The Depth of Obama's Jobs Problem

From Charlie Cook, at National Journal, "Obama’s Anchor" (via Newsalert):

The political significance of unemployment rates in the 9 percent range just 15 months before a presidential election is pretty obvious; indeed, no post-World War II president has faced this bleak a jobs picture at this juncture.

Other measures marking the breadth and depth of the jobs problem also merit close attention, however. The alternative “U-6” unemployment rate includes people working part-time but seeking full-time work and those who have given up seeking employment. This U-6 rate has been running between 15.7 percent and 16.2 percent since March; it was 16.1 percent in July. To measure the depth of the jobless problem, look at the number of people unemployed for 27 weeks or longer; in July it was 6.2 million, and 44.4 percent of those folks have been out of a job for six months or longer.

Although the unemployment numbers are closely watched and widely recognized, the two sets of data that have the best predictive value for elections both came out in late August. The quarterly gross domestic product numbers showed that the economy grew at a rate of just 1.0 percent for the second quarter; in addition, the first-quarter rate was revised down to just 0.4 percent. Keeping in mind that the traditional definition of a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth, the average of 0.7 percent growth for the first two quarters of this year means that we are a mere eight-tenths of a point above the recession level for the first half of this year. (Economists have a more technical definition and a special committee that determines when recessions actually begin and end.)

The well-regarded Wall Street research firm ISI Group pointed out in late August, “Since 1970, in six of the seven times real GDP [year over year] has slipped below +2.0 percent, a recession has been signaled,” a situation known as stall speed. Whether we technically end up in a recession is a distinction without much of a difference for a president seeking reelection ...

Ouch.

RTWT at the link above.

Quantifying Economic Costs of the September 11 Attacks

From David Wessel, at Wall Street Journal, "Tallying the Toll on the Economy From 9/11":

Osama bin Laden vowed to bleed America "to the point of bankruptcy, Allah willing." He failed. The Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks were enormously costly to the U.S., though not in the ways expected initially.

Sept. 11 did not, as feared, trigger a wrenching recession; the bursting of the housing bubble was worse. And despite lines at airport security, Sept. 11 did not dent the efficiency of the U.S. economy; productivity kept growing.

But Sept. 11 did cost a lot in other ways. The attacks led to Afghanistan and Iraq, wars that already have cost nearly twice what Vietnam did, adjusted for inflation.

Putting a price tag on the human toll from 9/11 is impossible. Nearly 3,000 were killed in the attacks. More than 6,200 U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq. Measuring the impact of 9/11 on the American psyche and its sense of security and freedom is difficult.

But one can, with the hindsight of a decade, begin to tally the quantifiable economic costs.

Continue reading at the top link.

Rocker Billie Joe Armstrong Kicked Off Southwest Flight

At NME, "Green Day's Billy Joe Armstrong ejected from US flight over pants dispute."

And so what the heck? Some Green Day live. Those Japanese fans rock:

Housing Downsizing!

I don't write about the housing market all that much, because, as longtime readers will remember, I've been right in the middle of the crisis. I reported on the situation a couple of times, in my 2009 New Year's Day post, for example: "American Power in 2009." Well, I'll probably feel more comfortable blogging about housing now. My wife and I sold our townhouse and we've moved into an apartment in Irvine, nearby the old neighborhood, just minutes away. (And just as we got out, the housing market shows little signs of recovery: "New-home slump keeping door shut on U.S. recovery.")

Here's our old townhouse, in Tustin, just off Harvard Avenue and Irvine Center Drive. The location allowed our boys to attend Irvine Unified. Our unit is (was) the second from right, with the brick front wall. The architecture gained accolades at the time. The Tustin Field development was in the news for building some of the first New York-style brownstones in Southern California:

Tustin Field was the first residential housing community to be built on the site of the old Tustin Marine Corps Air Station. The base is historic for the massive blimp hangers that are still standing (the hangers are a staple of automobile advertisements on television). We bought the house in 2005, about two years before the housing market peaked. The government's property at the base was being converted by the City of Tustin into a massive residential, commercial, and retail complex called Tustin Legacy. When the market crashed by 2008 or so, the city shelved plans for the development. Our old community at Tustin Field stands a mile or so from the blimp hangers, but there are a couple other developments that were built right in the shadows of the hangers. They were to be part of a huge redevelopment area of South Tustin, with a great park running through the villages along the lines of New York's Central Park. Not now though. Economic circumstances killed the grand vision. As they say, the best laid plans of mice and men meet such miserable fates sometimes.

