Unemployment Worse Than They're Letting On

IMMIGRATION, Labor, Propaganda

The Center for Immigration Studies: “While the current high rate of official unemployment is well known, it only includes those who have looked for work in the last four weeks. There is a broader measure of employment, referred to by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as U-6, which includes the unemployed and people who would like to work, but who have not looked for a job recently, as well as those involuntarily working part-time. This report examines the U-6 measure and finds that things are much worse than the official unemployment numbers imply. The situation is particularly bad for minorities, the young, and less-educated Americans. These are the workers who face the most competition from immigrants—legal and illegal. (All figures in this report are seasonally unadjusted and are from June 2009.)

Among the findings: * As of June 2009, the overall unemployment rate for native-born Americans is 9.7 percent, but the broader U-6 measure shows it as 16.3 percent. There are 12.7 million unemployed natives, but using the U-6 measure it is 21.7 million. … ”

I reported this earlier this month.

Unemployment Worse Than They’re Letting On

Economy, IMMIGRATION, Labor, Propaganda

I reported this earlier this month.

Robert Novak, RIP, On Things Forgotten

Education, Founding Fathers, Government, Journalism, The West

Robert Novak on taking a university course on Western Civilization, from his 2007 memoir The Prince of Darkness: “It was a golden moment for a 17-year-old boy from Joliet, leading to four years of exploration in the riches of our heritage: Plato, Aristotle, Chaucer, Castiglione, Machiavelli, Shakespeare, Milton, John Donne, Hawthorne, Melville, T.S. Eliot — dead white men all. How barren would be my life without that background?” A question no one thinks to pose vis-a-vis America’s youth and its miseducation.

Something else from Novak’s pen: “Always love your country — but never trust your government!” For some reason, the Chicago Sun-Times editorialists felt the need to excuse Novak’s professed fealty to the motto of the founders of this country.

VDARE’s Kevin Lamb provides something of a corrective: “Novak was first and foremost a Washington insider’s insider. He ranked third in most appearances on ‘Meet the Press’ and worked as a CNN commentator for 25 years. He was a master at leeching onto divisive figures inside various administrations (Karl Rove is one example) who ultimately would serve his own ends, secure his reputation and advance his own career. He was skilled at the art of dodging career-ending encounters that would put him at odds with the media elite. …”

Novak was a “plain old bigot” on matters Israel.

Entangled In Afghanistan

Barack Obama, Foreign Policy, Media, Propaganda, Terrorism, War

B.O.’s latest on America’s exploits in Afghanistan: “This is not a war of choice, this is a war of necessity. Those who attacked America on 9/11 are plotting to do so again. If left unchecked, the Taliban insurgency will mean an even larger safe haven from which al Qaida would plot to kill more Americans. So this is not only a war worth fighting. This is fundamental to the defense of our people.”

I concur with Michael Scheuer, who disavows Obama’s deceit:

“How many Marines and soldiers will die in Afghanistan before the mainstream media dares to speak the truth and ask questions based thereon? Yes, it is the mainstream media that is keeping us locked in Afghanistan, and they are doing so for two reasons:

1. They will do almost anything to avoid asking President Obama a hard question that would delineate the depth of his deceit.
2. They now support the Afghan war because it is not the children of the elite who are dying and because it is now being fought for social policy reasons – women’s rights, educating children, etc. – and not for any reason that pertains to America’s defense or future security.

Let’s start with a basic contention: America has lost the war in Afghanistan, and any further U.S. casualties are useless. How to test this contention? The following questions put to the president or his chief advisers on terrorism and Afghanistan – John Brennan and Bruce Riedel – would help to clarify the situation for all Americans. If any of these three men answer honestly, we will be out of Afghanistan in 90 days. …”

Read the complete column, “Questions on the Eve of the Afghan Election.”