SAR #12283

When anything goes, nothing matters.

Faster, Harder: ECB's Draghi says that the Greek camel must carry more straw.

A Disturbance In The Force: Last week a single high speed trading program accounted for 4% of all stock market trading volume, apparently in a trial run at gaming the system to mislead other HST computers and then take advantage of them. All in far less than the blink of an eye.

Littler Birds: Homeland Security plans to add “hand launched” drones to further monitor Americans every move - “for public safety.”

Fish In A Barrel: What are the odds that the same type of market manipulation (and manipulators) behind rigging the LIBOR settings for years and years have also been rigging the prices on crude oil markets?

Plan Accordingly: A nationwide strike has been called for Portugal in mid-November, to protest - and prevent - the government's new austerity measures which mostly deal with raising taxes directly through an 'extraordinary' levy and indirectly by consolidating the 8 existing tax brackets into 5.

Predictable: Beginning in 2014, the Affordable Care Act will require that employers provide “affordable health insurance” to employees working 30 or more hours a week. Darden (Olive Garden & Red Lobster) and White Castle, among others, have already said they will cut as many employees as possible to a maximum of 28 hours a week.

Citizenship Lessons: In San Antonio, TX, middle schoolers wear badges with RFID chips in them, which lets the school track them, 24/7. The school justifies it by explaining it teaches the kids responsibility for later on in the real world where “they are going to be tracked 24/7, too. have to be accountable.

Tastes Vary: In London, a Rothko painting was vandalized.

Briefly: "It is laughable that leaders of a country that recently led us into an unplanned war, doesn’t plan for the solvency of a healthcare system for our elderly and our poor, and not only doesn’t plan for, but also demonizes, scientific evidence that shows our changing climate will destroy us all, would think they have some moral or legal authority to decide how a woman should deal with an unplanned pregnancy."

True & Truer:In Arkansas, Republican state representive Jon Hubbard claims that slavery was a “blessing in disguise” for blacks. Worse, Representative Paul Broun (R-GA), who sits on the House Science Committee says that evolution is nothing but “lies straight from the pit of hell.” He is unopposed for re-election this fall, which is also straight from the pit of hell.

Trend Spotting: The Patriot Act, No Child Left Behind, Iraq... Iran? Bipartisanship doesn't seem to have much to recommend it.

Towards Religous Warfare: Twenty percent of Americans – and a third of adults under 30 – have no religious affiliation and only 48% of US adults claim to be Protestants (the non-denominational mega-church circuses are not considered Protestant). More importantly, those who claim no religious affiliation vote Democratic while the religious are overwhelmingly Republican.

Older Age: Romney intends to raise the Social Security eligibility age even beyond the age 67 that's already baked in – 70 is going to be the new 65 because, all the rich white folks Romney knows live to be87 or so and enjoy not working for a living. Meanwhile, clerks at the grab and run and Walmart die off a lot younger and will be less of burden on the system. In Romney's view, if you live longer and aren't rich, you should work longer. Funny how that works out.

The Parting Shot:

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I'm ready for my close-up...