EXTREMIST FOXOID IN CHIEF SAYS JAIL THE BLOGGERS

In the spirit of July 4th …

“A stinging attack by John Hartigan, the CEO of Rupert Murdoch’s News Limited, labels bloggers and alternative media outlets as “political extremists”. Hartigan implies that bloggers should be jailed as they are in oppressive police states like China and Burma.”

UNEMPLOYMENT UP AGAIN WITH NO END IN SIGHT
CYTHIA MCKINNEY SPEAKS FROM ISRAELI JAIL
SWINE FLU BURSTING OUT ALL OVER

The big weekend is here and the summer’s really begun and its still overcast and rainy in New York, and you need some relief but then the latest news kicks us all in the ass:

U.S. Employers Shed 467,000 Jobs in June
Unemployment rate rises to 9.5 percent.
Employment of American Men Said To Be At All Time Historic Low

Obama says it is bad but recovery will come, just not right away.

Bear in mind these statistics may understate the problem by as much as 50 percent but reports all say “the Employers cut a larger-than-expected 467,000 jobs in June, driving the unemployment rate up to a 26-year high of 9.5 percent, suggesting that the economy’s road to recovery seems ti be closing

The Labor Department report, showed that even as the recession flashes signs of easing, companies likely will want to keep a lid on costs and be wary of hiring until they feel certain the economy is on solid ground.

Explains the Financial Times:

Unemployment rose from 9.4 per cent to 9.5 per cent, suggesting the US is in the early phase of stabilisation. The US economy could continue to decline for months, albeit at a less precipitous rate than at the turn of the year, it shows.

…June’s worse-than-expected report followed a lower rate of job losses in May, which had raised optimism that the recession was ending and the economy might rebound faster.

“If you were banking on the US driving a vigorous recovery, think again,” said Alan Ruskin, a strategist at RBS Greenwich Capital. “The employment report can largely be taken at face value . . . a labor market that is not improving nearly as rapidly as May data suggested.”

Republicans seized on the data to challenge the Obama administration’s claim that its fiscal stimulus was working.”

Since the recession began in December 2007, 6.5m jobs have been lost and the unemployment rate has climbed 4.6 percentage points.

RATES WILL CONTINUE TO CLIMB

Says the FT’s Mohammed El-Erian:

In just 16 months, the US unemployment rate has doubled from 4.8 per cent to 9.5 per cent, a remarkable surge by virtually any modern-day metric. It is also likely that the 9.5 per cent rate understates the extent to which labour market conditions are deteriorating. Just witness the increasing number of companies asking employees to take unpaid leave. Meanwhile, after several years of decline, the labour participation rate has started to edge higher as people postpone their retirements and as challenging family finances force second earners to enter the job market.

Notwithstanding its recent surge, the unemployment rate is likely to rise even further to 10 per cent by the end of this year and potentially beyond that. Indeed, the rate may not peak until 2010 in the 10.5-11 per cent range; and it will likely stay there for a while given the lacklustre shift from inventory rebuilding to consumption, investment and exports.

CYNTHIA MCKINNEY SPEAKS FROM JAIL IN ISRAEL

One of Cynthia’s friend received a phone call from Ramle prison. The incarcerated prisoners are calling themselves “Free Gaza 21″ even though Huwaida and Lubna have been released. Below is Cynthia’s statement;

‘We were in international waters on a boat delivering humanitarian aid to people in Gaza when the Israeli Navy ships surrounded us and illegally threatened us, dismantled our navigation equipment, boarded and confiscated the ship.

All of us on board were then taken off the ship and into custody, and brought into Israel and imprisoned. Immigration officials in Israel said they did not want to keep us, but we remain imprisoned. State Department and White House officials have not effected our release or taken a strong public stance to condemn the illegal actions of the Israeli Navy of enforcing a blockade of humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians of Gaza, a blockade that has been condemned by President Obama.

LISTEN: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkPvzSZRuDo

SAY IT AIN’T SO

Obama Administration to Involve NSA in Monitoring Government Networks

Under a Bush-era plan, the National Security Agency will help the Department of Homeland Security screen government computer traffic on private-sector networks, according to three current and former government officials. The plan has provoked debate within DHS, in part because of uncertainty over whether private data can be shielded from unauthorized scrutiny.

Washington Post Offered Lobbyists Paid Access

Mike Allen and Michael Calderone, Politico:

“Washington Post Publisher and Chief Executive Officer Katharine Weymouth said today she was cancelling plans for an exclusive ’salon’ at her home where, for as much as $250,000, the Post offered lobbyists and association executives off-the-record, nonconfrontational access to ‘those powerful few’: Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and even the paper’s own reporters and editors.”