SAR #12198

Incompetence is a verdict, not a defense.

Late To The Dance: The US Federal Reserve has been aware of the manipulation of Libor rates at least since 2008, as apparently has the Bank of England. Does their silence constitute tacit approval and if so can Bob Diamond et all argue they were acting as agents of the government(s)?

Nutshell: The annualized US GDP growth rate is now 1.1% (Goldman), while the annualized growth rate of the US debt is 21%. We're gonna need more than a bigger truck.

What The World Needs Now... Ukraine has obtained a $3.6 billion line of credit from the China Development Bank to help it convert its power plants from relatively clean gas to deadly, climate warming coal – and to escape Gazprom.

The Odds: A survey of US companies by the National Association for Business Economics found that less than 25% of them planned to add employees over the next 6 months – down from 40% just three months ago.

Wasted Days and Wasted Dollars: Strategists from both parties say that nearly all of $4 billion that will be spent on the election this fall will make no difference in the outcome. The only votes that matter are a few hundred, at most a few thousand, in a handful of key swing states. None of the rest of us – or their spending on us - matter because we're not up for grabs.

Earnings Report: How much of the annual $870 billion in drug money gets laundered through banks? The big banks? Not all of it, certainly, some gets spent on bribing politicians, but much of it, undoubtedly. How is it listed on the P/L? Transfer fees?

Size Matters: Which is easier to disrupt, a pipeline or the Straits of Hormuz?

Bears/Woods: Was the price of gasoline rigged too? Well, let's see: The daily price for gasoline depends on oil price "benchmarks" which are based on data from oil trading firms such as banks, hedge funds and, occasionally, actual petroleum companies. The market is unregulated and relies on the honesty of the firms to submit accurate data about all their trades. If this sounds familiar, it should.

Nobody Likes Him: Less than 40% of Romney supporters support Romney. The great majority are simply planning to vote against Obama.

Wages Of Sin: Citigroup reported making $2.9 billion in profit during 2Q2012 - not bad for a firm that produces nothing, but simply skims off the top of the customer money that flows through its hand, when it's not manipulating markets or betting against its customers. It's like the big banks are collecting rent on America.

Job Prerequisites: Romney quit Bain because he realized after the fact that he could not handle both the responsibilities at Bain and the job at the Salt Lake Olympics while running for governor. If he can't tap his head and rub his belly while riding a unicycle and juggling swords, what makes him think he can handle being president?

One And Done: Without Congressional action (remember Congressional action, when Ds & Rs got together and passed legislation?) before the end of the year, the child tax credit (currently $1,000 a child) will be cut in half when other Bush-era tax policies lapse. But is this a policy - in our overpopulated, over-consuming world - that should be continued?

Commitment: Global warming is a prepaid phenomena. We emit the carbon gases today and get the heat 20 -30 -40 years later. Today's heat, downpours, high winds and so on are the result of greenhouse gasses emitted decades ago. What we're doing today ensures that 2040 - 2050 and on will be even hotter, drier, more extreme. Without much effort on our part, we will, by the end of the century, drive the temperature to heights not experienced since the Eocene, some fifty million years ago.

The Parting Shot:

Ductifera pululahuana (Exidia alba)