Bin Laden Beaten ... By Bad Mortgages

Osama bin Laden might be one bad dude, but he's not as tough as a crummy mortgage:

NEW YORK (AP) - Bad credit has supplanted terrorism as the gravest immediate risk threatening the economy, a key national research group reported Monday.

Borrowers' withering ability to pay their bills and the subsequent fallout in the credit markets this summer topped the list of short- term risks on peoples' minds, according to a survey of 258 members conducted by the National Association of Business Economics.

Of course, the key words here are "short-term risks," which are certainly not good qualifiers for jihad-risk. Jihad-risk did rate number one when NABE last surveyed its members back in March when things were going along a bit more swimmingly in the economy.

Despite the economists' pessimism about the current lending-fueled economic heebie-jeebies, they do believe it's a short-term situation and things in the housing market should be back to normal in five years (my sources in the building industry say four years; I hope it'll be less) .

Unfortunately, unless things take a miraculous turn, jihad will still be a threat to our economy and our safety then.

Very cool illustration: Jan Op de Beeck