SAR #9112

Facts do not change beliefs; nor vice versa.

Real Trouble: Yes, Caterpillar and Dupont are having losses, but look: Coca-Cola profit dropped 10%. It's getting serious out there.

We've Only Just Begun: People are circulating petitions to impeach Judge Jay Bybee for his defiance of the constitution and common decency in giving legal cover to torture. When do we start the ones to indict Bush?

Toxic Numbers Quiz: What is the next number in this sequence: $1.4 trillion, $2.2 trillion, $2.7 trillion, $4.1 trillion, ________ .

Greed Is Good: The reason Washington can't get the banks to lend is that the banks know there are going to be some real bargains to scoop up as the depression deepens , so they're saving their your money to make Big Bucks.

Roller Coaster: The US trade deficit has narrowed sharply, as US customers keep the plastic in their pocket. Of course Japan and China are not thrilled about this. The problem is that the US taxpayer cannot start buying and borrowing again without a significant and real increase in the median wage. Of course Wall Street and the Fed are not thrilled about this.

Summer School: For those (like me) who still don't understand that derivatives are our friends, here's another explanation of these strange beasties.

Deficit Spotted: The sun has a serious lack of sunspots, only a few solar flares, and is the dimmest it has been in a century - all of which have astronomers baffled. If it lasts, it could counteract some of the man-made global warming and provide an opportunity for us to mend our ways. Nah, never happen.

Bank Profits 4 Dummies: A do-it yourself guide to prettying up a balance sheet.

Really, Really Bad Idea: Facing pressure to crack down on crime amid a record budget deficit, Oakland is joining other U.S. cities that are turning over more law-enforcement duties to private armed guards. Blackwater?

Spoilsport: After housing prices finish going down, down, down, they may just lay there, exhausted.

Yeah/Boo: Increasing sea ice in the Antarctic has been cheered by some as evidence that global warming isn't global. Scientists, on the other hand, say that the increase in Antarctic sea ice is a result of the Ozone hole. I know you think we beat that one back in the 80's, but it is a long, slow slog; we've slowed the rate of growth of the ozone hole, but it's still there, still dangerous. Just like CO2.

Viva la difference: Former IMF chief economist Simon Johnson says the difference between the USA today and a failing Banana Republic is that there were sufficient resources to rescue Banana Republics.

Off the Range: Another FRB President is wandering around, sayin' stuff. Dennis Lockhart, President of the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank, warns that the worsening commercial real estate market is a serious threat to progress towards an economic recovery. If all of these regional FRB guys are so damned negative, how come Bernanke keeps getting unanimous votes?

Pot vs Kettle: Newt Gingrich claims the Democrats are undermining traditional marriage by advocating marriage for gays. Gingrich feels marriage should be limited to those who have been divorced less than three times.

Stressing the Positive: Tiny Tim says the vast majority of US banks are healthy. Only those he's spent $750 billion rescuing are zombies. But he has a plan. See the illustration.

Fulcrum: An IMF analysis shows that when a nation's debt to GDP ratio reaches 60%, the probability of that nation slipping into a deflationary black hole approaches 100%. The US budget's predicted shortfalls will be enough to put the US over the tipping point.

Porn O'Graph: House that again?