Via the Achorage Daily News here are the current top ten teams:

1 Kjetil Backen (42)
2 Aaron Burmeister (14)
3 Gerry Willomitzer (7)
4 Paul Gebhardt (69)
5 Hugh Neff (16)
6 Lance Mackey (6)
7 Zack Steer (26)
8 Hans Gatt (38)
9 Rick Swenson (61)
10 Warren Palfrey (44)

Backen is in Rohn, while the next 20 teams are between Rainy Pass and Rohn. Those still not in Rainy Pass are dealing with snow, which would have been heavy and wet at time with the daytime temperatures getting just above freezing.

In her second Iditrod, Sigrid Ekran (24) is the leading woman at 16^th, while Rohn Buser (37) is the leading rookie at 17^th.

Because of the rules Rachael Scdoris (55) ended up having to start last to coordinate with her “guide”, Joe Runyan (83), but she is at 90^th in Finger Lake.

When Warren talks, I listen: Buffett says U.S. in recession, stocks not cheap

“I would say, by any commonsense definition, we are in a recession,” [billionaire investor Warren] Buffett said on CNBC.

But Buffett said it’s not clear how far the recession will go because that is difficult to predict.

The technical definition of a recession most economists use is two consecutive quarters of negative growth in the nation’s gross domestic product.

The guy has made billions investing money based on his reading of the economy. He understands that Republicans are bad for the economy, as are tax cuts for the extremely wealthy. When Arnold Schwartzenegger asked Mr. Buffet for advice about California’s deficit, Mr. Buffet, who owns a home in California, told him to raise property taxes because they were unreasonably low.

The BBC reports on the latest military procurement problem: Air tanker deal provokes US row

Boeing’s loss of a $40bn contract to build a new in-flight refuelling aircraft for the US military has drawn angry protests in Congress.

Lawmakers from Washington state and Kansas, which have big Boeing plants, voiced “outrage” that it had gone to a consortium including Europe’s Airbus.

The planes will be assembled in Alabama but constructed largely in Europe.

Boeing has said it is awaiting an explanation from the military before deciding whether or not to appeal.

The new aircraft, named the KC-45A by the US Air Force, is based on the Airbus A330 and will be manufactured in partnership with US defence firm Northrop Grumman.

[Read more →]

While Lance Mackey is currently the furtherest along the trail, the Norwegians made a big move yesterday stopping to rest just before the climb to Rainy Pass. Both Sigrid Ekran(24) and Kjetil Backen(42) stopped at mile 106 and should be moving shortly with the sunrise.

Every team pursues their own strategy when determining when and where to stop.

Added: The Anchorage Daily News has more.

CNN has been running their front page “Quick Vote” poll this evening asking:

Do you expect a power struggle between Vladimir Putin and the new Russian president?

Don’t these people read any news? Is Christiane Amanpour the only person at the network with a clue?

At least it is nice to know that 68% of the people who clicked understand the situation.