People are very tense and concerned that the fight may spill over in that way.

NPR: 3 min 57 sec

And while the nation waits, those most affected by the oil spill are literally watching their way of life die.

CNN: EPA's Jackson haunted by oil spill unknowns

The joint BP-US government response team said there were doubts that the oil had drifted all the way from the spill.

BBC: Gulf oil spill reaches Texas as tar balls wash ashore

Plans have been under way to protect wildlife since the spill was discovered, MacKenzie said.

CNN: Oil spill could be disaster for animals, experts say

"The only way to prevent a catastrophic oil spill from happening in this unique environment is to permanently ban all drilling now, " he said, according to Greenpeace.

BBC: Greenpeace activists board Russian Gazprom oil platform

According to the oil spill council, fish do not metabolize oil the way mammals do.

FORBES: Good as New, Almost

Trade is not the only way that China's ups and downs can spill over to the rest of the world.

ECONOMIST: China may not matter quite as much as you think

The second way in which East Asia's financial traumas will spill over into rich industrial economies is that manufacturers in the region have become super-competitive thanks to devaluations of up to 40% against the dollar (see article).

ECONOMIST: The world economy

Some groused that spending hundreds of dollars on a silk trench for a 5-year-old is impractical, since she will grow out of it in six months and probably spill something on it, rip it or destroy it some other way before then.

FORBES: Lanvin Petite: Are Designer Clothes For Children Really That Nefarious?

But Alaska politicians, industry consultants and analysts question whether tight new regulations in the wake of the oil spill in the Gulf might discourage offshore drilling in the Arctic, removing that as a way to postpone the Trans-Alaska Pipeline's decline.

WSJ: Drilling Rules Hit Alaska Pipeline