SAR #13112

We are constantly figuring out new ways to bring on the apocalypse.

Debate? What Debate? When we decide that the accused is not worthy of his civil rights because he is a terrorist who planted a bomb that killed and maimed, we have already convicted him. What do they plan to do, waterboard him and then read him his rights? It's a rush to judgment, and an embarrassment to those few in this country who still cling to the idea of justice.

Lockstep: The über conservative Koch brothers are said to be intent on buying The LA Times , The Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun and The Orlando Sentinel, as well as smaller newspapers that operate in key battleground states for presidential elections, building a print version of Fox, another arm of the right's propaganda machine. This is a far greater threat to our democracy than a couple of bombs in Boston.

Quoted: “The events of the past week in Boston do not vindicate the rise of the Homeland Security bureaucracy and certainly do not vindicate the stripping of our liberties, the shutting down of a major city, or the instantiation of a police state. But they certainly affirm the future as it was perceived by Orwell.”

Dissembling: It's true, climate scientists are misrepresenting their data; they are understating the dangers. “It is difficult to envisage anything other than a deliberately planned economic recession being compatible with 2°C, 3°C and increasingly 4°C futures.” It seems we are going to hell in a handcart – and fast!

Spade, Spade: Americans are already the most spied upon people in history. And following Boston it will become even more-so, and gladly, as politicians and the security state use the drama to enlarge their intrusion into our daily lives.

Briefly: Low defense spending is killing America, we need a new war. A dramatic 15% drop in government spending has dragged the economy to a near standstill. Defense outlays were cut 22.2%. WWII got us out of the Great Depression, and think where we'd be today without the Iraq/Afghan War. America needs a new war or capitalism dies, and Syria's just not big enough, thus the saber rattling over Iran and North Korea. Its our patriotic duty to attack someone, soon.

Asked & Answered: “How much should we trust economics?” How much you got?

Europe in Briefs: European leaders have too much ego and too much of their power and prestige tied up with the success (sic) of the euro to ever admit that it has been a failure. Even after it collapses its backers will insist that it was Europe and the Europeans who failed and not the euro. The euro has always been a disaster waiting to happen, and the austerity being enforced in a failing attempt to stop the inevitable will give birth to social unrest, which will give rise to pressure to leave the euro, which eventually will happen – probably as suddenly as the collapse of the Soviet Union, if not even more precipitously and most likely with greater social upheaval.

Asked: Why does America lose its head over 'terror' but ignore its daily gun deaths?

Down & Down It Goes: The federal deficit continues to shrink; revenues are higher than expected, spending lower. Estimates for the FY2013 deficit have dropped from $900 billion (5.6% of GDP) to $775 billion, dropping to $475 billion (2.7% of GDP) in FY2015. Now if we can keep the zealots from imposing even more unnecessary austerity and do something about the real problem - unemployment.

Classy: If you want to improve your financial acumen, don't take personal finance classes, study math.

All Clear: Sure you've lost a third of your assets in the commodity crash, but don't chicken out now – now's the time to jump into the market “because economic growth in China will keep driving demand for everything from oil to metals,” says a broker who makes a living selling you stuff... His message is in your inbox, addressed to Bigger Fool.

Porn O'Graph: Overcoming the blues.

The Parting Shot:

Senecio glabellus. Butterweed.