Remember, Uncle Sam bailed out Wall Street, not vice versa. Edward Sidle.
Sound and Flurry: President Obama has kicked off a PR campaign to return the focus to jobs and the economy by spending billions on improving US infrastructure (and take it off his plans to chip away at Social Security). Nice speech. Pretty words. Looked sincere. Don't hold your breath – where's he getting the money?
Once More: Yet another major study has concluded there is no link between vaccination and autism. None. Nada. Get your kid immunized today. No excuses.
Shrinkage: Increasing domestic energy consumption in Saudi Arabia will reduce the amount of petroleum available for export by 3 million barrels a day by 2020. That's a 30% reduction in their exports. By the same date, Chinese petroleum consumption is expected to increase by 6 million barrels a day. Where are the replacements for these 9 million barrels going to come from? And don't say “from the US oil shale bonanza”, for by 2017 the US will max out in production and begin to decline. Mark your calendar, and get ready – the impact on the US economy will be... inconvenient.
The Good Life, Allegedly: Median household income in the US, adjusted for inflation, has dropped 8.4% since January 2000. The average real disposable income is lower today than it was in 2006.
Dick & George's Excellent Adventure: The unnecessary wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost the US over $2 trillion thus far, and will ultimately cost about $6 trillion. Plus the death and injury of our soldiers and their civilians. And most of the oil is going to go to China, anyway.
Interdependent Independence: In January, US net oil imports jumped 20% m/m.
Get Out Of Trial Free: The Monsanto Protection Provision of the Agricultural Appropriations Act, which protects producers of genetically modified seeds from litigation, was introduced anonymously to the appropriations bill. Secretly. Now, along with not permitting customers to know if they are being sold frankenfoods, the makers get a free pass for any health damage their tinkering with Mother Nature causes.
Overnight: United Parcel Service has 'agreed' to pay $40 million for door-to-door deliveries of illegal drugs ordered from online pharmacies.
The Way of the World: Lanny Breuer, former head of the DOJ's Criminal Division, under whose watch absolutely no Wall Street biggies were investigated for anything, much less tried, has accepted a job with the Wall Street law firm of Covington & Burling for $4 million a year. Moving forward, he expects to counsel the same Wall Street biggies on their bribery, money laundering, export control, securities fraud and whistle blower cases.
Untold Riches: Total,Europe's third largest oil company, has managed to lose $1.65 billion on its Canadian oil-sands project. Cornucopia is not what it used to be.
When You're Right... Predictions made back in 1996 by climate scientists have been remarkably accurate, and there is every reason to expect similar accuracy in their frightening predictions for 15 and 30 and 60 years from now. The climate change now underway is “largely irreversible for 1000 years.” Merely to slow it enough to limit it to a 2ºC rise requires “an immediate cut of around 60%-70%” in CO2 emissions. Immediately. Today.
Spoiler Alert: Mississippi's Gov. Phil Bryant has nominated Terri Herring, an anti-abortion activist, to the State Board of Health.
Data Point: The real, inflation-adjusted incomes of the bottom 90% of Americans have increased $59 in the last 40 years. In the last 25 years, the income for the nation's top 10 CEOs as a group grew from $57 million to $616 million.
Porn O'Graph: In the deep blue, see...
The Parting Shot: