SAR #12191

We are consuming our way to mass extinction.

Just So Story: Remember a week ago when the EU summit decided that the ESM would loan money directly to failing banks and not burden their nations with the debt? Ha. Fooled ya!

The Worm Turns: Last fall, the EPA warned that Monsanto’s Bt corn was falling victim to the rootworms it had been specifically engineered to be impervious to. The EPA also suggested that Monsanto's monitoring of its product was “inadequate.” A company spokesman – who apparently once worked for the tobacco industry - said “there’s no scientific confirmation of resistance to its Bt corn.” There is now.

On Schedule:Both Spanish and Italian 10-year bonds are climbing as EU leaders prepare for the first save-the-euro summit of the month.

Stupid Is As Stupid Does: Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) on Monday said that his state would refuse to implement President Barack Obama’s health care reform law because it was “like adding 1,000 people to the Titanic.” Perry said that he would not set up state health care exchanges and he would reject federal funds to expand Medicaid. Texas ranks last in state health services. One out of four Texans has no health insurance and one in four is on Medicare/Medicaid, yet Perry says “The real issue here is about freedom.” Perry is foregoing federal payments to provide Medicaid to 1.2 million of the poorest Texans.

Eye/Beholder: A judge in Britain said it was obvious that Samsung had not copied the iPad, because the iPad is cool...

Win-Win-Win: Pakistan, following Secretary Clinton's personal apology, is once again allowing NATO supplies to be trucked through Pakistan to Afghanistan. The previously reported $5,000 per truckload fee has been waived, as long as the US rebuilds their roads. Payments to the Taliban to ensure safe passage will resume.

Reset: June's retail sales were the worst in three years, as the recovery rolls on.

Say Ahh... Crap: Officials in Florida have been struggling for months to hide the worst TB outbreak in the US in over 20 years. The cover-up began last February, when there was a sudden spike of TB among 'the underclass' in Duval Country, where health officials chose not to tell the public (repeating their silence in 2008 with another TB outbreak). So far there have been 13 deaths among the 99 known cases, and about 3,000 people exposed, mainly in Jacksonville. Enjoy your vacation in the Sunshine state.

Rhetorical Question: What is Mitt Romney hiding?

Privatization In Action: Greece, as part of its IMF/EU/ECB mandated garage sale, is selling four Airbus A340 passenger jets for $40.4 million. New, the Airbus goes for about $250 million each. Not everyone in Greece is pleased.

Pinching Pennies: Scranton, PA is down to its last $5,000, so the mayor put himself and all city employees – including police and firemen - on minimum wages ($7.25 and hour). The city owes over $1 million to its employees.

Joining Iran & Wikileaks: The US government has apparently pressured Visa and MasterCard into refusing to honor credit card transactions from medical marijuana outlets. That's okay, pot's always been a cash business.

The Evil Twin: The Earth's oceans are becoming more acidic at a faster rate than at any time in the past 300 million years, which is leading to rapid coral reef declines throughout the world due to increased levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. Surface waters "are changing much more rapidly than initial calculations suggested... The future of coral reefs isn't a marine version of tree-hugging but a central problem for humanity."

Sun, Setting? Machinery orders in Japan were expected to drop abut 2.6% last month, as the economy slowed. Instead, orders fell 14.8%, and Japan's current account surplus tumbled by over 60%.

The Parting Shot:

Passiflora incarnata