Monday, June 8, 2015

SAR #15159



 
Erdoğan Erdogone? Prime Minister For Life Recep Erdoğan's AKP has lost its majority in the parliament after 13 years of unopposed single party rule, thwarting Erdoğan's attempt to rig the re-writing of the Turkish Constitution to let him assume a nearly dictatorial presidency. International observers who reported election fraud were escorted from polling places at gunpoint, but the overwhelming rejection of Erdoğan was unstoppable. Now the country faces a period of uncertainty as Erdoğan attempts to circumvent the will of the people. 
 
Follow The Bouncing Ball: FIFA votes were not just sold for cash, although at $7 to $10 million a vote it does add up, but when Germany wanted to host the 2006 World Cup, it bought the Saudi vote with a sizeable arms shipment, while Bayer and VW promised Thailand and South Korea increased investment. Germany won the vote, 12 to 11 with one abstention.

Finely Pointed: A new report claims that 60% of China's underground water supply is “unfit for human contact.” Not consumption, contact.

Priorities: The Air Force is due to let a contract in August for 100 new bombers “at a cost of no more than $550 million” each. Can't we find a better use for $55 billion? Oh, sure, the planes will have a part or two manufactured in every Congressional District in the country, but is that a good enough reason? Yep.

Situational Ethics: Religious leaders, who are generally opposed to letting American women have the option of an abortion even in the case of rape or incest, want the US to pay for “safe abortions” for those raped by terrorists groups such as ISIS and Boko Haram. 
 
Friends: The supreme court of our good friend Saudi Arabia has upheld a sentence of 1,000 lashes and 10 years imprisonment for blogger Raif Badawi. Various factions in the US are envious and Obama remains mum.
 
Train Spotting: Chinese hackers are accused of at least three “huge security breaches” - the “most significant” in history - that have garnered “a treasure trove” of information on millions of Americans. The NSA, which thought that stripping Americans naked was its prerogative, is upset. 
 
Getting That Education: This year's college graduates, as they look around for a job, any job, please a job, can look back knowing that the past four years of an overpriced “education” bought on credit has failed to deliver on its promise - an excellent preparation for the world outside of college.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Remember that old elementary school experiment with turning a potato into a battery? There's enough cadmium in most veggies in the PRC to turn them into rechargeable batteries.

Dad0Seven said...

Sounds like the sparkly diploma was perfect preparation for a real world that's over-priced, under-paid and underwater (or soon to be) in more ways than one...