Some things running around my brain this morning:

* The government reported today that the U.S. economy in the final quarter of 2008 shrank at an annualized rate of 3.8 percent. That's pretty bad, no two ways about it. But weren't all the doom-and-gloom economists predicting a plunge of about 6.5 percent? Now they're predicting the contraction of the Gross Domestic Product in the current quarter, which ends March 31, will be 5 percent. Forgive me if I choose to wait for the actual data instead of believing people who, just a year ago, didn't even see this recession coming.

* It looks like the Republican candidate for New York's 20th Congressional District seat in the upcoming special election (necessitated by the elevation of Rep. Kirtsen Gillibrand to the U.S. Senate) will be state Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco. Just one problem: Tedisco lives in Schenectady, which isn't in the district. Yes, I know it's legal in New York to represent a congressional district without actually living it. And, beyond that, I know that Tedisco claims to own a house in Saratoga Springs, which is in the district. (I'm guessing it's a weekend place or a rental property.) But the simple truth is that people in a congressional district want to be represented by someone who shares their experinces and concerns - in other words, a full-time resident of the district. With all the qualified Republicans living in the 20th - state Sen. Betty Litte, former state Assembly Minority Leader John Faso, state Assemblyman Marc Molinaro - Tedisco is the best the GOP has to offer?

* Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, just before being thrown out of office on Thursday, gave a 47-minute speech to the state Senate - the jury in his impeachment case - in which he ticked off a list of his accomplishments as the state's chief executive and argued that none of them were impeachable offenses. No one said they were, Rod. You were shown the door because you tried to sell a seat in the United States Senate to the highest bidder. Funny, but I didn't hear you mention that among your accomplishments.

* Just picked up the new Bruce Springsteen album, "Working on a Dream." What a disappointment. People who know me and/or read my blog regularly will attest to the fact that I've been a huge fan of Springsteen for nearly 30 years and that I rave about virtually everything he does musically. So you can believe me when I say "Working on a Dream" sounds like a hurried project - rushed to completion so it could be in stores before the Boss does the halftime show at this Sunday's Super Bowl - made up mostly of rejects from 2007's outstanding "Magic" CD and several other subpar songs that aren't worthy of Springsteen's legacy.

* Bill Hemmer, the once even-handed CNN anchor who sold his soul and his objectivity to get a similar job at FoxNews, was on the air, offering political play-by-play and commentary, as President Barack Obama signed a bill on Thursday mandating equal pay for equal work - long a hot-button issue among women and minorities. The bill is named for Alabama resident Lilly Ledbetter, who sued her former employer, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., for paying men more than they paid her for performing the same tasks. Ledbetter, now 70 and retired, stood next to Obama as he signed the bill, and Hemmer commented: "She's 70. Doesn't she look great?" Wonderful. The president signs a bill mandating that employees not be judged by their gender, and Hemmer marks the occasion by making a sexist remark. Just another dubious moment in the laughable history of FoxNews.