SAR #15066

They’re called “junk bonds” for a reason.

New And Improved: The crude oil tankers filled with crude from the Bakken shale that went off the rails and exploded in Galena, IL had been retrofitted to meet higher safety standards. Worked well. 
 
Good news: Unemployment at 5.5% is at its lowest in 7 years. The bad news is that the labor force participation rate is at its lowest ever. The claim is that 5.5% is “full employment”. Funny, I remember when full employment was 4% or less. But then I'm old and remember when our balance of payments was positive, unions were strong and neither supply side economics nor globalization had been foisted on us.

Right-To-Freeload: Wisconsin is about to become the 25th state to try to kill unions by strangling them financially with so-called right to work laws that encourage workers to freeload off the efforts of union members without paying union dues. I say, fine, as long as those who do not pay dues do not get to enjoy the fruits the dues-paying members of unions have won: the 8 hour day, overtime pay, health insurance, workers compensation, minimum wage, health and safety inspections... Because freeloading is an American tradition. 
 
Gone: There are now drones small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, and within a couple of years they'll be thought of as “medium” while the bumble bee sized ones put an end to the quaint pretense of personal privacy.

Junkyard Dogs: The Justice Department is coming down hard on Democratic Senator Robert Mendez of New Jersey (also see: Chrisite, Gov.) for various criminal corruption charges. Boy, he must have pissed off somebody real important, in that enriching yourself and your friends seems to be the only motive for going into politics these days. 
 
Poaching: The CIA says it is going to stop starting wars and overthrowing governments and concentrate more on “cyber ops”. The NSA has filed an injunction, claiming squatter's rights.

High and Dry: Ski resorts in the California mountains are resorting to man-made snow this winter, because the snowpack is only 25% of the historical average. And the snow that's not there now won't be there to melt in the spring and turn into water. And the drought goes on.

Shifty Christie: First, New Jersey, under Christie's tender attentions, settles an $8.9 billion environmental damage suit with ExxonMobil for a paltry $225 million, now Christie plans to shift that money from environmental remediation of the wetlands ExxonMobil destroyed to the general budget to cover corporate tax breaks.

War On Women: WV Republicans voted to override the governor's veto and pass a ban on abortion after the 20th week. Republicans in CO want the law to consider using an IUD a form of abortion, punishable by death or dismemberment. Elsewhere, Republican study groups are meeting to determine how many angels should be permitted to dance on the head of a contraceptive.

Chicken/Egg? It's the egg. “If a kangaroo laid an egg from which an ostrich hatched, that would surely be an ostrich egg, not a kangaroo egg. By this reasoning, the first chicken did indeed come from a chicken egg, even though that egg didn't come from chickens."

Porn O'Graph: Now on to 550ppm and doom!