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Chronic unemployment worse than Great Depression – CBS Evening News – CBS News

6 Jun

About 6.2 million Americans, 45.1 percent of all unemployed workers in this country, have been jobless for more than six months – a higher percentage than during the Great Depression….

The problem of course is the economy, but some industries, especially certain manufacturing jobs, are not ever expected to come back. Experts say unemployed workers need to be prepared to change careers.

It’s hard to bounce back when the government’s got it’s head in the sand while it burns the midnight oil seeing that bankers get their bonuses and that the nuclear industry is free to regulate itself.

via Chronic unemployment worse than Great Depression – CBS Evening News – CBS News.

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Tough Fuel Economy and Emissions Standards for New Vehicles – NYTimes.com

5 Jun

[Obama’s]  advisers are in the final stages of drawing up new fuel economy and emissions standards for vehicles produced between 2017 and 2025. One advocate of tougher standards, Brendan Bell of the Union of Concerned Scientists, calls it “the biggest decision the president is making this summer that no one knows about.”

Mr. Obama has said he will recommend strong standards, but industry and many in Congress are furiously lobbying for the weakest they can get away with.

via Sticker Shock – NYTimes.com.

War on Drugs an epic fail, says new report by world leaders – Jimmy Zuma – Open Salon

4 Jun

According to the Commission the failure of the “War on Drugs” falls into four categories:

* Spending on criminalization hasn’t reduced supply.

* Arresting a drug seller never stops drug flow.

* Drug criminalization harms public health initiatives that reduce HIV/AIDS, overdoses and drug-related medical harm.

* Government spending on criminalization and jails uses money that could be spent on successfully-proven public health interventions.

via War on Drugs an epic fail, says new report by world leaders – Jimmy Zuma – Open Salon.

This is why the United States is doomed – How the World Works – Salon.com

4 Jun

The GOP response to the jobs report: The Earth is flat and two plus two equals five

via This is why the United States is doomed – How the World Works – Salon.com.

Hiring in U.S. Slowed in May With 54,000 Jobs Added – NYTimes.com

3 Jun

But things are fine for the rich Wall Streeter’s who keep bleeding the rest of us.

The Labor Department reported on Friday that the United States added 54,000 nonfarm payroll jobs last month, following an increase of 232,000 jobs in April. May’s job gain was about a third of what economists had been forecasting.

The unemployment rate ticked up to 9.1 percent from 9.0 percent in April.

“The economy clearly just hit a brick wall,” said Paul Ashworth, chief United States economist at Capital Economics. “It’s almost as if it came to a complete standstill.”

via Hiring in U.S. Slowed in May With 54,000 Jobs Added – NYTimes.com.

Medicare for All! | The Nation

3 Jun

Instead of just hoping that Republicans continue to play to their Tea Party base and implode in a general election, Democrats should be taking this moment to lead and to educate, not just on the practical virtues of Medicare for all but on the principle of social solidarity behind it.

via Medicare for All! | The Nation.

A Bad Day That Never Changes | Common Dreams

2 Jun

Yet just as we participate in the creation of climate change, or “global weirding,” with our voracious consumption of coal, oil and natural gas, we also participate in the creation of our own insecurity by spawning, bomb after bomb, endless reasons for people to hate us. Terrorists wind up being no more than people with grievances — very often, legitimate ones.

We are not pursuing peace. We are not pursuing security. We’re just producing dead insurgents, combined with collateral damage. And we can’t stop.

via A Bad Day That Never Changes | Common Dreams.

Why We’re Building a Civic Commons — And How You Can Be Part of It | Civic Commons

2 Jun

Hmmmm. . . .

In sum, Civic Commons is built around two central convictions: first, that wave after wave of innovation is delivering amazing new capabilities to the people and organizations that can take advantage of them, and second, that, with a little help, governments can absolutely understand and seize the opportunities created by the rapid evolution of information technology.

via Why We’re Building a Civic Commons — And How You Can Be Part of It | Civic Commons.

Some fear U.S. nuclear agency is playing ‘regulatory roulette’ – CNN.com

2 Jun

Does “NRC” really stand for “Nuclear Radiation Commission”?

Monitoring wells in New Jersey’s Cohansey aquifer last year detected tritium levels of 4 million picocuries per liter, 200 times what the Environmental Protection Agency considers safe.

Such radioactive spills are a problem nationwide. More than half of the country’s 65 nuclear power plant sites have suffered significant tritium leaks or spills, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The worst was at the Braidwood plant, 60 miles southwest of Chicago, also owned by Exelon, which leaked more than 6 million gallons of contaminated water, causing some tritium to enter a drinking water well. …

“The NRC’s almost acting like they’re waiting till somebody dies till they enforce the regulation. Tombstone regulation — that’s too high a price to pay by Americans,” said David Lochbaum, director of the Nuclear Safety Project of the Union of Concerned Scientists.

via Some fear U.S. nuclear agency is playing ‘regulatory roulette’ – CNN.com.

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White House, Congressional Leaders Block Open Debate on Undeclared War With Libya | The Nation

1 Jun

Three wars, three, we’re fighting. Each one of them a waste of blood and treasure. Why this mania to fight wars?

The House was supposed to hold a debate Wednesday on Congressman Kucinich’s proposal to end U.S. involvement in the war in Libya. But the resolution was pulled from the floor calendar in a classic case of dereliction of duty.

Kucinich is not just disappointed. He is bluntly critical of the Obama White House and congressional leaders, who he suggests are avoiding the issue because they know that support for the Libyan project is dwindling.

via White House, Congressional Leaders Block Open Debate on Undeclared War With Libya | The Nation.

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