SAR #10179

The First Amendment used to guarantee free speech.

Ho-Hum:  Given the power to arrest anyone in the general area for no reason at all, Toronto police have beaten up reporters, clubbed and arrested peaceful protesters and in general have acted just as the activists  foresaw – putting the bankers and their money above the rights and interest of the people. So?

Typhoid Timmy:  The estimable Mr. Geithner is telling the rest of the G20 to stop being frugal and to spend, spend, spend.  They don't seem to be listening.

Mission Creeps:  We invaded Afghanistan in order to destroy al-Qaeda in response to the 9/11 bombing.  Nine years later there are, according to the CIA, only 50 al-Qaeda 'agents' remaining in Afghanistan, along with about 100,000 troops and another 100,000 or more mercenaries.  And we're told the war will last many more years.  Do the al-Qaeda guys have a retirement plan?

Quoted:  “We are well on our way towards Banana Republicville, led by a corrupt and incompetent government -- bought and paid for by the moneyed interests -- that is doing its best to erase any evidence that America was once the nation the rest of the world looked up to.”

Rumors of War:   Stratfor, a US based and strongly pro-Israel strategic intelligence company, is once again pointing out the there are at least two US carrier groups in waters adjacent to Iran and they have been joined by a dozen other warships in the last week.  Something, they suggest, is up.

The Gap:  In July, Spain must raise €21.7 billion from a bunch of banks and investors who want both arms and a leg to front the money. Best guess as to the shortfall wins the usual prize.  Extra points for guessing how Spain gets out of the mess.  Or rather, whether.

Feeling Safer Now? Homeland Security has put a 6 year old girl on the “no fly” list and refuses to take her off.  They also refuse to confirm the list exists. Secrets, you know, secrets make us secure.   "The watch lists are an important layer of security to prevent individuals with known or suspected ties to terrorism from flying."

Stop, Look, Listen:  US corporate bond sales fell from $140 billion in March to $33 billion in May.  Some vote of confidence.

States of the Nation:  Forty-six states face budget shortfalls that add up to $112 billion for the fiscal year ending next June,  Think Uncle Sugar will bail them out, again?  If we can't find $32 billion to feed the families of the unemployed, how in hell is DC going to paper over these shortages?

Asked & I Take the Fifth:  Is the US a fascist police-state?

Coincidence:  On the same day that the head of the CIA said it “has no choice but to use Blackwater” the Justice Department announced that it will not bring criminal charges against Blackwater for illegal actions in Sudan. Not that they didn't commit offenses, but that they will not be prosecuted. Hmmm.

Loose Lips: Vice President Joe Biden says "there's no possibility to restore 8 million jobs lost in the Great Recession."  Damn, doesn’t he know politicians aren’t supposed to be that honest?

Social Studies:  Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas governor and sometime GOP candidate for president, has discovered that “ if you want to end poverty it’s not education and race, it’s monogamous marriage,” and that the ickey homosexuals are part of the problem.

Going to the Well:  Belgian police raided a meeting of bishops and detained some of the senior clergy for questioning in an ongoing investigation of church-related pedophilia. In response to official protests from the Pope, the Belgian simply pointed out the suspects all fit the basic profile.