2016 archive
Cabinet of Horrors 0
Will Bunch opens the door and takes a peek.
Facebook Frolics 0
Yet more hate-full frolics.
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
Sill under 300k (emphasis added).
Jobless claims increased by 17,000 to 268,000 in the week that ended Nov. 26 and included Thanksgiving, Labor Department figures showed Thursday in Washington.
(snip)
Jobless claims have been below 300,000 for 91 straight weeks — the longest streak since 1970 and a level typical for a healthy labor market. At the same time, other factors that have pushed claims down in recent years, including cuts in the duration of benefits and changes to claim-filing technology.
Estimates in the Bloomberg survey ranged from 245,000 to 265,000. The prior week’s reading was unrevised at 251,000.
The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits increased by 38,000 to 2.08 million in the week ended Nov. 19.
Wait six months. I predict the rate will Trumple.
MIA 0
Remember all those teabaggers who demonstrated against the Affordable Care Act carrying signs that said, “Hands off my Medicare”?
Awakening 0
Keeping Up with the Times 6
Catherine Rampell suggests that college students need to change with the times.
What skills and disciplines should workers-to-be master to succeed in the 21st-century economy?
My answer used to involve programming, data analysis, creativity, empathy. Basically, skills that are complementary to rising automation and that will help workers invent new products or support those who do.
Today, my answer must change. In light of the regulatory vision being laid out by President-elect Donald Trump and his advisers, I’d recommend college students bone up on hustling and swindling instead.
Mammas, make sure your babies grow up to be con men.
Follow the link to find out why she says that.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Volunteer politely.
Hess was shot when Matis removed his legally owned gun from a holster and it fired, striking Hess in the cheek, state police said in a criminal complaint. Investigators haven’t said whether the shooting was accidental, but Davis believes it was.
In related news, it must have been the little white tail, reprise.
Truth in Labeling 0
Daniel Farmer reports that the Associated Press has issued guidelines that truthful reporting requires using truthful words. In his discussion, he gives some examples:
It’s time to call such things what they are: racist.
If you say people of color are the enemy, as the governor (Governor LePage of Maine–ed.) has, you’re a racist.
Same thing if you lie and say that black people commit 90 percent of crime in the state when the numbers don’t back you up, if you encourage violence against black men, and if you say immigrants carry disease and are terrorists.
You’re not part of the “alt-right.” Let’s be precise: You’re a racist.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out, for I have noted this constancy over my years: Except for a militant few, racists don’t like to be called “racist”; indeed, most will vehemently deny even to themselves that they are racist even as the crosses burn brightly behind them.
Swamp Things 0
Kevin Drum has been keeping track of the Trump’s swamp draining. It ain’t pretty.
Click to see the original image.
Changing the Subject 0
Thom discusses how our compliant corporate media run after shiny things and miss the stories that matter.
Dominance and Submission 0
Josh Marshall continues to explore Donald Trump’s desire for total victory, seeing hints of it in the current kerfuffle over Mitt the Flip as a possibility for Secretary of State (emphasis in the original). A nugget: