The bleak, horrified announcement, "I am Pauline Kael," cut short a promising encounter.
With 21 people killed across the nation on Sunday, the only break in the bleak news was the announcement that a reputed street-gang leader had been arrested in connection with the slayings of three people with ties to the United States Consulate in Ciudad Juárez on March 13.
The already grim Illinois public education budget got even bleaker Monday, with the announcement that a desperately-needed infusion of federal cash is not coming.
What wasn't fully anticipated was the bleak economic backdrop of the announcement.
The announcement comes despite bleak prospects for Europe's economy, which continues to suffer from the Continent-wide financial crisis.
But as the financial crisis shows signs of spreading to Europe, IBM's lack of exposure to the crisis could melt away, as evidenced by SAP's bleak outlook in its earnings announcement Monday.
So while the Mo Ibrahim Foundation announcement conveys a bleak message about some aspects of Africa's politics, there is great reason for optimism in that continent.
Gateway's announcement was the bleakest yet from a major computer company on the state of the consumer sector of the $120 billion personal computer business.
The company will report earnings Tuesday, but we already know the news will be bleak, thanks to a pre-announcement a couple of weeks ago that the company would miss its topline expectations by $30 million; its gross margins have been killed.
