Pic of the Day

One believes IN the Almighty, the other believes he IS the Almighty.

Gore Tries a Pi$$ Poor Imitaion of Jerry Lewis

The difference is this, a real tradegy and a totally created one.

Reuters) - Former Vice President Al Gore will renew his 30-year campaign to convince skeptics of the link between climate change and extreme weather events this week in a 24-hour global multi-media event.

"24 Hours of Reality" will broadcast a presentation by Al Gore every hour for 24 hours across 24 different time zones from Wednesday to Thursday, with the aim of convincing climate change deniers and driving action against global warming among households, schools and businesses.

The campaign also asks people to hand over control of their social networking accounts on Facebook and Twitter to it for 24 hours to deliver Gore's message.

Never Forget

Bank of America retrenches, plans to cut 40,000 jobs

Wonder how the Labor Dept. will keep this off the books.

Bank of America is preparing to slash 40,000 or more jobs nationwide, a dramatic retrenchment that reflects the deepening woes of the country’s largest bank and the magnitude of the U.S. economic slowdown.

The layoffs will come mainly from the Bank of America’s sprawling consumer-banking operations. The bank’s workforce numbers nearly 300,000.

The details of the cutbacks were not officially announced, but the information was disclosed by three Bank of America executives who have been briefed on the plan but were not authorized to speak publicly. Brian Moynihan, Bank of America’s beleaguered chief executive, is expected to unveil details at an investor conference Monday in New York.

800,000 Years of Abrupt Climate Variability: Earth's Climate Is Capable of Very Rapid Transitions

Who would have imagined that coal fired electric plants heating caves and Neanderthals driving SUV's was the problem all along.

An international team of scientists, led by Dr Stephen Barker of Cardiff University, has produced a prediction of what climate records from Greenland might look like over the last 800,000 years.

Drill cores taken from Greenland's vast ice sheets provided the first clue that Earth's climate is capable of very rapid transitions and have led to vigorous scientific investigation into the possible causes of abrupt climate change.

Such evidence comes from the accumulation of layers of ancient snow, which compact to form the ice-sheets we see today. Each layer of ice can reveal past temperatures and even evidence for the timing and magnitude of distant storms or volcanic eruptions. By drilling cores in the ice scientists have reconstructed an incredible record of past climates. Until now such temperature records from Greenland have covered only the last 100,000 years or so.

Longshoremen storm Longview port, hold security guards hostage

The spirit of Hoffa Jr.

LONGVIEW, Wash. (AP) — Hundreds of Longshore workers stormed the Port of Longview early Thursday, overpowered and held security guards, damaged railroad cars, and dumped grain that is the center of a labor dispute, said Longview Police Chief Jim Duscha.

Six guards were detained for a couple of hours after 500 or more Longshoremen broke down gates about 4:30 a.m. and smashed windows in the guard shack, he said.

No one was hurt, and nobody has been arrested. Most of the protesters returned to their union hall after cutting brake lines and spilling grain from car at the EGT terminal, Duscha said.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union believes it has the right to work at the facility, but the company has hired a contractor that's staffing a workforce of other union laborers.

So even union isn't good enough, it's got to be MY union. Entitlement thugs.

Real Wages Decline Again

Obama, the gift that's just keeps giving.

Real wages are falling sharply, pinching Americans' buying power and raising the risks for a fragile economy and President Obama's re-election hopes.

With more than 4 unemployed workers available for every job opening, pressure on wages has been intense.

Inflation-adjusted weekly earnings have fallen significantly in recent months, likely falling more than 1.5% vs. a year earlier in August. That would be the biggest drop since the height of the financial crisis in late 2008.

Real disposable income per capita — seen by some researchers as the most important factor in people's well-being and voting patterns — has leveled off well below pre-recession levels and may be rolling over.

Pelosi Peeved Republicans Opt Out of Rebuttal to Obama Speech

Now this is funny...

Republicans have decided they're not going to give a rebuttal to President Obama's jobs speech later this week, a decision House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi took as a high affront to the White House.

At least three GOP lawmakers also have announced they're not going to show up for the presidential address. House Speaker John Boehner's office then confirmed Tuesday evening that nobody from the party would deliver an official televised response.

Pelosi said the party's "silence" would "speak volumes about their lack of commitment to creating jobs."

"The Republicans' refusal to respond to the president's proposal on jobs is not only disrespectful to him, but to the American people," Pelosi said.

Former US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates: Israel an ungrateful ally

They would be a good deal more grateful if Obama would act like and ally.

Former US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates blasted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that his policies were ungrateful towards the US and were isolating Israel on a global level.

Gates’ harsh words were said during a meeting of the National Security Council Principals Committee, Bloomberg’s Jeffrey Goldber reported Tuesday.

Gates believes Netanyahu’s government has offered the Obama administration “nothing in return” for its generous security aid, which includes access to top-quality weapons, assistance in developing missile-defense systems and high-level intelligence sharing.

The former defense secretary said that not only is Netanyahu ungrateful, but his polices were “endangering his country by refusing to grapple with Israel’s growing isolation and with the demographic challenges it faces if it keeps control of the West Bank.”

Happy Labor Day

U.S. Debt Held by Public Tops $10T for 1st Time

Another dubious milestone for Captain O)

(CNSNews.com) - At the close of business on Aug. 31--for the first time in the history of the country--the publicly held debt of the federal government topped $10 trillion, according to data released by the U.S. Treasury Department at 4:00 p.m. yesterday.

During Obama's presidency, debt held by the public has now increased by $3.71694 trillion--or almost 59 percent from the $6.3073 trillion in debt held by the public that the government owed to its creditors on Jan. 20, 2009, when Obama was inaugurated.

US productivity falls in spring, labor costs rise

More good news from Obamaville.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Worker productivity in the United States fell this spring more quickly than previously estimated while labor costs were rising at a faster clip. Both developments could pose threats to a fragile economic recovery.

