SAR #15317

Economic torture doesn’t work either.

Outcomes Matter: Any major international agreement should be judged by how it will affect the lives of the people it impacts. On that basis, the TPP should be rejected. It is designed to improve the profits of corporations, not to better the lives of all parts of society, especially the poor and middle class. Helping the rich at the expense of the poor may be traditional, but is should not be publicly flaunted and approved by those whose responsibility is to represent the people.

Spade/Spade: The EU will now require Israeli products from the illegally occupied West Bank as having been made in the illegally occupied West Bank,, which for some reason upsets the occupiers.

Silence Is Golden: Two current polls of “likely voters” show Bernie Sanders defeating Donald Trump by 10 to 12 points, which would be a landslide. It seems that if American voters area asked, they hold what are considered by Republicans to be be leftist, populist positions. If the Democrats would reject Wall Street and return to the people, they could retain the White House and have decisive majorities in both Houses. Too bad they've forgotten who they were supposed to be. The generally perceptive Western Illinois University’s mock election agrees, showing a Sanders/O'Malley ticket easily sweeping the election.

Compassion: PM David Cameron says the UK will spend half a billion pounds in a five-year effort to keep refugees from reaching English shores.

Social Medicine: US women are twice as likely as Canadians to die from pregnancy and childbirth related causes. The US maternal mortality rate has been dropping since 1990 and now far worse than Iceland, Finland, Poland, Greece, Belarus... damned foreigners.

We Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet: The UN estimates that over 50 million people will depart sub-Sahara Africa for North Africa and Europe in the next 5 years.

Lost In Translation: “If we can’t find ways to boost demand, then we can look for ways to reduce supply. Specifically, we can encourage people to work less. This would mean policies that promote shorter workweeks, paid time off for family leave and sick days, and more paid vacation. Reductions in the average number of hours worked per worker could lead employers to hire more employees. A tighter labor market would help to bring the upward pressure on wages and prices needed to combat secular stagnation”. I think I think this is a good idea, but I'm not sure.

Pros & Cons: The Greek government seems to be encouraging a general strike against the austerity policies of the Green government. Flights have been grounded, ships tied to their docks and public services shut down as bailout talks continue between the government and their EU overlords.

Magic Castles In The Air: Spain's top court has told Catalans seeking independence that they cannot do so. Well, not peacefully anyway.

Datapoint: States that require background checks for gun purchases have 64% fewer domestic violence shootings than Repubican controlled states that give in to the NRA do not. And it turns out that fewer mass shootings occur in states with more background checks, too.

You've Been Volkswagoned: Fuel oil companies in NY have been caught rigging the gauges on their deliver trucks to misstate how much product was delivered to customers. The owners say it was just a couple of zealous engineers...

Hospitality: Israeli special forces disguised as Palestinians – including one pretending to be a pregnant woman in a wheelchair – raided a Hebron hospital and killed a relative of a man they wanted to kidnap. This is the second time this year Israeli forces have raided a Palestinian hospital this year. Not as indiscriminate as calling in an airstrike, but a war crime nonetheless.