Tuesday, June 16, 2015

SAR #15167



Capitalism was founded on growing supplies of cheap fossil fuels. Euan Mearns

Ends/Means: A US “counter terrorism” airstrike killed a purported al-Qaeda leader... or was he ISIS? - in Libya. The airstrike was, of course, another illegal act of war by the US, but what the hey, it was in a good cause, right? Besides, no women or children were reported to have been accidentally slaughtered. But then again, the report didn't use the words “surgical” or “pin-point” either.

Rules Is Rules: The CIA's own reports on its torture program not only violated all the rules of civilized behavior, but seems to have broken the agency's own rules on human experimentation – especial the one about not getting caught.

Drip, Drip, Drip: The latest WikiLeaks released TPP documents detail how signatory nations will be forced to give up their sovereignty in matters of health and will be required to submit their national health programs to review and will be required to explain and defend the plans treatment of various pharmaceuticals. They will also be required to reduce the number of subsidies for both medicines and medical equipment, extend patent periods, and discourage or eliminate generic versions of drugs – especially those harmful to medical industry profits. 
 
Mirror, Mirror: UNESCO representatives say the destruction of Yemeni heritage by Saudi Arabia is akin to what we are seeing in Iraq and Syria and nearly as bad as the looting allowed in Baghdad by Bush/Rumsfeld in 2003.

A Sound Decision: The Supremes have overturned the North Carolina anti-abortion law requiring doctors to perform unnecessary ultrasounds and to describe in lurid and not particularly accurate detail what the image showed. This law has been copied in several other troglodytic states and the decision effectively overturns those laws.

Endgame For Glyphosate? Citing the WHO decision identifying Roundup Weed Killer (glyphosate) as “a probable carcinogen”, France has banned over the counter sales of the poison. Monsanto's human trials of the product are still underway in the United States, where the cost/benefit ratio between killing weeds and killing humans has not been established.

Student Union: What if all the young people who were suckered into undischargable debt while obtaining an essentially useless degree bonded together and decided that they would not, not a single one of them, repay the enormous debts they were conned into? Just walking off from $1.3 trillion. What little they learned, they learned, and the diploma itself is not doing them a bit of good.

Economic Shortcut: There is a discussion underway way concerning what assumptions matter for “Growth Theory.” Well, the first one is that perpetual growth is possible, which should pretty much end the discussion.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Student Union: Obama and the rest of the Republican party would pass legislation insuring that the IRS collects those debt, and the interest and penalties upon them.

The two Republican candidate twins, Hil/Jeb will get it passed if Obama doesn't have enough time left in office.
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/hillary-clinton-education-jeb-bush-event-104950.html

kwark said...

RE "Student Union": Americans these days don't seem capable of such a coordinated effort. Might happen if our friends in Congress and the White House made military service mandatory for student loan defaulters. Especially if, as is likely, we start another blood bath somewhere and need fresh cannon fodder.