Saturday, April 11, 2015

SAR #15101



Police forces throughout the country, responding to charges of racial prejudice, have pledged to shoot more white people.

Set 'Em Up Again, Charlie: The FBI has cracked another FBI-originated plan to attempt to set off a fake bomb at a time and place of their choosing. The dupe this time was a 20 year old Kansan that the Bureau had been manipulating for over a year. 
 
New Indoor Record: Student loan debt in the US has now reached $1.2 trillion – most of which will never be paid back. 
 
Inertia: In the first two months of 2015, sales of durable goods in the US fell the most since 2009. As demand weakened, manufacturers' inventories have grown to a six-year high. Metals, machinery and professional equipment such as computers are among the products sitting in warehouses waiting for buyers. Expect widespread factory slowing until sales pick up enough to move the excess off the shelves. The strong dollar isn't helping, either. 
 
Where's The Mirror? Obama has taken China to task for using its size and power to “force other counties into subordinate positions.” That, he said, was the perogative of the United States. 
 
Hot Enough For Ya? California's last 12 months of drought is without precedent since at least 1895. Ditto the year before that. And the one before that, too. Tree-ring records show it is the worst drought in over a thousand years. The last year was 2.5°C above the states 20th century average, which doesn't sound bad until you learn that globally the difference between the hottest year on record (2014) and the coldest one (1911) is less than that. The IPCC predicts that the conditions in California now will become the norm for most of us before the end of the century. This isn't the end. This is just the beginning. It's going to get worse, and not just in the Southwest.

Happier Birthday To Me: Jason Lee, then the managing director of Goldman Sachs’ convertible bond banking branch, didn't understand that the perks that come with being one of the Masters of the Universe did not include being able to rape an Irish tourist just because it was his birthday.

Out The Window: Amsterdam's red-lit window brothels are being closed, much to the dismay of the city's 7,000 sex workers who say they are losing safe places to ply their legitimate profession. First they closed most of the marijuana shops and now this! 
 
Taking It Easy: Financial managers handling the NYC Pension Fund's $160 billion nest egg – 80% of which is held in ordinary stocks and bonds – have paid themselves a bit over $2 billion in the last ten years while passing on $40 million to the employee fund. 
 
Porn O'Graph: We are there.

5 comments:

Gegner said...

The litany of woe grows longer while those responsible for the carnage flaunt their 'above the law' status.

I preach to the choir when I share the observation that the destruction of our civilization proceeds 'on schedule'.

Anonymous said...

Charles,
I love daily summary of news to know, with your short humorous summaries. Thanks for your daily work.
As pessimistic as I feel sometimes when reading what's happening, I'm always on the lookout for some good news.
Re: the drought in CA: recent reports show weather patterns in the Pacific have changed drastically (some attribute the rapid change to massive Cyclone Pam which destroyed Vanuatu). Looks like maybe a return of a strong El Nino, which historically has provided much needed moisture to the west coast.
Here's hoping they get some relief.

Charles Kingsley Michaelson, III said...

Anony1006 - I don't know whether I'm in favor of some relief for California or not. Too many people in a place with too little water - in the long run it was always going to turn our badly; now the long run is much shorter.

As for an increase in the El Nino rains, as I understand the science, the warming of the Arctic has so decreased the temperature gradient between the Arctic and the temperate regions that there is a good chance that the El Nino rains will sweep northward towards Canada and away from southern and mid-California.

As for the daily parade of the puss and pockmarks of our society, some days - no, most days, I take notes on what the cops and the surveillance state are doing to us and then, in despair, chuck 'em. Only occasionally do I get so frustrated that I compile a paragraph of outrages...

Anonymous said...

On Obama & China, is it not ripe that Henry "Everything that flies on Everything that Moves" Kissinger is still not only running free in both Capitals, but is still an in demand corporate fixer.

Both countries are moving as fast as they can to Mussolini's version of corporatism, with a sprinkle of Adolf's gangsterism sprinkled on top for extra flavour.

Charles Kingsley Michaelson, III said...

Well, now that you mention it..