August 2008 archive

Crossposted from The Wild Wild Left and to One Wing Left, Never In Our Names, Docudharma, and Station Charon

Suuuuu-prizzzzzzzzzzze, suprise.

The wingers are going bat-shit crazy about a Ludacris song. A song I found entertaining and poignant at the same time.

Now, am I surprised that the Rich White Boyz Hater Club are pissing their depends and whipping eachother into an ibogene frenzy imagining monsters lurking in low riders waiting to rape their womens and see bling trails pulsing like photon ray guns that murder white babies in vitro?



Nah. I’m more surprised they don’t just wear their hoods on set.

I mean, the wingers have been emailing jokes behind the scenes about “Can we still call it The White House if Obama wins?” for months now.

But god forbid that a rapper turn that joke back on their cellulite-pocked white lard asses.



The video follows… as does rantage.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics re-organized their website, and it took me an extra four minutes to find out what the unemployment rate was for July.

Why would a re-organization slow down finding that info? Because I do not look for the “headline” or U3 measure of unemployment. I look for the “broad” or U6 measure, which takes into account those “marginally attached” to the labor force as well as those working part time who would rather be working full time.

You might not have ever seen these figures, so I’m going to try to copy the whole table, if it works … lessee, View/PageSource … uh … search for <table … copy, paste … come back to Docudharma … OK, here goes nothing …

Series Id:           LNS13327709
Seasonal Adjusted
Series title:        (seas) Total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers plus total
                     employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of all civilian labor
                     force plus all marginally attached workers
Labor force status:  Aggregated totals unemployed
Type of data:        Percent
Age:                 16 years and over
Percent/rates:       Unemployed and mrg attached and pt for econ reas as percent of labor force plus
                     marg attached

Yoopie! It Worked!

Now, this is seasonally adjusted … unadjusted given below (the figures are worse in summer and better at Christmas) …

Yup, even though GDP was up by a “healthy 1.9%” last quarter … broad unemployment rose from 9.1% before the start of 08Q2 to 9.9% at the end of 08Q2 … and July is up to 10.3%.

And, no, you won’t read these figures in the newspaper … newspapers go by the press release, they do not go looking for the alternate measures (maybe if they did, the alternate measures would be even harder to find).

Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses by U2

Photos courtesy of the BLM Image Gallery (Public Domain)

Republicans, McCain

and Racism

Something They

Know A Lot About

Its Their Normal Calling Card

Pakistanis Aided Attack in Kabul, U.S. Officials Say



By MARK MAZZETTI and ERIC SCHMITT

Published: August 1, 2008

WASHINGTON – American intelligence agencies have concluded that members of Pakistan’s powerful spy service helped plan the deadly July 7 bombing of India’s embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, according to United States government officials

The conclusion was based on intercepted communications between Pakistani intelligence officers and militants who carried out the attack, the officials said, providing the clearest evidence to date that Pakistani intelligence officers are actively undermining American efforts to combat militants in the region.

McCain Camp Says Obama Is Playing ‘Race Card’



By MICHAEL COOPER and MICHAEL POWELL

Published: August 1, 2008

ORLANDO, Fla. – Senator John McCain’s campaign accused Senator Barack Obama on Thursday of playing “the race card,” citing his remarks that Republicans would try to scare voters by pointing out that he “doesn’t look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.”

The exchange injected racial politics front and center into the general election campaign for the first time, after it became a subtext in the primary between Mr. Obama and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

It came as the McCain campaign was intensifying its attacks, trying to throw its Democratic opponent off course before the conventions.

“Barack Obama has played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck,” Mr. McCain’s campaign manager, Rick Davis, charged in a statement with which Mr. McCain later said he agreed. “It’s divisive, negative, shameful and wrong.”

USA

Travelers’ Laptops May Be Detained At Border

No Suspicion Required Under DHS Policies

By Ellen Nakashima

Washington Post Staff Writer

Friday, August 1, 2008; Page A01

Federal agents may take a traveler’s laptop computer or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed.

Also, officials may share copies of the laptop’s contents with other agencies and private entities for language translation, data decryption or other reasons, according to the policies, dated July 16 and issued by two DHS agencies, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

I’m sorry, the language may get a little rough.

Sen. Barbara Boxer has been investigating a cover up directed by the WH and Cheney’s office to hide from the public an EPA finding that global warming endangers our lives and public health — both now and in the future.  Even the WH admitted that GHG endangers us. Yet, Bush has obstructed the EPA from fully disclosing how we are endangered and prevented the EPA from complying with the law by regulating GRG.

This cover up has teeth because it affects if we live, where we live and the quality of our lives.  It involves WH secrecy, violation of laws, altering sworn Congressional testimony and imposing GAG orders. Yesterday, the fruits of the investigation thus far caused Democrats to demand that EPA Administrator Johnson resign and that a DOJ perjury investigation be conducted.

Well, we’ve quite a large backlog of worthy essays to work off but I’ll not consign them the late night ghetto that is The Stars Hollow Gazette.

Instead I’ve been requested to do something in a lighter hearted, more literary vein and I’ll point out one of my favorites- The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll.

this is a test.