Cold Turkey!

Jobs report tells of modest growth but still rose because of government shutdown.

Jobs report out and even though there were a decent number of jobs, the government shutdown really screwed up a lot of progress. The unemployment rate ticks up to 7.3%.

The Department of Labor released the numbers and it was 204,000 added for the month of October.

CNBC reports that a net 204,000 new jobs created for the month, though the unemployment rate rose to 7.3 percent and households reported a huge drop in employment, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. A separate measure that includes the underemployed and those who have quit looking also moved higher, from 13.6 percent to 13.8 percent.

The numbers easily topped economist expectations of 120,000 new nonfarm payroll jobs for the month, though it matched estimates for a slight increase in the headline jobless rate.

The data gave markets a brief jolt. Interest rates surged, with the 10-year Treasury climbing 0.13 percentage points to 2.73 percent, the highest since mid-September. The stock market plugged forward though, notching modest gains in early trading.

Leisure and hospitality led the way in job creation with 53,000 new positions, 29,000 of which came from bars and restaurants. Professional and technical services added 21,000 while manufacturing contributed 19,000, according to the establishment survey of businesses.
Federal employment dropped by just 12,000.

Though the jobs creation number jumped, there was a mixed bag of news. The civilian labor force tumbled by 720,000 and the labor force participation rate fell to its lowest since March 1978.

The worst legislative body, ever! 

Most startlingly, the household survey actually saw employment fall by 735,000 for the month.

"While the furloughed government workers technically should be counted as employed in the nonfarm payroll count as part of the establishment survey, at the same time they are counted as temporarily unemployed in the household survey," said Kathy Bostjancic, director of macroeconomic analysis at The Conference Board. "The negative impact from the partial government shutdown on the nonfarm payroll employment count doesn't seem to have affected the private sector at all."

The government's birth-death model, which estimates jobs created and lost through recently opened and closed businesses, added 126,000 to the total.

The numbers were expected to be noisy due in large part to the government shutdown and generally speaking have been on a modest downward trajectory lately.

Numbers from previous months saw upward revisions. August's total jumped from 193,000 to 238,000, while September's disappointing 148,000 got pushed up to 163,000, pushing the 12-month average up to 190,000.

Softening in the data had tempered expectations for a change in Federal Reserve monetary policy. The central bank had been indicating earlier in the year that it might start pulling back on its $85 billion a month in bond purchases, but three meetings have gone by since taper talk began in May, with no changes.

This week, two teams of Fed economists presented papers suggesting that the unemployment rate probably should drop to 6 percent or 5.5 percent before increasing interest rates. The Fed's short-term target rate has remained near zero since the financial crisis.

"Oddly enough, those on Wall Street will be disappointed as tapering talk will again resurface, thus squashing any idea of a would-be Gatsby rally today," said Todd Schoenberger, managing partner at LandColt Capital.

Obama Meets Malala!

President Barack Obama meets with Malala Yousafzai. The young girl became an international figure in the women's rights movement. She was a survivor of a gun shooting at point blank range. In the picture is First Lady Michelle Obama and the president's oldest daughter Malia.

Pakistani girl who was shot at point blank range by terrorists meets President Barack Obama.

Malala Yousafzai, the 16 year old girl who sparked international praise for women's rights in her country is one of the world's most influential figures. The remnants of Taliban has taken over tribal regions in Northwest Pakistan. They've put a hit on her because she stood up to them. She wanted to learn and excel in society.

Islamic conservatives aren't hip to that one. So they decided that a bullet is the only way to shut her up!

They would ambush a school bus. They would shot her at point blank range in the head. They would shot two of her friends before fleeing. The young girl was injured around her left side. The injury partially grazed her skull and bounced off her head. While barely breathing, the young girl fought through surgery to make a full recovery.

British doctors and millions of supporters contributed to her recovery. And now as a victim of gun violence, she been a leading advocate for women's rights and gun control.

Malala Yousafzai (Pashto: ملاله یوسفزۍ‎ [mə ˈlaː lə . ju səf ˈzəj]; Urdu: ملالہ یوسف زئی‎ Malālah Yūsafzay, born 12 July 1997) is a Pakistani school pupil and education activist from the town of Mingora in the Swat District of Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

She is known for her activism for rights to education and for women, especially in the Swat Valley, where the Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school. In early 2009, at the age of 11–12, Yousafzai wrote a blog under a pseudonym for the BBC detailing her life under Taliban rule, their attempts to take control of the valley, and her views on promoting education for girls.

The following summer, a New York Times documentary was filmed about her life as the Pakistani military intervened in the region, culminating in the Second Battle of Swat. Yousafzai rose in prominence, giving interviews in print and on television, and she was nominated for the International Children's Peace Prize by South African activist Desmond Tutu.

Many observers believed that she would be a participant for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The prize went to The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

That didn't disappoint the viberent young girl.

Yousafzai spoke at the UN to call for worldwide access to education, and in September 2013 she officially opened the Library of Birmingham. Yousafzai is the recipient of the Sakharov Prize for 2013.

She kind of endorsed Hillary Clinton, if she should run for president in 2016.

Shake And Bake!

President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) are going to square off on the budget again.

While overseas, the president is handed more news that makes him feel like going to need a pack of smokes.

The unemployment numbers, once again, modest job growth and a lower number. Good enough for the president. Bad enough for the agitators to whine about the "weak" job market.

The Department of Labor reports that 169,000 jobs were added for the month of August. The job market seems to be cooling off because this is still not enough jobs according to the agitators of the junk food media.

The unemployment rate did, however, drop to 7.3%, but that's basically just due to continued exodus from the workforce.

The participation rate fell to 63.2% from 63.4%.

This Do NOTHING Congress has spent a portion of the session repealing Obamacare. They've spent a portion of their time trying to push the button on destroying the economy. There's another budget battle looming and Republicans are going to push this cut everything theme.

The drop in unemployment was due largely to people giving up looking for work, which takes them out of the official labor force, so they're no longer counted as unemployed.

BLS revised June and July payroll numbers significantly lower, erasing 74,000 jobs from the books. Based on the new data, the economy has added just 148,000 jobs per month in the past three months, down from a pace of 207,000 jobs per month in the first three months of the year. At the current rate, job growth is just barely enough to keep up with population growth and keep unemployment from rising.

President Barack Obama can't get nothing done with the constant irritation from the leaders of Congress. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) and Minority Leaders Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) and Nancy Pelosi (D-California) constantly piss the president off with their ongoing bickering and delaying of his policies.

The economy has added 6.8 million jobs since the labor market bottomed in February 2010. But it is still about 1.9 million jobs shy of its peak in January 2008, in what has been the slowest job-market recovery since World War II.

Friday's report comes just days ahead of a Federal Reserve policy meeting, at which Ben Bernanke & Co. have announced that they plan to start "tapering" an unusual stimulus program. The Fed has been buying $85 billion per month in bonds for the past several months to help keep interest rates low and boost the economy. But in May, Bernanke and other Fed officials started warning the market they intended to slow down the pace of their bond buying.

Financial markets, particularly the bond market, have been shaken by the Fed's plan. The interest rate on the 10-year Treasury note, a benchmark for borrowing throughout the economy, has nearly doubled, to 3 percent on Thursday from 1.6 percent in the spring. That has driven mortgage rates higher and cooled a housing market that had been one of the bright spots of the economy.

The relatively weak August jobs report might inspire the Fed to be a little more cautious about tightening policy, so financial markets had a seemingly perverse reaction to downbeat economic data: Stock and bond prices both rose on Friday morning, in hopes the Fed would have mercy.

Fast Food Workers Protest For Higher Wages!

The service industry is growing but the paychecks are shrinking. McDonald's, the world's largest fast food restaurant is facing criticism from its workers over living wages. 

The world's largest food and beverage company has pulled in $38 billion in sales and revenue. But some of our nation's service workers are fumed that the paychecks are low and they can't keep a living.

McDonald's has been in the news lately for it's healthier foods. The company is trying to shake off the negative perceptions of being the cause of obesity in America.

McDonald's have semi-retired it's mascot Ronald McDonald. The Happy Meals are now with milk, apple slices and vegetables. Along with its famous french fries, cheeseburgers and Chicken McNuggets, the Happy Meals are less on toys and more on outdoor activities.

McDonald's runs a good game when it comes to serving the food. But the workers of its American locations are getting really frustrated with the lack of pay for all the work done.

Yeah, it's the bottom of the barrel when you're in the food service industry. You make money based on survival. And believe me, some workers can't survive on the nation's minimum wage. Some barely can make enough to receive a portion of the safety net.

The safety net includes social security, disability, food stamps, farm aid, Medicare, Medicaid, and welfare.

The middle class, lower class and those who are too poor are the core of the safety net.

With the rising food and gas prices, people are turning to food stamps, food banks and government assistance to keep themselves from landing in the homeless shelter.

Time and time again, I've said this.

Without a safety net, these people will rob and kill those who have the luxuries of having food in the refrigerator or in the pantry. They would steal fuel, water, bread and meat to keep feeding their families. And yet, these Republicans and their conservative allies are thinking the poor are the reasons for the economic recession. Perhaps those who complain about the poor, should walk a day in that person's shoes!

The Republican Party and its allies in the conservative movement are heartless when it comes to the lower and middle class. In their warped minds, the lower class and those who are too poor are stealing from the taxpayers by accepting food stamps, welfare and necessaries.

Working at fast food isn't enough for these guys. They rather you work in places where there's oil. After all, you can make a lot of money drilling for oil on unsafe lands.

Who cares about the possible damage to natural environment or the dangers with working in the oil industry?

Yahoo! News and the Associated Press reports that last week's protest are the start of a growing movement.

It looks like Occupy Wall Street is getting revamped into Occupy Fast Food Joints.

Terrance Wise has two jobs in Kansas City — one at a burger joint, a second at a pizza restaurant — but he says his paychecks aren't enough to buy shoes for his three daughters and insure his 15-year-old car. So he decided to draw attention to his plight: He walked off work in protest.

Wise was among a few thousand fast-food workers in seven cities, including New York, Chicago and Detroit, who took to the streets last week, carrying "Strike" and "Supersize Our Wages" signs in front of McDonalds, Wendy's, Burger King and other restaurants. They demanded better pay, the right to unionize and a more than doubling of the federal minimum hourly wage from $7.25 to $15.

Smiles and fast service are key to McDonald's job description.

"We work hard for companies that are making millions," the 34-year-old Wise says, adding that he lost his home last year, unable to make mortgage payments despite working about 50-hour weeks at Pizza Hut and Burger King. "We're not asking for the world. We want to make enough to make a decent living. We deserve better. If they respect us and pay us and treat us right, it'll lift up the whole economy."

These one-day protests, which also took place in St. Louis, Milwaukee and Flint, Mich., come amid calls from the White House, some members of Congress and economists to raise the federal minimum wage, which was last increased in 2009. Most of the proposals, though, seek a more modest rise than those urged by fast-food workers. President Barack Obama wants to boost the hourly wage to $9. And in July, more than 100 economists signed a petition supporting a bill sponsored by a Florida congressman that would hike it to $10.50 an hour.

The restaurant industry argues that a $15 hourly wage could lead to businesses closings and fewer jobs. It also notes the cost of living varies greatly around the country and many states have higher minimum wages than the federal rate. (Eighteen states and the District of Columbia, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.)

The Employment Policies Institute, which receives some funding from the industry, ran a full-page ad last week in USA Today, warning of another potential consequence: It showed the uniform of a fast-food worker with an iPad face, saying the wage increase could result in employees being replaced with automation, such as touch-screen ordering.

So at a time when the economy is growing steadily but slowly and about 11.5 million people are unemployed — nearly double the level before the Great Recession — how likely is it Congress will increase the minimum wage? And have these protests done any good?

The answers depend on whom you ask.

"They're very effective," says U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat and co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. "They've brought attention to appalling conditions with workers putting in very long hours ... and not making enough money to survive. This I think is scandal. .. We believe it's essential to be paid livable wages. We know the companies can afford it. These are highly profitable businesses. It would be good not just for the family budget but for the national budget."

Ellison's caucus launched a national "Raise Up America" campaign this summer that has partnered with fast-food workers and others in low-wage industries to highlight the call for better salaries. The congressman says he's not deterred by likely resistance in the GOP-dominated House.

"Remember, things that don't look possible become possible if people advocate for them," he says, adding that in 1955 someone was probably saying "they're never going to end segregation. ... Sometimes these things catch on. I think the thing to do is keep on pushing, keep on talking. ... That's how we win."

But others are more skeptical and think if there is a winner, it's unions. The Service Employees International Union is providing financial support and staff to help train organizers for this campaign.

I'm loving it. 

These protests show unions "still can appeal to and speak for workers who are on the fringes of the workforce — the less skilled, the part-timers and the immigrant workers," Gary Chaison, professor of industrial relations at Clark University in Massachusetts, wrote in an email.

These still are hard times, people are happy to be employed and the political climate in the House is not conducive for an increase, he adds. "The demonstrations are street theater and the rehabilitation of the image of American unions, but it's not going to drive new minimum wage policy," he wrote.

Scott DeFife, executive vice president of the National Restaurant Association, calls the protests a campaign "to disparage the industry," which he says operates on a tight profit margin. Doubling wages, he says, "would definitely have an impact on the creation of new jobs." He says it would be especially harmful for young people, for whom the jobless rate in some communities is already in the double digits.

Some fast food companies responded to the protests by saying they respect the rights of their workers.

And some who walked out used the media spotlight to talk openly about their financial struggles.

Kareem Starks, a 30-year-old father of two boys, 6 and 12, was laid off in 2011 from a $17.50-an-hour city job in New York. His unemployment benefits ran out and he turned to food pantries. Five months ago, he found work at McDonald's.

The service industry includes fast food. Most workers make less than $9.00 an hour working.

"I'm grateful they gave me an opportunity to feed my family and put food on the table, but it's not enough," he says. Starks supplements his income with a second job as a security guard, earning about $8 an hour. Together, he says, he brings home about $1,000-$1,100 every two weeks and needs food stamps to survive.

"It's horrible to know when I pick up my (McDonalds) check, it's going to be less than $200," he says. "You spend all your money in one store and go to sleep broke. It's not fair. ... Some people get their checks and don't come back to work."

The average hourly salary for fast-food workers was $9.00 in May 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average age for these workers is 29 years old; for women, it's 32, according to the bureau. The restaurant association says its own analysis of Census data found that slightly more than 25 percent of fast-food workers are heads of households.

Both sides in the fight over the minimum wage cite numerous studies to buttress their arguments about whether a raise would be harmful.

The petition signed by the economists says that for decades, research has "found that no significant effects on employment opportunities result when the minimum wage rises in reasonable increments." The economists also note that minimum-wage workers employed full time for the entire year earn $15,080, almost 20 percent below the poverty level for a family of three.

But Michael Saltsman, research director at the Employment Policies Institute, cites another study that he says found raising the minimum wage was counterproductive — with more people losing than gaining because hours were reduced and jobs were cut.

Tessie Harrell, one of the workers in the middle of this academic debate, walked off her job in protest last week.

As a Burger King manager in Milwaukee, Harrell, 34, has to stretch her $8.25 hourly salary to support five children (a sixth lives on her own). They live in a two-bedroom apartment. Her mother helped out financially and with child care, but she has since moved to a nursing home.

"It's not like we're teens working for a pair of shoes or a cell phone," Harrell says. "We're grown adults who can't find better jobs."

She would like to see something come from the protests, a wage improvement, even if it's not $15 an hour.

"I hope it works," she says. "We're just trying to survive and build a life for our children."

Raven-Symoné: I'm Coming Out (For Gay Marriage)!

Entertainer Raven-Symoné acknowledges that she's gay!

The 27-year old actress/singer may have came out the closet!

"Straight out of the A"

ATLANTA, GEORGIA IS THE MECCA OF THE BLACK LGBT COMMUNITY! 

This news has smashed all hopes of every straight man in the country! For me, it's another wow moment!

She is very attractive woman and is the next in line of celebrity shockers.

Raven-Symoné is putting her business on the social networks telling the world that she's "coming out" for gay marriage.

The internet was buzzing about this stuff over the weekend. I happen to click on the news agitating blogs and found out about the former Cosby kid.

The actress was dogged with rumors about being married to an R & B singer, her weight and being pregnant some time ago.

I am certainly sure that she's either coming out as a lesbian or bisexual!

The actress has one child. That's confirmed.

Well wishes to Raven-Symoné and AzMarie Livingston.

I can finally get married! Yay government! So proud of you
— Raven-Symonè (@MissRavenSymone) August 2, 2013

When can humans realize a new and better humanity? #newdreams
— Raven-Symonè (@MissRavenSymone) July 22, 2013

My sexual orientation is mine, and the person I'm datings to know. I'm not one for a public display of my life.
— Raven-Symonè (@MissRavenSymone) May 18, 2012

Actress "comes out".

Raven-Symoné Christina Pearman, (born December 10, 1985), known professionally as Raven-Symoné (pronounced /ˈreɪ.vən sɪˈmoʊn/, as though unaccented), or simply Raven, is an American actress and singer. Raven-Symoné launched her career in 1989 after appearing in The Cosby Show as Olivia. She released her debut album, Here's to New Dreams in 1993; the single, "That's What Little Girls Are Made Of" charted number 68 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
The next album, Undeniable, was released on May 4, 1999.

Raven-Symoné appeared in several successful television series, such as The Cosby Show and Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. From 2003 to 2007, she starred in the Disney Channel series, That's So Raven in which she played Raven Baxter, a psychic teenager who tried her best to keep her psychic powers a secret.

During her time on That's So Raven, Raven-Symoné released her third studio album, This is My Time (2004) which was her best selling solo album to date, charting at number 51 on the Billboard 200.

After a year of the end of That's So Raven, she released her fourth studio album, Raven-Symoné (2008).

The album peaked at number 159 on the Billboard 200. During 2003 to 2006, she participated in four soundtracks from Disney, RIAA-certified double-platinum album, The Cheetah Girls (2003), RIAA-certified gold album, That's So Raven (2004), That's So Raven Too! (2006) and RIAA-certified platinum album, The Cheetah Girls 2 (2006).

The soundtracks sold a combined 4.1 million copies in the U.S. alone. As of April 2008, Raven-Symoné has sold 314,000 albums in the United States.

Raven-Symoné transitioned to a film career, starring in several films aimed at young audiences, including Dr. Dolittle (1998), Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001), College Road Trip (2008), and successful television films, including Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century (1999), The Cheetah Girls (2003), its sequel Cheetah Girls 2 (2006), For One Night (2006), Revenge of the Bridesmaids (2010).

Raven has also lent her voice to the animated series Kim Possible, for the character Monique and films such as Disney‘s Tinker Bell.

In 2011, Symoné starred in the short-lived ABC Family comedy series State of Georgia as Georgia Chamberlain, an aspiring actress with a huge ego who moves to New York City to try her hand at an acting career.

In 2012, Raven-Symoné ranked number eight on VH1's "100 Greatest Kid Stars Of All Time" list, and ranked number one on Loop21's "10 Richest Black Actresses Under 40" list.

According to Huffington Post, the rumors were spreading about the actress' sexual orientation.

Raven-Symoné and girlfriend AzMarie Livingston.

In 2012, she posted on Twitter: "My sexual orientation is mine, and the person I'm datings to know. I'm not one for a public display of my life!"

Rumors surrounding Symone's sexual orientation were first ignited by sources who told the National Enquirer that the former "Cosby Show" child star was shacking up with a female love interest -- openly gay "America's Next Top Model" contestant AzMarie Livingston -- in her New York City apartment.

“Raven has hidden being gay for a long time now,” a source told the National Enquirer. “But about a year ago, she was introduced by a friend to AzMarie, who is absolutely gorgeous. The two began seeing each other, and a few months ago, Raven finally got the nerve to ask her to move into her lavish Manhattan condo. When her family found out, they blew their stack and it’s created a gay scandal for Raven."

Despite the Enquirer story, Symone feels no obligation to respond with a definition of her sexual preferences.

"However that is my right as a HUMAN BEing whether straight or gay. To tell or not to tell. As long as I'm not harming anyone," Symone continued via the social networking site.

Raven-Symoné appears on Hollywood Records as a singer.

Slight Work!

Before he travels to Massachusetts, the president was handed some bad news. Edward Snowden eludes authorities, the jobs report, and his job approval. All of this happens before he celebrates his 52nd birthday. 

Today, job numbers of the month of July provided a modest amount of jobs. Not enough to move the needle further down but enough to be satisfactory.

The U.S. Labor Department report that the month of July had hiring jobs at 162,000. 

This will drop the unemployment number to 7.4%.

In order to get a stronger economy, the U.S. job market must produce over 200,000 jobs a month in order to provide a better outlook of our economy.

Also with weak hiring in the service industry it assures that the greedy continue to punish the workers. With the healthcare law going into effect, many industries are forcing labor cuts. The cuts on labor start with dropping part time workers to less than 30 hours of work. Then it forces the worker to find secondary jobs to accommodate to paying off debt, bills and loans.

Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and Congressman John Boehner (R-Ohio). These two are high ranking leaders of the House of Representatives. Boehner is the current Speaker of The House. He replaced Pelosi as the speaker in 2011. During his tenure, the 112th and 113th Congress has been ranked on the worst in history.

Congress is off for its summer recess, leaving behind a mountain of legislation that may be scrapped by the time of the U.S. Midterm elections. The president's agenda includes gun control, immigration reform, and a jobs package. Not to mention the raising of our debt ceiling and fiscal budget for the next session.

We're in a sequester and the federal agencies are cutting back due to the ineptness of lawmakers.

Congress overall job approval is at 14%.

President Barack Obama's job approval is at 43%.

CNBC's Jeff Cox reports this bit of news as another "so-so" moment in job growth.

[Where as the] broader gauge of unemployment that includes the underemployed and those who have quit looking for work also fell, from 14.3 percent in June to 14 percent in July: This hasn't move the needle for a steady pace in job growth.

"Today's jobs data is terrifying for Main Street," said Todd M. Schoenberger, managing partner at LandColt Capital in New York. "Despite the proactive actions from the Fed and stimulus help from Capitol Hill, the labor market remains stuck in quicksand. For Wall Street, however, this is terrific news."

Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) and Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada) have often clashed over legislation and the president's nominees. McConnell is the current Minority Leader of the Senate. Reid is the current Majority Leader. McConnell is an embattled politico. He has to face an onslaught of opposition from the Democrats and members of the Tea Party who are willing to force a Republican primary against him. The Senate has passed immigration reform but killed off a background check law for firearms.

Most of the job creation came on the low end—in the retail trade and hospitality industry of bartenders and wait staff, with respective gains of 47,000 and 38,000.

Professional and business services also added 36,000.

Previous months' job creation numbers were revised lower, bucking a trend in which the counts mainly have been taken up.

The BLS now puts May job growth at 176,000 from the previously reported 195,000, while June's figure fell to 188,000 from 195,000.

At the same time, long-term unemployment rose, with the average duration of joblessness now at 36.6 weeks.

And wage growth fell: After rising 10 cents an hour last month, average wages fell 2 cents to $23.98 an hour, while the average work week decreased by 0.1 hours to 34.4 hours.

The jobs number is a critical metric for Federal Reserve decision-making.

The U.S. central bank has pegged a 6.5 percent unemployment rank for one of two benchmarks that will signal it's time to start normalizing interest rates.

However, a steady move lower also would push the Fed toward pulling back on the $85 billion a month bond-buying program known as quantitative easing.

"The self-sustaining trend in employment growth is likely strong enough to allow the Federal Reserve to begin tapering its quantitative easing by the end of the year," said Kathy Bostjancic, director of macroeconomic analysis at The Conference Board.

Prospects of a QE tapering helped send markets into a selling frenzy in late May, but that has abated and stock market indexes have reached new highs as investors became convinced that a rate increase is still a long way off.

In addition to a falling jobless rate, the Fed is looking for inflation to increase to 2.5 percent.

Helen Thomas Passes Away!

President Barack Obama and Helen Thomas shared their birthday on August 4. In 2010 before her retirement, the president welcomes Helen with a birthday cupcake.

Before she was forced out after sharing her thoughts on the undisputed territory of Palestine, Helen Thomas was the one woman who always had knack to give presidents a reason to sweat. Her tough questions often merit controversy.

The one woman who held the front row of the White House press room, Helen Thomas has passed away.

She died at the age of 92, a few weeks shy of her birthday.

She was member of the White House Press Corps and opinion columnist.

She worked for the United Press and post-1958 successor United Press International (UPI) for 57 years, first as a correspondent, and later as White House bureau manager. She was a columnist for Hearst Newspapers from 2000 to 2010, writing on national affairs and the White House.

She covered every President of the United States from the last years of the Eisenhower administration until the second year of the Obama administration. She was the first female officer of the National Press Club, the first female member and president of the White House Correspondents' Association, and the first female member of the Gridiron Club.

She wrote six books; her latest, with co-author Craig Crawford, is Listen Up, Mr. President: Everything You Always Wanted Your President to Know and Do (2009). Thomas retired on June 7, 2010, following controversial comments she made about Israel, Israeli Jews and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

CNN reports Thomas covered 10 presidents over nearly half a century, and became a legend in the industry.
She was a fixture at White House news conferences -- sitting front and center late in her career -- where she frequently exasperated government spokesmen with her pointed questions.

Thomas began covering the White House for United Press International when John F. Kennedy became president in 1961 and was a fixture there until her retirement in 2010.

She was a trailblazer and the considered the dean of the White House press corps because she was the longest-serving White House journalist.

Her career, however, came to an end under a cloud of controversy.

Thomas, then working for the media conglomerate Hearst as a syndicated columnist, was blasted for comments she made regarding Jewish people.

In 2010, a YouTube video surfaced showing her saying that Israel should "get the hell out of Palestine," and that the Jewish people should go home to "Poland, Germany ... and America and everywhere else."

Thomas apologized for her remarks, writing, "They do not reflect my heartfelt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon."

She announced her retirement one week later.

In 2012, Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi presented Thomas with an award.

Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano Resigns!

Another cabinet member leaves. It will spark another partisan debate over the next pick.

While I haven't posted much yesterday, I know one thing I was concerned with was the trial of that idiot who on trial in the murder of Trayvon Martin. While the country's focused on the verdict, we saw something else happen while we were focused on the trial.

Edward Snowden, the American contractor accused of leaking secrets from the NSA is trying to seek asylum in the Russian Federation. The country is possibly giving him a reprieve of stay.

In the Canadian province of Quebec, over 50 people have died in a horrible train crash near the town Lac-Megantic. We here at Journal de la Reyna send our condolences to the victims of this horrible tragedy.

Now it seems like President Barack Obama is in need of a Homeland Security secretary. The first woman appointed to the position is resigning to take the helm of the University of California.

Janet Napolitano is leaving at the end of August. Her departure will now assure another partisan debate over who will fill the position. Assured that Republican gadflies Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) will stand in the way of confirmation.

With 46 Republicans and 52 Democrats with two independents in the caucus, it's unbelievably hard to get things done in the U.S. Senate. The House of Representatives is in control of the Republican Party. There's not much getting done there either. The Republicans continue to pass House bills in symbolic themes. The Democrats pass Senate bills in symbolic themes. Both can't satisfy enough members let alone the president.

This position will be filled hopefully.

Janet Napolitano (/nəpɒlɨˈtænoʊ/; born November 29, 1957) is an American politician. Napolitano is the first woman to serve as the United States Secretary of Homeland Security, in office since 2009. Napolitano, a member of the Democratic Party, serves in the administration of President Barack Obama. Previously, she was the 21st Governor of Arizona from 2003 to 2009. She was Arizona's third female governor, and the first woman to win re-election. Prior to her election as Governor, she served as Attorney General of Arizona from 1999 to 2002. She was the first woman and the 23rd person to serve in that office. Napolitano is the 1977 Truman Scholar from New Mexico.

Napolitano is the fourth person (including an acting Secretary) to serve as Secretary of Homeland Security, a post that was created after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Forbes ranked her as the world's ninth most powerful woman in 2012.

In 2008, she was cited by The New York Times to be among the women most likely to become the first female President of the United States.

Napolitano announced she will leave her post at the end of August 2013 to become the first woman to be President of the University of California system.

Summer Heat!

Okay, Friday brings forth the release of the jobs report. And there's a sign that the economy is improving.

The Labor Department reports that there were 196,000 jobs added in the month of June. Unfortunately the unemployment number continues to stand at 7.6%.

The signs that more Americans are looking for jobs with cautious optimism. So there's a slight possibility more Americans are confident to find a job in less than a week.

There is still long term joblessness. People are very cautious of looking for a job. People continue to think we're still in a recession despite the improvements in the economy and stock market rebound.

There are more service industry jobs that offering less hours and low pay. But require overwhelmingly hard work.

Congress job approval is terrible. The congress has job approval at 13%

The president's job approval is at 45%. Mostly due to the controversies of the NSA, IRS and lack of progress in his second term.

The country is bouncing back.

But there's still some who would rather take it to the ground so they can have a "gotcha moment".

Memorial Day!

We want to send our thanks to the men and women who fought for our freedoms. We wish those in active duty, our military veterans and the fallen a dedication to their service.

We are still in times of war.

Afghanistan will finally be over in 2014. The battles that the United States must face here and abroad require a great deal of military endurance and expediency.

And while those who volunteered to become our nation's heroes made sacrifices for our children, our wives, our husbands, our mothers and our fathers, you're always told: You'll never be forgotten.

This Memorial Day once again gives us the blessings for a good plate of barbecue, a nice swimming pool, a good drive on our nation's roads, and of course the start of summer. But while we're here in the United States having a day off from the daily routine, you always remember that our military serves 24/7.

If you have to time, say thanks to our brave heroes. The fallen will never be forgotten.

The people who serve in the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Marines, the National Guard and the U.S. Coast Guard deserve our thanks on this Memorial Day.

Spring Forward!

Unemployment numbers drop!

The unemployment numbers are out again and this has the economy looking a little better. The hiring numbers are at 165,000 and the unemployment number drops down to 7.5%.

Again, we're in a sequester and the likely numbers are higher. But still hiring for the spring and summer are looking better. Of course, conservatives will dismiss this job report as bogus because in their warped minds, it's over 40% unemployment and millions of individuals on food stamps.

Que: King Hippo and the Guy Who Helped Obama Win.

Well it's an improvement in the economy and why would anyone root for it to be


Employment rose more than expected in April, pushing the unemployment rate to a four-year low of 7.5 percent, which could help ease concerns of a sharp slowdown in the economy.

Nonfarm payrolls rose 165,000 last month, the Labor Department said on Friday. March's payrolls were raised to 138,000, 50,000 more jobs than previously reported, and February's job count was revised up to 332,000, the largest since May 2010.

Winning the narrative!

Economists polled by Reuters had expected April payrolls to rise 145,000 and the unemployment rate to hold steady at 7.6 percent. The drop in the unemployment rate last month reflected an increase in employment, rather than people leaving the workforce.

Still, details of the report remained consistent with a slowdown in economic activity.

Construction employment fell for the first time since May, while manufacturing payrolls were flat. The average workweek pulled off a nine-month high, but average hourly earnings rose four cents.

Even the guy who throws shit on the wall concedes that there is an improvement.

Usually I click on the conservative agitator's website to see all the negative reactions to the good news. But today I rather just get a screenshot and prove the point.

Senator Ashley Judd?

Republican senate leader Mitch McConnell already has a war chest and he's facing another tougher fight.

His bid for reelection. Already there are some Republicans who are willing to take him on in a primary fight.

The senator from Kentucky is fairly unpopular in his state. He and Senator Rand Paul both represent the deeply conservative state. President Barack Obama barely cracks 40% in the state. The last time the state voted for a Democratic nominee was Bill Clinton.

Nowadays, Republicans have a strong hold on the state. Even if McConnell unpopular, the Democrats who run aren't popular either. The Democratic governor Steve Beshar isn't going to risk his political future. Former congressman Ben Chandler isn't going to run.

So who are the Democrats lining up?

More women, Hispanic, Black and moderate candidates in politically conservative states.

A known Hollywood star who is a liberal activist. Ashley Judd, the daughter of country music singer Naomi Judd and the half-sister of Wynonna Judd. While she is best known for an ongoing acting career spanning more than two decades, she has increasingly become involved in global humanitarian efforts and political activism. Judd has played lead roles in films including Ruby in Paradise, Kiss the Girls, Double Jeopardy, Where the Heart Is, Dolphin Tale and High Crimes.

She starred as Rebecca Winstone in the television series Missing in 2012. In 2010, Judd received a master's degree in public administration from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

With talk of her throwing herself into the political fray, conservatives already are lining up for attack.

First McConnell, launched a veil shot at her. Sean Hannity played a clips of Judd on his program. American Crossroads GPS, Karl Rove's shadowy group launched an attack. This alone is furthering a potential run for the actress.

In response to this rumor, the Conservative Super PAC "American Crossroads" released an attack ad against Judd in Kentucky, mocking her ability to lead as well as her unwavering support for President Obama.

In February 2013, she invited her Twitter followers to join a mailing list, hinting that she may ultimately announce a run for the Senate to those on the list.

Judd lives in Nashville, Tennessee. She is relocating to Lexington later this month. Her possibility of running has the nation talking. The last time an entertainer won a political race was Al Franken.

Al Franken, an actor, author, a screenwriter, talk radio host, and activist ran for U.S. Senate in Minnesota.

He faced Republican Norm Coleman in a bitterly fought race in 2008. He was declared the winner of the election and the Republicans protested. They held up the certification of Franken until July 2009.

The Republicans are going to do the same thing to Judd. Say if Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) was trailing in the polls in a hypothetical race against Judd, then you would see an all out war against her and President Barack Obama.

The United States Senate is in the Democratic control. The House of Representatives is in Republican control.

Actress may run for U.S. Senate as a Democrat against formidable Republican.

The Huffington Post reports that some Democrats, here and in Washington, fear that Judd is just the kind of glamorous liberal the GOP loves to run against in Kentucky and across the country. Some are concerned that the GOP will make her candidacy a national cause.

But Judd is smart, feisty and charming, and probably can, as one local here put it, “out-Kentucky and out-country” the Louisville-based, owlishly professorial McConnell in a state where down-home, one-handshake-at-a-time style still matters.

Judd made her intentions clear at a private dinner last month at Brown's Louisville home. Asked if she was tough enough to take on McConnell and the GOP national attack machine, Judd reportedly answered, “I have been raped twice, so I think I can handle Mitch McConnell.”

Judd was born in California, but spent most of her youth and school years in Kentucky. A Democrat who has been an advocate for causes for years, she more recently began focusing on a career in electoral politics after enrolling at Harvard in 2009 to obtain a master’s in public administration.

Judd considered running for office in Tennessee before turning her attention to Kentucky, according to one of her leading supporters in Louisville.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, whose leaders were cool to the high-risk but intriguing Judd candidacy, in recent days has taken new polls that show McConnell -- never an overwhelming winner despite his lofty status -- is more vulnerable to a Judd campaign than originally thought.

Judd would hardly be a textbook candidate in a mostly red state with a Democratic governor that has not gone for a Democratic presidential candidate since Clinton in 1996. “Kentucky has changed a lot in recent years,” said Crit Luallen, the former state auditor and a potential candidate for governor.

Being an “environmentalist” in Kentucky is a tricky matter. Among other things, Judd is a foe of “mountain-top removal” in strip mining, a hideous practice but nevertheless one that is defended in much of the coal fields of Eastern Kentucky. Those who oppose it are seen as outsiders who don’t understand the mountains.

This week she got some political cover on that issue as state Rep. Greg Stumbo of Eastern Kentucky took a strong public position against the practice.

Judd is given to cultural statements that might sound acceptably thought-provoking in Los Angeles but not necessarily so in conservative Kentucky -- such as her comment that she didn't want to have children because there is too much suffering and poverty in the world.

She is an ardent Obama supporter and progressive on most social issues. She recently announced the end of her marriage to her race-car driver husband, and racy pictures and video from her movie career are plentiful and easy to find on the Internet. She writes movingly and openly about the challenges she faces from her bipolar disorder.

But Judd was born to campaign. A fighter by nature, she has a quick wit and the ability to raise far more money – not to mention engender more free national and local media – than all of McConnell’s past Democratic foes put together.

She is fearless, and would not necessarily lose a bar fight if she got into one, which she is about to do.

Roaring Back!

Even though we're going to see some significant changes to economy, the unemployment numbers came out pre-sequester. The unemployment numbers went down to 7.7% after two months being stuck at 8.1%.

Of course, we gotten through one full month since President Barack Obama won reelection. So far he's trying to get his cabinet and federal judicial picks in place.

This week alone, Senators Lindsay Graham (R-South Carolina), Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin), John McCain (R-Arizona), Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) and Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) brought forth filibusters to nominations.

Republicans are in full out civil war with one another and an all out war with the president.

The unemployment numbers are certainly going to make the president's case for the economy. He pretty much winning the message war against the Republicans. Despite the media's attempts to blame him for Republican obstruction, the president has the opportunity to win this battle.

CNBC reports that job creation broke out in February, with the economy creating a net 236,000 new jobs as the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent.

Private job creation stood at a robust 246,000, finally indicating that the economy may be ready to escape the tight growth range in which it has been held since the financial crisis.

Service industries led the gains with 73,000 new jobs, while construction added 48,000 and health care provided 32,000. Retail also added 24,000.

A separate unemployment measure that includes workers no longer looking for jobs and those working part-time for economic reasons edged lower to 14.3 percent. At the same time, the labor force participation rate, which measures workers and those looking for jobs, also fell, to a 32-year low of 63.5 percent, tied with where it stood in August 2012.

The gain in job creation, as reported by the Labor Department, comes as Washington continues to debate mandatory spending cuts that took place at the beginning of March, lending to worry that the rise may not last.

"The big question was whether this much job creation can be sustained. The answer is now complicated by the budget cuts under the sequester," said Kathy Bostjancic, director of macroeconomic analysis at The Conference Board. "What is clear however, is that the labor market was gaining traction before the sequester."

Economists expected the 160,000 new jobs in February and the unemployment rate held steady at 7.9 percent.

However, there was anticipation that the number could come in a bit better than expected after ADP reported earlier this week that the private sector created 198,000 for the month.

Traders acted positive to the report, indicating the stock market was likely to continue its week-long winning streak at the Friday open. Treasury yields rose to an 11-month high, with the benchmark 10-year note yielding 2.07 percent

"Employers are following the historical trend of doing the bulk of their hiring in the first quarter; and the February numbers and January revisions support this fact," said Todd Schoenberger, managing partner at LandColt Capital in New York. "Traders will certainly cheer this data as the Dow should continue its trend of daily record-setting performances."

Average hourly earnings rose four cents to $23.82 an hour, while the average work week edged higher to 34.5 hours.

A large chunk of the jobs gains came through the birth-death model the Bureau of Labor Statistics uses to gauge the activity of newly created and lost businesses. That number came in at 102,000.

Investors watch the nonfarm payrolls number closely both to gauge general economic health and to discern future Federal Reservepolicy moves.

The central bank has kept interest rates near zero for the past four years and is buying $85 billion in Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities each month in an effort to stimulate growth.

Fed officials have said the rate policy will continue at least until unemployment drops to 6.5 percent and inflation rises to 2.5 percent. However, the bond buying, known as quantitative easing, likely will stop well ahead of that if the Fed sees sustained growth signals.

One caveat for the report was a downward revision in January, from an initially reported 157,000 down to 119,000. December's numbers, though, were revised up from 196,000 to 219,000.

