Signs that the world is going to hell in a handbasket

[Toedancer]

Have you ever wondered why the USG (not necessarily Obama, just the U.S. gov) is pointing a stick at China? Well I have and it's not good.

China PLA officers urge economic punch against U.S.

6.8 Billion arms sales to Taiwan, Obama to meet Dalai Lama. Messing about with Google.
China cannot simply dump the US Dollar. They know it's already almost worthless and they have a few trillion of them to dispose of. So they have been unloading their reserve dollars quietly in exchange for gold. If they dumped all their USD in one go it would crash overnight. Gold would go through the roof and China would in effect cut their own throat because they would have to pay much more for gold with an almost worthless dollar. Other countries are doing the same. Amerika is only afloat because of that. Google playing games with China

Now things get pretty confused. European governments are considering various options to help heavily indebted Greece in what would be the first rescue of a euro zone member in the currency's 11-year history.  Spain is next for rescuing.

Eurozone is beginning to disintegrate. Even with these entities forcing their Lisbon Treaty through and handing themselves more power, it's going dreadfully wrong for them. Duh! And I have to add today's NP said Harper is doing what he is told - Harper calls for more Iran SANCTIONS - gee feels like it's 2002 and leading up to the war in Iraq or sorry, the occupation. Harper calls for sanctions Yeah I know it says Canada calls for sanctions, but that hollow /corrupt/empty vessel doesn't speak for Canada, he speaks for USG and Euro.

Why TF is Baird speeding to Ethiopia? Baird heads to Ethiopia to lobby Canadian's release Wow, he's brown, but this Canadian businessman, Bashir Makhtal, is who exactly? I guess he's an asset of the CSIS or something.

[skdadl]

I have a vague memory of Makhtal's case. I think the CIA were behind having him transferred to Ethiopia -- this had to do with CIA mucking about in Somalia and using the Ethiopians as proxies to perform regime change there. I suspect that Makhtal is a good guy, actually.

[Mandos]

Amanda Marcotte connects asset bubbles to anti-contraception ideology.

http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comm ... f_bitches/

I believe that these Vatican fuckwits and the Anchoress believe their own bullshit.  Who isn’t entranced by an easy one-stop shopping solution?  Ruin the sex lives of people you suspect are having more fun than you, spread misogynist ideals, and fix the economy without admitting that we need major overhauls to the capitalistic system?  What asshole wouldn’t want to sign up?

[Toedancer]

The Dumping Has Begun I thought it would be just Chinese blustering, but it's not.

[Mandos]

It would in some ways be a good things if the Chinese dumped US financial instruments.

[Toedancer]

It would in some ways be a good things if the Chinese dumped US financial instruments.

Yes indeed Mandos, it would.

[lagatta]

An entirely unrelated hell-in-handbasked money-related story.

I was trying to pay a phone bill - in cash - at a nearby caisse populaire. They refused to do it because I didn't have two pieces of identification on my person. This is at least as weird as the passport office not accepting Canadian cash. Unless they think the phone company is in on secret payouts to the mob or terrists.

Yet another strange, repressive decision somewhere that makes life just a bit more challenging. Oy gewalt.

[sparqui]

That's ridiculous, lagatta. Next time, bring the 2 pieces of ID and rolls upon rolls of pennies.

[Herr Magoo]

It's my understanding that there's a limit to the size of debt or fee that can be paid in pennies.
 
But I wonder why they'd want ID for a payment?  What do they care who's giving them money?

[sparqui]

It's my understanding that there's a limit to the size of debt or fee that can be paid in pennies.

I wonder what the limit is? I believe there's a bill about pulling the plug on the penny in the Senate. I imagine they would have to reimburse those of us who still have change bowls full of them.

[Herr Magoo]

I would assume that, like new TTC tokens, there would be a generous window of opportunity to swap five useless pennies for one shiny nickel.
 
Who misses the half penny?  See, it'll be like that.  :)

[Croghan27]

Sometimes I feel the world has left me behind. Once I think I have a handle on something .... the reverse happens that shows either 1) things have changed; or 2) I really did not understand the situation in the first place.
 
Here in Canada the Conservative government, the government that deep six'ed the long form census because it is too intrusive into people's private lives, has now made it easier to ..... intrude into people's private lives.
 
The new Consumer Product Safety Bill, C-36 allows:

Under the bill, federal inspectors would not need to obtain a search warrant to enter or cross private property if they suspect product safety laws are being violated. They would need a warrant from a justice of the peace to enter a dwelling place, but Mr. Hueglin said the standard of evidence to obtain the warrant is lower than required for normal criminal investigations.
Sen. Day and other critics have objected to a provision in the bill to provide personal and commercial information gained in investigations to other parties, including competing businesses, without a requirement to first inform the individual or company where the information was seized, or to confirm that the information is accurate.

from the Hill Times.
 
While in the US .... "St. Paul City Attorney Sara Grewing said Thursday that her office has declined to file charges against state Rep. Tom Hackbarth" It seems the good state rep was hanging about the parking lot of a clinic that provided abortions. A sharp eyed member of the St. Paul Police dept. saw some fellow with a gun in said parking lot and had him busted.
 
Apparently he did not know it was a lot of the clinic because ... he was too busy stalking some lady he met in a chat room! 
 

Hackbarth told police he had met a woman via an Internet dating service. He said he suspected she was seeing another man and he was in the area to investigate.

There are some things in this world that croghan27s are never meant to understand.
 
 

[Mandos]

Speaking of Hell-In-A-Handbasket:

http://www.correntewire.com/truth_open_letter_why_america_and_left_are_doomed

This is written by Stirling Newberry, who used to be much more widely read than he is now.  Contains very negative opinion of Jane Hamsher.

[Toedancer]

While looking at a scrumpious apt. today in TO I was told I cannot store my bicycle anywhere on the premises. 

[Antonia]

Not even in your own, say, living room?