SAR #16165

Instead of asking why he did it, ask how he could get that much firepower.

Bail Faster: In 1Q2016 it took a $10 increase in total debt to drive US GDP up $1.

Leaderslip: That the Brits get to choose whether to be voiceless serfs or to leave the EU makes them unique, for none of the rest of the Europeans seem to have had any say at all. Neither the European Commission nor the European Parliament pretends to be a democratic institution, or particularly interested in the opinions of its citizenry. There is nothing resembling a European Constitution that sets out the rights and powers of either the citizens or the superstate.

Not Interested: Among the major developed nations, only France has a positive yield on it's 10-year notes. Is it time for a new mattress?

Exhibit A: Poland's neoliberal government continues to set the standard for the rest of Europe, if not the world, to follow. Its new counter-terrorisim law exceeds even the excesses of the NSA and FBI, establishing rules that limit the freedom of assembly, permit (or encourage) arbitrary detention, and grant the state security apparatus the right to control internet traffic that is deemed a threat to national security. [This paragraph, for example.] It also gives the guardians of the state complete access to any and all data concerning Polish citizens, even if they're not Jews.

Water Is Wet: Scientists report, rather belatedly, that global warming will “trigger tropical evacuations” - which we used to call refugees. So will US military forays.

Outside The Box: Spain's Podemos, reaching out to the young adults, has designed a political and social manifesto that looks much like a catalogue from Ikea or LLBean... I certainly hope representatives of Podemos and Portugal's anti-austerity movement help the Bernistas organize and persevere.

Censorship: Under pressure from Israel (perhaps joined with unspoken threats from APIC and the Clinton machine), Facebook and Twitter have given in to Israeli demands that any positive comments or information about the Palestinian conflict be deleted from their websites.

Growth Industry: The FBI admits it is stepping up its efforts to manufacture terrorism arrests through sting operations and having paid undercover agents provoke the dim-witted into doing something that can be trumpeted as a triumph over terrorism. Be afraid, please, so their budgets can increase.

The State of the Surveillance State: The National Security Agency is seeking ways to get your FitBit and Smart Refrigerator to spy on you, while other organs of the national security state are trying to implement “real-time behavior monitoring” of each of us, while the DEA sifts through our prescription records to see if we need to go to prison.

Definition: What do the words 'respond' and “unexpected measures” mean in the following threat: “The Russian Foreign ministry said Moscow would respond to a U.S. naval ship's entry into the Black Sea with unspecified measures.”

Rear Guard Action: As part of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the President has order US forces to expand their role in combat actions in the country, including “battlefield operations with conventional Afghan forces.” And be home by Christmas.

Turnabout's Fair Play: Drug gangs in the Philippines have offered a bounty on president elect Rodrigo Duterte who has been offering a bounty for each drug dealer (or suspected drug dealer, proff not be rigidly required) killed on the local streetcorner.

Porn O'Graph: Been there done that?

A Parting Shot: