Judge: Military’s ban on gays is unconstitutional

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A federal judge in Southern California has declared the U.S. military's ban on openly gay service members unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips on Thursday granted a request for an injunction halting the government's "don't ask, don't tell" policy for gays in the military. Phillips says the policy doesn't help military readiness and [...]

http://dailycaller.com/2010/09/09/judge-militarys-ban-on-gays-is-unconstitutional/

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Asterisk Alert: AP Story on Jobless Claims Doesn't Note Labor Dept. Report Missing Data of Nine Stat

What if reporters hunting and pecking for happy economic news are playing up incomplete government reports? Take this AP story by Jeannine Aversa on hopes rising over jobless claims:

The number of people signing up for unemployment benefits dropped to the lowest level in two months, an encouraging sign that companies aren't resorting to deeper layoffs even as the economy has lost momentum.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that new claims for unemployment aid plunged last week by a seasonally adjusted 27,000 to 451,000. Economists had predicted a much smaller decline of just 2,000.

But wait, we have an asterisk alert: did the Labor Department really get data from all 50 states? Bloomberg News explained, ahem, that nine states did not report actual numbers:

For the latest reporting week, nine states didn't file claims data to the Labor Department in Washington because of the federal holiday earlier this week, a Labor Department official told reporters. As a result, California and Virginia estimated their figures and the U.S. government estimated the other seven, the official said.

There's nothing wrong with reporting the Labor Department estimates -- but every story ought to include the missing-states paragraph in their stories, and reporters ought to restrain their "hopes rise" talk considering the incompleteness of the reporting. This Aversa story (or at least this version) doesn't have that information.

If this was a GOP Labor Department, isn't it possible reporters would be more skeptical that the government estimates might have some administration spin in them?

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2010/09/09/asterisk-alert-ap-story-jobless-claims-doesnt-note-labor-dept-report-mis

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BreakingNews: Quran burning update by Rev.Terry Jones: We are a little back to square one, burning s

BreakingNews: Quran burning update by Rev.Terry Jones: We are a little back to square one, burning suspended, not canceled

http://twitter.com/BreakingNews/statuses/24056680090

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Dim bulb Dems shut lights out on American light bulb factories

You know how Democrats wring their wrists and gnash their teeth over eeeeevil corporations "shipping jobs overseas"? Well the Democrat Congress has done it by force of law. They have forced the closing of all light bulb factories in the US. Compact flourescent bulbs - ones that I bought and am in no way happy with (they don't last anywhere near as long as advertised) - will be made in China. Speaking of, did I mention that CFL makers In China have mercury poisoning? It does take mercury, in the deadliest vapor form, for CFLs to operate. Anyone who has read or heard about the EPA recommendation on broken flourescent bulb cleanup knows this already. Mercury is not a good thing to have around, especially in vapor form that could be breathed into your system. In any case, on to the point of this post. From the Washington Post via memeorandum: Light bulb factory closes; End of era for U.S. means more jobs overseas

The last major GE factory making ordinary incandescent light bulbs in the United States is closing this month, marking a small, sad exit for a product and company that can trace their roots to Thomas Alva Edison's innovations in the 1870s.

The remaining 200 workers at the plant here will lose their jobs.

...as the lighting industry shows, even when the government pushes companies toward environmental innovations and Americans come up with them, the manufacture of the next generation technology can still end up overseas.

Well... DUH!

What made the plant here vulnerable is, in part, a 2007 energy conservation measure passed by Congress that set standards essentially banning ordinary incandescents by 2014. The law will force millions of American households to switch to more efficient bulbs.

The resulting savings in energy and greenhouse-gas emissions are expected to be immense. But the move also had unintended consequences.

Let me clue you in on something: the switch won't save any energy because the prediction is based on a static premise; that is, that changing the bulbs will not alter human behavior. As a matter of fact, it has been proven that owners of fuel efficient vehicles drive more. Changing to more efficient bulbs will incentivize Americans to use more light and for a longer time. And not by a small amount either. As Henry Payne pointed out a few days ago in The Michigan View, "The Economist reports that a study published in the "Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics" by Jeff Tsao of Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico "predicts that the introduction of solid-state lighting could increase the consumption of light by a factor of ten within two decades."

By 2012, I expect CFLs to be antiquated once LED and plasma bulbs get cheap enough. The light quality from both the LED and plasma alternatives are far better than CFLs. Both technologies are currently more expensive than CFLs, but that will change in time as the technology advances.

More from Gateway Pundit, iOwnTheWorld.com, All American Blogger, National Review, Sweetness & Light, Right Wing News, Althouse and Legal Insurrection

UPDATE: One more note on mercury:

http://theblogprof.blogspot.com/2010/09/dim-bulb-dems-shut-lights-out-on.html

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Nine States Did Not File Initial Claims Data Due To Labor Day, Hundreds Of Thousands Of Estimates In Data "Beat" | zero hedge

Found this interesting link on the Drudge Report:

Nine States Did Not File Initial Claims Data Due To Labor Day, Hundreds Of Thousands Of Estimates In Data "Beat" | zero hedge

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/nine-states-did-not-file-initial-claims-data-due-labor-day-hundreds-thousands-estimates-data

BREAKING: Quran-Burning Canceled (UPDATED)

The AP reports:

The leader of a small Florida church that espouses anti-Islam philosophy says he is canceling plans to burn copies of the Quran on Sept. 11.

Pastor Terry Jones said Thursday that he decided to cancel his protest because the leader of a planned Islamic Center near ground zero has agreed to move its controversial location. The agreement couldn't be immediately confirmed.

UPDATE: Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf reportedly claims there is no agreement to move the proposed Islamic center.

Go to source

Subscribe to my premium podcast and get exclusive access to the listener club.

http://feeds.foxnewsradio.com/~r/FoxNewsRadiocom/~3/pRfPnOAezHA/

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New revelations provide more embarrassment in global warming hoax - Columbia conservative | Examiner.com

http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-columbia/new-revelations-provide-more-embarrassment-global-warming-hoax<br><div style="color:rgb(60%,60%,60%)">Sent with <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/app/mobilerss-pro-google-rss-news/id325594202?mt=8" style="text-decoration:underline;color:rgb(60%,60%,60%)">MobileRSS for iPhone</a></div>

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Court blocks town's immigration law; Rules feds have 'exclusive power'...

Court blocks town's immigration law; Rules feds have 'exclusive power'...


(Second column, 3rd story, link)

---

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DrudgeReportFeed/~3/a-8vMjwQfQY/us_illegal_immigrants_crackdown

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Good Grief… Looney Left Is Turning to SEIU Socialist Andy Stern For Advice on Creating Jobs

Good grief…
The left is hoping that radical union organizer Andy Stern can help them turn the economy around.

Here's a clue, leftists… Taking advice from a committed socialist on job creation will not likely lift the US out of the Obama Depression.

Barack Obama is pictured with close friend and union thug Andy Stern (on right).

Leftist wunderkind Ezra Klein of Journolist fame believes former SEIU President and radical socialist Andy Stern holds the key to job creation.
Sure he does.

Here's one of Stern's ideas– Don't cut jobs, Cut hours:

1) Adopt Job Sharing

This is an idea, supported by Kevin Hassett from the American Enterprise Institute and Dean Baker from the Center for Economic and Policy Research, that could rally broad support from the left and the right.

Both experts testified earlier this year that Congress should consider a plan that enables companies to avoid shedding employees by reducing hours instead of firing workers. If hours and wages are reduced by 10 percent or more, workers would receive a federal subsidy for 60 percent of their lost salary. As the economy truly begins to recover, employers would be able to add new employees rather than increase hours for existing employees until the recovery is on a self-sustaining path.

Reducing the rate of job loss by just 10 percent would have the same effect on employment as if the economy generated an additional 200,000 jobs a month or 2.4 million a year. Germany's unemployment rate dropped from 9.1 percent to 7.6 percent after implementing such a policy in January.

Congress should immediately take up one of several bills that take this idea to a national scale.

Jobs Created/Saved: 2.4 million
Cost: $54 billion
Pay-for: Loans to Unemployment Insurance (UI) Funds to be repaid with a small UI surtax starting in 2013 on all employers.
Ultimate cost to Taxpayers: Zero

Great idea.
Don't cut jobs, just cut hours.
And, Klein is supposed to be the smart one in the crowd?
Good luck libs.

http://gatewaypundit.firstthings.com/2010/09/good-grief-crazy-left-is-turning-to-seiu-socialist-andy-stern-for-advice-on-jobs-creation/

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Radical Judge Blocks PA Town From Cracking Down on Illegal Immigration

It's now against the law to enforce the law…
A radical judge ruled today that a Pennsylvania town does not have the right to enforce national immigration law and crack down on illegal immigrants.
Nuts.
The AP reported:

A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that Hazleton, Pa., may not enforce its crackdown on illegal immigrants, dealing another blow to 4-year-old regulations that inspired similar measures around the country.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia said that Hazleton's Illegal Immigration Relief Act usurped the federal government's exclusive power to regulate immigration.

"It is … not our job to sit in judgment of whether state and local frustration about federal immigration policy is warranted. We are, however, required to intervene when states and localities directly undermine the federal objectives embodied in statutes enacted by Congress," wrote Chief Judge Theodore McKee.

Appeals courts are split on whether states and municipalities have the right to enforce laws dealing with immigration. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments over a 2007 Arizona law that prohibits employers from knowingly hiring illegal immigrants.

