crisis

Burma's junta continues to obstruct aid and divert it from cyclone victims.

There's no excuse for the behavior of Burma's leaders, but history offers an explanation that goes beyond sheer autocratic barbarism. As friendly as the Burmese can be to Western tourists, they have reason to be suspicious about their neighbors and outside powers -- they have been sandwiched between empires in India and China; subjugated and exploited by Great Britain; devastated by Japan (and the Allies) during World War II; and vulnerable in the second half of the 20th century to meddling by Thailand, rogue Chinese nationalists, and other factions and interests. Hand in hand with that xenophobia goes a fierce pride: For much of their history they've been not just survivors, but builders of a Burmese empire that, at its zenith in the mid-11th century, controlled a large chunk of mainland Southeast Asia.

Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored lending giant, posted an unexpectedly large $2.2-billion loss in the 2008's first quarter.

How could one be less optimistic than a Wall Street housing analyst? Ask Fannie Mae, which just told analysts they'd strayed a little too far onto the sunny side. Expected to lose 81 cents a share on its gigantic portfolio of mortgages and securities, today the institution announced it had lost $2.57 a share, thanks to plummeting house prices and soaring delinquencies. Markets were taken aback. Fannie Mae, along with brother institution Freddie Mac, buys more than 75% of the mortgages in the United States. When it sneezes, your house gets double pneumonia.