SAR #15079

Every act has a context, so does every reaction.

 
Das Finger: The sociopaths at the tone-deaf European Central Bank opened its new €1.3 billion building this week, flaunting its presumed power even as the economy it is not-so-slowly ruining continued to rack up victims. What does a bank do that requires a €1.3 billion monument?

California Dreaming: With Sierra snowpack at 12%of normal, after last year's 28%, regulators have ordered the state's water agencies to restrict their customers' use of water on landscaping. California is also preparing a $1 billion plan to make the desert bloom again, make water appear from nowhere, and – for over $750 million of the fund – building “flood control structures” . And next year, how much? 
 
Clip And Save: The US EIA now says that oil production from the three largest US shale areas is now in decline. Because shale wells have very steep first year decline rates, the EIA expects that total US oil output will begin to decline in the third quarter and that global demand for petroleum products will grow by at least 2 million barrels per day by the 4th quarter.

Victory: In celebration of Netanyahu's re-election, Israel sent dozens of bulldozers and other military vehicles to an Arab village near Nablus, where they uprooted 300 olive trees and razed over 3 miles of stone walls. Israel has uprooted over 800,000 olive trees in the occupied territories since 1967.

Tribute: In a moving tribute to Texans right to shoot whenever, whomever and wherever, the Republican-controlled Texas Senate has passed the Whitman Act which would encourage the carrying of guns on college campuses, buildings and towers. 
 
Flocking Around: State health and safety officials from MN to AR are going farm-door to farm-door, issuing quarantines in an attempt to stop the largest outbreak on record of bird-flu in the US – without upsetting the massive and massively profitable poultry industry.

Equal But Separate: Texas, leading yet another display of righteous idiocy, is suing the US Labor Department in an attempt to keep same-sex couples from taking family medical leave, because gays shouldn't be allowed to take time off to care for their sick children. 
 
About That Bridge in Selma: A 54 year old black man has been found hanged from a tree in Claiborne County, Missippi. Next door in Tennessee, the Baptists have put up a sign reminding us that “Satan was the first to demand equal rights.” At Fort Wainwright, Alaska, the US Army's 21st Infantry Regiment gives soldiers permission to use racial slurs without fear of consequences on “Racial Thursdays”. 
 
On Getting That Education: After adjusting for inflation, surveys show that only 36% of college grads have jobs that pay at least $45,000, a sharp decline from the 1990s. Over 20% of young people make below $25,000 a year, far lower than in 1990. It's one hell of a recovery.

Ready, Set... The inestimable Louie Gohmert (Irrational, TX) says “It’s time to bomb Iran.” Well, at least we spelled his name right, which seems to be what he was after. Again.

Evidence: All those in favor of profit-driven charter schools say “The Walmart Waltons!”, say “Bill Gates!” say “Hedge Funders!” Now say goodbye and go away.