SAR #9113

Anything that makes a few rich and many poor is a crime.

Wish I'd Said: Stop the madness - starve the beasts, start the revolution.

Migrant Workers: The Taliban, recently arrived from their homeland in Afghanistan where they had lost their jobs, are settling in and becoming successful in their new homeland, without abandoning their traditional culture.

None of the Above: Do you worry about deflation, hyperinflation, global climate meltdown, global financial meltdown, recession, depression, peak oil or more summer reruns? Maybe you should join Solari in worrying about a Slow Burn.

Full Faith, Half Credit: Credit traitors traders are shorting the bonds of major US banks, betting that the banks will default on their paper because the US government's ability to support them all forever is limited. Haven't heard Bernanke nor Geithner's cure for this, but I suspect it's to print more money.

Now You See It: The IMF said the bailout of British banks will cost the taxpayers 13.4% of the country's GDP. Then it un-said it.

Proportion: What ratio would Mr. Cheney use in justifying torture? One bit of good information for every 10, 100, 1000 or 10,000 sessions ? Does it matter if it's done with dogs, tasers, whips, slaps, water-boarding? Is there a conversion factor? Do three dog attacks equal one "walling"? What's an acceptable 'success' rate? Is it above the level of chance? Can I quote you?

Recycling: Economist, March 6, 1999: "Drowning in Oil." Newsweek, April 20, 2009, "Cheap Oil Forever, Why Prices Will Keep Falling."

Clarification: Common Sense, Thomas Hoening, Simon Johnson, and Joseph Stiglitz - among others - advise that breaking up the insolvent big banks is the only way out of this particular woods. So why don't we do it? Because it is not in the narrow interest of a few Wall Street Banks who dominate the discussion in this country and control Washington.

Forest/Trees: Which is more revolting, that our leaders permitted torture or that they seem to have taken sadistic pleasure from encouraging it?

Changing Places: Fannie and Freddie report that the number of prime mortgages 60 days+ delinquent rose to 743,686 in January, from 497,131 in December. The number of non-prime delinquent loans is 485,365. Troubling, isn't it, the way being unemployed affects your credit rating.

Believe It or Don't: Japan has become a net importer as its trade surplus dropped 99% in March.

Interesting Taxes: Government safety-nets are costing more, tax receipts are AWOL, the Federal budget is already a trillion in the red and there is no joy in Mudville, for the folks have got to pony up another $1.5 trillion. And that's just this year. Scouting reports for next year are not encouraging.

Fish and Foul: The economic situation may stabilize. That's not the same thing as 'happy days are here again.'

Guesstimation: Population growth and the use of fossil fuel energy are direct correlates. Pretty soon the availability of fossil energy is going to suddenly decrease quite sharply. In 500 words or less, what does this imply for population size? Usual prizes.

Information Overload: The headline reads: Iraqi militia kill gays with anal glue torture. Tacky.

Eye on the Prize: Federal examiners held regional banks to a much higher standard than they did the big insolvent pets who've been getting all the moolah, by not questioning the make-believe values the big guys put on their toxic crap legacy loans, while randomly deciding that the smaller banks individual loans will decay 20% or more.

Porn O'Graph: Oil prices, GDP, and recession.