Watch: Whittle Destroy’s Obama’s ‘You Didn’t Build That’ Comments

The presidential election has given us two myths about the rich. First, that their incomes, and income inequality, are at all-time highs. Second, that the wealthy pay less in taxes than ever, and lower taxesthan the rest of us.

A recent report from the Congressional Budget Office, however, suggests that both may be false.

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The human reflex to find cause, meaning and lessons in the detritus of a massacre – and to impose a solution on the chaos based on those findings – should be trusted only to the extent that it allows us to muddle through the confusion churned up by such a crazed act. As we recover from the initial shock, we revert to our fundamental and irresolvable arguments about freedom and individuality, which aren’t very good at explaining why people shoot or dynamite innocents – or at stopping them from doing so.

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Long-term food crisis is just beginning, say analysts…

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — More than four years after food inflation sparked a wave of riots around the world, consumers are facing the highest-ever prices for corn and may have seen the last of the rock-bottom prices for food staples.

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“I’ve been in the business more than 30 years and this is by far and away the most serious weather issue and supply and demand problem that I have seen by a mile,” said a senior executive at a trading house. “It’s not even comparable to 2007-08.”

Read the article here.

A senior International Monetary Fund economist is resigning from the Fund, writing a scathing letter to the board blaming management for suppressing staff warnings about the financial crisis and a pro-European bias that he says has exacerbated the euro-zone debt crisis.

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Any wonder why Obama hasn’t met with his Job’s Council in six months? Simpson-Bowles lately?

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Via Zero Hedge, how would a negative employment report affect Obama? The Philly Fed may have just signaled that a negative tick is coming, effectively ending any recovery.

Read the article and see the chart here.

RR: I remember when I couldn’t afford to eat like this. It was ramen noodles and the San Francisco Treat [Rice-A-Roni]. Dessert? Get you a honey bun and put a slice of cheese on it. Put it in the microwave for 45 seconds and you had the gift of a lifetime.

The common denominator seems to be cheese.

RR: I ain’t gonna lie: I love that cheese.

Who needs the news media when an NFL linebacker can take the best storm picture from a jet window and publish it instantly?

See the photo here.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp reported its first quarterly loss as a public company on Thursday as it took a previously announced hit for writing down the value of its ailing online unit, but held up better than expected in the face of stagnant computer sales.

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The July Philadelphia Fed business activity index improved less than expected and remained “significantly negative,” pointing to a third month of contraction. Following news that June existing home sales were much weaker than forecast, Goldman Sachs economists lowered their Q2 GDP tracking estimate to 1.1 percent from 1.2 percent.

Read the article here.

More Pressure to Break Up Banks. We have talked over the past week with many on Capitol Hill. Reactions have varied from those who are incensed to those who roll their eyes. All seem to agree that this will further harm the big banks politically and could add more pressure to break up the banks.

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A great essay, which fleshes out Obamao’s recent assertions that “You didn’t build that.” If you don’t read to the last paragraph, you’ll miss the meat of it…

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Chik-Fil-A steps into the ring of the culture wars and starts swinging…

PHOENIX (AP) — Investigators for an Arizona sheriff’s volunteer posse have declared that President Barack Obama’s birth certificate is definitely fraudulent.

Members of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s posse said in March that there was probable cause that Obama’s long-form birth certificate released by the White House in April 2011 was a computer-generated forgery.

Now, Arpaio says investigators are positive it’s fraudulent.

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Tom Flora walked into one of his corn fields in Delphi, Indiana, last week to survey land that until last month he expected would yield a bigger-than-average harvest. Eight rows in, he declared the crop a total loss.

“I’ve never seen this,” 63-year-old Flora said as he fingered the wilted brown leaves on a four-foot corn stalk that was half the normal height for this time of year and had cobs almost devoid of kernels. “This is good dirt here, but not this year. It’s too dry. I doubt this will produce anything.”

Read the article here.

The video is embedded here, for your viewing pleasure…

The real threat to China comes from technology.

Read about the technological advancements and convergences which will cause the “hollowing out” of China’s manufacturing industry, here.

NASA has taken a Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer to show just how bad crops have been damaged.

The device is able to allow NASA scientists to compare average vegetation growth in a given area, and shade the areas accordingly.