The progressive judge must be looking for a job in the Obama Administration, huh?

http://gatewaypundit.firstthings.com/2010/09/radical-judge-blocks-pa-town-from-cracking-down-on-illegal-immigration/

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Military burns unsolicited Bibles sent to Afghanistan - CNN.com

Found this interesting link on the Drudge Report:

Military burns unsolicited Bibles sent to Afghanistan - CNN.com

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/05/20/us.military.bibles.burned/

Get iDrudgeReport on your iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad free at the iTunes Store:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/official-drudge-report-free/id375614185?mt=8

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Weekly jobless claims post a decline UPDATED: Nine states didn’t report

In what's sure to be touted as great news by the White House, Democrats and the state-run media, weekly jobless claims posted a modest decline last week:

---

In the week ending Sept. 4, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 451,000, a decrease of 27,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 478,000. The 4-week moving average was 477,750, a decrease of 9,250 from the previous week's revised average of 487,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.5 percent for the week ending Aug. 28, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 3.5 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Aug. 28 was 4,478,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,480,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,488,000, a decrease of 3,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,491,250.

---

The revisions to last week's release means that the reported 6,000 decrease was wiped out for the week ending August 28.  While any decrease in the number of newly unemployed is welcome news, the fact remains that 451,000 people joined the jobless ranks, and that number has barely budged since January 2010.

Typically, this data set indicates stability when its seasonally adjusted figures moves back and forth around a moving average.  Look at the period between January 2006 and late 2008, and there's a very good example of a two-year period of a stable labor market.  The only problem is, claims were moving around a 300,000 average.  Today's release showing an average of ~480,000 indicates a stable, but weak job market.

In other words, things don't appear to be getting much worse, but they aren't getting much better either, and there is absolutely nothing on the horizon that might point to a return to the Bush-era labor market.

UPDATE: Isn't this interesting.  Via Bloomberg  is this little gem:

---

Holiday

For the latest reporting week, nine states didn't file claims data to the Labor Department in Washington because of the federal holiday earlier this week, a Labor Department official told reporters. As a result, California and Virginia estimated their figures and the U.S. government estimated the other seven, the official said.

---

I'm sure the bean counters did the best estimating job they could, but if we see some, uhh…  gyrations in next week's data, will the news be "unexpected?"

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ibleedcrimsonred/OvJu/~3/v3EhMIk3BJg/weekly-jobless-claims-post-decline.html

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Video: A Debate Between John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama

Clever indeed:

From Daniel Mitchell via Instapundit. Mitchell has this:

Having previously highlighted Kennedy's tax-cutting approach, it is painful for me to observe the class warfare approach of the Obama Administration.

This new crop of Democrats are thorns and thistles.

http://theblogprof.blogspot.com/2010/09/video-debate-between-john-f-kennedy-and.html

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Woah! Obama Added More to Debt in First 19 Months Than All Presidents From Washington to Reagan COMB

WORST. PRESIDENT. EVER.
You may have thought things were bad under Obama… You had no idea.

Obama is the worst jobs president since the Great Depression. The Obama-Pelosi economic plan resulted in a cumulative 7.5 million jobs deficit. By every objective measure the democrat's Trillion dollar stimulus bomb was a complete disaster.

Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi tripled the national deficit last year by nearly a trillion dollars – something unheard of in our nation's history.

After an unheard of record deficit last year of $1.4 Trillion the economy is on track to experience a $1.3 Trillion deficit this year.

Instead of focusing on the economy the past two years the radicals in Washington beat up on business and rammed through an unpopular nationalized health care entitlement program.

Then there's this…
The Obama-Pelosi regime added more to the national debt in his first 19 months in office than all presidents from Washington to Ronald Reagan… COMBINED.
CNS News reported:

In the first 19 months of the Obama administration, the federal debt held by the public increased by $2.5260 trillion, which is more than the cumulative total of the national debt held by the public that was amassed by all U.S. presidents from George Washington through Ronald Reagan.

The U.S. Treasury Department divides the federal debt into two categories. One is "debt held by the public," which includes U.S. government securities owned by individuals, corporations, state or local governments, foreign governments and other entities outside the federal government itself. The other is "intragovernmental" debt, which includes I.O.U.s the federal government gives to itself when, for example, the Treasury borrows money out of the Social Security "trust fund" to pay for expenses other than Social Security.

At the end of fiscal year 1989, which ended eight months after President Reagan left office, the total federal debt held by the public was $2.1907 trillion, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That means all U.S. presidents from George Washington through Ronald Reagan had accumulated only that much publicly held debt on behalf of American taxpayers. That is $335.3 billion less than the $2.5260 trillion that was added to the federal debt held by the public just between Jan. 20, 2009, when President Obama was inaugurated, and Aug. 20, 2010, the 19-month anniversary of Obama's inauguration.

http://gatewaypundit.firstthings.com/2010/09/woah-obama-added-more-to-debt-in-first-19-months-than-all-presidents-from-reagan-to-bush-combined/

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