SAR #11316

If many more economists become doomsters, I'm going to turn optimistic.

Point Of Order: Does it bother anyone that the PIIGS were but one third of the involved parties and are getting all the blame? The money was advanced by banks (loan sharks) so the PIIGS (addicts) could buy products (drugs) from the Cartel (Germany, mostly, with France and a few minor players).  Now everyone is blaming the addict. But the Cartel got all the money – which they wouldn't have if their banks hadn't first given it to the PIIGS. And the loan sharks have now juiced up interest to the point that none of the PIIGS can make the vig, much less pay off the nut. And the Cartel and the Banks (where they are not one and the same) have sent Rocky in to break some legs - ie the IMF/ECB replacing P & B with their own lackeys.

No Help Wanted: The Justice Department has told the Supreme Court not to bother to come to work any more, the government's lawyers already know what the right decisions are. The specific instance is an Arizona immigration law that the lower courts (and the administration) say is unconstitutional and they don't want the Supremes to trouble themselves with hearing the case.

Asked & Answered: Is It Better to Be Liked or Feared? Depends;  are you a Democrat or a Republican?

Onanism: Remember how EFSF's first round of bond selling went from €10 billion to € 3 billion due to lack of enthusiasm? Did you know that they had to buy several hundred million euro's worth of their own bonds in order to even make the €3 billion level. Looks like the bigger fool has been found.

Irony: Goldman Sachs says the Fed is about to screw up. 'About to'? And this from Goddamn Sacks? When did they become impartial observers of the Fed?

Nuanced Nonsense: Under the guise of leadership, Republican plans to get the economy moving “involves no pain for anyone except overcompensated, under-performing government workers and the undeserving poor.” They are holding a bidding war to see who can promise to dismantle the most government departments, with no thought to the disastrous effect doing away with the Weather Service, federal aid to schools, and on and on... Republicans do not talk about shared sacrifice because they don't intend to share in the sacrificing. The Democrats only seem more mature because they are not contesting with one another for the nomination.

Hmmm: #Occupy Harvard's 3rd General Assembly featured two of the more prominent members of the Egyptian Tahrir Square protests, sharing the lessons they had learned in the course of the demonstrations. Wonder where the Spanish organizers are...

Gauntlet: If we don't change our fossil fuel use significantly by 2015 and completely by 2017, we will end up with atmospheric CO2 levels that exceed the maximum tolerable levels, and, because of CO2's persistence in the atmosphere for hundreds of years,we will have lost our opportunity to avoid catastrophic climate change essentially forever. So says the International Energy Agency's Fatih Birol.

#Occupy Yemen:Assad's security forces shelled the citizenry of Taiz, killing 16 and wounding more than 50, while the Arab states stood by, loudly wringing their hands.

Women and Children First: If the ECB prints trillions of euros to buy up all the impaired sovereign debt, Germany will have to abandon the euro to save itself from the inevitable inflation. But the only other solution is for some entity with actual cash to give the EU 3trillion euros to buy up the debt. That entity would be Germany, and they would leave the euro before beggaring themselves for the sake of the PIIGS. Germans would really like to mind their own business and export capital goods and luxury cars to China rather than trading their wealth to create the Fourth Reich for political and financial dominance in Europe. Say goodnight, Gracie.

Ah, Capitalism: “Citigroup Thinks These 9 Stocks Will Benefit From The Rise Of Poverty.” Nice to know the poor are good for something.

Porn O'Graph: Please Watch Your Step.