The labor market recession is deepening and continues to threaten economic growth. Eight months of job losses were paired this month with an increase in the unemployment rate to its highest level in five years. This year’s job losses follow a very weak labor market that has left families woefully and inadequately prepared for the current crisis. Employment growth has been the weakest since the Great Depression, wages have been flat, and benefits have been declining since this business cycle started in March 2001.

At the same time, prices have risen for many items. This combination of higher prices and less income has driven families deeper into debt. As the labor market slump heightens, more and more families are succumbing to the pressures, declaring bankruptcy, and defaulting on their loans. Yet easing the burden on families will not be easy, since massive trade deficits are draining our national resources and budget deficits due to tax cuts for the rich are posing obstacles to real solutions for America’s families.

CAP Economic Snapshot for September 2008 - OH FUCK

Rick Davis, campaign manager for John McCain's presidential bid, insisted that the presidential race will be decided more over personalities than issues during an interview with Post editors this morning.

"This election is not about issues," said Davis. "This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates."

Its Marketing!

ANCHORAGE, Sept. 8 -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a "per diem" allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business. nullnull

Palin Billed State for Nights Spent at Home - washingtonpost.com

Gov. Sarah Palin’s church is promoting a conference that promises to convert gays into heterosexuals through the power of prayer.

“You’ll be encouraged by the power of God’s love and His desire to transform the lives of those impacted by homosexuality,” according to the insert in the bulletin of the Wasilla Bible Church, where Palin has worshipped for about six years.

Palin's church: You can pray away the gay

WASILLA -- Back in 1996, when she first became mayor, Sarah Palin asked the city librarian if she would be all right with censoring library books should she be asked to do so.

According to news coverage at the time, the librarian said she would definitely not be all right with it. A few months later, the librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, got a letter from Palin telling her she was going to be fired. The censorship issue was not mentioned as a reason for the firing. The letter just said the new mayor felt Emmons didn't fully support her and had to go.

Palin pressured Wasilla librarian about banning books

The Daily Show has a segment with video clips of Dick Morris, Karl Rove, Bill O'Reilly, and others complaining about the media's unfair treatment of Sarah Palin, along with earlier video clips of these folks dishing out the same garbage about other women, including Hillary Clinton.

Gold Star.

Daily Show on Republican hypocrisy - Boing Boing

A Photoshopped picture of Sarah Palin has been doing the rounds for the past few days; it shows her in a stars and stripes bikini toting a rifle - patriotism, hunting and cheesecake all combined in one image. Two minutes of Googling reveals that the rifle has been identified by gun nuts in Republican chatrooms as a Crossman pump pellet gun. Soft porn for rednecks. Expect to see it pinned to the wall in every gas station in Texas and tacked to the dashboard of every long-haul truck. But this cartoon-like depiction of her smothers what we need to understand about why Palin appeals to American voters and why American elections have been so deadlocked for the past decade, as if there were two Americas, doomed to lived on the same landmass under the same government, like hopelessly incompatible spouses.

Linda Grant on the two opposing sides of America | Comment is free | The Guardian

ABOUT SARAH PALIN I am a resident of Wasilla, Alaska. I have known Sarah since 1992. Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are on a first-name basis. Our children have attended the same schools. Her father was my child's favorite substitute teacher. I also am on a first name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I attended more City Council meetings during her administration than about 99% of the residents of the city.

...

Her experience is as mayor of a city with a population of about 5,000
(at the time), and less than 2 years as governor of a state with about
670,000 residents.

Lots more about Sarah Palin.

Sarah Palin - Note from Anne Kilkenny

What do you guys think? There are so many questions: Did McCain even know the woman he picked to run the Free World in case of an emergency? Isn't Sarah Palin so brave for standing by her daughter? Will this boost or bust McCain's standing with independents?

We have a different question: HOW HOT IS THE BABY DADDY? Eighteen-year-old Levi Johnston is a hockey star and high-school classmate of Bristol Palin. They'd been dating a while, and now with the whole pregnancy thing are planning on getting married. Look at that face. John McCain is definitely winning the cougar vote now, on top of the Jamie-Lynn Spears vote.

What 17 year old wouldn't let that guy knock them up? Twice?

We’re Sorry, But Palin Baby Daddy Levi Johnston Is Sex on Skates

AMSTERDAM, 30/08/08 - The Dutch AIVD secret service has had an ultra-secret operation underway in Iran in recent years. This has been halted in connection with plans for a US attack on Iran, newspaper De Telegraaf reported Friday.

The "ultra-secret operation" had as its aim infiltration and sabotage of the weapons industry in the Islamic republic. "The operation, described as extremely successful, was halted recently in connection with plans for an impending US air attack on Iraq. Along with this, targets would also be bombed which were connected with the Dutch espionage action," writes the Netherlands' biggest newspaper.

"One of the agents involved, who was able to infiltrate the Iranian industry under the supervision of the AIVD, was recently recalled because the US was thought to be making a decision within weeks to attack Iran with unmanned aircraft. Among the potential targets were said to be not only nuclear plants, but also military installations that have been brought to light partly by the agency of the AIVD," according to the newspaper.

"Information from the AIVD operation has in recent years been shared with the American CIA secret service," the paper continued. "Various supplies could also be sabotaged and stopped. These were parts for missiles and launching equipment."

The article was written by Joost de Haas, known for his good contacts in the intelligence world. Earlier, he got hold of an AIVD report which suggested that corrupt powers within Dutch police corps supplied weapons to criminals to liquidate other criminals.

Bush attacks Iran to rig the election?

Dutch news - 'Dutch Spy Recalled from Iran on US Attack Plan'