SAR #14356

Now Try The Torturers

Now Playing: Why amid all of the fawning interviews with Dick Chaney and his henchmen was there not a single interview with one of the victims?

Counting Down: According to BofA, "the world has become addicted to central bank stimulus.” It sees over 50% of the entire world''s GDP as an artifact propped up by central bankers' zero interest rates, and the same is true, it says, of over 80% of global stock prices. About 1.5 billion people already are faced with negative interest rates on their savings. All this, and more, according to BofA, “is evidence of a 1930's-style depression.” Just wait until the wise men try to put the trillions raised by QE back in the box. It'll be fun, and nobody knows if it can be done. 
 
Just Because: Obama says the Sony hack was not “an act of war” by North Korean any more than ongoing US cyber attacks on North Korea, Iran and pretty much the rest of the world are.

Tanks For The Memory: The Republicans, ever vigilant to trim the government budget of wasteful social spending, included $120 million in the new defense budget to buy tanks the Army has repeatedly said it does not want and does not need. But the factory that makes them is in Lima, Ohio and the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee is headed by Mike Turner, Republican Representative from... Ohio.

Dance Card: In a tantalizingly vague announcement, Qatar assured the Egyptian military dictatorship government its “full support”. For what wasn't clear.

Sucker Punched: Now as the markets are tottering under oil's assault, the American consumer expects the good times to last for at least eight more years. Well, not quite “the good times”, but they do think the long recovery won't become an actual recession. They are also leaving cookies and milk out for Santa.

Santa Baby: The White House and Pentagon have asked Santa a federal judge to let the administration off with a sack of coal instead of making them release those thousands of photos of US troops physically and sexually abusing their prisoners.

Layaway: So far the US has pretty much wasted $1 billion on air strikes against ISIS.