SAR #9364

How many trees can you burn and still have a forest?

See The Dog:   Of a variety of explanations for the Treasury's continued backstopping of Fannie and Freddie, the best is this: The government is scared silly that if it stopped propping up Fannie and Freddie the housing market and then the economy would collapse. Fear, in other words.

...Back at the Ranch:   A dufus lights a soggy firecracker and burns his private parts on a plane and the whole world is in a tizzy over terrorism striking in Detroit. (Rather an in-joke for those who've been to Detroit in the past few years.)  In a live fire exercise in the US target range known as Afghanistan, the US kills 10 civilians, 8 of them school children and the world doesn't give a damn.

Fill in the Blank:   “__________ shares soar, but for no good reason.”

The Mirror:   Despite the posturing of most of the mainstream media and politicians of all persuasions, the gravest threat we face does not come from Islamadummies burning their pants on planes, it is from the constant destruction of our civil liberties by a draconian government under the pretense of saving those same liberties. Tell those who wanted to destroy the US that they have succeeded in that we are happily finishing the job for them. Now take off your shoes and stand over there.

Priorities:   The US is spending more on war than the 50 state governments spend on the education, healthcare and welfare of their citizens.

Spoonful of Honey:   Because October's Case-Shiller house price index, which is off 29.5% from its peak, fell only 7.3% y/y, realtors are claiming victory because home prices rise for five straight months, as though having your $200,000 house only lose $15,000 of its value last year was really, really good!

A Pair and A Spare:   Lieberman thinks that the Iraq war has outlived its usefulness and the Afghan war has never been very interesting, so it is time to try again.  This time we should bomb Yemen for a while, just to see how it goes.

Loving It:   Brand loyalty does not stand up to dwindling resources.  The customer loves his money more than those expensive brand names – maybe they're tired of paying more just to enjoy the advertized logo.

Memories:   Africa's Lake Chad was once a big deal. Now it is but a tenth its former size, with about 20 years to go before it disappears. The tens of millions who depend(ed) on the lake for their water will dry up and go away, too.   Away where?

Essay Question:   Please explain, in 17 words, why when we catch an actual (?) terrorist he gets detained in a federal pen in Ohio, but the beaten and destroyed remains in Guantanamo are too dangerous to bring to US soil because...

Truth:   China is neither communist nor capitalist, it is determinedly nationalist – China first.  What the governing elite see as the long-term national interest comes first and only. Country before private greed, planning years ahead; how strange.

Porn O'Graph:   Psst.  Don't tell the women and children Kudlow and Limbaugh, but the economy grows more under the Democratic Party's “Tax and Spend” than the GOP's “Don't Tax and Spend.”