SAR #11055

In the US, the cartels don't use guns. Currently.

Editorial Interpretation: A USA Today/Gallup poll showed that 61% of Americans oppose legislation eliminating collective bargaining rights. Fox, using their superior expertise, inverted the data to prove that Americans wanted unions abolished.

The Bundle: Suddenly there are a plethora of voices calling for, or against, selling off The Commons for the the common good. Or for the good of politicians friends, whichever. Experience suggests that the citizens routinely lose on these deals. Just park on a Chicago street.But that doesn't stop some of the big guns from promoting the idea. Governor Unions-Are-Bad Walker, for example, in his Budget Repair Bill includes a provision that lets him sell state-owned power plants to the Koch brothers.

The Whites of Our Eyes: Indiana's Deputy Attorney General Jeff Cox urged police in Madison to “use live ammunition” quell the demonstration, calling the state employees 'thugs'. Representative Mike Capuano (D-MA) agrees, says it's time to get out on the streets and “get a little bloody.”

Oily Days: Some think the turmoil in North Africa could reduce OPEC spare production by 2.1 mbd and drive the price of oil over $200 a barrel. But at least 3 cargoes of oil have departed Libyan ports in the last day, so panic may be premature. And so far OPEC has been unwilling or unable to provide extra supply as prices soar, claiming that everything is just dandy with them.

Belt Tightening: Wall Street bonuses fell 8% last year, totaling $20.8 billion instead of 2009's $22.5 billion. Look at it this way, I only got a million two instead of a million three. How am I going to break it to the wife?

Spot Quiz: Libya is in the same predicament, as is Sudan, Algeria, Nigeria, Angola... What happens when people are starving while they see their leaders living lives of luxury? Can you suggest any other places where the lessons of Cairo and Tripoli could apply?

In A Universe Long Ago and Far Away... People around the world once would flock to the dollar in times of trouble. Once. Oil is up, gold is up, silver is. The dollar? Not so much.

Just-In-Time: The future for the American worker is not a union job, nor anything resembling a traditional job. The future is “just-in-time” work as a self-employed day worker with no benefits, no vacation, no health coverage, no seniority and no security. Temps.

Progress: The Department of Justice has announced that it will stop defending the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act in the courts, as they have concluded that the Act is indefensibly unconstitutional.

Good Ole Boy #47: Georgia House Republican Bobby Franklin, in HB1 for the year, would make an abortion into the crime of “prenatal murder” - with punishments equal to those for murder. All miscarriages to be investigated by authorities, but no criminal penalties will apply if the woman could prove the miscarriage was natural and spontaneous. Miscarriages would require the issuance of “fetal death certificates.”

Parse the Following: "Sustaining Fiscal Stimulus In Democracy During Peacetime Is Difficult"

Comps: Just as American kids do poorly in international comparisons of educational achievement, American teachers rank 26th on the list of international pay scales. I wonder if the two might be connected in some way? Perhaps not, since our healthcare and our longevity are mediocre at best while our doctors are far and away the best paid.

It Ain't Over 'til It's Over and It Ain't Over: Professor Shiller says houses could fall another 15-25% before the light goes out in the tunnel.

Going To Extremes: It is impossible to point to any one snowfall, downpour, cold spell or heat wave and conclusively claim it to be the work of global climate change. But you can compare the ongoing series of events with the long term record and conclude that significant increases in precipitation intensity are occurring, and occurring even faster than current climate models predict.

Porn O'Graph: The day after.