SAR #11040

The actual words are “the pursuit of happiness” not “go shopping.”

What do we – the United States, the American people – do when Mubarak unleashes the security police? What do we do when the people resist? What do we do if some Army units side with the people and others do not? Have we the courage to live up to our heritage, just this once?

Progress:  The Egyptian government keeps making piddling little concessions to the Egyptian people's revolution, incapable of understanding the message that several hundreds of thousands now in the streets have long since made clear. It is time to start over, not reform – an no designated hitters from the US dugout, either.

Eye of the Beholder:  Question for bankers about their toxic assets: Is she the wife, or an unrealized loss?

Boy Scouts:  After handing the Taliban a series of devastating setbacks in Kandahar province (so the press releases and sound bites have said), the US is prepared for a sharp and possibly successful resurgence. “We are definitely expecting them to come back at us hard.. showing they are still a force to be reckoned with..." said a spokesman, preparing the homefront for setbacks and losses in refutation of the glorious advances made to date.

Another One Bites the Dust:  An NYU report claims that the Taliban's reputed ties to Al Qaeda have been overstated and that “there was substantial friction between the groups’ leaders before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and that hostility has only intensified.” Another excuse for another war turns out to be... inaccurate.

The Norquist Diet:  House Majority Leader Eric Cantor says that the House will prohibit the use of any federal funds to implement the health-care reforms. But that's not what their masters – the insurance industry – want. They do have some reforms in mind: Re-instate 'pre-existing conditions' as a bar to insurance. Remove the minimum-benefit requirements so they can resume selling useless policies. Return the opportunity to charge older folks five to ten times as much as younger, instead of the paltry three times allowed by the Act. But do not touch the mandate – that's hundreds of billions of dollars of profit for years to come – much of direct from the taxpayers.

Cat/Bag:  Asked about the possibility of lessening crime by legalizing drugs, Secretary Clinton responded, “I don’t think that will work. … There is just too much money in it.” I'm with Hillary; raise your hands if you think a lot of that cash ends up on Wall Street.

On Time:  Biden says the administration will seek approval of a six year $53 billion plan to build a national high-speed and intercity rail network. It may be cold out now, but that snowball don't stand a chance.

Round and Round:  Yes, revolving consumer debt (credit cards) grew in December at an annualized pace of 3.5%, but over the whole fourth quarter it fell 2.75%. Non-revolving credit (cars, mostly) increased in the quarter by an annualized 5.5%. Nothing in the hours and wages reports explains how these debts will be paid.

Chicken/Egg:  Watching their leaders hack away at the economy in the name of austerity has convinced Britons that the economy is god-awful, prompting the public's confidence in the economy to take its biggest drop in 20 years. So, government's slashing spending and wages has frightened the consumer into saving which will cut consumption even more which will cause even more austerity which will cause...

Experimental Bias:  Researchers have linked processed foods to lower IQs in children. Or is it that children from lower IQ homes eat more processed foods? Or is it not the snack foods that lower their IQs but the mindless games, tv and videos they watch while they snack? Is it the fat/sugar/salt/starch they snack on, or what they do while they snack?