SAR #12237

Too bad the lunatic fringe isn't.

The First Cut Is The Deepest: Romney’s energy policy calls for neutering the federal government and letting oil companies drill wherever they want – granting the states the right to determine the fate of federally owned lands. Some question the wisdom of letting AZ decide whether oil derricks belong in the Grand Canyon, but oil's oil – and this policy was drafted for The Mitten by the oil bidniz, which presented it to him along with a check for $10 million.

Your Results May Vary: Estimates of the turnout for the protests in Montreal range from a conservative 25,000 to over 100,000. The procession occupied much of the city's core for several hours. The movement is still strong.

Trial Seperation: The German Finance Ministry reportedly views asking Greece to exit the euro "temporarily" while it straightens out its finances is the best plan. Temporary, as in ten or twenty years, or a century or two. German Chancellor Angela Merkel says “... and I want Greece to remain part of the euro zone.” While the Obama administration is urging everyone to take it easy until after the election. Note: You don't always get what you want... but sometimes you get what you need.

Because We Can: The day after Pakistan once again protested the continuing US drone strikes on Pakistan, the US hit three different compounds with drones, promoting 18 dead Pakistanis to “suspected militant” status and diplomatically telling Pakistan to get fucked, that the US will continue killing anyone, anywhere and neither they nor anyone else has any say in the matter.

Up, Up, & Away: Today's Durable Goods numbers were good – a 4.3% increase. Today's Durable Goods number without the transportation sector was not so good – a 3.4% decrease. Seems the brief three-month blip in US economic activity was “a byproduct of seasonal adjustments.”

Now It Can Be Told: The good news is that Paul Ryan can read. The bad news is that he reads Ayn Rand.

The Other Cheek: While the West – or at least the US and Israel – was basking in the success of the Stuxnet invasion of Iran, others – the Cutting Sword of Justice – were busy designing one that would display a burning American flag on Saudi Aramco computer terminals. How much damage, if any, was not disclosed.

Cliff Notes: The problem with Romney's Medicare explanation is that the data he presents is is not accurate. It is false, misleading, untrue, and business as usual for the campaign.

Pile-it Program: The Chinese are facing growing mountains of unsold inventory – everything from steel to appliances, cars to apartments. These goods stand in the way of the government's efforts to reverse the economy's sharp decline. So far the only thing that sems to work is massaging the data.

Happy Days: The AGs from AL, AZ, GA, SC, NC and TX have asked the Supreme Court to rule that the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional because it prevents states from adopting laws to make it “more difficult for racial minorities to cast a ballot. Ah, what do these states have in common?

Red Queens: “... the key to continued production in a fracturing operation is a labor intensive continuation of drilling new wells to replace rapidly declining previous wells.”

Housing Rebound: “One in five Rochester houses that have gone into mortgage foreclosure the past two years are vacant today, according to the city. And of those that are vacant, two in three are not being maintained. Many of the vacant houses in mortgage foreclosure are in relatively good condition. But city officials suspect some banks are stalling the foreclosure process, wanting a buyer lined up before a judgment puts them on the hook for property maintenance.” Typical, one fears.

Qualification: Romney's obviously qualified to be president – he already “sifts through Americans’ personal information . . . to identify new and likely, wealthy donors.”

As Good As Gold: Forget their war on women, the RNC platform includes returning the US to the gold standard. That would be a real abortion. Obviously, as with so many other things, they haven't really thought this one through. The US has only enough gold to back 2.5% of the current money supply... so how you gonna get this one off the ground?

The Parting Shot:

Decisions, decisions.