SAR #12131

The hardest part of the struggle between good and evil is figuring out which is which.

The Battle Is Joined: The day after North Carolina, "making hate while the sun shines", enshrined bigotry in its constitution, Obama said “I’ve always been adamant that gay and lesbian Americans should be treated fairly and equally,” and affirmed his belief that “same sex couples should be able to get married.” Let the games begin.

Hunger Games: In order to spend more money on defense, House Republicans intend to slash food stamps, school lunches and other "lower-priority spending" that ends up coddling children, seniors and the working poor.

My Heroes:Twitter has moved to quash a court order requiring the company to hand over data on one of its users, maintaining that “the Stored Communications Act has been held to violate the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”

Precocious: About that goal of limiting global warming to 2°C by the end of the century – with our usual flair, we will easily meet that goal by 2050 or so. This is not good news. A new report sponsored by the Club of Rome – those prescient folks behind TheLimits to Growth – concludes that "humankind might not survive on the planet” if it continues on its path of over-consumption and short term business as usual indifference. The US has just experienced the warmest 12-month period since record keeping began in 1895.

Luck Of The Irish: Instead of following the Icelandic model, Spain has decided to put the losses of the private banks on the backs (the Irish model) of what few taxpayers it still has, with little reform forced on the bankers.

Froth: Greece seems to have gotten Europe's attention. What are the European Very Serious People – who want photo ops and sound bites and success – going to do now? Well, they're for growth. Always have been, it seems. So expect a raft of new initiatives aimed at quieting the vox populi while continuing to rake the euros into the coffers of the rich.

Knee Jerks: Watch the government use the new & improved underwear bomber to frighten the American public into acquiescing to even more government intrusion into what used to be our private lives – or the lives of our privates. Certainly we should extend the 24/7 warrantless intercept of all of our communications. [Can unconfined material can burn fast enough to generate an explosion?]

Salvation! Portugal has taken austerity measures to a new level with the decision to scrap four of its 14 public holidays. Working four more days a year will make all the difference.

Apocalypse Then:  Bernanke calls it the 'Fiscal Cliff' - the convergence on January 1st, 2013 of a series of budget-related events: Expiration of the Bush tax cuts, automatic spending cuts in domestic and military spending, termination of extended unemployment benefits, and another visit from the Debt Ceiling Goblin. It will be great political theater – drama, tragedy, suspense, and farce. Especially farce. And why are they all set for then, in the last days of a Lame Duck Congress? Because elections are more important than the economy.

Indian Givers: Yes, you earned your degree. There was the ceremony where your college 'conferred' it on you with all the rights and privileges thereunto pertaining. One of the privileges is that you get to pay your debts to them. If you don't, they won't send out copies of your transcripts. Or verify your degree.

Yes, But: Michele Bachmann, proud American and one-time presidential wannabe, has acquired dual Swiss-American citizenship. Of course it's the left's fault she is turning her back on her Norwegian roots.

Porn O'Graph: Where the wild things went.