Monday, December 23, 2013

SAR #13357



Let's just lower the eligibility age for Medicare to zero, like we should have long ago.

Foreplay: President Obama ordered "combat-ready" soldiers to South Sudan where growing violence is becoming all out civil war, a UN compound had been overrun, and the capital of the oil-rich Unity state has been taken by rebel troops. Several US aircraft were fired on and at least 4 US soldiers wounded. 
 
Spade, Spade: Syria's foreign minister notes that Saudi Arabia is its main enemy, set on destroying the Assad regime through support for the jihadist (al Qaeda, etc) rebels - and has been doing so for years. It's about religion, and pipelines.

Ah, An Explanation: Beer domesticated man.

Hard Place: Just as Italy's politcal leadership is beginning to understand that the country has had as much austerity as it can – or will – tolerate, the ECB tells them they “cannot afford any slippage on the public accounts,” and that more “labor market flexibility” is needed, which is to say that wages must be cut even more. Stay tuned.

Numbers, Acts: If we are to keep global climate change to a 2ºC, 80% of currently identified fossil fuel reserves must be left in the ground. Invest accordingly.

Ubiquity: New revelations document that NSA spying included (and includes): charities, Germans, the Israeli PM and the chief of the EU. Let's make it simple: The NSA has continually spied on everyone, all the while, and has for a long, long time. Because democracy...

Smooth: In the end, what is hiding behind the "labor market reforms" and further "wage moderation" being demanded of Madrid just might be the end of the reign in Spain.

Or, Just Because: The administration continues to maintain that Americans have no legal standing to challenge the NSA's 24/7 monitoring of citizens because the surveillance is secret and thus the citizens cannot prove they've been spied upon. Besides, the administration explains, the NSA's warrantless was “authorized” by President Bush back in 2001. There was no explanation, however, of how in the world any president could authorize violating the Constitution he had sworn to uphold and protect.

Serving & Protecting: The Salinas, CA police have received a $650,000, 16-ton armored war wagon from the Pentagon to be used in protecting officers from... 
 
Cashing In: In November, 42% of all residential sales were all-cash purchases by investors, up from October's 39%. But this trend may reverse quickly as the Fed begins tapering and asset prices begin to collapse without the Fed's constant puffing into the balloon. 
 
Spot Quiz: Pick one: a) We have the NSA on the run, or b) A much worse surveillance state is in the making.

Siren Song: "I think the priority for the country should be economic growth." And it will be, right to the very end, when everything's gone but the suffering.

The Parting Shot:
 Coimbra, Portugal's university city.

4 comments:

Demetrius said...

I like it, I like it. We were there camping in '77 almost months after the overthrow of Salazar. We bought a litre of sardines for five cents.

Anonymous said...

Ah, An Explanation: Beer domesticated man.

“The question is really a no-brainer,” McGovern writes. “If you had to choose today, which would it be: bread or beer?”

Well, actually, Mr. McGovern, it may be a brainer. No mention in the article of the ravages of alcoholism which affects millions of Americans. Two sobering facts about alcoholism:

"Approximately 14 million Americans--about 7.4 percent of the adult population--meet the diagnostic criteria for alcohol abuse or alcoholism.

The cost of untreated drug and alcohol abuse in the U.S. in a year is estimated at $276 Billion in lost productivity, law enforcement costs, health care and welfare programs."

More facts to put you on a bread diet:

http://www.alcohol-information.com/Alcohol_Statistics.html

By the way, you can get all that nutrition from other sources without the booze and unhealthy side effects of ingesting the drug, alcohol.

Lastly, one wonders who finances McGovern and his project. It would have been nice to see that financing also published.

TulsaTime said...

Hard to believe that there are local police departments that will still take those military surplus white elephants. They turn into parade pieces and financial sponges for departments unfortunate enough to take them.

What I have been reading over the weekend says climate change is going to be the end of human life. They don't qualify the statement anymore, what with the new data on methane releases being so much higher than estimated. The debate now is about tipping points and how rapid the climate could change. This is one area I would love the science to be wrong on, but that is not very likely at this point.

Charles Kingsley Michaelson, III said...

TT - I probably read the same article, but just in case, would you share an url with the rest of the class?