The U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday that productivity declined at an annual rate of 0.7 percent in the April-June period, a bigger drop than the 0.3 percent decline reported a month ago. Labor costs rose at an annual rate of 3.3 percent, faster than the 2.4 percent increase originally reported.

Thursday Funny

US private sector adds 91,000 jobs

Anemic to say the least.

The US private sector added 91,000 jobs in August, fewer than expected, according to a report from private payrolls firm ADP released Wednesday.

Net job creation slowed from the revised 109,000 payrolls added in July, the report said.

Confidence Drops to Lowest Level Since April 2009

No surprise here.

U.S. consumer confidence crumbled in August to its lowest level in more than two years as the fallout from political wrangling over a budget deal took its toll, according to a private sector report released Tuesday.

The Conference Board, an industry group, said its index of consumer attitudes sank to 44.5 from a downwardly revised 59.2 the month before. The index was well off a poll of economists by Reuters for a reading of 52.0.

The index was at the lowest level since April 2009, the report said. July was originally reported as 59.5.

Lawrence Solomon: Science getting settled

Interesting but not so surprising a story, please read it all.

New, convincing evidence indicates global warming is caused by cosmic rays and the sun — not humans

The science is now all-but-settled on global warming, convincing new evidence demonstrates, but Al Gore, the IPCC and other global warming doomsayers won’t be celebrating. The new findings point to cosmic rays and the sun — not human activities — as the dominant controller of climate on Earth.

The research, published with little fanfare this week in the prestigious journal Nature, comes from über-prestigious CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, one of the world’s largest centres for scientific research involving 60 countries and 8,000 scientists at more than 600 universities and national laboratories. CERN is the organization that invented the World Wide Web, that built the multi-billion dollar Large Hadron Collider, and that has now built a pristinely clean stainless steel chamber that precisely recreated the Earth’s atmosphere.

In this chamber, 63 CERN scientists from 17 European and American institutes have done what global warming doomsayers said could never be done — demonstrate that cosmic rays promote the formation of molecules that in Earth’s atmosphere can grow and seed clouds, the cloudier and thus cooler it will be. Because the sun’s magnetic field controls how many cosmic rays reach Earth’s atmosphere (the stronger the sun’s magnetic field, the more it shields Earth from incoming cosmic rays from space), the sun determines the temperature on Earth.

Poll: Only 17 percent hold positive view of federal government

Go figure.

Americans have a more favorable view of every other industry — including oil and gas — than of the federal government, according to a new poll released Monday.

Only 17 percent of Americans surveyed have a positive view of the federal government.

According to Gallup, this is the first time the federal government has ranked at the bottom of a list of industries, displacing even the oil-and-gas industry, which came in second to last this year.

Vid of the Week

The Weather Channel's hyperbolic BS is exposed again HERE.

Sunday Funny

From RR.

US economy grew just 1.0% in second quarter

Kinda makes the Bush years of 6% growth and 4.5% unemployment look pretty dam% good.

WASHINGTON — The US economy grew at a weaker pace than initially believed in the second quarter, the government said Friday in a report that underscored the tenuous nature of the two-year-old recovery.

The Commerce Department lowered its estimate for second-quarter growth in gross domestic product to an annual rate of 1.0 percent from the first quarter, from a prior reading of 1.3 percent.

"The recovery continues, but is extremely fragile. The economy has expanded just 1.5 percent over the past year, too weak to create the job growth necessary for a self-sustaining expansion," said Augustine Faucher at Moody's Analytics.

Growth in the April-June period was hit primarily by downward revisions to inventory investment and exports, that were only partly offset by upward revisions to business fixed investment and consumer spending.

Pic of the Day

Speaks for itself.

Percentage of Young People Employed in July Is Lowest on Record

Stagnating economy plain and simple.

(CNSNews.com) – Although more young people found jobs between April and July, the percentage of young people employed in July 2011 was the lowest July rate on record since the government started tracking the numbers in 1948.

Data released on Wednesday by the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that only 48.8 percent of young people ages 16-24 were employed in July, a slightly lower percentage than last year. Youth employment typically peaks in July, as high school and college students work summer jobs and graduates take permanent jobs.

Raising the minimum wage certainly didn't help.

Jobless claims in U.S. rise to 417,000

This week up, last week revised up, 4 week average up, surprise, surprise.

New applications for U.S. unemployment compensation rose 5,000 to 417,000 , the Labor Department said Thursday. Initial claims from two weeks ago were revised up to 412,000 from an original reading of 408,000...

The average of new claims over the past four weeks, meanwhile, increased by 4,000 to 407,500...In addition, the Labor Department said the number of Americans who continue to receive state unemployment checks fell by 80,000 to 3.64 million in the week ended Aug 13. Continuing claims are reported with a one-week lag.

67% of Political Class Say U.S. Heading in Right Direction, 84% of Mainstream Disagrees

Just proves that the politicians and the journalists that report on them are living in LA La Land.

Recent polling has shown huge gaps between the Political Class and Mainstream Americans on issues ranging from immigration to health care to the virtues of free markets.

The gap is just as big when it comes to the traditional right direction/wrong track polling question.

A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 67% of Political Class voters believe the United States is generally heading in the right direction. However, things look a lot different to Mainstream Americans. Among these voters, 84% say the country has gotten off on the wrong track.

Twenty-four percent (24%) of Mainstream voters consider fiscal policy issues such as taxes and government spending to be the most important issue facing the nation today. Just two percent (2%) of Political Class voters agree.

July new home sales fall for third straight month

So many facets of this economy are dependent on home sales. Untill this shows some serious strength, the economy won't.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — U.S. sales of new homes declined in July for the third straight month, a sign of continued woes in the housing market.

Sales fell 0.7% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 298,000, the slowest pace since February, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Sales had reached 316,000 in April before slipping.

The drop was a surprise to analysts. The consensus forecast of Wall Street economists was for a 1% gain in home sales to a 315,000 rate.

Another Business Flees Illinois

More than double the tax rate in 1 year and this is unexpected?

Tomorrow (Tuesday), Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels is expected to announce that Indiana will welcome a new business that will bring 240 new jobs to Indiana — all thanks to Illinois’ Governor Quinn, the Illinois Democrats, and the major hike in Illinois’ taxes the Democrats put on Illinois businesses.

Modern Drop Forge, of Blue Island, Illinois, is expected to move its operation to Merrillville, Indiana. They are also expected to make a $7 million investment to improve the new property, according to NWI Times news of Indiana.

“The Democrats just don’t get it,” said Scott McCoy, a businessman and candidate for Illinois State Representative of the newly formed 106th House District in Central Illinois. “The Democrats caused this with their huge tax hike on Illinois businesses. Now, Illinois businesses are looking for more business friendly states and I can’t blame them. Illinois is doing this to ourselves. I hope the people in our state figure it out before we look around and see no businesses or jobs left in Illinois.”

Mortgage delinquency rate rises to 8.44%

Continuing positives from Hoover errr... Obamaville.

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Mortgage delinquencies rose in the second quarter, a development that reflects the deterioration of the job market, the Mortgage Bankers Association's chief economist said on Monday. In the second quarter, the delinquency rate for mortgages on one-to-four unit residential properties reached a seasonally adjusted 8.44%, up from 8.32% in the first quarter, yet still down from 9.85% when compared with the second quarter of 2010, according to the MBA's quarterly delinquency report.

Sunday Funny

From RR.

Headline of the Week

Obama Pushes for Action on Jobs While Vacationing on Martha's Vineyard. Also he's taking the ridiculously expensive vacation so we don't have to.

West Point reinstates cadet in LaBelle altercation

About dam# time.

A West Point cadet from Houston will return to class Monday after military academy officials rescinded a suspension that came after he was embroiled in a March altercation with singer Patti LaBelle's entourage at a local airport.

Word from the New York military academy came as dueling lawsuits - one filed by cadet Richard King, the other by LaBelle - await resolution in local courts.

King's attorney, John Raley, said Houston police recently apprised academy officials that the 23-year-old cadet had not been implicated in wrongdoing in the March 11 incident at George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

Michelle’s Separate Travel Costs Taxpayers Thousands

We need to eat our peas while they dine on caviar.

Michelle Obama Thursday traveled separately from President Obama to Martha’s Vineyard, costing taxpayers thousands in additional expenses to get her a few hours of extra vacation time.

Mrs. Obama and her daughters arrived just before 2 pm Thursday on a U.S. government jet, according to the Martha’s Vineyard Times, which got its information from the local airport. The first lady’s office has been silent on her travel. President Obama arrived in the evening along with the family dog Bo.

The extra costs related to Mrs. Obama’s solo trip mainly include the flight on a specially designed military aircraft she took instead of Air Force One, as well as any extra staff and Secret Service that had to be enlisted to go with her. She would also have had her own motorcade from the airport to her vacation residence.

Mrs. Obama’s separate jet travel sends the wrong message on a host of issues, from global warming to the budget deficit to the economy – in which currently so many people can’t afford to take a vacation at all.

This is not the first time Michelle has gone on vacation ahead of the president on the taxpayers’ tab. Last December, she racked up what was likely more than $100,000 in expenses leaving early for their Hawaii vacation.

Photoshop of the Week

Jobless Claims UP

New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, according to a government report on Thursday that suggested hiring in August was steady but not robust.Meanwhile, the Labor Department says the Consumer Price Index rose 0.5 percent in July, following a drop of 0.2 percent in June. Gas prices accounted for much of the swing. Prices increased by a seasonally adjusted 4.7 percent, after falling sharply in June.

The core index, which excludes volatile food and energy, rose 0.2 percent. That's below the 0.3 percent rise in each of the previous two months.

Steady but not robust? Brother that is some serious spin.

UN says withdraws non-essential staff from Syria

Going down.

The United Nations has withdrawn non-essential staff from Syria where President Bashar al-Assad is seeking to crush a five-month uprising against his rule, a senior UN official said on Wednesday.

UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams said in a statement to Reuters that the 26 non-essential international staff members and their families had left Syria. (Reuters)

Perry Vaults Into Double Digit Lead

We figured Perry would enter the race and be near the top but 11 point lead out of the chute, wow.

Texas Governor Rick Perry, the new face in the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, has jumped to a double-digit lead over Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann with the other announced candidates trailing even further behind.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely Republican Primary voters, taken Monday night, finds Perry with 29% support. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who ran unsuccessfully for the GOP presidential nomination in 2008, earns 18% of the vote, while Bachmann, the Minnesota congresswoman who won the high-profile Ames Straw Poll in Iowa on Saturday, picks up 13%.

Housing starts slip 1.5% in July

And the beat goes on...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Housing starts slipped 1.5% in July, according to data released Tuesday that highlight the lack of demand for new homes.

Starts fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 604,000, down from a downwardly revised 613,000 rate in June, the Commerce Department said.

Obama Hits New All Time Low

From Gallup: 39% Approve, 54% Disapprove, and It's ALL adults no less.

Pawlenty Out

And this blogger says "good riddance".

Tim Pawlenty will announce an end to his presidential candidacy after a disappointing third place finish in the Ames, Iowa, straw poll, sources participating in a conference call Sunday told Fox News.

The former Minnesota governor was expected to make the announcement on a Sunday morning talk show.

Pawlenty received 13 percent of the vote in the poll, which is not generally a marker of the future presidential nominee. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann received 28 percent of the nearly 17,000 votes cast followed by Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who earned 27 percent. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum earned 9 percent and businessman Herman Cain received 8 percent.