Moving day was a week ago Friday. I've been too tired to write anything about this until now. This was the biggest move my family's ever made. If you notice the right side of the garage at the picture here, I'd just finished loading a pile of "Junk-to-the-Dump." Two Latino men loaded everything up, for $225. And that included bookcases, old computers, and my wife's old step-climber. And there was some old furniture and lighting, and a bunch of old toys and clothing. The guys loaded it up in about 45 minutes. They worked very efficiently. The truck driver spoke to his partner in Spanish. When I paid the $225 I gave them an extra $20 for "cervezas." They liked that. The gentleman thanked me, calling me "amigo," and said "God bless you." They were great guys. That's my youngest son sorting through some toys at the last minute. The pile on the left has a few family mementos so we couldn't pitch everything right then:

Walking back inside, here's my office, now with the books all stripped from the shelves and packed in boxes:

Walking back up to the second level, that's my Mom working in the kitchen. I've taken pictures of the kitchen area before so folks might remember the kitchen table and couch, a sectional over by the windows.

Here's my Mom. She turned 75 in August. I'm going to be 50 this month, so my Mom was a sweet 25 when she had me. And she's doing pretty well. The main thing bothering her is her back. She had a fractured vertebrae a while back, and it wasn't healing. She thought she was going to have surgery, but the specialist put her on some growth hormones that are supposed to speed the healing. She can't do a lot of bending or strenuous activity. She helped in the house for just an hour and I took her back to my new apartment. She's helped so much throughout my life. She's been completely unselfish of herself:

Going upstairs, here's the master bedroom. The movers are all done. We didn't have enough time to pack all that well. Normally, you wouldn't have that much stuff still around, photo albums, and what not. But we moved less than a half a mile away, so mainly we were concerned about getting all the big stuff over to the new place right then, when my wife had the day off:

We hired "Starving Students" for the move. They charge a base fee and then by the hour. My wife hired three men so the move would go quickly. They team arrived about 8:30am. It was two Latino men and a young white guy, tall, probably in his early 20s. First thing he says to my wife is that he doesn't feel well. He asks for some Tylenol. I get him some and then he goes back out to the truck because he's too sick to work. This was a Friday morning, so who knows? The guys was probably hungover after heading out to the sports bar the night before. The movers call for another man to come work with the team. About an hour later a young black guy named Michael comes. He's really friendly and energetic. But he whined and complained, especially when they moved the deluxe queen-sized bed into the new apartment. The bed has a shelving unit built-in at the base (two large shelves, his and hers, at each side). The bed must weigh a ton. So when we tell Michael that it goes upstairs at the new place, he let's out a big moan, "Ohhh, whhaaahhhaaa!!!" I couldn't believe it. If you hire on as a mover you move stuff. That's your job. My wife said she smelled marijuana on him, and he complained about how thirsty he was, so maybe he had cottonmouth. It was in the 90s last week so it was hot, but the other two fellas, both Latino, complained not a bit. The Latino men, from immigrant stock and bilingual, worked way harder than the American men, one white, one black.

Okay, still upstairs at the townhouse, here's the master bath area:

Here's the second bedroom at the third floor. We first used it as a second office, but then put twin beds in there so my boys could sleep closer to us:

My dad's painting at the top of the stairs, oil on canvas, and a baby picture, ages 6 months and 5 years:

Now here's the stairways, from the third floor down to the second, and then the second down to the first floor. That's a lot of work chugging up and down moving all that furniture, and the two Latino gentlemen just keep moving on:

Okay, back downstairs, I'm ready to take a load over to the storage unit we rented. My kid snapped this shot:

Here's the storage:

We had a couple of more loads to do. I was so tired after everything, I think I went to bed about 8:00pm all this last week, on worknights. I'm rested now and getting ready to finish unpacking. I'll post pics of the new place when we get it all set up. Until then, here's the view from the kitchen window, out to the parking lot looking South:

It's beautiful. There's a pool down the walk, and for the first time in over 10 years we're using a laundry room to clean our clothes. Reminds me of the old days, when I was in graduate school, and that's okay. It's good to be out from under that toxic mortgage.

Yevgeniya Diordiychuk Rule 5

I told you Theo was smokin'!

