What we're following this morning:

HFT parasites are killing the market host - Joe Saluzzi and Chris Martenson | HFT makes up 50-70% of the market volume, and 2% of the traders make up 80% of the volume?  Sounds like an efficient market to me.

Assad "regrets downing of Turkish jet" - Financial Times | Did anyone ever say that he regretted the whole Archduke Ferdinand thing?  Boy, this, coupled with the Iranian plan to prevent passage of tankers to the countries imposing sanctions really make for a lively mid-week market holiday.

Marc Faber would've kicked Greece's sorry butt out of his house years ago - Bloomberg TV via Dealbreaker | The cosmetic fix of the latest Eurozone summit does NOT solve any fundamental problem.  It simply allows for market ramps while everything else rots from the inside.  Like he says, putting 100 sick banks together doesn't make them one big healthy mega-bank.  Same goes for countries, it seems.

It used to be a free country - Common Sense Wonder via Never Yet Melted | This is not a nation where people are left alone any more.  We are hounded from the moment we are born until the moment we die.

Death of the China Cult - MacroBusiness via Naked Capitalism | The past few years have produced an impression that the Chinese government is [still] invincible and has miraculous control over their economic machine.  Those who think that the recent slowdown is "no big deal" forget that most slowdowns are a result of central banks' tightening of monetary policy.  That tightening is usually precursor of very bad things to come.

Is Rick Santorum's new dark-money group breaking the law? - Mother Jones | The IRS, once again, is going to be the tool used to silence dissent in the country.  Granted, I'm not in favor of Santorum's message or purpose (or even his failed election campaign); what I oppose is the use of tax agents to govern and control the populace.

Gaming the system: an examination of the LIBOR mess from a [typically] non-economic outlet - Counterpunch | Banks have been gaming the system and ripping-off millions of homeowners and investors for tens of billions of dollars.  No wonder citizens are ready to give up on the system: Corzine walks free; claw-backs are laughed away; and the financial markets want us to think that the water at the deep end of the pool isn't filled with sharks.

How Anonymous picks targets, launches attacks, and takes down powerful organizations - Wired | You may think that the takedown of one site here and one site there isn't a big deal.  Wait until the power grid or a nuclear reactor outage is "blamed on these hacktivist-type groups."

France gives Fairness Doctrine details: will tax millionaires at 75% - Bloomberg via Zero Hedge | Be prepared to hear more about this "fair" concept as the year progresses, both in Europe and here in the States.

Iconic images recreated with Star Wars toys - Boing Boing | What's cool is that the new photos were created, taken, and edited on the same date as the original photograph or on the birthday of the photographer/artist who created the image.