Federal judge throws out Obama drilling rules

Working out to be Obama's worst month in office yet.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A judge on Friday threw out Obama administration rules that sought to slow down expedited environmental review of oil and gas drilling on federal land.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Freudenthal ruled in favor of a petroleum industry group, the Western Energy Alliance, in its lawsuit against the federal government, including Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

The ruling reinstates Bush-era expedited oil and gas drilling under provisions called categorical exclusions on federal lands nationwide, Freudenthal said.

The government argued that oil and gas companies had no case because they didn't show how the new rules, implemented by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service last year, had created delays and added to the cost of drilling.

Appeals court rules against Obama healthcare law

WOW!

(Reuters) - An appeals court ruled Friday that President Barack Obama's healthcare law requiring Americans to buy healthcare insurance or face a penalty was unconstitutional, a blow to the White House.

The Appeals Court for the 11th Circuit, based in Atlanta, found that Congress exceeded its authority by requiring Americans to buy coverage, but also ruled that the rest of the wide-ranging law could remain in effect.

The legality of the so-called individual mandate, a cornerstone of the 2010 healthcare law, is widely expected to be decided by the Supreme Court. The Obama administration has defended the provision as constitutional.

Postal Service proposes cutting 120,000 jobs, pulling out of health-care plan

SEATTLE — The financially strapped U.S. Postal Service is proposing to cut its workforce by 20 percent and to withdraw from the federal health and retirement plans because it believes it could provide benefits at a lower cost.

The layoffs would be achieved in part by breaking labor agreements, a proposal that drew swift fire from postal unions. The plan would require congressional approval but, if successful, could be precedent-setting, with possible ripple effects throughout government. It would also deliver a major blow to the nation’s labor movement.

Oh my.

Wis. GOP holds off Democrats in recall elections

This is significant.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republicans held onto control of the Wisconsin Senate on Tuesday, beating back four Democratic challengers in a recall election despite an intense political backlash against GOP support for Gov. Scott Walker's effort to curb public employees' union rights.

Fueled by millions of dollars from national labor groups, the attempt to remove GOP incumbents served as both a referendum on Walker's conservative revolution and could provide a new gauge of the public mood less than a year after Republicans made sweeping gains in this state and many others.

Two Democratic incumbents face recalls next week, but even if Democrats win those they will still be in the minority.

In Debt Downgrade Aftermath, Obama Serves Up a Silly Speech

Read the whole thing, with a few exceptions, it's spot on.

First, do no harm. That is a useful injunction for doctors, lawyers, and, it turns out, U.S. presidents.

But President Obama’s useless speech Monday about the basic soundness of the American economy managed to reinforce all the concerns Americans on the left and right have about his stewardship of the country.

The speech did at least temporary harm. As soon as he finished speaking, the already jittery financial markets plunged.

Americans didn’t want to hear that we’re fine people or that Warren Buffett thinks that we should have an impeccable credit rating.

They didn’t want him to repeat his basic talking points: the need to marshal the “political will” to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance benefits, or create an infrastructure bank....

Explosive Jackie O tapes 'reveal how she believed LBJ killed JFK and had affair with movie star

Personally, I think Jackie Kennnedy-Onassis was a flake.

Jackie Onassis believed that Lyndon B Johnson and a cabal of Texas tycoons were involved in the assassination of her husband John F Kennedy, ‘explosive’ recordings are set to reveal.

The secret tapes will show that the former first lady felt that her husband’s successor was at the heart of the plot to murder him.

She became convinced that the then vice president, along with businessmen in the South, had orchestrated the Dallas shooting, with gunman Lee Harvey Oswald – long claimed to have been a lone assassin – merely part of a much larger conspiracy.

Quote of the Week

David Gregory, moderator of "Meet The Press" on NBC: "Are U.S. treasury bonds still safe to invest in?"

Alan Greenspan, Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve: "Very much so. This is not an issue of credit rating, the United States can pay any debt it has because we can always print money to do that. So, there is zero probability of default."

Words fail me.

Geithner to stay on as Treasury chief

Good, let the blame fall on Obama where it belongs.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has told President Barack Obama that he intends to stay on the job, Treasury said in a statement on Sunday afternoon.

"Secretary Geithner has let the president know that he plans to stay on in his position at Treasury," Assistant Treasury Secretary Jenni LeCompte said. "He looks forward to the important work ahead on the challenges facing our great country."

Geithner had indicated he might leave after a debt-limit increase was approved, but administration officials indicated that both Obama and the White House chief of staff had urged Geithner not to leave now.

Sunday Funny

From RR.

What a Flash Mob Used to Mean

Video HERE.

The Real Story

Labor Force Participation Rate Drops To 63.9%, Lowest Since January 1984

Friday Funny

Boy, 13, gunned down playing basketball: 'He died doing what he loved to do'

Very sad. These SOB's responsible need to be put down like the dogs they are.

Basketball was a way of life for Darius Brown, 13 and determined that one day he would play in the pros.

"He watched it, he played it. All day," said his mother, Stephanie Brown.

Darius was playing at Metcalfe Park in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side at about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday when a shot from a passing car hit him in the neck. He died hours later as family, friends and coaches held a vigil at Comer Children's Hospital.

A hamburger today for $2.4 trillion tomorrow

Classic bourgeois, good for thee but not for me.

President Obama took his debt team out for burgers at Good Stuff Eatery on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, giving new meaning to the "Popeye" character Wimpy's catchphrase "I'd gladly pay you Tuesday, for a hamburger today."

The White House said the outing, at which the president consumed a meal of about 1,700 calories, was a reward for the debt team's "nonstop" work over the last few months as they worked out a deal with Capitol Hill to extend the government's borrowing limit. Mr. Obama signed the extension into law Tuesday, just ahead of the deadline, allowing up to $2.4 trillion in debt to be accumulated.

Good Stuff marks the latest stop in Mr. Obama's Hamburger Diplomacy in and around Washington.

U.S. Layoffs Soar to 16-Month High in July

Obama "focusing like a laser"

The number of planned layoffs at U.S. firms rose to a 16-month high in July as sectors which had been seeing fairly few layoffs unexpectedly bled jobs, a report Wednesday showed.

Employers announced 66,414 planned job cuts last month, up 60.3 percent from 41,432 in June, according to a report from consultants Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

July's job cuts also were up from the same time a year ago, rising 59.4 percent from the 41,676 job cuts announced in July 2010, and recording the largest monthly total since March, 2010.

Consumer Spending in U.S. Unexpectedly Falls as Hiring Slumps

"Unexpected" for the 1000th time.

Aug. 2 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. consumer spending unexpectedly dropped in June for the first time in almost two years and savings climbed, adding to evidence that the slump in hiring is hurting household confidence.

Purchases declined 0.2 percent after a 0.1 percent gain the prior month, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The median estimate of 77 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a 0.1 percent increase. Incomes grew at the slowest pace since November.

The lack of jobs combined with wage gains that have failed to keep pace with inflation raise the risk of further cuts in consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of the world's largest economy. Companies like Newell Rubbermaid Inc. are among those cutting forecasts for the year.

ISM Craters

More "unexpected" bad news from Obamaville.

Stocks fell into negative territory, erasing an early rally Monday after ISM manufacturing index hit its lowest level since July 2009 and amid renewed worries over some euro zone countries.

Stocks opened sharply higher after top U.S. lawmakers sealed a deal to raise the debt ceiling one day ahead of a deadline for a potential default.

The pace of growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector slowed more than expected in July, according to the Institute for Supply Management. The ISM index slipped to 50.9from 55.3 the month before, shy of expectations of 54.9, according to a Reuters poll of economists.

Syria: Dozens Dead As Assad Troops Launch Major Tank Offensive

Hmmmm, wonder why one brutal murdeous dictator (ie Assad) worthy of administration praise is preferable to another brutal murderous dicator (ie. Quadaffi) worthy of military ouster..

On one of the bloodiest days of retribution since protests against the Syrian leader erupted in March, up to 95 people were killed in Hama alone. Dozens more were feared dead in other restive cities.

For nearly a month the security forces had laid siege to Hama, sealing off access roads into the central Syrian city in an attempt to isolate its fractious inhabitants from the rest of the country.

But with perhaps half of the city's 700,000-strong population regularly taking to the streets to demand the regime's downfall, the security forces chose to resort once more to bloodshed. Just before dawn, tanks and armoured vehicles crossed the Orontes River and advanced into the centre of the city, leaving crushed barricades and corpses in their wake. As day broke, the city's skyline seemed almost entirely shrouded with smoke.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), March 20, 2006

"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can't pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies...

Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that "the buck stops here." Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better". Thanks to JR at FR.

Economic growth tepid as spending flat

Has this administration EVER revised a figure positively?

The U.S. economy came perilously close to flat-lining in the first quarter and grew at a meager 1.3 percent annual rate in the April-June period as consumer spending barely rose.

The Commerce Department data on Friday also showed the current lull in the economy began earlier than had been thought, with the growth losing steam late last year.

That could raise questions on the long held view by both Federal Reserve officials and independent economists that the slowdown in growth as the year started was largely the result of transitory factors.

Growth in gross domestic product -- a measure of all goods and services produced within U.S. borders - rose at a 1.3 percent annual rate. First-quarter output was sharply revised down to a 0.4 percent pace from a 1.9 percent increase.

New NASA Data Blow Gaping Hold In Global Warming Alarmism

Why do we need science when we have emotion.

NASA satellite data from the years 2000 through 2011 show the Earth's atmosphere is allowing far more heat to be released into space than alarmist computer models have predicted, reports a new study in the peer-reviewed science journal Remote Sensing. The study indicates far less future global warming will occur than United Nations computer models have predicted, and supports prior studies indicating increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide trap far less heat than alarmists have claimed.

Study co-author Dr. Roy Spencer, a principal research scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and U.S. Science Team Leader for the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer flying on NASA's Aqua satellite, reports that real-world data from NASA's Terra satellite contradict multiple assumptions fed into alarmist computer models.

U.S. durable-goods orders fall 2.1% in June

At least it wasn't "unexpected".....Errrr, wait

It was the second large drop in the past three months for durable-goods orders, raising fears that manufacturing is running out of steam after leading a tepid recovery over the past two years. Without a strong manufacturing sector, it is hard to see how forecasts of a strong second-half recovery can be realized.

The decline in orders in June followed a revised 1.9% rise in May and a 2.5% drop in April.

The decline was a surprise to the closest observers. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had been forecasting a flat reading.

A Tale of Two States

Now who can answer why this is the case, Bueller, Bueller, anyone?

New polls confirm Obama's Democratic base crumbles

Shocker of the week.....NOT.

Strong support among liberal Democrats for Obama's jobs record has plummeted 22 points from 53% down below a third. African Americans who believe the president's measures helped the economy has plunged from 77% to barely half.

Obama's overall job approval on the economy has slid below 40% for the first time, with 57% disapproving. And strong disapprovers outnumber approvers by better than two-to-one.

Budget Deals on the Table

Table provided by Zero Hedge. BTW, be wary of the comments in the "short description" column. The author casts the "Gang of Six" plan as containing "meaningful cuts" and thats just plain BS.

Sunday Funny

Thanks RR.

Rasmussen: By 2 to 1, voters fear deal will raise taxes too much, cut spending too little

And 10-1 they're right.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 62% of Likely U.S. Voters are worried more that Congress and President Obama will raise taxes too much rather than too little in any deal to end the debt ceiling debate. Just 26% fear they’ll raise taxes too little. Twelve percent (12%) aren’t sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Similarly, 56% worry that Congress and the president will cut spending too little in the final debt ceiling deal, while only 25% are concerned that they will cut spending too much. Nineteen percent (19%) are undecided.

Friday Funny

Two-thirds of Americans support House Cut Cap and Balance Plan

I find the extent of support welcome but a bit surprising.