See: "Video: Lingerie and Wet T-shirt Photo Shoot with Cyber Girl of the Month - Yevgeniya Diordiychuk."

RELATED: At Randy's Rountable, "Thursday Nite Tart (on Monday)." And at Proof Positive, "Saturday Linkaround."

Plus, from Bob Belvedere, "Rule 5 News: 03 September 2011 A.D."

And at Maggie's Notebook, "Rule 5 Saturday Night: Emmanuelle Chiriqui."

EXTRA: Bird Dog is back!!

24-Year-Old Cincinnati Man Dies of Toothache After Brilliantly Filling His Pain Medication Prescription Instead of Antibiotics

Folks should probably be clear about something first: A tooth extraction is not an expensive dental procedure. Indeed, as the ABC News report indicates, "a routine tooth extraction" costs about $80.00. And while it's a horribly needless waste of life, it's no one's fault but the man's himself, 24-year-old Kyle Willis, the father of a young girl. Willis decided to ride out the pain. When he was overcome by swelling he checked into the emergency room and the doctors gave him prescriptions for antibiotics and pain medication. Willis, apparently because he was "uninsured," bought the pain killers and blew off the antibiotics. Big mistake. Rudimentary health knowledge says buy the antibiotics and take some (cheap) generic ibuprofen for the pain and inflammation. To make matters worse, Willis had family members in the area. His aunt [...] is married to a successful local musician. Perhaps he could have borrowed a little money from loved ones. That's called individual responsibility. You always take care of your own, and when you need a hand you fall back on loved ones. When all else fails, there's charity. Of course, under our socialist welfare state, the historical culture of personal responsibility and self-sufficiency has been destroyed by the patrimonial socialist handout regime. Big government assumes that people are too stupid and weak to save for a rainy day, or to plan ahead for emergencies. Tucking away a few Jacksons wouldn't have killed this man. His ignorance and lack of discipline did. So dumb is this case that even über-socialist Matthew Yglesias has to begin his essay with a disclaimer, conceding that supreme stupidity is not a rationale for increasing the size and scope of government:

Now, clearly, this man made some sub-optimal choices here he’s not purely a victim of lack of health insurance. At the same time you have right before you a no-longer-living, no-longer-breathing example of the “push the patient to the edge of financial desperation” theory of health care cost controls. It turns out that the quality of a frightened, pain-wracked young man asked to make technical medical decisions under severe financial constraints is not very high. The social cost of 24 year-old fathers dying of eminently treatable tooth infections, by contrast, is gigantic.

Oh, give me a freakin' break! "Technical medical decisions"? Doctors gave Willis all he needed to get better. It's not a "technical medical decision" to choose pain killers over antibiotics --- it's gambling with your life and the future of your child. Oh, and the man was black --- so now I'm going to be attacked as RAAAAACIST for pointing out that stupidity knows no color.

Freakin' progressive "compassion" is killing society's least well prepared for success. And that's what's really sad about this case.

More imbecilic progressive "compassion" at The Reaction: "Reconciling Conservative "Logic" Is Like Pulling Teeth."

UPDATE: Lonely Conservative links: "Walmart Sells $4 Prescriptions." Also, at Scared Monkeys, "Cincinnati Man Dies of Tooth Infection … Liberal MSM Blames No Insurance."

Althouse links. Thanks!

And Dustbury!

VIDEO: Sarah Palin's Iowa Speech — No Announcement on Presidential Run

At Des Moines Register, "Sarah Palin on the presidency: Still pondering ‘if it’s the right thing to do." And at Bloomberg, "Palin Appearance in Iowa Leaves Supporters Exhorting Her to Run."

I'll update with the full video when that's available.

Added: At Gateway Pundit, "Sarah Palin: If the Left Is Going to Start Calling Government the “Federal Family” Then I Want a Divorce (Video)."

UPDATE: The Right Scoop has it: "FULL SPEECH: Sarah Palin at the Iowa Tea Party Rally."

I'll have an analysis later.

The Battle for Sirte

At Telegraph UK, "Libya: Over 800 killed in battle for Gaddafi's home town of Sirte."

Libya's transitional leaders believe hundreds of their supporters have been gunned down in Colonel Gaddafi's home town of Sirte by desperate regime loyalists, even as they try to negotiate its surrender.

The town is Gaddafi's biggest remaining Libya stronghold and rebel commanders know his forces are dug in for a bloody battle.

