SAR #12248

Reality is the final arbiter.

On The Other Hand: The claim has been made, at Jackson Hole following Bernanke's talk, that asset purchases [QE] have modest, difficult-to-quantify effects – despite B's claim that QE saved more than 2 million jobs. Instead, thes claim was that what really works are verbal commitments by central banks. Words, not deeds. Promises. The return of the confidence fairy. It makes drawing a target more important than hitting one.

Dodge, Getting Out Of: In July, Spaniards withdrew €75 billion from their banks – a new record. That's equal to 7% of the country's annual GDP. Not, one suspects, a vote of confidence.

Lock-Stepping All The Way: TSA is doing gropes pat-downs at the D Convention, just as they did last week in Tampa. Most disturbing is that journalists put up with a week of being frisked and didn't think it worth mentioning.

Out Of The Blue: A US drone dropped into a remote area in Yemen, killing 13 civilians – including three women – as unavoidable casualties in the war on morality.

Mass Delusions:WHY have so many teachers, police officers, firefighters and other public workers been laid off since the financial crisis hit — and why are so few being offered new jobs now? If state and local governments had not cut back so much, the broader economy would be stronger today. So why all the cuts, all the austerity? Because the Ds let the Rs play the false trump card called The Debt, and continue the false comparison of government budgeting with household finance. A pox on both their houses.

Money Quote: From Nomura. "Spain will need full-blown bailout which will include more active role of ECB in Spanish bond markets." For a definition of 'active role', see Athens.

Today's Numbness: In New Jersey, “more than a thrid of all households . . . are unable to provide the basic necessities”. That's over a million residents. But the poor are not mentioned much any more by either party, even though there are 46 million of them. Last month more Americans became food stamp recipients than found jobs, bringing the total to 46,670 million – another record. The average benefit is $276, not a record high, rather nearly a record low.

WaPo asks: Can we save American Capitalism? The better question is, should we?

Ah, Salvation: A leaked EU/ECB memo indicates the Greeks, whose economy is in depression with massive unemployment, must “increase the number of maximum workdays to 6 days per week for all sectors." Rioters, take your marks...

Another Brick In The Wall: If you have an iPad, iPhone, iPod or iWhatever, you are undoubtedly being tracked both by Apple and by the FBI, which gets the data from Apple. At least 12 million such lucky folks had their FBI data hacked and published. It's an iFeature. Love my Samsung MP3.

Be Prepared: Representative Peter DeGraaf (Neanderthal, KS) says that rape is like getting a flat tire and women should plan to be raped just as he prepares for getting a flat tire.

The Parting Shot: