Eric Holder to Take the Fall for Obama UPDATE: Obama Administration Under Fire Inept Gun Trafficking Investigation 'Project Gunrunner'

VIDEO: Obstruction of Justice Eric Holder Fast and Furious Obama Fall Guy LIAR - Three Dog Night
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ATF Fast and Furious: New documents show Attorney General Eric Holder was briefed in July 2010

By Sharyl Attkisson

cbsnews

October 4, 2011

WASHINGTON - New documents obtained by CBS News show Attorney General Eric Holder was sent briefings on the controversial Fast and Furious operation as far back as July 2010. That directly contradicts his statement to Congress.
On May 3, 2011, Holder told a Judiciary Committee hearing, "I'm not sure of the exact date, but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks."
Yet internal Justice Department documents show that at least ten months before that hearing, Holder began receiving frequent memos discussing Fast and Furious.
Read the new documents
Read the July 5, 2010 memo Read the "It's a tricky case" email Read the memo to AG Holder from Asst. AG Lanny A. Breuer The documents came from the head of the National Drug Intelligence Center and Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer.
In Fast and Furious, ATF agents allegedly allowed thousands of weapons to cross the border and fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels.
Gunwalking scandal uncovered at ATF
It's called letting guns "walk," and it remained secret to the public until Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was murdered last December. Two guns from Fast and Furious were found at the scene, and ATF agent John Dodson blew the whistle on the operation.
Agent: I was ordered to let guns "walk" into Mexico
Ever since, the Justice Department has publicly tried to distance itself. But the new documents leave no doubt that high level Justice officials knew guns were being "walked."
Two Justice Department officials mulled it over in an email exchange Oct. 18, 2010. "It's a tricky case given the number of guns that have walked but is a significant set of prosecutions," says Jason Weinstein, Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division. Deputy Chief of the National Gang Unit James Trusty replies "I'm not sure how much grief we get for 'guns walking.' It may be more like, "Finally they're going after people who sent guns down there."
The Justice Department told CBS News that the officials in those emails were talking about a different case started before Eric Holder became Attorney General. And tonight they tell CBS News, Holder misunderstood that question from the committee - he did know about Fast and Furious - just not the details.



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Obama Administration Under Mounting Pressure for Botched Gun Trafficking Investigation

By William La Jeunesse

March 28, 2011

  FoxNews.com

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Congress and the Department of Justice appear to be headed for a showdown this week over documents detailing Operation Fast and Furious, the botched gunrunning sting set up by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that funneled more than 1,700 smuggled weapons from Arizona to Mexico.

The Justice Department has until Wednesday to deliver to congressional investigators a stack of records and emails naming the individuals responsible for the gun trafficking operation that may have killed dozens, if not hundreds of Mexicans, and is becoming a growing embarrassment for the Obama administration.

Under Project Gunrunner and the Phoenix off-shoot, dubbed Fast and Furious, the ATF encouraged gun store owners to sell to straw buyers -- consumers who they suspected of working on behalf of Mexican drug cartels. 

Project Gunrunner purposely allowed the straw buyers to illegally buy and export guns only to see where they surfaced in Mexico. Using this investigative technique, the ATF hoped to take down the entire gun trafficking organization. Instead, records show it allowed more than 1,700 guns, including hundreds of AK-47s and high-powered, armor-piercing .50-caliber rifles to be trafficked to Mexico

Buying guns for non-personal use is illegal. Yet gun store owners were assured by ATF agents the buyers were under investigation and the guns were being intercepted before crossing into Mexico. 

Instead, whistleblowers say the guns were allowed "to walk." 

President Obama, speaking for the first time about the growing scandal, conceded last week Fast and Furious may have been "a serious mistake," but he claimed, "I did not authorize it; Eric Holder, the attorney general, did not authorize it. He's been very clear that our policy is to catch gunrunners and put them into jail." 

But an investigation by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, could show otherwise. 

The ATF operates under Justice Department, and two assistant U.S. attorneys in Phoenix authorized virtually every wiretap, affidavit and investigation conducted in Operation Fast and Furious. 

Some, like Issa, wonder how Holder could not have known about an investigation that size. 

"One of the questions we always ask is who is lying," Issa told Fox News. "We lose our credibility if we don't come clean and make the changes necessary to save lives on both sides of the border." 

If the Justice Department and ATF refuse to deliver the records Issa requested, as it already has done with similar requests by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, Issa can subpoena the records. 

"We will subpoena if we have to, we'll hold hearings if we have to, we'll call in officials if we have to. But at the end of the day, the two Americans likely to have died as a result of this action pale in comparison to the countless numbers of Mexicans who have been killed," said Issa. 

He is referring to Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent Jamie Zapata. The guns used to kill both men have been linked to Project Gunrunner. 

Humberto Trevino, a senior Mexican lawmaker, says at least 150 people have been shot with ATF-monitored gun

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JACK BOOT NYC COPS CORRAL THEN MACE WALL STREET FEMALE PROTESTORS: Caught on Video

 PEACEFUL FEMALE PROTESTORS PENNED IN THE STREET AND MACED!- #OccupyWallStreet

While on a peaceful march near Union Square in downtown Manhattan, September 24, 2011, multiple female protestors were penned up in the street by orange mesh baricade, then maliciously maced.

The women were peaceful and unarmed. They were secured by barricade with an overwhelming police presence. And they were then sprayed directly in the face with pressurized mace...The Cop Circled in photo is the macer and proceeded to scurry away after doing his chicken-shit act!!!

WeAreTheOther99 continues to peacefully occupy Lower Manhattan to begin a dialogue with the Top 1% with the goal of a peaceful transition of power back to the People.

Posted: September 24, 2011  1:45 am cst
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Wall Street protesters cuffed, pepper-sprayed during 'inequality' march

BY Matt Deluca and Christina Boyle
DAILY NEWS WRITERS

Sunday, September 25th 2011

Scores of protesters were arrested in Manhattan Saturday as a march against social inequality turned violent.
Hundreds of people carrying banners and chanting "shame, shame" walked between Zuccotti Park, near Wall St., and Union Square calling for changes to a financial system they say unjustly benefits the rich and harms the poor.
At least 80 people were carted away in police vehicles and up to five were hit with pepper spray near 12th St. and Fifth Ave., where tensions became especially high, police and organizers said.
The National Lawyer's Guild, which is providing legal assistance to the protesters, put the number of arrests at 100.
Witnesses said they saw three stunned women collapse on the ground screaming after they were sprayed in the face.
A video posted on YouTube and NYDailyNews.com shows uniformed officers had corralled the women using orange nets when two supervisors made a beeline for the women, and at least one suddenly sprayed the women before turning and quickly walking away.
Footage of other police altercations also circulated online, but it was unclear what caused the dramatic mood shift in an otherwise peaceful demonstration.
"I saw a girl get slammed on the ground. I turned around and started screaming," said Chelsea Elliott, 25, from Greenpoint, Brooklyn, who said she was sprayed. "I turned around and a cop was coming ... we were on the sidewalk and we weren't doing anything illegal."
Police said 80 protesters were arrested or ticketed at multiple locations for disorderly conduct, blocking traffic and failure to obey a lawful order but the number could rise.
Officials said protesters did not have a permit for the march and one demonstrator was charged with assaulting a police officer, causing a shoulder injury. The NYPD was investigating the use of pepper spray.
"I was shocked because it seemed like one person after another was being brutally tackled, and it wasn't clear why," said Meaghan Linick, 23, from Greenpoint, Brooklyn, who attended the rally. "I was deeply disturbed to see them throw a man [down] and immediately they were pounding on him. Their arms were going back in the air. I couldn't believe how violent five people needed to be against one unarmed man."
The protesters, joined together under the banner of an organization called Occupy Wall Street, have been stationed in Zuccotti Park since last weekend, attempting to draw attention to what they believe is a dysfunctional economic system that unfairly benefits corporations and the mega-rich.
"The central message is that in this country, there needs to be more conversation about wealth and power," said 23-year-old student Patrick Bruner.
As night fell, those detained were hauled out of vans and buses and into police precincts to be processed.
Hundreds more protesters congregated in Zuccotti Park where for a while another clash with police seemed imminent, but as midnight approached tension eased as die-hards prepared to camp out for the night.With Ashley N. Fleming,

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VIDEO: New World Order - More of the Same - 
Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who
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NOT A POLITICAL STATEMENT, IT'S A COMPLAINT Chickenfoot III (I Need A JOB) Three and A Half Letters VIDEO

Chickenfoot, members of the band, from left, Joe Satriani, Sammy Hagar, Chad Smith, and Michael Anthony, are shown. Hagar, the former Van Halen frontman, guitar legend Joe Satriani, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony skipped calling the follow-up to their 2009 debut "Chickenfoot II" and instead dubbed it "Chickenfoot III." The album, which is set for release Sept. 27, features 10 new tracks from the seasoned rockers. (AP Photo/Chickenfoot, Jon Hill)
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Sammy Hagar ready to hatch new Chickenfoot album

Associated Press 

September 24, 2011

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Sammy Hagar is hoping his supergroup avoids a sophomore slump.
The former Van Halen frontman, guitar legend Joe Satriani, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony skipped calling the follow-up to their 2009 debut "Chickenfoot II" and instead named it "Chickenfoot III." The album, which is set for release on Tuesday, features 10 new tracks from the seasoned rockers.
"I feel a little pressure," said Hagar. "I didn't feel anything on the first record because there were no expectations. We were doing it for fun. We knew it was going to be good. We just wanted to play together. There was no business involved or tour planned. It was so organic that we never looked back. The next thing I knew, we had done 50 shows."
Hagar said fans can expect more of the same classic rock sound from Chickenfoot. One of the most emotional tunes on the new album is "Three and a Half Letters." Hagar transformed about 20 letters from down-on-their-luck fans into three lyrical letters read _ and screamed _ by Hagar. Each letter is punctuated with an explosive guitar solo by Satriani.
"My manager, (John) Carter, who died earlier this year, kept telling me to write a song about people needing jobs," said Hagar. "I told him, `Sounds country.' But it all came together for me when I got this letter from a guy in Afghanistan and at the end of it he wrote, `I need a job, brother. Can you help?' All of sudden, I realized there was a song there."
Chickenfoot will embark on a "road test" tour in November, stopping in San Francisco, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Chicago and New York with drummer Kenny Aronoff because Smith is touring with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Hagar said the truncated tour will allow the band to try out their new material live, so they can "learn how to jam together" in front of a crowd.

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Deal Flow Is DEAD: 'build it and they will come' theory of venture investing is like Expecting Back Taxes to Expire - TAXMAN The Beatles MUSIC VIDEO

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Deal Flow Is Dead, Long Live Thesis Driven Investing

Burnham's Beat

Articles on Technology and Finance

“Deal flow” has long been regarded as the lifeblood of venture capital and the primary point of competitive differentiation between venture firms.   To this end, it’s not uncommon to hear venture firms publicly boast about this or that proprietary source of deal flow or to hear limited partners studiously inquire about which firm has the highest quality deal flow.  While deal flow undoubtedly remains an important part of venture capital, changes in the venture industry are making deal flow far less important and rapidly making deal flow-centric business models unsustainable for all but a few venture firms.
Build It And They Will Come
At its heart, the deal flow-centric view of venture world is premised on a passive approach to venture investing that essentially subscribes to a “build it and they will come” theory of venture investing.  To grossly, but not inaccurately, simplify this view: all it takes to have a successful venture firm is to open an office on Sand Hill Road, stock the office with well known/connected former operators/financiers, wait for the entrepreneurs to come flocking to your door and then simply invest in the best teams with the best ideas.
It’s as if Venture Capitalists were Grizzly Bears: Just stake out a good position in the middle of the best salmon run, watch the fish go by, and occasionally swat the best looking fish out of the air.  In this model VCs are cast as true renaissance men, capable of doing a communications equipment deal one day and an alternative energy deal the next.  They have no need to be experts in specific industries but instead pass judgment on the quality and pedigree of start-up teams with the belief that their connections and experience can help get any company off the ground.
This flow-centric business model made a tremendous amount of sense when the venture industry was relatively small and immature.  Back then, there were only a handful of competitors and funds were relatively modest in size.  For example, in 1980 there were only 183 venture capital firms and each firm had an average of only $41.6M under management.  Given this, as well as the immaturity of venture capital as an asset class in 1980, it’s probably safe to say that venture capital in 1980 was a true “buyer’s market” with more demand for capital than supply.   Perhaps more importantly, the investable landscape for venture capital, particularly technology venture capital, was both “thin” and “shallow”.  It was “thin” in that there were only a few sectors one could invest in.  It was “shallow” in that each sector was quite small and often only composed of a few companies.
In this context, a passive deal flow-oriented business model made a tremendous amount of sense.  Not only was there more than enough deals to go around, but the chances of seeing any given deal prior to funding were quite high.  In addition, it did not make sense to develop expertise in specific domain areas because there simply weren’t enough new deals in a given space to justify such a concentration.
It’s Not Your Father’s Venture Capital Anymore
Fast forward 20 years and the world has changed dramatically.  There are now over 3,300 venture firms managing an average of $280M each with a total of $265BN in capital under management.   What’s more, the investable venture landscape is vastly larger and more intricate; it is now both wide and deep.  Using the NASDAQ’s market capitalization as a proxy, the investable market has expanded by a full order of magnitude in just the last 15 years.  Areas of the market that didn’t exist to any substantial extent 15 or 20 years ago, such as the internet, information security, and networking, are now large enough to easily produce enough quality deals to not only gainfully employ the full productive efforts of a single partner, but of even an entire firm. 
To go back to the Grizzly bears, it’s as if the population of bears on the river has increased by almost 20X and not only are there now lots of bears both upstream and downstream, but there are lots of bears specializing in particular types of fish.   The only thing that is flowing by the average bear is unwanted leftovers from someone else’s catch.
For all but a few firms, the dramatic increase in the scope, complexity and competitive intensity of the venture business makes a deal flow-based business model, no matter how good one’s networks or connections, unsustainable because the risk of adverse selection has become so great and in those rare circumstances that a good deal actually makes it into the public domain, intense competition is likely to drive pricing up to a point where the good deal becomes bad because it's just too expensive.  Net, net the cold reality is that the venture business is now clearly and permanently a seller’s market.
Exceptions To the Rule
That said, there are probably two classes of firms that can still get by with a deal-flow oriented operating model including:

1. The Best of The Best:  There are a few firms that have been in business so long and have been so successful that they can sustain a deal-flow based operating model.    They have a large amount of very high-quality incoming deal flow and even when they find themselves in a competitive situation their reputation usually enables them to win the deal.  This is not the top quartile of venture funds (825) or even the top decline (330), it is just a handful of firms that have such presence and brand that they can rise above the fray.  Even though they are capable of sustaining a deal flow based operating model, many of them won’t because they realize that they simply don’t have the scope necessary to see every deal worth doing.
2. Big Fish in Small Ponds:  70% of the venture capital under management in the US in concentrated in just three states: California, New York, and Massachusetts.  Outside of these three areas, local venture capital is often hard to come by and the market looks much more like the “thin and shallow” national market of 1980.  VCs in regional markets with very strong local reputations can be reasonably confident that they will see pretty much every deal worth seeing in their area and every entrepreneur in the area knows that these are the “go to” firms.  For example, my former partner Brad Feld (who has a great blog of his own) is “Da Man” in Boulder Colorado and there’s probably not a deal in the Boulder/Denver area that he doesn’t get to see.   If Brad wanted to, he could probably just sit back and wait for deals to come to him all day (he doesn't) and still have a viable business.

The Party’s Over
For the rest of the industry, deal-flow based business models are now unsustainable thanks to two simple facts: 1. The venture industry simply is too big and too competitive for any firm to sit back wait for deals to come to them.  2. There is so much money in the industry now that any firm that is waiting for “hot” deal flow will likely find itself in the midst of a ruinous bidding war.
A favorite example of this situation is the social networking space.  The poster child of that space, Friendster, generated a true frenzy amongst VCs.  Friendster ultimately was invested in by two top-tier VCs but those VCs paid dearly for the honor, despite their brands, thanks the “seller’s market” that exists for hot VC deals in markets with an abundant capital.
Thesis Driven Investing
In such a competitive and complex environment the most promising way for VCs to ensure themselves of rising above the tide is to move from a passive deal-flow based approach to a proactive thesis driven investment approach.  This approach stresses taking the initiative to develop an investment thesis based on focused expertise and then using that investment thesis as the basis for a directed deal acquisition campaign designed to either ferret out those existing start-ups that fit into this investment thesis or to help create new companies that can take advantage of an identified opportunity.
In this model, VCs do not passively sit back and let deals come to them, but they go and out and “turn over rocks” actively looking for deals that fit their investment thesis in a particular space.    VCs, even ones with no brands and experience, can compete with this strategy due to two simple facts:  1. Entrepreneurs respect VCs that understand their market space/business. 2.  Entrepreneurs rarely refuse to talk with VCs that proactively call them and tell them that they are potentially interested in investing in their business.  The goal is not to wait for companies to come and ask for money, but to find good companies in good spaces and then try to find a way to put money into them when appropriate.
Pick Your Poison
Many GPs and LPs believe such thesis-driven investing to be more risky than traditional deal-flow driven investing because it requires firms to make two bets instead of just one in that firms must first bet on a general thesis and then bet on a company that matches that thesis.  This means that if the thesis is wrong, a whole crop of investments could turn out poorly.    From this perspective, why take the risk of getting the first part wrong?
The problem with this criticism is that it pre-supposes that the old deal-flow based approach remains viable.  This pre-supposition may have been valid 20 years ago but it is now no longer valid thanks to the huge risks that deal-flow based business models face in terms of scope management, adverse selection and competitive pricing.   The belief that deal-flow remains king in VC is therefore a dangerously outdated perspective on the venture industry that is no longer relevant for all but a handful of firms.
Retooling Required
For Venture Capital firms, the industry’s shift from deal-flow to thesis driven investing has many practical implications.  First, firms must place greater emphasis on developing investment theses and proactively calling on companies as opposed to developing networks of deal-flow relationships.  That’s not to say that deal-flow relationships will become unimportant, just that they are now relatively less important.  Firms must also become more specialized, either at the firm or partner level, so that they can develop the industry insight and expertise necessary to exploit investment theses within specific sectors.   Finally, firms may have to adopt a more systematized and professional process for not only developing investment theses but for executing on those theses once developed.
Making these changes won’t guarantee investment success but they will enable firms to compete effectively in a highly competitive venture capital market that is dramatically different from the market of 20 and even 10 years ago. 

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A Little tune for the Noodle Tax Dodgers!!!


TAXMAN - The BEATLES
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U.S. Jobs Situation Is Worse Than It Looks VIDEO The Great Recession Story told in pictures: HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN - Animals

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Why the Jobs Situation Is Worse Than It Looks

We now have more idle men and women than at any time since the Great Depression

By Mortimer B. Zuckerman

 June 22, 2011

www.usnews.com
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The Great Recession has now earned the dubious right of being compared to the Great Depression. In the face of the most stimulative fiscal and monetary policies in our history, we have experienced the loss of over 7 million jobs, wiping out every job gained since the year 2000. From the moment the Obama administration came into office, there have been no net increases in full-time jobs, only in part-time jobs. This is contrary to all previous recessions. Employers are not recalling the workers they laid off from full-time employment.

The real job losses are greater than the estimate of 7.5 million. They are closer to 10.5 million, as 3 million people have stopped looking for work. Equally troublesome is the lower labor participation rate; some 5 million jobs have vanished from manufacturing, long America's greatest strength. Just think: Total payrolls today amount to 131 million, but this figure is lower than it was at the beginning of the year 2000, even though our population has grown by nearly 30 million. [Check out a roundup of political cartoons on the economy.]
The most recent statistics are unsettling and dismaying, despite the increase of 54,000 jobs in the May numbers. Nonagricultural full-time employment actually fell by 142,000, on top of the 291,000 decline the preceding month. Half of the new jobs created are in temporary help agencies, as firms resist hiring full-time workers.
Today, over 14 million people are unemployed. We now have more idle men and women than at any time since the Great Depression. Nearly seven people in the labor pool compete for every job opening. Hiring announcements have plunged to 10,248 in May, down from 59,648 in April. Hiring is now 17 percent lower than the lowest level in the 2001-02 downturn. One fifth of all men of prime working age are not getting up and going to work. Equally disturbing is that the number of people unemployed for six months or longer grew 361,000 to 6.2 million, increasing their share of the unemployed to 45.1 percent. We face the specter that long-term unemployment is becoming structural and not just cyclical, raising the risk that the jobless will lose their skills and become permanently unemployable. [See a slide show of the 10 best cities to find a job.]
Don't pay too much attention to the headline unemployment rate of 9.1 percent. It is scary enough, but it is a gloss on the reality. These numbers do not include the millions who have stopped looking for a job or who are working part time but would work full time if a position were available. And they count only those people who have actively applied for a job within the last four weeks.
Include those others and the real number is a nasty 16 percent. The 16 percent includes 8.5 million part-timers who want to work full time (which is double the historical norm) and those who have applied for a job within the last six months, including many of the long-term unemployed. And this 16 percent does not take into account the discouraged workers who have left the labor force. The fact is that the longer duration of six months is the more relevant testing period since the mean duration of unemployment is now 39.7 weeks, an increase from 37.1 weeks in February. [See a slide show of the 10 cities with highest real income.]
The inescapable bottom line is an unprecedented slack in the U.S. labor market. Labor's share of national income has fallen to the lowest level in modern history, down to 57.5 percent in the first quarter as compared to 59.8 percent when the so-called recovery began. This reflects not only the 7 million fewer workers but the fact that wages for part-time workers now average $19,000—less than half the median income.
Just to illustrate how insecure the labor movement is, there is nobody on strike in the United States today, according to David Rosenberg of wealth management firm Gluskin Sheff. Back in the 1970s, it was common in any given month to see as many as 30,000 workers on the picket line, and there were typically 300 work stoppages at any given time. Last year there were a grand total of 11. There are other indirect consequences. The number of people who have applied for permanent disability benefits has soared. Ten years ago, 5 million people were collecting federal disability payments; now 8 million are on the rolls, at a cost to taxpayers of approximately $120 billion a year. The states today owe the federal insurance fund an astonishing $90 billion to cover unemployment benefits. [See cartoons about the deficit and debt.]

In past recessions, the economy recovered lost jobs within 13 months, on average, after the trough. Twenty-three months into a recovery, employment typically increases by around 174,000 jobs monthly, compared to 54,000 this time around. In a typical recovery, we would have had several hundred thousand more hires per month than we are seeing now—this despite unprecedented fiscal and monetary stimulus (including the rescue of the automobile industry, whose collapse would likely have lost a million jobs). Businesses do not seem to have the confidence or the incentive to add staff but prefer to continue the deep cost-cutting they undertook from the onset of the recession.
But hang on. Even to come up with the 54,000 new jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics assumed that 206,000 jobs were created by newly formed companies that its analysts believe—but can't prove—were, in effect, born in May under the so-called birth/death model, which relies primarily on historical extrapolations. Without this generous assumption in the face of a slowing economy, the United States would have lost jobs in May. Last year the bureau assumed that 192,000 jobs were created through new start-ups in the comparable month, but on review most of them eventually had to be taken out, as start-ups have been distressingly weak given the lack of financing from their traditional sources such as bank loans, home equity loans, and credit card lines. [Read more stories on unemployment.]
Where are we today? We have seemingly added jobs, but it is not because hiring has increased. In February 2009 there were 4.7 million separations—that is, jobs lost—but by March 2011 this had fallen to 3.8 million. In other words, the pace of layoffs has diminished, but that is not the same thing as more hiring. The employment numbers look better than they really are because of the aggressive layoffs in the early part of this recession and the reluctance of American business to rehire workers. In fact, the apparent improvement in job numbers has been made up of one part extra hiring and two parts reduced firing.
Even during past recessions, American firms still hired large numbers of workers as part of the continual cycle of replacing employees. Of the 150 million workers or job seekers in America, about one third turn over in a typical year, leaving their old jobs to take new ones. High labor "churn" is characteristic of our economy, reflecting workers moving to better jobs and higher wages and away from declining sectors. As Stanford business professor Edward Lazear explains so clearly in the Wall Street Journal, the increase in job growth over the past two years is attributable to a decline in the number of layoffs, not from increased hiring. Typically, when the labor market creates 200,000 jobs, it has been because 5 million were hired and 4.8 million were separated, not just because there were 200,000 hires and no job losses. But when an economy has bottomed out, it has already shed much of its excess labor, as illustrated by the decline in layoffs—from approximately 2.5 million in February 2009 to 1.5 million this April. In a healthy labor market like the one that prevailed in 2006 and into 2007, American firms hired about 5.5 million workers per month. This is now down to about 4 million a month. Quite simply, businesses have been very disciplined in their hiring practices. [Read Zuckerman: America's Fading Exceptionalism.]
We are nowhere near the old normal. Throughout this fragile recovery, over 90 percent of the growth in output has come from productivity gains. But typically at this stage of the cycle, labor has already taken over from productivity as the major contributor of growth. That is why we generally saw nonfarm payroll gains exceeding 300,000 per month with relative ease. This time we have recouped only 17 percent of the job losses 23 months after the recession began, as compared to 207 percent of the jobs lost from previous recessions (with the exception of 2001). There is no comfort either in two leading indicators of employment, with no growth in the workweek or in factory overtime.

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Michele Bachmann JUMP INTO THE FIRE Obama has 'shocking' lack of empathy for economic struggles

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In a switch, GOP's Michele Bachmann talks of empathy

By James Oliphant

June 16, 2011

 www.latimes.com
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In her first televised interview since declaring her presidential candidacy, Michele Bachmann accused President Obama of having a “shocking" lack of empathy toward Americans victimized by the struggling economy.

“I talk to people. I care about people,” the Minnesota Republican told Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity Wednesday evening. “The president has no understanding of what is happening in real people's lives.”

Coming off a debate performance in New Hampshire earlier this week for which was generally given high marks, Bachmann has edged her way into the  White House conversation. And because of her dual appeal to social and fiscal conservatives, her candidacy, especially in states such as Iowa and South Carolina, is being watched with growing interest.

Bachmann has been highlighting her experience both in the House, as a member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, and her work as a tax lawyer—perhaps as a means to counter the tendency for many political observers to view her as simply a less bombastic and more disciplined version of Sarah Palin.

But her decision to address Obama’s purported lack of empathy is notable—largely because Bachmann emerged into public notoriety as a vanguard of the slash-and-burn “tea party” movement, which largely took a mistrustful view of government in any context. Moreover, the term “empathy” is one that has long been derided by conservatives.

It’s a sign that she, along with Mitt Romney and her other rivals for the GOP nomination, view the economy, and especially the unemployment rate, as the incumbent’s biggest weakness, and that forging a connection with voters unhappy with the country's direction will be the key to victory.

Toward that end, it's just the beginning of what promises to be a concerted Republican effort to frame Obama in a manner similar to the way George H.W. Bush was brought down by Bill Clinton and Democrats in 1992.

In the interview, Bachmann also called the president “out of touch,” saying “he has no basis of understanding how to deal with the economy.”

Watch the interview here:
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Miss USA Attack: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

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'High Spirited' Rima Fakih in Trouble With Pageant, Forced to Talk to Former Wild Woman Tara Conner

By Hollie McKay

Published June 08, 2011

FoxNews.com

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Rima Fakih only has a week-and-a-half before surrendering her Miss USA tiara, but she's not going quietly.

FOX411’s Pop Tarts was alerted that the 25-year-old, who has been in both New York and Las Vegas for official duties with the 2011 contestants ahead of next Sunday’s Miss USA pageant, was suspected of having an all-night bender last week. Her attempts to “lie and cover up” the incident apparently prompted the Miss Universe Organization (MUO) to ask for security tapes to uncover the truth. 

The organization’s President Paula Shugart confirmed that Fakih’s recent behavior has been questionable, to say the least. 

“There was one night last week where she had some interviews the next day. First we thought she wasn’t at the apartment [which she shares in Manhattan with Miss Universe, who was out of town] and someone [from the publicity team] was trying to get her to the interview. She was sound asleep, and looked like she’d been out all night,” Shugart told us. “She made the interviews, but we did ask about the security tapes, as it is a serious business especially after Tara Conner.”

Indeed the reins have been seriously tightened on titleholders ever since Miss USA 2006 Tara Conner came under fire for alleged drug use, underage drinking and sexual indiscretions. 

“I want to make sure that the girls are reflective of society but we put a lot of steps in place so things like Tara don’t happen again," Shugart explained. "Their apartment is next to the office so it is hard for them to get out and do things without us knowing about them."

And sneaking out at night is a massive Miss USA no-no.

“We usually like to keep a handle on them. We have talent managers to keep track, and they are supposed tell us when they go out,” Shugart continued. “Rima is definitely a high spirited, fun person. If she went out that night it wouldn’t surprise us. But she will be crowning off her successor very soon maybe she went out to blow off some steam. I don’t know if I’ll ever know where she went, or when she got in.”

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Yet it’s not the first time Miss Fakih has been a cause for concern.

“Earlier in the reign she missed an interview when we were establishing the rules,” Shugart admitted. “That night she did have a night out and was caught. She has followed the rules ever since. Rima sent an apology out to everyone promising she will be on-time for the rest of her reign.”

According to our insider, the biggest concern over Fakih initially was what she potentially got up to during these unscheduled escapades, and whether it could bring embarrassment to the organization. But unlike the Conner case, Shugart said there is absolutely no evidence to indicate any type of substance abuse problems. Nonetheless, Fakih was still made talk to Conner, who was forced by pageant-owner Donald Trump to enter rehab during her 2006 reign as a condition for keeping her crown.

“Rima said [talking to Tara] was really helpful. Keep in mind, whoever wins goes to New York and their entire world is packed up and they live no expenses for a year. You meet a lot of famous people and you can get caught up in that,” Shugart said. “So I had Tara call her and give her some advice. Rima said it helped her learn you can’t fool all of us, and Tara said it makes it easier if she just tells the truth.”

From day one, Fakih has been raising red flags within the Miss Universe Organization. The Michigan native hit headlines immediately after her big win when photos emerged of her pole-dancing for a promotional event conducted by Detroit morning radio show "Mojo in the Morning." But after some investigation by MUO, it was determined that she didn’t breach any moral code of conduct, and thus she was not stripped of her sash.

