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In a sharp improvement, the largest U.S. metropolitan areas were evenly split in July between those where unemployment rates rose from June and those where rates fell. In June, by contrast, 90 percent of the 380 metro areas had seen their jobless rates rise from the previous month. Much of the improvement was due to seasonal factors. They include the hiring of farm workers in many agricultural states and lower unemployment in college towns after a jump at the start of summer.

It failed to respond to a demand to begin restoring democracy to the island nation. The 53-nation group had demanded that the South Pacific island nation meet conditions – such as resuming a dialogue with opposition groups and holding early elections – by midnight local time, or face suspension. Commodore Frank Bainimarama, Fiji's self-appointed prime minister The Commonwealth said Fiji responded to the request by the deadline, but it did not meet all of the group's requirements. Fiji has been under military rule since the self-appointed prime minister, Frank Bainimarama, the country's armed forces chief, seized power in a 2006...

Sorry for the vanity, but thought you's like to know Dr. Price (R) of Georgia's 6th district held a town hall meeting tonight at Roswell High School. The auditorium(~500) was packed and and over flow of another 400 was situated in the school's cafeteria. It was standing room only. The crowd was orderly but angry. There were no counter demonstrations. Had there been any Obamabots I think the wrinklies who attended would have ripped them a new one.

September 2, 2009 Details emerge of Phillip Garrido's violent history Chris Ayres in Los Angeles Phillip Garrido, the religious zealot who allegedly kidnapped an 11-year-old girl and imprisoned her in his back garden for almost two decades, had previously attempted to gouge out his first wife’s eyeballs with a safety pin, it was claimed last night. The attack on his wife is one of many new details to emerge about Mr Garrido, known as “Creepy Phil” to his neighbours, raising more questions about why the serial rapist, church founder, business card printer and former LSD dealer had not been brought...

Believe it or not, sometimes good news on the economy can be bad news for stocks. It's a distant point, but one worth considering in view of conservative pessimism over President Obama's plans to spend, tax, borrow, and control the economy. I share these worries. But the U.S. is still a free-market economy, and it will be so at least until the health care and energy sectors are nationalized. And free-market economies are resilient and self-correcting. While so-called spending-and-deficit stimulus may be an economic depressant, Friedmanite monetary stimulus — which has been substantial — is gradually exerting a powerful impact...

Last night I received an email from Alderman Manny Flores' (1st Ward) office stating his intention to move forward with a new ordinance to create and provide more oversight and transparency for all expenses, contracts, and potential conflicts relating from Chicago's bid to host the Olympics and by extension the Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (OCOG).

As some of the most prominent Republican women across the country gather next week in Orlando, arguably the most well-known of them will not be in attendance. Despite an invitation to speak at the conference, Sarah Palin, former vice presidential candidate, and until recently Alaska governor, decided not come to the National Federation of Republican Women's 35th Convention, according to the organization. An estimated 1,200 Republican women leaders will attend the three day conference, and some of those are want Palin to reconsider. "It is disappointing," says Barbara Davis, who heads the Melbourne, Fla. chapter." We were hoping that she...

The federal Department of Education has released a script for pre-K through 6th grade teachers to use in conjunction with Barack Obama's "historic" nationwide speech to elementary school students on September 8. The script instructs teachers to use the following questions with the students after the speech: What do you think the President wants us to do? Does the speech make you want to do anything? Are we able to do what President Obama is asking of us? What would you like to tell the President? This whole line of reasoning and questioning is backwards. It may have become lost...

Fishy looking albino otter savours his breakfast in the Scottish sun By JONATHAN BROCKLEBANK 02nd September 2009 The first time she spotted him, Karen Jack didn't have enough time to fish out her camera before he slipped off into the sea. But then, very obligingly, the rare albino otter came back and stayed for lunch. Miss Jack managed to take this snap and a few others while the creature enjoyed his morning meal on the rocky coastline of Moray in north-east Scotland. [Pic in URL] A rare albino otter enjoys a fish meal in a photo snapped in Moray by...

As the Health Care Reform Town Hall meetings and Tea Parties heat up and the August Congressional summer session winds down, conservatives finally have a play book to help them gain traction on the slippery slope to socialism that they feel this country appears to be heading. “Rules for Conservative Radicals,” written by Michael Patrick Leahy (www.michaelpatrickleahy.com) takes the Alinsky viewpoints expressed in “Rules for Radicals,” and puts a moral, ethical, conservative spin on them.

