Syria Update

Four people have been killed in the Syrian town of Douma, a witness told Al Jazeera, after security forces on the ground and snipers on rooftops opened fire on a crowd of thousands of mourners gathered to bury protesters killed on Friday.

The AFP news agency reported on Saturday, citing witnesses, that two people had also been killed in firing on those attempting to join funeral processions in the town of Izraa.

  al Jazeera

Dear Mr. Obama, surely you can’t allow this egregious humanitarian affront go unanswered, eh? We surely have enough money in the coffers for more drones. If not, we can do away with unemployment insurance. Or have we already?

How about these charts from the Congressional Budget Office (via Wiki)?

Let's assume that they are at least close to correct. Is it just me, or does it look as though Social Security taxes actually just about cover both Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid outlay? And does it appear that individual taxpayers are covering the defense budget, most of which goes into the coffers of corporations, who seem to be paying very little in return? Let's even say that the 9% corporate taxes all goes to the defense budget. That still leaves 11% for individual taxpayers to cover. Taxpayers who are receiving nothing for it, except the false assurance that they are being kept safe.