SAR #14184

“In our governments the real power lies in the majority of the community, and the invasion of private rights is chiefly to be apprehended, not from acts of Government contrary to the sense of its constituents, but from acts in which the Government is the mere instrument of the major number of the constituents.” -- James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, October 17, 1788.

Getting A Job: The government reports that employment increased by 288,000 in June. That's the net from losing half a million full time jobs while adding 750,000 part time ones. But, hey, a job's a job, right?

The Grand Overstatement Party: Texas Senator Ted Cruz has repeatedly lied about mischaracterized a bill to regulate campaign spending as repealing “the free speech protections of the First Amendment.” The bill actually would reverse the worst parts of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision that one dollar should equal one vote.

Making Haste, Slowly: Immediately after the KY same-sex marriage law was struck down, Louisville's Highland Baptist Church announced that it would be holding its first ever gay wedding. Next May.

Black Hawk Back: Remember when the US retreated from Mogadishu after loosing 18 soldiers when 2 helicopters were shot down? Well, we're back. And have been, since George W. was in office. Shhh. Don't tell anyone, the Somalis don't know. Or us, either.

The Tell-Tale Heart: Using certain online privacy tools, reading certain blogs, using the Linux operating system, or encoding your emails will get you on the NSA watchlist, as it sees these as the actions of terrorists “extremists”. It they follow to the second generation, you're it.

Pay To Play: In just the last 5 years, Bank of America has paid $26.3 billion for various and sundry fraudulent acts and practices, JPMorgan $25.9 billion, BNP Paribas $8.6 [research], WellsFargo $8.2, Credit Suisse a paltry $4.2 billion, and so on and on and on.

Porn O'Graph: Some win, some lose.