SAR #14314

If the government were really serious about falsifying economic data, they could surely do a better job.

 
Keep It Simple: Let's make the Internet a public utility, with equal access for all, at the same price for all. There is no reason that high-speed broadband cannot be made avialable to every home in this country at a reasonable price. Any proposal, from Obama or the FCC or the Republicans, that does not accomplish this is directed at making profits for some (say, ATT, Comcast, Verison) while burdening others (you, me, lowly customers) with unreasonable fees for poor service. It should be a non-profit public utility.

Persuasion: Boko Haram has bombed a school, killing 47 boys as it continues to try win over the public by killing their children. Like ISIS. 
 
Map/Territory: When polls report that 65% of voters say the country is headed in the wrong direction, they don't specify which direction it is that the voter is complaining about – the slow and steady creep to the right or the complete abandonment of the people by the politicians. Suspicion is that most of them are tired of an economic recovery where all the spoils go to the 1%.

Selfie Abuse: Canadian oil giant Kinder Morgan has gone to court seeking millions in damages because pipeline workers have been assaulted by people posting selfies on the web to show their displeasure. Imagine being the first on your block to be arrested for felony face making.

On Being Half Right: Over many decades and through many, many economic cycles, corporate profits tend to average about 5.5% of GDP. Today they are about double that. Either corporate profits are about to double, or the price of corporate stocks is due to tank by 50% as the economic cycle bottoms. Flip a coin. 
 
Fails Laugh Test: The Supreme Court appears willing to deprive millions of Americans of health care on the flimsiest of pretexts. This suit should have been tossed out without a hearing – there is no “reasonable doubt” as to the intent of the Act. That the Supreme Court is willing to listen to this crap indicates how politicized our courts have become.

Correction: There is a prediction out that realtors will be “almost totally unnecessary by 2025”. They've been pretty unnecessary for a generation or more and have never been worth the fees they charge, so why not make that 2015?

Quoted: "The fact that repealing Obamacare will kill some people does not settle the question of whether Obamacare is better than some imaginary alternative Republican health-care plan.”

Line Item: The Montreal city fathers are upset with their police over a $13 million shortage in funds raised through parking and traffic tickets. Gotta do better, officers.

Wrong Number: A man in China bought 99 iPhones (for about $82,000), set them out like a big heart and asked his girlfriend to marry him. She said no.

Porn O'Graph: More for the money.