Economists,
politicians and talking heads never point out the obvious: there are
just too damned many people and that getting rid of about half of
them would go a long way to solving most of our problems; 70% would
be better.
Rerun:
Turkey has invaded Iraq again, fourth time in twenty years. Chasing
the same bunch of PKK “terrorists” - this time it's because the
Kurds are beating up on Turkey's buddies in ISIS. The Turks will
wander around for a while, declare victory and go home. It's all
scripted.
Noted:
“The
relentless, if zigzag, rise in financial markets for the past 150
years has been sustained by cheap fossil fuels and a benign climate.
We
cannot count on either from here on out...”
Coming
Attraction:
Ted Cruz, having accomplished absolutely nothing with his 2013 shut
down of the federal government, plans to reprise the role this fall,
as he targets Planned Parenthood
for providing medical care and assistance to women. They haven't got
the votes to achieve anything, but that's not where Cruz is looking
for votes.
Public
Service: The
Philippines will roll out free nationwide Wi-Fi service next year.
Too bad the US can't afford to provide such an essential service to
its citiens – but profits beat people any day in the USA.
Confound
Interest: In
the last 35 years, the average worker has seen an 11% increase in
wages. The average CEO has earned a 997% increase in pay. Well,
“earned” might not be the right word...
Ihre
Papiere
Bitte:
A federal judge has ruled that people living in, or passing through,
Arizona must
keep
with
them at all times their citizenship papers and an internal passport,
with appropriate permissions and stamps, and must
produce them to any law enforcement or right wing citizen guard on
demand.
Fly
On The Wall:
Among the delights of the next decade, if not next year or possibly
next month, to go along with GPS tracking sales people, plumbers and
delivery vans, will be supervisory drones flying over worksites
sending back live videos of workers at work. Or goofing off.
Whichever.
Coin
Toss: Credit
Suisse is challenging a court order requiring the giant bank to pay a
hedge fund operated by Highland Capital Management $287.5 million for
shady dealings during the housing bubble fee-for-all. It's hard to
pick a side.
Asked
& Answered:
“Can the world find $14 a day to feed Syrian refugees?” Nope,
all our spare cash is tied up in bombs and drones, making refugees.
Propotion:
There are about 500 million people in the EU. If they were to
accept half a million a year for ten years, the asylum seekers would
makeup 1% of the continents population. Intolerable. Worse than the
damned Greeks.
A
Carefully Chosen Fate:
“The Fed is shooting
itself
in the foot if it
tries to make the case
that raising rates is a good idea because the economic recovery is so
great that it is time to start worrying about inflation. No one is
going to believe that... And it will be especially hard to maintain
that story when the economy craters again, even if they try to blame
it all on China, or whatever else is handy.”
If
A, Then B: The
states with the most stringent gun laws have the fewest gun-related
deaths.
Porn
O'Graph:
Credit where credit's not due.
