You won't believe this:

Neil Bush, fellow Tulane alumnus, former chief of the Silverado Savings & Loan, and presidential brother, was in Jidda, Saudi Arabia last week giving the keynote at an international business forum sponsored by the Saudi Binladen Construction Group (yes, THAT bin Laden - Osama's dad's company). Former President Bill Clinton was also a speaker. But this isn't the scary part, the scary part is that such a curious appearance intersects with another curiousity...

Neil was in the middle east seeking investors for his new company, an educational software firm called "Ignite!" which stands to profit enormously from the "No Child Left Behind Act" signed by older brother George W. Here's what Neil had to say about the trip: “What am I supposed to do? Nothing in life? Every country has a concern about the education of its children—and I’m happy to cooperate with them. I don’t see a conflict.” - [article]

I wish there was some sort of alternative way he could spend his excess energy and ambition, but apparently he can either finagle a huge payoff from attracting foreign governments to invest in a software-selling scheme that dovetails conveniently with new federal mandates, or he can do nothing. Why couldn't he just market his own brand of beer?

Oh, and speaking of marketing...Happy National Consumer Protection Week!