SAR #10295

People have not so much lost their trust in their government as discovered that their government is not trustworthy.

Slip Sliding Along:   Again the corrections. Unemployment claims, they say, fell 23,000 last week – nearly 5%.   Trouble is the “fall” was after a 13,000 upward revision of the previous report, which cuts the 'improvement' in half.  This makes 25 out of 26 weeks with upward revisions, so let's not light the candles just yet.

Up, Up and Away:   Following careful study of the baseless claims of increased oil reserves by Iraq and Iran, Kuwait has tossed 12 billion new barrels into its reserves.  It claimed the 'finds' had been made studying old fields that magically refill themselves.

Delegates:  The Afghan government has asked Saudi Arabia to help negotiate an end to the American war with the Taliban.  The announcement was unclear as to which party the Saudis were to speak with, or for.

Keeping the Faith:  It's refreshing to know that two of the biggest frauds perpetrated by science have been conclusively disproven.  Glen Beck hasn't ever seen a half-man, half-monkey and reading the Bible proves that climate change “is a flat-out lie.”  Could someone send for Mr. Mencken ?

Start Your Motors:  Federal Reserve officials say the Fed will begin pumping money into the economy via $100 billion in monthly bond purchases. Maybe inflation will catch on this time.

On Being Average:   The enlightened think reasoning works and are constantly surprised that it does not win over the unenlightened.  Rational people believe in rational decision making.  Alas, most of us are not rational, we are emotional.  When we hear new information we accept that which supports our positions and pay no attention to the rest.  Confronting people with inconvenient facts only hardens their resistance to change.

Self-Test:  Complete the following: Google's effective tax rate is ___%, (about $__ billion dollars less than it should be).  Hint: Google “Google Tax Loopholes”.  The answers are 2.4% and $60 billion.

In Your Face:  Making their results unmistakably clear, climate scientists have reiterated that carbon dioxide is responsible for the greenhouse effect that is warming the earth and that water vapor and clouds alone are unable to provide the feedback effects observed.  Thus to stop global warming the production of carbon dioxide must cease, which means burning fossil fuels must stop or all is lost.  All, therefore, is lost.

Gone Fishing:  Even catfish farmers face globalization's pressures as steeply increased grain costs combine with cheaper Asian fish imports to erode already thin margins.  Fish competing with cars for corn.

Wishing Well:  Groups of non-believers, un-believers, non-theists – yes, there are enough of them in the USA to form groups – have been advertising their heresies on the grounds that every time they expose the idea of non-belief in public, the public becomes more tolerant of their dissenting views.  And that, in the end, everybody wins because society becomes more open, inclusive and free.  Talk about faith.

Enough Said:  The Obama administration is seeking to insure that all communications networks - telephone and broadband carriers – be designed so the government can easily wiretap any and all transmissions.

Allowances: Republican "Roadmap for America's Future," plan would slash Social Security benefits in the long-run -- by 10 to 50% of what they are now.  The plan's author claimed that releasing the information was a “partisan attack” and warned that the status quo would bankrupt the program.  That is not true – not until long after 2037 anyway.  It might, however, damage the Federal budget as Congress tries to replace all the money they've 'borrowed' from the program over the years.