SAR #12062

Austerity is a lifeboat that will not reach shore.

If A Tree Falls In The Forest... Now that the ECB has dropped a trillion euros into the hopper, a few European central bankers are getting around to wondering what happens three years from now when the banks are supposed to buy back their pledged assets. Good question, in that a lot of that trillion is "invested" in sovereign bonds which stand a better than even chance of returning a lot less than face value. Do you suspect that the banks will get bailed out, or allowed to fail? What's the financial equivalent of 'perpetual war for perpetual peace'?

Carlinization: The following are on Homeland Security's list of words you cant say, or write: Sick, wave, crops, worm, smart, ice... check out the manual.

School For Scandal: Americans who were stunned this week to learn that nearly half of Europe's young adults are unemployed should be even more stunned to learn that 46% of young adults in the US are unemployed - the highest rate in 64 years. We need a good war to put them to work...

Return On Investment: Is the US getting a decent return on the $850,000 to $1.4 million a year that each American soldier in Afghanistan costs the taxpayer?

Inquiring Minds... So you buy some Greek sovereign bonds, then you buy insurance on them, then the ECB buys the same bonds, gets them declared senior to yours, redeems them at 100%, makes you take a 70% loss, and then you're told that no credit default has happened. Do you rush out to buy any more sovereign bonds? Ever? Are you ever going to buy another CDS? Are you really that stupid?

Worker's Paradise: Eurozone unemployment now stands at 10.7% - about 17 million are out of work. In the EU 24.3 million are unemployed, a 10.1% rate.

Fair Warning: 400 people are being hired to fill mortgage servicing positions in the Dallas/North Texas market. Previous experience with robo-signing a plus.

Born To Be Wild: "If Transportation Security Officers [aka “screeners”] are truly our nation’s last line of defense in stopping an act of terrorism, then the TSA should immediately end the practice of placing hiring notices for available TSO positions on pizza boxes and at discount gas stations as they have done in our nation’s capital." Rep. Marcia Blackburn (R, TN) . She also pointed out that hyped-up screeners dressed to look like cops are not actually law enforcement officers; they only play them in their dreams. "Head out on the highway, lookin' for adventure... "

Fact Check: Serial polygamist Newt Gingrich says North Dakota's oil boom proves that the USA can produce enough domestic oil for its needs. He lies.

Asked & Answered: Who was the last GOP fiscal conservative? Nixon, and he took us off the gold standard. We are now (or at least the Republicans) benefiting from the idiocy that Bush II built on Ronnie's example.

Bucket's Got A Hole In It: Fannie Mae needs another $4.6 billion from the taxpayers, bringing the total to $116 billion. So, how's the recovery thing working out?

And The Beat Goes On: The Greek parliament bowed to their northern overlords and will cut 12% from all government salaries over 1,300 euros and cut the country's minimum wage by 22%. This is not as drastic as it seems, for few Greeks have jobs anymore, what with the economy shrinking at 6.8% a year and the neighbors carting off the furniture.

Ready, Set, Go: In order to help the Mormons in their effort to perfect mankind...