Monday, July 27, 2015

SAR #15208


Just being right isn’t enough to change the world. Paul Krugman

Foreshadowing: “Why have we not learned from our history? I still rub my eyes in amazement: I would have thought that the Great Depression was a salient enough event in European history that we would not be making the same mistakes, exactly, again--and right now it looks like in what will turn out to be a more extreme way.” Brad DeLong.

Friends: The US is selling 355 air to ground missiles to Saudi Arabia, for delivery to Yemen.

'Outrageous': No one selling coffee and making donuts is worth $15 an hour, says Nigel Travis, CEO of Dunkin' Donuts. He does support a “living wage” of $12 and hour, he says. Too bad a living wage for a two-worker family with two kids requires each make $18.30 and hour. For a single mom with a couple of kids, more like $30 an hour. Mr Travis makes $5,000 an hour.

Correlation/Causation: Recent analysis suggests that the lower cost of eating provided by superstores and warehouse clubs, along with increasing numbers of restaurants serving enormous quantities of cheap calories are “leading drivers of the rise in obesity occurring since the early 1980s.” Will power, nah. They made me eat all that stuff.

Marking Time: Despite there being a 75% chance that drilling in the Arctic will result in a major oil spill within ten years, the Obama administration has told Shell to go for it. Because with oil at $50 a barrel and far too many barrels on the market, we need to drill, baby, drill.

Take Two and Die: Regarding Ibuprofen, Celebrex and Aleve - in case you missed the FDA announcement - “We know that the risk of heart attack and stroke may occur early in treatment, even in the first week…. There is no period of use shown to be without risk.”

Infectious Disease: Great Britain will soon begin letting corporations pay their way out of prosecution for all sorts of wrongdoing, misdemeanors and crimes – just like in the US. The Not So Serious Fraud Office (NSSFO) has said it expects to sign its first deals by the end of the year.

Bill of Wrongs: The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that Houston cannot ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity because in Texas fags don't got rights.

Reality Check: The US Secretary of State, a position still held by John Kerry despite Netinyahu's extreme displeasure, notes that if Israel blocks the Iran nuclear treaty in the US Senate, the world will rightly blame Israel. When did Israel get veto power in the Senate? How many generations of guilt does the US need to carry for something the Germans did?

Ignorance Is Bliss: There is no science (yet) that shows GMOs present any danger to the public, so the Republican-controlled House passed a bill preventing states from requiring products containing GMOs to say so on the label, because no Republican actually supports the idea of of an informed electorate. 
 
Double Date: Rick Perry says we should all be allowed to take our guns to the movies so we can take part in any shootout that might occur. 
 
Porn O'Graph: Energy in, prosperity out.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Regarding the pain relievers, headlines without actual stats to show how many by age group and other relevant factors are dangerous on average and the ranges serve well to sell papers and get links clicked but don't serve the public any better than those they accuse.

Charles Kingsley Michaelson, III said...

Anony 8.11 - Tell that to the FDA PR people, whose release has absolutely no actual data, which might lead one to believe that the warning is intended for a wide audience and not age/sex/etc specific. - ckm

kwark said...

RE "Ignorance is Bliss": Where does this sort of thing end? I'm waiting to see the law passed in Texas (or pick your favorite kleptocratic State House) that makes it illegal to know what bills the legislature is considering. Why not? Congress has already abrogated their responsibilities, giving authority to secret corporate tribunals.

RE "Double Date": I'm sure the movie theater companies would just love to see that bit of insanity come to fruition. The last thing they need is ANOTHER reason to avoid going to the movies!