CNN just released a poll of 1,000 Americans showing overwhelming support for the House Republican approach to the debt limit crisis. Specifically, 66 percent of Americans favor a deal where both houses of Congresses pass a balance budget amendment, and substantial cuts and caps on future spending, in exchange for a debt limit hike.

As a stand alone measure 74 percent of Americans favor a constitutional amendment to require a balanced federal budget. And 60 percent of Americans believe a balanced budget amendment is necessary to get federal deficits under control.

The poll is not all bad news for President Obama. Sixty-six percent of Americans do support a plan to cut four trillion dollars in government spending and raise taxes as part of a debt limit hike.

Jobless Claims Rise Again

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 418,000, the Labor Department said.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims rising to 410,000. The prior week's figure was revised up to 408,000 from the previously reported 405,000.

Reports: US drone shot down over Iran nuke site

Hmmmmm.

A U.S. drone was shot down while flying over a nuclear facility in Iran, according to reports in the Iranian media. Iran's Fars news agency reported that lawmaker Ali Aqazadeh Dafsari, a member of the parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, had confirmed the unmanned spy plane was flying near the Fordo nuclear enrichment plant in Qom province when it was brought down by Revolutionary Guard soldiers.

It did not say when the alleged incident happened.

Dafsari told Fars that the drone was trying to gather information about the nuclear facility for the CIA. Fars also said Iranian military officials had claimed to have shot down "several enemy drones" in January.

Quote of the Day

Adolf Hitler in "Mein Kampf": for a lie so “colossal” that no one would believe that someone “could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously.”Bring anyone to mind?

Jesse White gives raises while other Illinois agencies freeze pay

This after a 64% increase in the Illinois income tax, parasites.

At a time when pay raises are a distant memory and unpaid leave a reality for many area government workers, Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White has handed out pay hikes exceeding 6% to his entire executive staff.

According to payroll data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the Better Government Assn., Mr. White in the 12-month period ended May 31 gave 4% and then 2% raises to roughly 250 non-union administrative personnel, almost all of them policymakers, supervisors or their clerical assistants.

The hikes collectively are costing taxpayers an extra $78,000 a month.

Sunday Funny

From RR.

Is Tiger Woods running out of money?

The two most celebrated black men in our culture are going down. Not because of racism but rather their own pi$$ poor behavior.

FORTUNE -- When news broke a few weeks ago that Tiger Woods had signed an endorsement deal to hawk a heat rub in Japan, it was hard not to think of Lost in Translation, or of the Entourage episode when Vincent Chase goes to China to do an energy drink commercial because he's out of money.

Although Woods was likely paid in the single-digit millions for the spot -- in which he takes a swing, rubs his back, and says, "Go Vantelin!" -- it's a far cry from campaigns for PepsiCo (PEP), Gillette, and Accenture (ACN). The last time Woods showed up in Japanese TV ads was in 1997, when he promoted Asahi Wonda coffee, back before he became a phenomenon. So the deal with Kowa (maker of the rub) seems more like a moment of desperation than a return to form.

It's no secret that Woods, once king of the sports world, has suffered financially since his fall from grace. His endorsement list shrank and his marriage ended in a divorce settlement reportedly worth $100 million. But now he may actually be hurting for funds. At the very least, there are signs that he isn't generating enough to comfortably cover his costs.

Entertainment Break

Taking a break from politics, the deficit and unemployment. For oldsters and youngsters, one of the greatest songs written and performed ever.

HERE

Some disagree and say Lena Horne's signature song was superior, you decide.

Comedian on Bachmann: I would **** her angrily

Leftist flagbearer.

The era of civility was on full display during Friday night’s “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

In the midst of a conversation about Michele Bachmann and her husband Marcus Bachmann’s Christian counseling clinic (recently underfire for attempting to turn gays straight through prayer), comedian Marc Maron spoke about how he thinks about “angrily ****ing” the Republican presidential candidate.

“I don’t want to be crass, but I just hope that Marcus Bachmann takes all that, ya know, that rage that comes from repression and denial and brings it into the bedroom with her,” Maron said. “I hope he **** her angrily, because that’s how I would. And I’ve thought about it.”

Disgusting puke.

Looks like the White House went after Fox News in 2009 after all

Was there ever any doubt.

Emails that surfaced last week, however, through a public records request by the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch, suggest otherwise.

"We'd prefer if you skip Fox please," a White House broadcast media staffer advised a Treasury Department public affairs secretary ahead of the interview. In other emails during the same time frame, deputy White House communications director Jennifer Psaki called Fox News anchor Bret Baier "a lunatic" and boasted that "I am putting some dead fish in the fox cubby--just cause." In yet another email, another White House press officer wrote: "We've demonstrated our willingness and ability to exclude Fox News from significant interviews …"

Jackson Lee: Congress complicating debt ceiling because Obama is black

So Barack Hussein Obama “disrespected” President Bush in 2006 by opposing an increase to the debt ceiling because he was white? These race hustling pimps have cried wolf so many times it's hard to believe anyone believes a word they say.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) on Friday strongly suggested that members of Congress are making it difficult for President Obama to raise the debt ceiling because of his race.

"I do not understand what I think is the maligning and maliciousness [toward] this president,” said Jackson Lee, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. “Why is he different? And in my community, that is the question that we raise. In the minority community that is question that is being raised. Why is this president being treated so disrespectfully? Why has the debt limit been raised 60 times? Why did the leader of the Senate continually talk about his job is to bring the president down to make sure he is unelected?”

Earlier in her speech, Jackson Lee said Obama has been targeted unlike any other president.

"I am particularly sensitive to the fact that only this president — only this one, only this one — has received the kind of attacks and disagreement and inability to work, only this one," said Jackson Lee from the House floor.

July consumer sentiment at worst since March 2009

NEW YORK — Consumer sentiment deteriorated in early July to the lowest level since March 2009 on increasing pessimism over falling income and rising unemployment, a survey released on Friday showed.

Confidence in government economic policies also curdled, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan survey showed. U.S. lawmakers are wrangling over a budget deal that would allow the government to raise the debt ceiling -- needed so the United States can fund its obligations next month.

The preliminary reading for the consumer sentiment index dropped to 63.8 in July from 71.5 the month before, falling far short of expectations of an increase to 72.5, according to a Reuters poll of economists.

The survey's barometer of current economic conditions fell to 76.3, the lowest since November 2009, from 82.0. The gauge of consumer expectations was also at its lowest since March 2009, tumbling to 55.8 from 64.8.

Why under any conceivable analysis would they be "expecting" an increase?

Views of U.S., Obama Drop Sharply Across Arab World

Appears that Obama's worldwide "love initiative" isn't working out so well.

President Obama has failed to live up to the expectations he created in the Arab world, according to a new poll released by Zogby International and the Arab American Institute Foundation. The poll also noted that most Arab countries view the U.S. less favorably today than they did during the last year of the Bush administration.

“President Obama did not create the problems, but he created the expectation that the problems would be solved,” said James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute. “He sent a number of signals early on that U.S. policy would change: in his inauguration speech, in his al-Arabiya interview, and in his appointment of [former Senate Majority Leader] George Mitchell as special envoy,” said Zogby. “By the time of his speech in Cairo, the favorable ratings of the U.S. were at their highest ever.”

Census: Share of Children in U.S. at Record Low

Sobering.

Children now make up less of America's population than ever before, even with a boost from immigrant families.

And when this generation grows up, it will become a shrinking work force that will have to support the nation's expanding elderly population — even as the government strains to cut spending for health care, pensions and much else.

The latest 2010 census data show that children of immigrants make up one in four people under 18, and are now the fastest-growing segment of the nation's youth, an indication that both legal and illegal immigrants as well as minority births are lifting the nation's population.

Election 2012: Generic Presidential Ballot

Better but by no means conclusive.A generic Republican candidate earns the highest level of support yet against President Obama in a hypothetical 2012 election matchup.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely U.S. Voters finds that the generic Republican picks 48% of the vote, while the president gets 43% support. Three percent (3%) favor some other candidate, and seven percent (7%) are undecided.

Last week, the incumbent and the generic Republcian candidate were tied, each earning 44% support. The GOP candidate has now outpolled the president in seven-of-10surveys conducted weekly since early May. Prior to this survey, the Republican has earned 43% to 46% of the vote, while support for the president has ranged from 42% to 45%.

Ron Paul won't seek congressional term in 2012

As far as I'm concerned it's one less nutburger in Congress.

LAKE JACKSON — After serving almost 24 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Ron Paul told The Facts this morning he will not be seeking another term for the District 14 seat.

Paul, 75, will instead focus on his quest for the presidency in 2012.

“I felt it was better that I concentrate on one election,” Paul said. “It’s about that time when I should change tactics.”

New Jersey: Christie Veto of Planned Parenthood Tax-Funds Upheld

This ought to generate some post 4th of July fireworks.

Democrats in the New Jersey legislature were unable to override a veto pro-life Gov. Chris Christie issued to prevent taxpayers in the Garden State from having to fund the Planned Parenthood abortion business.

The bid to override Governor Christie’s line-item veto of the $7.453 million appropriation for women’s health and family planning services, with much of the money going to the pro-abortion giant, failed in the state house this morning. The votes were roughly split down party lines and democrats could only muster 24 of the 27 votes needed to override and three Republican state senators chose not to vote: Allen, Bateman, and Beck.

Quote of the Day

After Obama's speech today one astute poster coined him as "The Fresh Prince of Hot Air."

Well done young man.

Graph of the Day

Sunday Funny

Holder Launches Witch Hunt Against Biased Banks

It's hard to believe that this imbecile doesn't realize that this is what got us into trouble to begin with.

In what could be a repeat of the easy-lending cycle that led to the housing crisis, the Justice Department has asked several banks to relax their mortgage underwriting standards and approve loans for minorities with poor credit as part of a new crackdown on alleged discrimination, according to court documents reviewed by IBD.

Prosecutions have already generated more than $20 million in loan set-asides and other subsidies from banks that have settled out of court rather than battle the federal government and risk being branded racist.

US Needs To Generate 254,000 Jobs/Month For 65 Months To Get To Pre-Depression Levels By 2016

Every time we update the projection chart of how many jobs have to be created by the end of Obama's now improbable second term, the number goes up. First it was 245,500 in April, then 250,000 in June, now it is 254,000: it seems to increase by 5,000 each month. As a reminder this chart looks for the breakeven number that has be attained to restore (not surpass) the jobs that the US economy had back in December 2007 as the Depression started, when accounting for the natural increase of 90,000 people/month in the labor force. Needless to say, there is no way in hell the US economy can create a quarter million jobs per month from now for the next 65 months, as long as the president continues to pander to Wall Street's "wealth creation" via asset returns instead of directing capital into actual economically viable projects that focus on wealth creation through labor.

Scary, really dam% scary.

Unemployment rose to 9.2 percent as hiring stalls

Can't wait to hear the White House try and spin this. WASHINGTON -

Hiring slowed to a near-standstill last month. Employers added the fewest jobs in nine months and the unemployment rate rose to 9.2 percent.

The Labor Department says the economy generated only 18,000 net jobs in June. And the number of jobs added in May was revised down to 25,000.

High gas prices and supply-chain disruptions stemming from the Japan crisis and the weak housing market have slowed the economy. Average hourly wages declined last month. After-tax incomes, adjusted for inflation, have been flat this year.

Businesses added the fewest jobs in more than a year. Governments cut 39,000 jobs.

ATF Director Says Holder Obstructing 'Fast and Furious' Probe

This thing's got legs...

The Justice Department is obstructing the congressional investigation of a U.S. law enforcement operation intended to crack down on major weapons traffickers on the Southwest border, according to the embattled leader of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Ken Melson, the acting director of the ATF, lobbed the accusation when he sneaked in for an interview with congressional investigators on July 4, two days ahead of his scheduled interview with the inspector general about the operation known as "Fast and Furious," Fox News has learned.

"If his account is accurate, then ATF leadership appears to have been effectively muzzled while the DOJ sent over false denials and buried its head in the sand," Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said in a letter Tuesday to Attorney General Eric Holder. "That approach distorted the truth and obstructed our investigation."

Wednesday Funny

Probe finds widespread cheating in Atlanta schools

Stunning but not unexpected.

ATLANTA — Educators at nearly four dozen Atlanta elementary and middle schools cheated on standardized tests by either helping students or changing the answers once exams were handed in, according to the results of a yearlong state investigation released Tuesday.

The report said that 178 teachers and principals cheated, though only 82 educators actually confessed to misconduct dating as far back as 2001 and affecting thousands of school children, according to a synopsis handed out by Gov. Nathan Deal's office. More than half of the district's 100 schools were examined, and 44 of those had cheating, the synopsis said.

The investigators also found a "culture of fear, intimidation and retaliation" in the school district over the cheating allegations, which lead to educators lying about the cheating or destroying documents to cover it up, according to the synopsis. School officials had "warnings" as early as 2005 that there was cheating on standardized tests, but those signals "were ignored," according to the synopsis.

Oil Prices Climb Back to Pre-Reserve Release Levels

Well, you could knock me over with a feather.

Crude raced higher Tuesday as energy bulls pushed Nymex oil back toward the $100-a-barrel mark, prices last seen before world governments said they would release crude from their reserves last month.

West Texas Intermediate jumped 2.1 percent to $96.89 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, decidedly above the $94.45 close of June 22, the day before the announcement on the release of 60 million barrels from reserves.

Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange finished $2.25 higher at $113.63 a barrel, and just below the June 22 high of $114.21. Brent touched $114.44 Tuesday.

"I think we could probably test that $100 mark again. I also think for it to be sustained up there, you'd have to have something a little more going on, like geopolitical problems or some demand pickup," said Anthony Grisanti, president of GRZ Energy.

Companies Are Leaving California in Record Numbers, and It Might Get Worse

The exact same thing is happening in Illinois and for exactly the same reason.

The state of California is becoming legendary for creating the most anti-business climate in the country because of its high taxes, excessive regulations, forced unionism, and bloated public sector. For the second year in a row, a large group of America’s CEOs recently rated California as the worst state in the country to do business in an annual survey conducted by Chief Executive Magazine. California currently ranks No. 49 among U.S. states for “business tax climate” according to the Tax Foundation’s 2011 State Business Tax Climate Index, and it ranks No. 48 for “economic freedom” according to a recent study by the Mercatus Center.

It shouldn’t be any surprise then that companies are leaving the “Golden State” in record numbers this year (see chart below) for “golder pastures” and more business-friendly climates in other states. In just the last two years, the number of companies leaving California has accelerated more than five-fold, from one per week in 2009 to 5.4 per week this year, according to California relocation expert Joe Vranich.

Movie 1776

Just watched the 1972 movie production of "1776". Personally I thought the movie was VERY entertaining. I'm not much into musicals and I thought for the most part the songs were forgetable.

That being said, the acting was top shelf and the story, well, is, inspiring. I'm no historian, but I believe it was reasonably historically accurate.

There were points in the movie when I was really moved... and when they signed the document of declaration at the end as the bell tolled, I got a tear in my eye.

Your thoughts?

Happy Independence Day

Obama’s Economists: ‘Stimulus’ Has Cost $278,000 per Job

This is certainly no surprise to anyone that's been paying attention.

When the Obama administration releases a report on the Friday before a long weekend, it’s clearly not trying to draw attention to the report’s contents. Sure enough, the “Seventh Quarterly Report” on the economic impact of the “stimulus,” released on Friday, July 1, provides further evidence that President Obama’s economic “stimulus” did very little, if anything, to stimulate the economy, and a whole lot to stimulate the debt.

The report was written by the White House’s Council of Economic Advisors, a group of three economists who were all handpicked by Obama, and it chronicles the alleged success of the “stimulus” in adding or saving jobs. The council reports that, using “mainstream estimates of economic multipliers for the effects of fiscal stimulus” (which it describes as a “natural way to estimate the effects of” the legislation), the “stimulus” has added or saved just under 2.4 million jobs — whether private or public — at a cost (to date) of $666 billion. That’s a cost to taxpayers of $278,000 per job.

In other words, the government could simply have cut a $100,000 check to everyone whose employment was allegedly made possible by the “stimulus,” and taxpayers would have come out $427 billion ahead.

Minnesota Shuts Down

This is only the beginning.

Minnesota’s governor and Republican legislators failed to reach an agreement on the state budget, forcing a broad government shutdown Friday, while lawmakers across the nation wrapped up last-minute wrangling in order to meet state budget deadlines.

Minnesota's state government began a broad shutdown on Friday going into the July 4th holiday, after Democratic Governor Mark Dayton and Republican legislative leaders failed to reach a budget deal.

Parts of the government had already begun to shut down on Thursday ahead of the midnight budget deadline, including some websites and dozens of highway rest stops on one of the biggest travel days of the year.

Saturday Funny

Consumer Sentiment Worsens in June as Outlook Sours

At least it wasn't too much worse than expected.

U.S. consumer sentiment worsened in June on jitters about the economic outlook and spending is likely to remain lackluster in the long-term, a survey released Friday showed.

Falling gasoline prices stabilized consumers' view of their current economic conditions, but expectations remained gloomy, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan survey showed.

The final reading for the consumer sentiment index came in at 71.5, down from 74.3 the month before. It was a hair below the preliminary June figure of 71.8 and shy of the median forecast for 71.9 among economists polled by Reuters.