SAR #8280

This does not end well.

Again: The descent into fascism proceeds apace, with little notice and no outcry. And not only in the US, but Great Britain and Australia too, and now Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland.

A Certain Something: Reports tracing back to Iranian Press TV quote Iraqi President Talibani as complaining: "Washington threatened to use any means to seize Iraqi assets if we do not support the security pact." No independent verification from the western press, but it has a certain ring of truth to it, doesn't it?

Why is it Called 'Civil' War ? Iraq is ready to come apart at the seams again, now that the Petraeus good behavior bribes have stopped.

Doomed: The diversion of massive amounts of government wealth to Wall Street will doom any serious projects to reduce global warming. Of course, there will be a decrease of CO2 emissions because fewer factories will be running and far fewer people commuting, so maybe there's an up side to the coming hard times.

Rookie Season: Alan Fishman got a $7.5 million signing bonus when he joined the team. His contract also had a $6.15 million termination payment if he was cut from the team without cause. The team is Washington Mutual and the two events occurred 18 days apart. And you thought baseball players were overpaid.

Call It An Advance: Massachusetts has asked the Treasury to lend it money at the same rate (2.25%) that it is loaning money to the banks and financial firms on Wall Street. Seems fair.

Article Who? Where in the Constitution does it say the Fed can pass out cash to selected friends without Congressional approval? $49 billion to the banks last Wednesday, and another $146billion to investment firms the same day. A total of $410 billion for the week. And that's in addition to the $750 billion given to Paulson on Friday.

Old News: Once again, cannabis has been found to be less harmful than either tobacco or alcohol.

Gottcha Question: Twitch was mayor of a town with such poor public services that the sewer system only covered about 10% of the town. She is governor of a state with no income tax , one that lives off big oil and Washington handouts. How is she prepared to govern a nation facing massive social problems and declining revenues?

Trick Or Treat: When will the banks need the next round of bailouts? (a) Never, we're saved! (b) January (c) Before Christmas (d) After the election (e) Happy Halloween.

Rounding Up A Posse Comitatus: Homeland Security, becoming bored with simply eavesdropping on the citizenry and harassing them at airports, is now aiming spy satellites at the Motherland and sharing the information gathered (taken without warrants or probable cause of any kind) with law enforcement and other civilian agencies.

'Clean' Coal: There is no such thing as "clean coal". There are plans to try to clean up after the coal is mined and again after it is burned. Dumping mountains into streams hasn't worked out real well and hiding CO2in a big hole in the ground forever and ever sounds about as clever. These are the ingredients that make coal 'clean'. .

Porn O'Graph: McFutures plunge.