Saturday, December 12, 2009

SAR #9347/Weekender

It's time to change the rules.

Jolted:   The BLS JOLT report says there continue to be six unemployed workers for every job opening. This ratio has remained unchanged since last March, which suggests that the recovery is just a stock market phenomenon having nothing to do with actual jobs.

Monroe, Updated:   Hillary has reminded Latin America that they'd best be quiet and stay in line, or we won't buy their bananas.

Missing the Point:   A lot of attention is being drawn to the fact that Cap & Trade will end up causing higher energy bills, which would force Americans to cut back on their energy use. I thought that was the whole purpose. Senator Cantwell has a interesting proposal where the government sells industry progressively fewer “permits” to spew CO2 and returns the money to the citizenry. However, this would eliminate Wall Street's ability to get richer off CO2 control and thus doesn't stand a chance.

Suggestion:   Why don't we give simply give Afghanistan $100 billion and go home? Okay, so we don't get Condi's pipeline; we're not going to anyway.

Pandering:   According to Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), a fair trial is “a right reserved for American citizens” and terrorists have no a trial in court, giving them a trial in open court would “place our national security at risk.” Reps. Trent Franks (R-AZ), Steve King (R-IA), and Sue Myrick (R-NC) say the American system of justice is too weak to try and convict terrorist and that a sketch artist might draw a picture of a suspect in a courtroom and use it for propaganda purposes.

Surfeit:   There are some dreadful provisions hidden in the Health Insurance Profitability Assurance Act, but I've given up caring.

VooDoo Science:   Pemex reports that it pumped 5.7% less oil in October than the previous year. It claims, however, that the six-year drop in output has reached a "floor" and production will gradually recover during the next three years. The science behind this amazing projection was not disclosed.

Merry Shopping Holiday:   Retailers can look forward to a sales boost from the 4.8 million US households that are three or more months behind in their mortgage payments, which is adding about $5 billion a month to discretionary cash flow.

Rosy Fingered Dawn:   Surprise, the House has passed a derivatives regulation act which was drawn up with the advice and consent of lobbyists for derivatives traders. It admonishes them strongly to “be careful.' Golly gee, just as health care charade will end up increasing health care insurance profits. I'd like to own the Trojan Horse concession on Capitol Hill.

Climate Change Humor:   Reports claim the nations gathered in Copenhagen will agree to reduce their CO2 emissions by 50% from 1990 levels in the next 40 years.

What's in a name?   The MSM is shocked to learn that Blackwater mercenaries took part in CIA-led secret raids. When are they going to recognize that Blackwater is, has been and probably always was an operational arm of the CIA?

Pure In Heart and Thought and Deed:   Google's CEO doesn't understand the uproar over the detailed monitoring his company routinely undertakes. “If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.”

Rounding Down:   The average – and I mean average in every way: mean, median and mode – US drone air stirke in Afghanistan kills 30 citizens fighting to evict an invader insurgents. Not 29, not 31.

Admiration:   Any rant against the duplicitous deficit hawks who voted for Bush's tax cuts and the GOP's dramatically unfunded prescription bill deserves reading. One that includes as its entire 8th point “Joe Lieberman.” has got to be admired.

Say Goodnight, Gracie:   Taking no chances, specially trained British counter-terrorism police officers are monitoring 4 year old nursery school children for signs of brainwashing by Islamist extremists.

Porn O'Graph: No credit means no small businesses means no jobs.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Another Suggestion: Would some expert please write about how the US Occupation of Afghanistan relates to the PIPELINE? Is it or is it not about the PIPELINE? And, if so, then all else, Karzai, tribes, etc. is totally irrelevant. If the US thinks it will control the region with a PIPELINE then that is the Strategy. Within that, it is then about controlling the territory necessary to build and guard the PIPELINE. The rest of the geography is then irrelevant and unnecessary. Think Palestine or Panama Canal. The Israelis will probably get the Walls Contract.

Same thing for IRAQ, all about the OIL who controls it, who develops it and who gets the $$$$ (or SDR) selling it.

Anonymous said...

I find it fascinating that most of the same folks who bitterly objected to the use of torture and have vociferously defended the use of civilian courts to try terrorists captured on foreign soil have nonetheless been:

1. subdued or silent about the collateral civilian casualties related to the drone strikes,

2. tolerant of the assassination of similar "criminals" without a trial, and

3. (when they do criticize these acts) reluctant to invoke Obama's name, instead attributing the policies to the Pentagon, Gates and/or the military leaders in the field.

Nuance, I'm sure.

Anonymous said...

Please explain or discredit this, which provides some much needed perspective on the current warming period.

http://theautopsy.wordpress.com/2009/12/11/more-fallout-from-climategate/

If accurate, what's the big deal?

kwark said...

Anonymous #2: Regarding your question #3 - could be due either to embarrassment or hypocrisy. But those failures don't make torture "work" or absolve us of it's immorality nor do they negate the arguments for the use of domestic courts over so-called military justice. So what's your point?

Anonymous said...

It's proof positive that the entire torture blow up is nothing more than business as usual in Washington.