at Federal Reserve, didn't I?

The final report on the United Nations' oil-for-food program accused more than 2,200 companies, along with major politicians, of working with Saddam Hussein to swindle almost $2 billion from the program. Proving that you can eat your cake and starve other people, too.

Sorry to say
Rosa Parks died on Monday at the age of 92.

The number of American troops killed in the Iraq war hit 2,000 on Tuesday.

But now for some good news
The Chicago White Sox swept the World Series, winning the title for the first time since 1917. But to be honest, that entry on the Federal Reserve was more interesting.