Long-term unemployment remained a problem as well, with the average duration of joblessness accelerating to 36.9 weeks after a sharp drop in January to 35.3 weeks.

Thanks Abby!

Portions of this article come from the Los Angeles Times.

Pauline Friedman Phillips dies at 94; original 'Dear Abby'

Phillips, writing as Abigail Van Buren, dispensed wry, no-nonsense advice to newspaper readers around the world for over 40 years. Her identical twin also wrote an advice column, as Ann Landers.

"Dear Abby" is the world's most widely syndicated column, appearing in more than 1,400 newspapers and generating as many as 10,000 letters a week, according to the syndicate.

Dear Abby: "Are birth control pills deductible?"

"Only if they don't work," she answered.

From 1939 until her death, she was married to Morton B. Phillips, scion of the National Pressure Cooker Co. From an office in their Beverly Hills home, she edited the column into her 80s. She started sharing a byline with her daughter, Jeanne Phillips, in 2000 and turned the column over to her two years later.

The improbable saga of "Dear Abby" began in 1955 when Phillips was an affluent homemaker in Hillsborough, Calif., with time on her hands, doing volunteer work and playing mah-jongg. Her twin, who'd just been hired by the Chicago Sun-Times Syndicate to take over the Ann Landers column, began soliciting her help with replies.

Extremely close, the sisters were thrilled to be collaborating, but the arrangement abruptly ended when the syndicate that distributed the Ann Landers column learned of it.

"Having acquired a taste for dispensing advice," as Phillips wrote in her 1981 book, "The Best of Dear Abby," she offered to write a column for the San Mateo Times, but it declined.

When she called the San Francisco Chronicle, she identified herself to feature editor Stanleigh Arnold as a Hillsborough housewife and said she could write a better column than the one the paper published. Intrigued by her brashness, he invited her to stop by sometime.

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis Out!

That was a surprise. The Secretary of Labor is going to need a replacement, the first Latina woman to serve this cabinet is resigning.

Under her leadership, Secretary Hilda Solis managed to pull unemployment from 10.9% to 7.8% as it currently stands. Her leadership lead to President Barack Obama bringing over 5.3 million jobs.

Conservatives were hammering on her over the unemployment numbers because they believe that she fixed the numbers to make the president look good. But so far, more Americans feel comfortable about the economy. Although it's still a long way to go, but the nation can return the right path to pre-recession rates.

Hilda Lucia Solis (/sɵˈliːs/; born October 20, 1957) is the 25th United States Secretary of Labor, serving in the Obama administration. She is a member of the Democratic Party and served in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2009, representing the 31st and 32nd congressional districts of California that include East Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley.

Solis was raised in La Puente, California, by immigrant parents from Nicaragua and Mexico. She gained degrees from the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) and the University of Southern California (USC) and worked for two federal agencies in Washington, D.C. Returning to her native state, she was elected to the Rio Hondo Community College Board of Trustees in 1985, the California State Assembly in 1992, and the California State Senate in 1994. She was the first Hispanic woman to serve in the State Senate, and was reelected there in 1998. Solis sought to pass environmental justice legislation. She was the first female recipient of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in 2000.

President-elect Barack Obama announced his intention to nominate Solis as the next U.S. Secretary of Labor. She took office after being confirmed by the United States Senate in February 2009, becoming the first Hispanic woman to serve in the U.S. Cabinet.

In a message to colleagues Wednesday, Solis said she made the decision after discussing it with family and close friends.

President Barack Obama address nation about monthly jobs report. Secretary of Treasury Tim Geithner and Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis are resigning from the Obama Administration. Chief of Staff Jack Lew will replace Geithner if confirmed.

One of the highest-ranking Hispanics in Obama's administration, Solis has won praise from labor unions for aggressive enforcement of wage and hour laws and job safety regulations. But business groups have criticized her as not taking a more cooperative approach.

President Barack Obama calls Solis "a tireless champion for working families."

Separately, the White House says that Attorney General Eric Holder, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki will remain in their posts.

The White House confirmed the development in a statement:

Over her long career in public service - as an advocate for environmental justice in California, state legislator, member of Congress and Secretary of Labor - Hilda Solis has been a tireless champion for working families. Over the last four years, Secretary Solis has been a critical member of my economic team as we have worked to recover from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression and strengthen the economy for the middle class. Her efforts have helped train workers for the jobs of the future, protect workers' health and safety and put millions of Americans back to work. I am grateful to Secretary Solis for her steadfast commitment and service not only to the Administration, but on behalf of the American people. I wish her all the best in her future endeavors.

We here at Journal de la Reyna wish Ms. Solis the very best in her endeavors!

Bada Boom!

Vacations are for hard workers. President Barack Obama deserved one after bitter fight with Congressional Republicans. He also can celebrate the unemployment numbers. The job report has recorded over 155,000 hiring positions.

Okay, we ended the year of 2012 with Congress being the most dysfunctional ever. They were ranked the worst legislative body ever in 60 years. We ended 2012 with incumbent president Barack Obama easily winning reelection over perennial loser Republican Mitt Romney. We ended the year with major celebrities passing away. We had three major tragedies unfold. The Aurora, Colorado shooting, The Sandy Hook school shooting in Connecticut and Superstorm Sandy destroying New York and New Jersey has the American public demanding government intervention. We ended the year with unemployment ticking up once again.

However the news is great in a way that helps motivate President Barack Obama to the negotiation table when dealing with a freshman class of conservative Republicans. This new class of Republicans plus the old establishment will waste no time trying to drag another political fight into the whims of public. The old guard was embarrassed by the fiscal cliff fiasco.

Unemployment for based on December hiring was around 155,000 (excluding those who dropped out the workforce) bringing the figure up to 7.8 percent. This sets January as the period for slow growth based on lagging retail sales and the Congress last minute decision to pass a federal law that makes the Bush tax cuts permanent for those who make less than $400,000.

The Associated Press reports the solid job growth wasn't enough to push down the unemployment rate, which stayed 7.8 percent last month, according to the Labor Department's report Friday. November's rate was revised higher from an initially reported 7.7 percent.

Stock futures rose modestly after the report was released.

Robust hiring in manufacturing and construction fueled the December gains. Construction firms added 30,000 jobs, the most in 15 months. That likely reflects additional hiring needed to rebuild after Superstorm Sandy and also solid gains in home building that have contributed to a housing recovery.

Manufacturers gained 25,000, the most in nine months.

Even with the gains, hiring is far from accelerating. Employers added an average of 153,000 jobs a month last year, matching the monthly average in 2011. Employers added 1.84 million jobs in 2012, the same as the previous year.

Still, the stable hiring last month means employers didn't panic during the high-stakes talks between Congress and the White House over tax increases and spending cuts that were not resolved until the new year. That's a good sign for the coming months, since more budget disputes are expected.

