SAR #14006

We don't actually make things, we just convert stuff, using energy.

No Do-Overs: John Kerry said the US is not going to send troops back into Iraq just to rescue the Iranian-leaning Shia government in Baghdad from al-Qaeda (Sunni)-led militants who have taken over Anbar province and Fallujah. Been there, done that.

Comb-Over: Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan, faced with political pressures from the ongoing (and growing) corruption scandal undermining his regime, has begun negotiations with the military - in essence offering to re-try (with a promise of reversing their convictions) hundreds of officers who were convicted on trumped up treason charges as Erdogan consolidated his power, if the army will sit quietly in its barracks and not overthrow his government. The military has traditionally opposed mixing religion and government.

Asked and Answered: “Is the U.S. economy really about to go boom?” Maybe, or maybe it's going to go 'crash'. Noisy seems assured.

Between The Lines: When Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) asked the NSA if it was spying on Congress, the NSA assured him that “Members of Congress have the same privacy protections as all U.S. Persons." None, in other words.

States' Rights: Mitt Romney says that it is wrong for the Federal government to get involved with women's reproductive rights because they belong to the states. He meant the rights belong to the states. I think. He's apparently right; half of American women now live in a state that is actively trying to deprive them of any control over their reproductive healthcare.

Arab Winter: The military junta running Egypt has killed another 13 protesters who obviously didn't understand that the military was the answer to their prayers.

Hush Money: When a judge ordered JPMorgan to turn over a copy of the government's list of the bankster's wrongdoing to the Pittsburgh FHLB which was suing JPMorgan over a few hundred million in iffy MBS, JPMorgan settled... swearing every one to secrecy. Wouldn't you think a whole lot of banks and their lawyers are taking notes?

Multiple Choice: In the eyes of the people of the world, what is the biggest threat to world peace? a) The United States.

Skilled Labor: Workers report that repairs at Fukushima are being done on the cheap, including using adhesive tape on leaking tanks of radioactive waste. The company doing the repairs has little choice, they day, because the homeless men being paid minimum wage to do the repairs are not qualified to handle duct tape.

Not So Stimulating: Tossing 1.3 million Americans into the gutter will cost the US economy nearly a $1 billion a week, once the 'multiplier effect' is taken into consideration. Unemployed workers with no income don't spend much on groceries. Grocery stores with fewer customers need fewer workers. Add those to the unemployment ranks, rinse and repeat. But we're saving $25 billion a year, right?

Close Enough For Government Work: While the NSA continues to pretend it does not monitor Americans 24/7, the FBI is complaining that it took agents 6 man-hours a day just to read one citizen's communications. 
 
Re-Education Program: In the first 8 months of 2014, lenders wrote off $13.6 billion in student loans, a 46% increase y/y. Note that while this got the bad debts off the banks' books, it did not relieve the students of their debts, which have been sold to collections agencies, who will hound them to and beyond the grave.

Indulgence: Ken Langone, billionaire founder of Home Depot and big-time GOP donor, has told Pope Francis to lay off the socialist blather in support of the poor or he and his rich buddies will stop giving to charity and he, personally, would not give $180 million to the Archbishop of New York. Now class, is this a bribe or simply blackmail?

The Parting Shot:

 Off Roatan, Honduras