For now opposition forces have held their positions to the east and west as they wait for tribal elders to negotiate with Gaddafi fighters.

But Shamsiddin Ben-Ali, a spokesman in the rebel city of Benghazi, said 800 people had been killed in the past three days.

"Many of the people of Sirte are on our side now and want to be part of the revolution," he said. "The people with guns though are still resisting."

The death toll raises a bloody conundrum for the country's new leaders: rushing in could spell a military disaster but waiting is costing a very high price in civilian casualties.

Also at Telegraph, "Libya: rebels prepare to seize Bani Walid."

Pamela Geller on 9/11: A Day of Mourning, Grieving and Remembering

I so much wish I could be in New York for 9/11, but it's not happening this year. Ten years is a long time, but decades from now I'm confident that Pamela Geller will be remembered as one of the brightest lights commemorating the fallen. She'll also be remembered for sounding the tocsin of "Never Again." And for that, she takes a lot of grief for all of us who live in dignity and work to preserve our cherished freedoms against the forces of modern totalitarianism.

Here she's interviewed by Ezra Levant, via Blazing Cat Fur:

And see Pamela's post, "PAMELA GELLER ON SUN TV WITH EZRA LEVANT: 911 FREEDOM RALLY."

'Hurricane Irene' at The Big Picture

An astonishing photo essay.

Just War Theory

A cool discussion, with Michael Walzer:

RELATED: At Dissent, from 2006, "Regime Change and Just War," by Michael Walzer. And the response, which destroys Walzer's argument, from Jean Bethke Elshtain: "Jean Bethke Elshtain Responds."

And more Walzer, more recently, at New Republic, "The Case Against Our Attack on Libya."

September 11 Attacks Spurred Expansion of Homeland Security Programs at America's Colleges and Universities

Continuing coverage of the series at Los Angeles Times, "9/11, Ten Years After."

Here's a report from Wednesday, "9/11 spawned big changes on campus."

Check the whole thing. It's fascinating. But, while it's great that more and more students have cultivated a deeper sense of civic duty following September 11, the idea that increasing numbers of students are turning to the public sector for government jobs is a little dismaying. In a time of deep economic stagnation, the nation should be churning out enterprisers and inventers. Instead, we churn out bureaucrats and regulators. There's certainly a place for each in a $15 trillion economy, but the pace of government growth relative to the private sector has not declined. Strange. But then again, this is exactly the stuff that Mark Steyn's been warning about, so ain't that the darnedest?

President Zero

At NYT, "G.O.P.’s New Obama Label: President Zero":

It took the Republican National Committee exactly 94 minutes to coin a new, demeaning title for Barack Obama: President Zero.

In an e-mail to reporters, the committee took note of the worst jobs report in nearly a year, saying that there has been “two and a half years of Obamanomics and nothing to show for it.”

The monthly report, which showed a 17,000-job gain among private employers but no growth over all, provides Mr. Obama’s Republican rivals with the perfect opportunity to criticize him as they prepare to gather for another nationally televised debate next week.

And it gives Mr. Obama an even more gloomy backdrop for the jobs speech he will give to a joint session of Congress next Thursday. In the speech, Mr. Obama is expected to call for a renewed national effort to put people back to work and trim the nation’s deficit.

PHOTOS: Kate Winslet Heats Up Venice Film Festival

At London's Daily Mail, "Kate Winslet puts young co-star Evan Rachel Wood in the shade with her shorts tuxedo."

Shoot, she's got some fabulous legs!

FYF Festival

Off! is playing.

See L.A. Weekly, "FYF Preview: Keith Morris of OFF! Speaks on Friends and Foes."

And at LAT, "FYF addresses last year's problems so it can focus on the music."

NewsBusted: 'Maryland Democrat Elijah Cummings says Obama being treated unfairly'

Via Theo Spark:

NATO is No Go Without American Power

At Wall Street Journal, "NATO Strikes Show Europe Defense Dilemma":

The military campaign over Libya has delivered a serious blow to a project long nurtured at the heart of the European Union: a European military capability independent of the U.S., defense analysts and officials say.

For years, the EU sought to build what came to be called its Common Security and Defense Policy as some nations, led by France, wanted the freedom to act militarily without Washington's interference.

For Paris, this meant creating a military command structure and forces separate from the U.S.-dominated North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This vision has never come close to fruition, not least because the U.S. and U.K. saw it as duplicating NATO's role.

