SAR #10096

Do the little children see the priests as victims?

Don't Let the Door Hit You:  Hamid Karzai says that the US is interfering in his attempt to take over the Afghan electoral system and appoint his nephew as the watchdog.  He also said that if he doesn't get his way he'll join the Taliban, which he called “a legitimate resistance movement.”  Time, gentlemen, for one of those errant drones.

Faint Praise:  The Stanford economist who heads the group charged with calling the start and end of US recessions says “I would say ‘pretty clear’ is a good description” for whether the economic contraction has ended.  Fine.  Then he added, “but I don’t have great confidence.”

Smoke and Mirrors:  To the glee of Wall Street and the retailers, consumer spending has risen 3.7% ($373 billion) in the last 9 months, while the numbers of the unemployed, the long term unemployed, and those who dropped off the workforce have all climbed.  How is it possible? Just like old times – Americans have reduced their savings the same amount - $374 billion.  And we've already seen where this road leads.

Bonds/bondage:  Every time a government bond is sold, the government is renting out a piece of your time, your labor.  You.  You are being sold into slavery, a little bit at a time.  There's nothing more to the bond market - just human beings sold to the highest bidder, for a price.  You.  Your children.

Harm, No Foul:  AIG's Joseph Cassano whipped out a Get Out Of Jail Free card and the DOJ agreed not to indict him for bringing down Western Civilization.

Deficit Attention Disorder:  At least 200,000 of the long-term unemployed will lose their benefits because Senator Coburn (R, OK) , has discovered the deficit and says it would be wrong to feed the hungry if it adds to the deficit.  “The legitimate debate is whether we borrow and steal from our kids or we get out of town and send the bill to our kids for something that we're going to consume today,"  Coburn said on the Senate floor.  Back in 2006, deficits didn't matter when Coburn voted to reduce taxes on the very richest – at a cost of hundreds of billions in deficits.

Quoted:  “There is no incentive from the moneyed interests in either Washington or New York to change … There are five or six players only who are engaged and dominant in this marketplace and apparently they own the regulatory apparatus, everybody is afraid to regulate them.”

Reconstruction:  The government is urging American homeowners – especially those who rebuilt their homes after Katrina – to tear out all of the Chinese drywall in their homes.  They should also pull out and replace all the wiring and gas lines.  The government did not offer any assistance, which does not surprise the Katrina survivors.

A Few Dollars More:  Narco-traffickers were already killing enough in their struggle to control both Mexico and the drug trade.  Now rival assassination squads are killing each other on the streets of Juarez, fighting over the right to do the drug kings' killing.  Competition has driven the price of a hit down to $100.

Puzzle:  How is it that thousands of scientists at hundreds of universities around the world were all persuaded to take part in a conspiracy to pretend the earth was getting warmer?  And what did they have on Mother Nature to get her to go along?

What Have They Done For US Lately?   Other than as a place to cash your check and to temporarily stash your money, why do you need a bank?  You can use a credit card for small loans and for the most part would be better off without bigger loans.  Debt is an addiction - the junkie does not get rich; the pusher does.  Think about that when the Visa bill comes.

Balancing Act:  The main cause of the coming collapse is that we don't know when we're well enough off.  We're about to find out that we don't need near as much as we think we do.

Symmetry:  After the company can no longer make a profit exploiting you, they hire another company to keep you from getting any unemployment benefits.  It's another variation on insurance you can't collect on.  Their unemployment taxes are based on how many of their employees draw from the fund, so the company (Cargill, Target, Tyson Foods, Wal-Mart) has an incentive to fight even legitimate claims.

Porn O'Graph:  The case of the curious coincidence.