“Rima has definitely been a headstrong title holder," Shugart said. “She’s high strung and I’m not going to deny she was definitely caught trying to stay out a lot later than she should have during her reign and didn’t tell the truth of her whereabouts. But she has been an incredible titleholder; she goes 100 percent on everything whether it be social or business. She definitely keeps you on your toes.”

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SCHOOL'S OUT - Music Video - ALICE COOPER

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School's Out is the fifth studio album by Alice Cooper, released in 1972. The album's title track has remained a staple song in Alice Cooper's live setlist and receives regular airplay on many "Classic Rock" radio stations.
The original album cover (designed by Craig Braun^[1]) had the sleeve opening in the manner of an old school desk. The vinyl record inside was wrapped in a pair of girl's panties. This original issue was recalled because the panties were not flame-retardant.^{[citation needed]} The album was remastered in 2009 for Audio Fidelity by Steve "Daddy Tonemeister" Hoffman in HDCD.
School's Out reached #2 on the U.S. Billboard album chart and #1 on the Canadian RPM 100 Top Albums Chart, holding the top position for four weeks.^[2] The single "School's Out" reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, #3 on the Canadian RPM Top Singles Chart^[3] and went all the way to #1 in the U.K.

Track listing

Side one

1. "School's Out" (Alice Cooper, Glen Buxton, Michael Bruce, Dennis Dunaway, Neal Smith) – 3:34
2. "Luney Tune" (Cooper, Dunaway) – 3:36
3. "Gutter Cat vs. the Jets" (Buxton, Dunaway, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim) – 4:39
4. "Street Fight" (Cooper, Buxton, Bruce, Dunaway, Smith) – 0:55
5. "Blue Turk" (Cooper, Bruce) – 5:29

Side two

1. "My Stars" (Cooper, Bob Ezrin) – 5:46
2. "Public Animal #9" (Cooper, Bruce) – 3:53
3. "Alma Mater" (Smith) – 3:39
4. "Grande Finale" (Cooper, Buxton, Bruce, Dunaway, Bob Ezrin, Smith, Mack David, Leonard Bernstein) – 4:36

Personnel

• Alice Cooper - vocals
• Glen Buxton - lead guitar
• Michael Bruce - rhythm guitar, keyboards
• Dennis Dunaway - bass guitar
• Neal Smith - drums
• Bob Ezrin - keyboards
• Dick Wagner - lead guitar on "My Stars"
• Rockin' Reggie Vincent - guitar, backing vocals

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Britney Spears Jumps On 2012 End Of The World Bandwagon - MUSIC VIDEO: Till The World Ends

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Lyrics of this song:
Britney Spears - Verse 1

This Kitten Got Your Tong Tied In Knots I See
Spit It Out Cuz Im Dying For Company
I Notice That You Got It
You Notice That I Want It
You Know That I Can Take It To The Next Level Ba-by!
If You Want This Good Bitch
Sicker Than The Remix
Baby Let Me Blow Your Mind Tonight

[Chorus]

I Can't Take It Take It Take No More
Never Felt Like Felt Like This Before
C’mon Get Me Get Me On The Floor
DJ What You What You Waitin' For...

WOAH OH OH OH OH OH WOAH OH OH OH...

[Verse 2]

Watch Me Move When I Loose When I Loose It Hard
Get You Off With The Touch Dancing In The Dark
You Notice What I'm Wearin'
I'm Noticin' You Starin'
You Know That I Can Take It To The Next Level Ba-by
Harder Than The A-list
Next One On My Hit List
Britney Spears Till The World Ends lyrics found on http://www.directlyrics.com/britney-spears-till-the-world-ends-lyrics.html

Baby Let Me Blow Your Mind Tonight!

[Chorus]

I Can't Take It Take It Take No More
Never Felt Like Felt Like This Before
C’mon Get Me Get Me On The Floor
DJ What You What You Waitin' For...

WOAH OH OH OH OH OH WOAH OH OH OH..

[Bridge]

See The Sunlight
We Ain't Stoppin’
Keep On Dancing Till The World Ends
If You Feel It Let It Happen
Keep On Dancing Till The World Ends
Keep On Dancing Till The World Ends
Keep On Dancing Till The World Ends

WOAH OH OH OH OH OH WOAH OH OH OH...

See The Sunlight
We Ain't Stoppin’
Keep On Dancing Till The World Ends
If You Feel It Let It Happen
Keep On Dancing Till The World Ends
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Recommended links:
http://HermannHearsay.blogspot.com/(Hermann Area News, Commentary & Discussion)