The debate over medical care has commanded most of the public's attention this summer, but another important domestic policy issue is quietly taking shape — new energy taxes.When lawmakers return to Washington, the Senate will take up legislation that would impose $31.5 billion in new taxes on America's energy producers. These taxes will harm every aspect of our domestic energy industry, from producers to refiners and every supporting business in between. They will not only cost American jobs. They will also raise global carbon emissions and reduce U.S. energy independence — in opposition to stated goals of the administration. Here's...

At the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's annual economic symposium, held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on August 21, 2009, Ben Bernanke expressed satisfaction with the action that his administration undertook to save the financial system. According to Bernanke, History is full of examples in which the policy responses to financial crises have been slow and inadequate, often resulting ultimately in greater economic damage and increased fiscal costs. In this episode, by contrast, policymakers in the United States and around the globe responded with speed and force to arrest a rapidly deteriorating and dangerous situation. Furthermore, argues Bernanke, Without these...

President Obama is ramping up his one-sided pressure on Israel in his quest to achieve a middle-east peace plan that will be detrimental to the Jewish State. The Palestinian-leaning POTUS' latest threat is that if Netanyahu doesn't cave on the settlement issue, Obama will not be his friend.... "Netanyahu’s at a pivotal moment,” said a senior U.S. official. “Depending on what he decides, he could wind up with a very strong relationship with President Obama and potentially become a historic figure in Israel."

It would seem like more than two girls could bear: The man they called "daddy" turns out to be a registered sex offender thrown in jail, and now they've been told the woman they thought was their big sister is really their mother. This is what Angel, 11, and Starlit, 15, have faced since the arrest last week of Phillip Garrido, charged with the 1991 abduction of Jaycee Dugard, now 29. "They thought Jaycee was their sister," Dugard's stepfather, Carl Probyn, tells PEOPLE. "People have to realize this will take years of therapy." Still, there have been encouraging signs the...

So long, John Philip Sousa. Hello, Kenny G. That was the short-lived message House leadership sent to lawmakers over the break, as the "on-hold" music that so many constituents hear when they call their congressman was switched from patriotic tunes to smooth jazz standards -- or, as one lawmaker complained, "elevator music." The switch was quickly reversed, though, following complaints and controversy. A spokesman for House Chief Administrative Officer Daniel Beard, who reports to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said Tuesday that after a three-week trial period constituents will once again hear patriotic favorites while on hold. "The music was changed...

If they are printing the cash like they are, why aren't we seeing inflation now?

The other day President Obama issued a special message to the Muslim world for the annual Ramadan holiday. Tonight, before leaving Wednesday for the rest of his stay-cation at Camp David, the president hosts a White House banquet to celebrate the same holiday. Invited guests include three cabinet secretaries, numerous diplomats, five members of Congress including the lone Muslim, Keith Ellison of Minnesota, and chief of the Palestine Liberation Organization mission. Here is the list of invited guests, as provided by the White House: Cabinet: Defense Secy. Robert Gates, Atty. Gen. Eric Holder and Kathleen Sebelius, Secy. of Health and...

Commerce: Toyota last week quietly announced it will shutter its famed NUMMI plant in Fremont, Calif. This should be taken as a warning: The facility had all the features of the green economy the White House wants.The White House likes some businesses better than others. In particular, it has pushed a battery of policies designed to favor the "right" sort of businesses. First, they should be green. They should be locally sourced. They should be high-tech and use trendy consultants. They should be organic. They should do lots of volunteering and "service" to the community. Above all, they should use...

FRAMINGHAM — A police dog lost the trail of an armed robbery suspect Friday night because police said it was drawn to the scent of stolen raw meat stuffed in a homeless man's pants. Edward J. Brown, 48, was arrested at 10:23 p.m. after he admitted he had just stolen the meat from Super Stop & Shop, police spokesman Lt. Paul Shastany said. Police were investigating an armed robbery at the Framingham Shell station at 480 Franklin St. and had called in a scent-tracking dog from the state police. A witness said they saw the masked robber running south on...

ABC News' Sunlen Miller Reports: On the first day of National Preparedness Month, President Obama cautioned that people “not be alarmed” but be prepared” for the second wave of the H1N1 virus this fall and gave a brief update on the administration’s efforts. “We know that we usually get a second, larger wave of these flu viruses in the fall, and so response plans have been put in place across all levels of government,” Mr. Obama said from the Rose Garden this afternoon, “Our plans and decisions are based on the best scientific information available, and as the situation changes,...