While the parties reached a deal this week that removed the threat of income tax increases on most Americans, they postponed the more difficult decisions on cutting spending. And the government must also increase its $16.4 trillion borrowing limit by around late February or risk defaulting on its debt.

There were indications in the December report of the job market's ongoing sluggishness. The number of Americans unemployed actually rose 164,000 to 12.2 million. The unemployment figures come from a separate survey of households, while the job counts are derived from a survey of businesses.

Still, the economy is improving. Layoffs are declining, and the number of people who sought unemployment aid in the past month is near a four-year low.

The once-battered housing market is recovering. Companies ordered more long-lasting manufactured goods in November, a sign they are investing more in equipment and software. And Americans spent more in November. Consumer spending drives nearly 70 percent of economic growth.

Manufacturing is getting a boost from the best auto sales in five years. Car sales jumped 13 percent in 2012 to 14.5 million. And Americans spent more at the tail end of the holiday shopping season, boosting overall sales that had slumped earlier in the crucial two-month period.

Of course this won't satisfy the angry rhetoric of conservative talk radio and those in the Republican Party.

They'll dismiss this as another ploy to make the president look good and the Labor Department playing with the numbers again!

The 113th Congress is now in session with the greatest number of women in the House and Senate by far.

Also the very same idiots who rush to the cameras will certainly drag another controversy or two into the fold.

Already, former presidential candidate and unhinged idiot Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-Minnesota) wants to repeal Obamacare. That was the first bill introduced into Congress.

GOP: Pay To The Federal Workers Ain't Gonna Happen!

Congressman Darrell Issa (R-California) sponsors a bill that puts another freeze on federal workers. Since 2009, President Barack Obama ordered a freeze on all federal employees. The freeze expires in 2013. Many federal workers will see cost of living adjustment rise and their paycheck shrink because of Republicans and their ridiculous determination to stop "big government!"

2013: A new year of the same shit!

If you're angry at Washington, DC's politicians, don't worry it continues on as the swearing in of the new 113th session of Congress.

This year opens a new chapter with the same pages of drama, action and of course comedy.

Out goes Richard Lugar, Ron Paul, Ben Nelson, Kent Conrad, Gabrielle Giffords, Dennis Kuncinich, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Olympia Snowe, and Scott Brown. In comes the replacements.

Before they come in they'll notice something a little less in their paychecks. The 112th Congress stabs one more dagger in the heart by stopping the executive order sponsored by President Barack Obama to give all federal workers a pay raise.

So that means those federal workers that aren't in Congress are not seeing the green! They'll be seeing the red and they'll be eager for 2014 to come and then they'll vote these newbies out too. The Republicans and some Democrats put the block on the raise of federal workers. Despite pleas from members of the Democratic fold, Republicans would stiff the millions of federal workers to keep the government running.

The Republican "principles" are going to doom this country.

The Washington Post reports the House of Representatives passed a freeze the salaries of lawmakers and federal employees.

Despite Democratic objections, the bill passed 287 to 129, with 55 Democrats voting with Republicans to approve the measure.

House Democrats charged that the vote to freeze salaries was intended to provide political cover for conservative Republicans planning to vote against the fiscal cliff bill passed early Tuesday by the Senate.

Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pennsylvania)

The fiscal cliff deal, passed with 89 votes in the Senate, includes language that would block a 0.5 percent cost of living pay increase for lawmakers, reversing parts of an executive order Obama issued last week – because Congress had yet to set the federal government’s pay scale for 2013.

Voting against the fiscal cliff plan might leave some House Republicans open to charges by future political opponents that they voted to give themselves a raise, or didn't vote to block a congressional pay raise, Democrats charged.

The GOP-backed bill introduced late Monday would freeze the salaries of lawmakers and the nation’s 2 million federal employees for the remainder of fiscal 2013.

Currently, federal worker salaries are frozen through the end of a short-term spending agreement that expires in March. As part of efforts to curtail the deficit, federal employees have not seen a cost of living increase in their paychecks in more than three years.

Holding the pay vote before the fiscal cliff bill is voted on, “is one of the most cynical things I've seen,” said Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Virginia), whose district is home to hundreds of thousands of federal employees.

“It’s being held purely to provide protection for House Republicans who want to vote against the fiscal cliff deal.”

The pay bill is cosponsored by Congressmen Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pennsylvania) and Darrell Issa (R-California).

Issa denied Democratic claims that his bill provides cover for GOP colleagues, noting that Obama could have opted to continue the pay freeze already in effect.

“We had to do this,” Issa said, adding later that Obama “had a two-year pay freeze already underway, he could have just continued it.”

In a statement, Issa argued that Obama’s “across the board pay increase for white collar workers is not necessary to retain talented employees and just wastes taxpayer money.”

“Federal employees have continued to receive promotions and within-grade pay increases over the past few years of the supposed ‘pay freeze,’ and voluntary separations from the federal government are near all-time lows,” he said.

Since taking control of the House last year, Republicans have cited federal compensation packages as a prime example of government waste, charging that federal employees have enjoyed modest pay bumps during the freeze as they are promoted through the ranks.

But dozens of Democrats usually vote for the GOP-back pay measures, making it an issue that regularly splits the caucus between labor-backed lawmakers and Washington-area Democrats who represent communities where thousands of federal employees live and work.

Fashion Bug Closes!

Women's clothing apparel store closing up shop!

Women may find dismay in this story. The nation's low price women's clothing store is going out of business. In 2013, a new company took over and their vision is to stomp on Fashion Bug.

Ascena Retail Group Inc. has completed its buyout of Charming Shoppes Inc., which owns the chain, and now plans to close the remaining several hundred Fashion Bug stores by early next year.

Fashion Bug will join Catherine's, Lane Bryant, Justice and Dress Barn in the new wave of consolidation.

No telling how many jobs will be lost in the acquisition of this retail store.

The New York based firm will begin immediate closing of all stores by early 2013. Fashion Bug is a women's fashion apparel retailer located in strip shopping centers. Fashion Bug offers fashion apparel and accessories in plus and misses.

The Charming Shoppes is a specialty and plus size clothing retail holding company based in Bensalem, Pennsylvania; a suburb of Philadelphia. Its subsidiaries are Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, Cacique and Catherines Plus. Clothes are sold from over 2300 retail stores in the United States, as well as numerous catalogs and online sites. Charming Shoppes was founded in 1940, went public in 1971, and was ranked 810th on the 2010 Fortune 1000.

Three Waves--Each One White-capped: A Racist History of Feminism

Ain't I a Woman?  Are we WOC woman or not?

Once again, Julian Real is right on the money on this one.  Again and again, the needs of WOC, working class women, immigrant women, poor women, disabled women are disregarded by the mainstream feminist movement.

Three Waves--Each One White-capped: A Racist History of Feminism

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