SAR #9084

This crisis isn't about the economy, or even money -

it's about power.

Rhetorical Question: Not asked on last night's Obama Hour: "According to two Nobel-Prize winning economists, your Treasury Secretary's plan is flawed and will not work. Why are you and your economic advisers pandering to the Wall Street cronies that got us into this mess?"

Knight of the Living Dead: There's nothing wrong with the financial system, there are no bad assets, the problem is simply a complete lack of confidence in the system. So the administration says. They don't mention the growing lack of confidence in the administration.

Agent Orange, The Sequel: Vegetation along the US - Mexican border plants will be biochemically killed off in order to reveal illegal immigrants smugglers who will be killed off.

Spade, Spade: Much to the dismay of Big Coal, the auto makers and 97.2% of Republicans, the EPA has asked th e White House to bless classifying carbon dioxide as the pollutant it is a danger to public health subject to strict emission controls.

Quoted: "Everything that we're doing right now is engineered to avoid reality..."

Here to help...? The 'net is full of reports that the Treasury will seek ever wider powers to take over larger and larger sections of the economy. This is, of course, another Bad Idea. But don't worry, at the rate they've taken over AIG, Citigroup and BofA , the power won't be used.

Size Matters: North Korea says it does not understand on what basis the US and Japan can presume to tell it not to launch a communications satellite. "Because we're bigger" is the answer.

We're Saved: . The great green miracle works like this: we turn the planet's surface into charcoal.

Technical Knockout: Let me be the first to tell my son the engineer that scientists on the Lohafex project (putting iron filings into the ocean to stimulate algae growth which in turn would gobble up CO2 from the air) report that little, if any, extra CO2 was taken up. Maybe technology isn't going to save us this time.

The Lazarus Project: US Navy researchers claim to have experimentally confirmed detecting "compelling evidence that (cold) fusion reactions are occurring" at room temperature.

Trade-offs: The WTO foresees a 9% decline in global trade this year, with the downturn striking developed countries far more than developing countries. China's exports dropped 26% in February, YoY. Global industrial output in 2009 is predicted to fall 15%.

Keeping It Real: Moody's reports US commercial real estate prices have fallen nearly 20% in the last year.

Just Wondering... With all the money (not to mention countries) floating around in the care of narco-traffickers, how much of it goes through Citi or Barclays on a daily basis? Did AIG write insurance on their shipments?

Pick the Date, Win Whatever... The government's chief scientist, John Beddington, says a "perfect storm" of food shortages, scarce water and high-cost energy will join with accelerating climate change and lead to public unrest, border conflicts, and mass migrations before 2030. How much before 2030?

Porn O'Graph: After 3 years of drought in California, water is now a cash crop.