Wednesday, November 4, 2009

SAR #9309

Language is the ultimate weapon.


Math Quiz: How big is a cubit? How many ounces are there in two hundred tons of gold? How much rain is India expecting?

Working the Railroad: Warren Buffett has bet $26 billion that shortages in transportation fuel caused by declining oil production will cause the US government to pour billions of dollars into upgrading and modernizing the US rail system, much to the enrichment of Mr. Buffet and his investors.

One More Time! Professor Robert Shiller of the Case-Shiller Index says current 'recovery' is a mystery to him and that the US may be in the midst of a second housing and financial bubble. Shiller also warns that the income disparity in the US will, if not addressed, create a country “even rich people don't want to live in.”

Manners: Senate Republicans, whose mothers told them not to say anything at all if you couldn't say something nice, will boycott the Senate's historic debate on the US response to climate change.

Misery Index: Expanding waistlines may be a good measure of the expanding recession among the poor and middle class. The unemployed and cash-strapped turn toward cheaper foods, which in the US means more fattening meals.

Lawyers: The Canadian citizen the US scooped up, sent to Syria to be tortured and then set free in a back alley cannot sue the US government because it would “offend the separation of powers and inhibit this country's foreign policy.” Any foreign policy that requires the abduction and torture of random foreigners might need re-examination.

Friends... The key businessman in the Alaskan bribery shenanigans and his number two have been sentenced to 36 and 21 months, respectively for their part in the corruption. Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) – convicted on 7 criminal charges – hasn't and won't spend a day in jail.

Wording: Agriculture/Food giant Archer Daniels Midland reported a 53% fall in 1Q profits because “the global recession dragged down demand for food.” Being unemployed for months and months tends to dull the appetite.

Band Aid: Johnson & Johnson is terminating about 8,000 employees as it tries to stop the bleeding from its profit margins.

Secrets: The so-far slow motion collapse of the commercial real-estate market has been so widely anticipated that its eventual arrival will astonish simply by finally occurring.

Yes, But: A judge has ruled that the police can secretly search emails, but we knew that. The question is, may they? Yes.

Obama's Popularity Plunges: Republicans are rejoicing that a new CNN poll shows that Obama's approval rating has dropped to only 54%, barely double that of George W.'s numbers.

Porn O'Graph: That was then, this is now.


2 comments:

Demetrius said...

Railroad takeovers and investment? Its quite like old times. Perhaps this guy hasn't heard that there is no problem over oil supplies, or perhaps he knows more than Wall Street.

Anonymous said...

The railroad purchase is also indirectly bullish for coal, which represents about 25% of rail cargo.

I thought Al Gore said that the climate change debate was over. I guess the Senate dumbocrats didn't get the memo.