SAR #12262

Kate has learned what we all should have known: there is no privacy.

Actions, Not Words: When Obama signed the NDAA he said he objected to the provision that allowed the president to indefinitely detain anyone - including US citizens - without trial and without being charged with a crime, and promised he would not use the power. But now he has gone to court to make sure he gets to keep that power.

Point of Order: There are 1.6 billion Muslims; a couple of thousand of them didn't like the movie. Get a grip.

Progress Report: The German austerity elixir has so far reduced Greek GDP by 20%, with a 25% reduction expected by 2014. The turnaround will happen at some date thereafter, as the beneficial effects of mass starvation kick in. .

Sampler Update: "This Country Is Not Ruled by Executive Fiat." Yet.

Carry On: Researches have identified "a significant association" between obesity and BPA. It's banned from sippy cups and baby bottles, but still used elsewhere - especially in soft drink cans.

Help Wanted: In the US today, there are not enough jobs to go around and most of the ones we have do not pay enough. Because of this, there are not enough customers with enough money to create sufficient demand to make a dent in the problem. How would lowering taxes on the rich (or on corporations, for that mater) help solve this dilemma? Both already have too much money. And research suggests that lowering taxes has no discernible effect on productivity. What lowering taxes does is increase the concentration of wealth at the top, which hasn't, and won't, solve the employment problem.

Going, Going, Gone: Limiting the increase in global temperatures to 2ºC will not save most of the coral reefs. No big deal, for there is absolutely no way at this point to stop the increase at 2ºC. So just write 'em off and forget about the scuba lessons.

Unclear on the Concept: FedEx reports that its customers are shifting to lower cost alternatives, hurting its earnings and profits, so it is raising its shipping rates by 3.9%.

Explanation: When Romney says that "Palestinians don't want peace." What he means is that people whose families were thrown out of their traditional homeland and confined to an enormous prison camp really, really like being under the heavy boot of the Israeli military.

Memo for the Mitten: Over 7,000 millionaires paid no income taxes in 2011, 22,000 making over half a million a year also skated. Are they part of the 47%?

Spain is Greece Writ Large: Spain's private debt exceeds 300% of GDP, its banks are sitting on paper from a housing bubble many times worse than the US experienced, Spain is bankrupt and its banks suffered €70 billion in withdrawals in August. Spain is next.

Recurring Item: The government lied to us. Bush, in this instance. Lied about torturing people. Golly, gee.

WDJD? A piece of 4th century papyrus, written in ancient Coptic - the language of Egyptian Christians - quotes Jesus as referring to "my wife."

Porn O'Graph: The free-loaders.

 

Test pattern.