Friday, February 28, 2014

SAR #14059



Most of humanity is stuck with little to do other than complain or revolt. Demetrius.

Big Brother Is Watching, Too: NSA documents show that Great Britian's GCHQ – probably with NSA assistance – tapped into the webcam chats of millions of users. Do not be overly shocked when we learn that they have been remotely turning on your computer's camera whenever they like. Your cell phone has a camera, too.

Show & Tell: According to Bill O'Reilly, a woman can't become the leader of the free world because of a “gender deficiency.” 1) You gotta see the accompanying hand gesture, and 2) Don't tell Christine Lagarde.

Cheap, Very Cheap: Restaurants in Florida have begun adding a charge to diners' bills to cover the cost of their employees health insurance. Which tells you how little they pay the help and how little they think of you. Leave tips in cash.

Reminder: “Rome lived upon its principal till ruin stared it in the face. Industry is the only true source of wealth, and there was no industry in Rome. By day the Ostia road was crowded with carts and muleteers, carrying to the great city the silks and spices of the East, the marble of Asia Minor, the timber of the Atlas, the grain of Africa and Egypt; and the carts brought out nothing but loads of dung.”  The Martyrdom of Man by Winwood Reade.

Big Game: Maine Republican state representative Lawrence Lockman 'regrets saying' that as long as abortion is legal, it's open season for rape. 
 
Reality Check: Despite Republican s' belief, “Cutting state taxes to attract entrepreneurs is likely futile at best and self-defeating at worst.” Companies want to make money, not dodge taxes. In the last two years, the governors of KA, NC, & OH led their states to dramatically reduce income taxes in order to attract new firms. Too bad it didn't happen.

Naturally: The food industry is upset that new rules would require that 'serving size' actually be the size of a serving. They also are reluctant to tell you how much extra sugar they put in your food.

Protecting and Serving: In Midland, Texas the cops had a contest to see who could steal the most signs from the homeless. In South Carolina, a 70 year old man was shot to death for having a cane. Police in Houston,kicked a veteran with 23 years service out of a restuant because he had a service dog and wasn't blind, just incapacitated by PTSD. In King City, CA cops were impounding Latinos' cars and selling them to other cops. In Austin, TX a black man was arrested for being drunk even though his blood alcohol was 0.00. In San Francisco cops have been dealing drugs, stealing stuff and illegally searching hotel rooms. In Baltimore a man was arrested for filming a police arrest process. In New Jersey, just shut up and take the police abuse, or face charges from the DA for "filing a false complaint". 
 
Short Form: The IMF has suddenly decided that taxing the rich is a good idea.

Business As Usual: The Royal Bank of Scotland, over 80% government owned, lost £8.24bn last year and is paying out £588m in bonuses.

Lonely Hearts: NASA has identified 715 new planets orbiting 305 stars in our neighborhood. Four of these new planets are less than 2.5 times the size of Earth and orbit in their sun’s habitable zone, defined as the range of distance from a star where the surface temperature of an orbiting planet may be suitable for life-giving liquid water. If we ever get out of adolescence, maybe they'll contact us. 
 
The Parting Shot:
 Coney (Bicolor Phase). Cephalopholis fulvius.

2 comments:

don briois said...

One big problem is the incumbent wins 90% of the time, I think the game is rigged from top to bottom.

Charles Kingsley Michaelson, III said...

Only 90% of the time? I'd have thought 99% was more likely given the monetary advantages...

Of course the game is rigged; we can either play or try to set up a new game. It you think (as propaganda/indoctrination would have it)you can win, you buy a lottery ticket.

Lotteries are doing quite well, thank you.