Montage — Rough Patch

You get the drift from the headlines:

The Bad and the Ugly

‘The protester’ named Time’s person of year
Agence France-Presse at Raw Story

Ron Paul: Obama pushing ‘martial law’ 

by Stephen C. Webster at Raw Story

Desperate British students ‘turning to prostitution’

Reuters at Raw Story

Police Officer Tases 14-Year-Old Keshana Wilson' Groin Outside Of Pennsylvania High School (VIDEO)

The Huffington Post
(Police: [Officer] Ammary was right to use the taser due to the "use-of-force continuum.") Huh?

Cities That Have Fired Their Police Forces

24/7 Wall Street

OECD: Europe Must Act To Stop Youth Jobs Crisis

Reuters at The Huffinton Post

Fitch Downgrades Five Major Banks On European Debt Crisis

Reuters at The Huffington Post

Euro falls below $1.30 as traders lose confidence that Europe will solve debt crisis

Associated Press at The Washington Post

Gold Falls Off A Cliff As Margin Calls Cream Speculators

by Robert Lenzner at Forbes
(Gee, where can one find safety these days.)

Spend Less on Everything

Consumer Reports at Yahoo Finance

Enough Money for Retirement? Even the Rich Say No

CNBC at Yahoo Finance

Department of Very Small Achievements: Deficit Shrinks Slightly

by Daniel Gross at Yahoo Finance

(Someone please clue Mr. Gross in that a shrinking deficit means even lower effective demand. Some "achievement," unless you consider shooting yourself in the foot is somehow a plus.)

The Good

Oil Price Tumbles as OPEC Raises Output Ceiling

by Mark Shenk at Bloomberg

(The Saudis step up.)