Monday, January 18, 2016

SAR #16018


Is the drop in the value of oil a diagnostic marker similar to a sudden severe drop in blood pressure?
Trump This: Donald says he is “self-funding” his entire campaign for dictator president although he has only put up $100,000 of his own money so far – while an aviation company he owns has been paid $723,000 so far by his campaign – which reports $4 million in contributions so far. He seems unclear on the distinction between self-funding and funding himself.
The Choice: Clinton: Settle for what the Republicans will give us. Sanders: Work for what we know right.
The Slide: For those following along at home, the Atlanta Fed's guess about the US Q4GDP growth has declined from 2.9% (Nov 2015) to today's 0.6%.
Off-Brand: While we were watching the daily gyrations of the Dow 30 and S&P 500, the Russel 2000 has fallen 23% from its peak. So far.
The Peacemaker: Explaining that the new regulations were a health and safety measure and had nothing to do with any religion or religious practice, Benjamin Netanyahu is calling for a complete ban on the "unbearable noise" Imams make when calling the faithful to prayer.
Understatement: “Small oil price declines may be expansionary through usual channels, but really big declines set in motion a process of forced deleveraging among producers that can be a significant drag on the world economy.”
Closer To Home: PM David Cameron has authorized an investigation into the funding and other support various domestic extremist and jihadi groups have received from Saudi Arabia. It was fine for the Saudis to bankroll ISIS, but blowing up Bloomsbury is a bit cheeky.
Quoted: “The world is full of nations and rulers that are fighting for bare survival. And things like that don’t play out on a short term basis.”
Tell Me Again About The March of Civilization: Pakistan has ruled that banning child marriage would be “blasphemous” and “anti-Islamic”. For several months before the media brought it to our attention, the UN was aware of the mass starvation being forced on the people of Madaya by the Assad regime. Gang rape, torture and mass killings have become common in Burundi as law and order collapses. Kuwait Airlines is abandoning its NY to London route because it might have to fly an Israeli. Al-Qaida, in an attempt to regain some relevance, has attacked a hotel in Burkina Faso, killing at least 20, to no particular end. And the world's 62 richest people hold as much wealth as the poorest 3,500,000,000 of us mere mortals.
Rewrite: Tyler Cowen's essay, Can economics change your mind? would have been of more interest if he'd asked “Can economists change their minds?”
Mulligan: A week ago the Dallas Fed met with banksters and told them they didn't have to mark their heavily impaired energy-sector loans and investments “to market” because that would make the banks look weak and the Fed foolish. Is that sound I hear a domino falling?
Choice Multiples: The US explained that two of its small naval craft ventured into Iranian territorial waters due to (1) Iranian aggression, (2) unspecified mechanical failure, (3) “inadvertently drifted into Iranian waters, (4) navigation errors, (5) all of the above, one after the other.
Huh? The self-centered and essentially clueless Uber passenger who was videoed committing the crime of assault and battery is now suing the driver for $5 million for recording the crime. His lawyer probably offices with the bunch that think they can copyright the names of our national parks.
The Parting Shot: 
 

5 comments:

mistah charley, ph.d. said...

thanks for the link to bernie's "medicare for all" brochure

who knows what the future holds of marvel or surprise?

Gegner said...

Tell Me: Bad enough the 'I need my own planet' crowd is quick to tell the rest of us what displeases them but worse is how they figure, since they're here, this planet must be THEIRS!

Leaving the rest of us in the indefensible position of 'trespassers'.

Do you think the 'self-entitled' will find a police force to remove the 'intruders'?

Sort of redefines the term 'money-motivated', doesn't it?

kwark said...

RE "Huh?": Sadly, that's the sort of thing that passes for "logic" in Trump's universe. Not to mention the direction various state governments are going with laws that ban photographing the poor folks who just happen to be violating environmental regulations.

Anonymous said...

Is the future looking Pinker? Steven Pinker has an interesting book, but one wonders if the line Steven draws will continue on the same slope. In the past technology has mostly served to disrupt the power of elite, whether it was the cross-bow in China or the printing press in the West. Now it's a race between the power to liberate and the power to control. China just opened it's first factory for clones in Tianjin. I suspect we may be heading for an inflection point. The question may become are human cattle at peace in a factory better than a messy, violent world?

D. George said...

"For several months before the media brought it to our attention, the UN was aware of the mass starvation being forced on the people of Madaya by the Assad regime."
You betray your biased ignorance of events in Syria.