Saturday Evening Post -- June 21, 2014

CNN

I had to break down and go to CNN to get the latest on "regime change" in Iraq. Apparently:

A strategic border crossing and three other towns in western Iraq fell Saturday to the control of ISIS militants, a senior Iraqi security official said.

In addition to their offensives in northern Iraq, the militants have now strengthened their hand in the western province of Anbar, the country's largest geographically, and were controlling Al-Qaim, Rawa, Ana and Huseiba, said the senior official, who's based in Anbar.

Most importantly, the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, or ISIS, controlled the strategic town of Al-Qaim on the border with Syria, where the enemy fighters enjoy a stronghold, Iraqi security officials said Saturday.

Together, the four towns are situated along a highway from Syria to Baghdad, heightening possibilities that the militants could now march from the west to lay siege to the Iraqi capital. One of the four towns, Huseiba, is just 100 kilometers, or 62 miles, outside Baghdad.

According to the Iraq government's spokesman, "Baghdad Bob": "Everything is under control. Mr Maliki is redeploying troops to the west. There is nothing to fear but fear itself. And ghastly 12th century beheadings."

The article also said President's Obama's combat troops returning to Iraq should be arriving any day now. 

 

The Wall Street Journal

GE "nabs" Alstom, but at a "cost" -- I don't follow this story close enough to comment

US to speed up migrant deportations. Really? UC Irvine? Really?  SRIR? Really?

Ukraine declares temporary cease-fire (according to early edition of WS), but elsewhere, it is being said that Putin has put troops at the border on alert after more US sanctions [As I see it, as we go into another presidential golfing weekend, we have Iraq spiraling out of control; the Ukraine sprialing out of control; the US southern border spiraling out of control. Generally, when North Korea feels slight -- not getting any NYT coverage, that country usually does something to get our attention.]

Hmmm, what a novel thought: Spain unveiled a sweeping package of tax cuts to lower the fiscal burden on the middle-class before general elections due in less than two years.

Iraqi insurgents (the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham) recent battlefield gains are providing a morale boost to many of the region's Sunnis (the peaceful ones).

Meanwhile, an Iraqi Shi-ite (the warring ones) cleric calls for throwing the current government under the bus.

Iraqis fleeing to Jordan don't plant to return. I assume the income tax rate is lower there.

Inversion frenzy rocks drug sector ("inversion" in the business world is when a US company buys a foreign address and the tax advantages that come with it. Sort of like the New Yorkers who claim their "winter" home in Florida as their primary residence for the tax advantages.

There were two LEGO stories in the WSJ yesterday and today. The first story: Lego will boost capacity at Mexican factory. Quick: what is the world's #2 toy maker by revenue? Lego. Behind Mattel. #2 toy maker and they only make one product: little plastic bricks. I think I've blogged about Lego's incredibly successful turnaround several times over the years. The second Lego story was posted on-line yesterday, not sure if it was in Friday's paper or today's paper: Lego's evolution will be digitized.

Global pork market starts to shift; may tamp down US hog prices.

The Los Angeles Times

Yesterday the top story in the LA Times had to do with slow federal response to Hurricane Sandy on the East Coast. Today's top story has to do with mass graves in south Texas. Must be running out of news in California. The paper could start with the-nation's-southern-borders-out-of-control but that would be troubling to the president. In fact, the thousands of Central Americans streaming across the border is not even one of the top five stories in the LA Times: the #3 story in The LA Times (and I can't make this up): "lifeguard helps rescue panicked deer in Malibu surf."

In fact, except for a brief Q & A on the subject, there is no article on the "Central-Americans-streaming-across-the-southern-border stories.