Ironically, it was the first-ever NATO military operation to be led by Europeans, with the U.S. deciding to take a back seat, that suggests that ambition may never be fulfilled.

Central to this has been the move in 2009 by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to reverse the 1966 decision of President Charles de Gaulle and reintegrate France into NATO's military command.

On Wednesday evening, Mr. Sarkozy told assembled diplomats in Paris that NATO "has shown itself to be an indispensable tool in the service of our military operations." The success of military operations over Libya was possible because France had reassumed its position in NATO's military command, he said.

More at that top link.

Madeleine Albright once called the U.S. the "indispensable nation", and for all of our difficulties, world events keep proving it over and over.

Woman's Breast Implant Explodes After Being Hit By Paintball

I wonder if anyone got that on video.

At LAT, "Woman's breast implant explodes during paintball: New high-impact sports risk?":

Here's an unusual risk of playing paintball: A British woman's breast implant reportedly exploded after she was hit in the chest by a paintball, which can travel at 190 mph.

UK Paintball has now adjusted its policies accordingly. "We respectfully ask that any ladies with surgical breast implants notify our team at the time of booking," according to a statement on its website. "You will be given special information on the dangers of paintballing with enhanced boobs and asked to sign a disclaimer."

Just wait, it gets better: "You will also be issued with extra padding to protect your implants while paintballing," the statement says.

This, of course, happened within days of an FDA official reaffirming that silicone breast implants on the market were safe to use.

But then again, when they talk about the dangers of breast augmentation, paintball is not usually one that comes to mind.

'I Wanna Go'

What the heck? Britney's been in the news as a "statuesque" beauty, so here you go:

Libertarians and Democrats

I saw this Will Wilkinson piece earlier and read it all: "A Libertarian’s Lament: Why Ron Paul Is an Embarrassment to the Creed." I didn't bother commenting on it because Wilkinson's not worth it. He's a drug-addled leftist, IMHO, and a pretty much typical libertarian. So, what do you know, but American Glob has picked up the slack, "In Which I Respectfully Disagree With Will Wilkinson" (via Glenn Reynolds):

I don’t know Will Wilkinson personally but I know he’s a Libertarian writer who has worked for the highly regarded Cato Institute.

Wilkinson wrote an article for The New Republic today in which he calls Ron Paul an “embarrassment” to the creed of Libertarianism.

I like many of Ron Paul’s ideas and disagree with others, specifically his approach to foreign policy but my objection to Wilkinson’s article has nothing to do with Ron Paul.

It’s based on the first half of his second sentence…

In 2006, I tossed a few dollars at the Democrat running for Senate against the loathsome Rick Santorum. It could have been a three-headed goat, for all I cared, but Wikipedia says it was Bob Casey.

Before you jump to conclusions, let me state for the record that I am not now, nor have I ever been a supporter of Rick Santorum. I don’t believe he is a “loathsome” person as Wilkinson characterized him, I think he is probably a decent man despite our political differences.

My problem with Wilkinson’s article is simply this:

I don’t believe it’s possible to be a Libertarian and support Democrats. Ever.

Keep reading.

Actually, I doubt it would take long, but you could probably find lots of libertarians who supported Democrats in California last year, when Proposition 19 was on the ballot. Both Democrats and Libertarians endorsed the measure, which placed them in a de facto political alliance. Indeed, there's also a "progressive-libertarian coalition" that joined forces on the initiative. So, while in theory it may be impossible to be a libertarian and support Democrats, in fact those two ideologies generally have just as much in common as do libertarians and conservatives on support for free markets. Indeed, if you look at criminal justice and civil liberties you're more likely to see Democrats (progressives) allied with libertarians. Frankly, when it comes to a robust foreign policy and a defense of social conservatism, I make little distinction between leftists and libertarians. Throw in gay marriage (libertarians back it), and really, what's left for libertarians to be associated with that is generally referred to as right wing? Ron Paul is loathsome to me on foreign policy, but even more we learn over and over again that's he's anti-Semitic, and even Will Wilkinson attacks him as racist. I just can't stand people like that. A foreign policy that excoriates U.S. support for Israel turns quickly into a crude copy of neo-communist Jew-bashing eliminationism. So with all due respect, I'd think American Glob might want to rethink his partiality to Ron Paul in a hypothetical match up between Paul and Obama. They're both disasters, and a pox on both of their houses.