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California is now paying out about $80 million a day in unemployment insurance benefits and is on a pace to top $1.5 billion for the month of July, Employment Development Department officials report. That latest numbers show the severity of the current recession that pushed statewide unemployment to a record 11.5% in May. Unemployment in Orange County had a modern-day record of 8.6% in May. Unemployment benefits payments have jumped $500 million a month since January when the state paid out $1.1 billion in the wake of a 525,000 surge in new claims. In all of 2008, the state sent...

Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. (Isaiah 41:12,13)

8th century Islamic vase found THE ASAHI SHIMBUN 2009/7/6 NARA--Shards of an Islamic ceramic vase--the oldest uncovered in Japan--were excavated at the former site of Heijokyo palace, municipal researchers said. The 19 pieces of what is believed to be a vase more than 50 centimeters tall date back to the late eighth century, about 100 years earlier than Islamic ceramics found in Fukuoka Prefecture. The researchers believe the vase was used during maritime trade to carry spices from the Islamic world. Tatsuo Sasaki, a professor of archaeology at Kanazawa University, said the finding confirms that Nara was a terminus on...

Israel has decided to go ahead. Taking into account political, geopolitical, military preparedness, and climatic conditions, there are two windows: between July 21 and 24 and between August 6 and 8. Advance teams comprised of Mossad agents and military personnel are already on the ground in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Iraq. A mock has been erected not far from Eilat (near the Red Sea, opposite Aqaba). A defunct airbase in Biq'at Ha'Yareach (Moon Vale) has been resurrected to accommodate Air Wing 10. In a country as small and intimate as Israel, it is amazing that this has been kept a...

Signs with the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act logo are plastered at stimulus-funded construction project sites around America. The costs of these signs -- some of them reaching into the thousands of dollars -- are drawing sharp criticism from one member of Congress. "The folks who support the stimulus package, basically this administration, want to get out there and blow their own horn with taxpayers' money," said Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H. "I mean, they have a lot of campaign money. Why don't they use the campaign money?" The costs of the signs are adding up for some states. New York...

NEW YORK — The New York Times inadvertently published digitally manipulated photographs in the latest issue of its Sunday magazine, the newspaper said Thursday. In an editors note, the Times acknowledged that Edgar Martins, a 32-year-old freelance photographer based in Bedford, England, digitally altered the photos. The shots have been removed from the newspaper's Web site. Readers pointed out alterations to the photo essay, titled "Ruins of the Second Gilded Age," on the blogs MetaFilter and PDN Pulse. The photos showed run-down housing construction projects across the U.S. that had been hit by the recession. In an introduction to the...

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Right now, California is in the middle of its worst budget crisis ever. Its ridiculous tax and spend policies have brought the government to its knees...

China’s exports fell again in June, this time by 21% according to the Xinhua News Agency. The news means that goods and services being sent abroad by the world’s most populous nation are picking up only modestly since earlier this year. China’s central government is in a race that it looks more and more likely to lose. The country’s $585 billion stimulus package seems to be keeping consumer spending and lending at strong levels. That can only work for so long. Exports absolutely have to pick up for China to maintain its 7% GDP growth. Any sharp drop in that...

Here is conservative comedian Steven Crowder with a video preview of an in-depth look at Canadian Government Health that will come out next Monday, July 13. Crowder is originally from Canada, and will definitely bring an informed and hilarious perspective to the issue. For now, check out the preview! . . . (Watch Video)

The news from Italy is that the G8 leaders have decided to keep the Earth from warming 2 degrees Celsius. This is significant mainly because the Earth isn't warming up in the first place, and just what would this bunch of stuffed suits really do about it if it were? This is disturbing on so many levels - we had to discuss a few of them. In other delusional news, we also found out that the col More..lective good vibes from dashboard crystals are what are actually preventing the Earth from crashing into the sun, and that objects are held...

Possibly a very important policy change quietly emerged in the daily schedule of Vice President Joe Biden today. Loyal Ticket readers know that as a patriotic duty we monitor the long-time senator's schedule with a close eye for detail because, after all, this man is only a heartbeat away from having to give a toast at a G8 summit. We've especially noted Biden's innumerable "private meetings" that are closed to the press because, well, they're private. And we've wondered aloud how this Democratic VP's private meetings with unnamed people on unnamed subjects differs from the private meetings with unnamed people...

A new round of California worker furloughs takes effect today, causing most state offices to be closed. The furloughs are designed to reduce spending on state employee salaries. The office closures are expected to save more than $1 billion over the next year. The state has a $26-billion budget imbalance.

The general counsel for the National Education Association (NEA), America's largest teacher's union, complained last week of the "conservative and right-wing bastards" that are "after" the NEA. At the same meeting, the NEA rejected a proposal that would have ceased their abortion advocacy, and went on record in support of same-sex "marriage." "We are not paranoid, someone really is after us," said General Counsel Bob Chanin in an address to NEA affiliates on the occasion of his retirement. "Why are these conservative and right-wing bastards picking on NEA and its affiliates? I will tell you why: it is the price...

Voters have now witnessed 2.5 years of Democratic control over Congress and six months of total control in Washington, and they don't much like what they see. The Rasmussen survey now finds that likely voters trust Republicans more than Democrats on eight out of ten key issues, including a 46-41 margin on the economy and 52-36 on taxes. If these trends continue, we may see the beginning of a Republican comeback in 2010.

The letter signed by seven members of the House Intelligence Committee is at once blatant lobbying for an amendment that would expand Congressional access to classified intelligence and a potent example of its dangers. When the majority of Democrats on the most sensitive committee in Congress are disposed to leak a briefing in order to stigmatize the CIA, it is a harbinger of more dangerous leaks to come. Should the amendment pass, among those with access to state secrets are a congressman who went on a high-profile propaganda trip arranged by Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi Intelligence Service, a former federal judge...

Economists with fringe views of the tax system argue that all taxes are regressive. Tax a business and it will not hire more workers or distribute profits back to its owners. People without jobs and owners of businesses without income are not consumers. Tax a gallon of gas and people will drive fewer miles. Cars last longer. Detroit suffers additional economic insults. Tax ordinary income and taxpayers will not buy new homes and will put off expensive purchases such as appliances for as long as they can. A two hundred dollar replacement part can keep a Maytag washer/dryer working for...

That’s what Democrats are, irresponsible. Where are the jobs? The only thing that will really recover this economy is jobs. If you remember the Obama administration and a Democrat controlled Congress rushed through a $787billion dollar pork filled emergency stimulus package while everyone (except the Democrats) knew that spending money on Democrat pet projects and expanding government was not going to stimulate the economy. Democrats knew that the middle class needed jobs. Joe Biden even promised middle class jobs on the campaign trail.

John Calvin’s 500th birthday was on July 10. Who, you may ask, is John Calvin? And why should we care about someone born 500 years ago? While Martin Luther has was the man who started the Reformation, when he nailed his 99 theses to the door Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, Calvin became arguably the most influential of the Reformers. Calvin’s 16th Century influence not only rocked the status quo of the institutional church, but also gave rise to modern education and democracy. The first settlers arriving from on this continent were French Huguenots, Scottish Presbyterians, and English Puritans –...

More ammo for the Goldman conspiracy theorists...