Saturday, September 20, 2014

SAR #14261


What is it that the government is afraid we'll do if we are left unsupervised?
 
Scottish Upset: The historic Royal and Ancient Golf Club in St. Andrews, Scotland has voted to admit women to the club for the first time.

A Losing Bet: Shale fracking shares certain similarities with the subprime mortgage market just before everything went South. Drillers are having to borrow to pay for exploration needed to offset the steep production declines in wells they haven't yet paid for. Lots of loans are being made to folks who are spending more than they make and are not going to be able to pay back the loans – even while they'll have to come begging for more. It is a self-inflicted Ponzi scheme that depends on magical thinking to justify continuing the dance. 
 
Fun With Math: By averaging the net worth of Wall Street bankers, Warren Buffet and Bill Gates with the rest of us, the Federal Reserve discovered that household net worth had increased in the second quarter. Particularly for folks with a lot of money in the stock market.

What Did You Know And When Did You Know It? Both NFL and Baltimore Ravens top executives learned, in detail, about Ray Rice assaulting his then-fiancée within hours of it happening – seven months before a publicity leak forced them to do something other than cover it up. 
 
Half A Loaf: US officials continue to assure Europe that it does not spy on them and anyway if it accidentally did it isn't spying on them as much as it used to.

DIY: Home Depot, do-it-yourself and save money place, apparently was doing it themselves over in the accounting department, where their antique Windows XPe system gave up personal data on 56 million of their customers. 
 
Old Yeller: For the 21st consecutive month, Caterpillar has posted declining global retail sales. Seem's no one is doing the heavy lifting.

Protecting & Serving: In Canada, taking a picture of oil storage tanks makes you a terrorist, while in the US taking a picture of police making arrests (which is absolutely legal, but can be injurious to your health) can get you arrested. If you make fun of public officials, they can send SWAT teams to break into your house and search the place. And if you get stopped by a cop, remember, he has a taser and you don't. 
 
Bad Hair Days: Donald Trump's Soho apartment/hotel development is being foreclosed on – two thirds of the units are vacant. Anybody recall the last time a Trump project didn't defraud investors and go bankrupt?

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