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October 22, 2004

A Little Afternoon Cowbell

Too late to influence the election, but it's nice to know the economy is getting healthier.

WASHINGTON - The number of new people signing up for jobless benefits fell sharply last week, offering a dose of encouraging news that the recovery in the labor market may be strengthening a bit.
The Labor Department (news - web sites) reported Thursday that new filings for unemployment insurance declined by a seasonally adjusted 25,000 to 329,000 for the week ending Oct. 16. That marked the lowest level since early September. In the prior week, claims had climbed by 16,000.

The latest snapshot of the layoffs climate was better than economists were expecting. They were forecasting claims to total in the 345,000 range.

The more stable, four-week moving average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week fluctuations, decreased by 5,500 last week to 348,250, the best showing since late September.

Thanks to Mark.

And highlights from the Joint Economic Committee's latest report on state employment:

* Over the past year (since September 2003), the unemployment rate has fallen in 46 states. 36 states have unemployment rates at or below the national unemployment rate of 5.4 percent.
* Non-farm payroll employment has increased in 47 states over the past year. The largest over-the-year gains in employment occurred in Florida (+125,500), Texas (+123,700), California (+121,900), Virginia (+81,900), and New Jersey (+68,800).

* In 2004, 49 states have added new payroll jobs.

* Non-farm payroll employment increased in 33 states in September. The states with the largest payroll job gains during September were Kansas (+12,400), New Jersey (+12,000), Missouri (+10,400), Nevada (+6,700), and Texas (+6,500).

posted by Ace at 12:59 PM

Comments

Yes, but Florida and NJ were the only Swing states with significant employment gains. Perhaps because of the high numbers of very wealthy people there.

Not Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, NH, Maine.

Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy may have caused a local boost in states where most of the tax cuts went to - but not elsewhere. Wealth is not only concentrated in the few in America, but it is also geographically concentrated, curiously for Bush -in Democratic "Blue" bastions like CT, Massachusetts, LA, San Francisco, NYC, Seattle.

Posted by: Cedarford on October 22, 2004 02:31 PM

Considering the size of the NJ economy, I wonder if them being up there with CA in terms of jobs gain is creating some "street cred" for Bush.

Posted by: fat kid on October 22, 2004 02:35 PM

Why, it's not curious at all, Cedarford - it's long been understood that liberal states such as those you mention are full of rich, reactionary oligarchical hypocrites. And that's why they overwhelmingly support Kerry - he's one of them.

P.S. - Don't tell "the wealthy," but Bush must have diverted a fairly good chunk of "their" tax cut to solidly middle-class folks like me. And along with my wife and me, all of the contractors working on my house right now (and their solidly middle-class families) thank him.

Posted by: Rocketeer on October 22, 2004 02:37 PM

Perhaps because of the high numbers of very wealthy people there.

Numbers, not conjectures my friend. I need definitions for "high numbers of very wealthy people".

Posted by: fat kid on October 22, 2004 02:37 PM

Actually Maine has some very high income individuals, they dont call it "vacationland" for nothin. There are more vacation homes there than full-time residents or some stupid statistic like that. Of course we all know only super-poor people have second (and third) homes. But you know, I wouldn't want to by the fly in Cedarford's ointment. Heh.

Posted by: fat kid on October 22, 2004 02:41 PM

fat kid - Numbers, not conjectures my friend. I need definitions for "high numbers of very wealthy people".

Well, isn't it nice that you "need", fat kid!

If you look at US census maps, you will see wonderful geographical distinctions on concentration of wealth. Not much is shown in "flyover country". Most of the money Dubya borrowed from the Saudis and Chinese to fund his tax cuts went to Kerry Blue state well off folk.
Yeah, snicker...."IT'S THEIR MONEY"!! (So why did we borrow the funds to pay them from foreign countries?)

Rocketeer -

Paraphrasing..."Well, I'm not rich but I'm happy as a pig rolling in shit since Dubya's tax cuts let me buy a satellite dish for my double-wide!"

32.5% of the borrowed Chinese, Saudi, and French money went to the Richest 1%. 80% of the foreign loan money went to the top 10%.

Glad you are doing well on scraps.

Ever read Dickens?

Love that Porter family. Once they chased off the dogs, they dined well for years on the scraps thrown out of Lord Albrighton's manor. And, within their perspective, the Porters were quite happy with their lot. Stale bread, sour wine, and half-gnawed bones made a spendid stew.

Posted by: Cedarford on October 22, 2004 11:17 PM

Cedarford,

What's it like, going through life as a condescending little shit?

Ever read Thucydides?

Love those Athenians, talking to to Melians. "Right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must."

Enjoy four more years out of power, punk.

Posted by: Rocketeer on October 23, 2004 08:56 AM

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Top Headlines

VOTE JEFF CARTER FOR NV STATE TREASURER!
[CBD]

Mary Margaret Olohan
@MaryMargOlohan

NEW: Five FBI employees were fired today over the infamous Richmond Catholic memo on "radical traditionalist Catholics," FBI source confirms to @realDailyWire.

Oof. Reviewers do not like Scary Movie 6. The criticism I keep hearing is that the movie mistakes a reference for an actual joke. The movie (they say) keeps Key Jangling a reference to another movie (or some other pop culture ephemera) and you expect there to be a joke but nope, the Key Jangle was the joke. Other reviewers say that the promise that "no lines will be uncrossed" is a fake-out, and that the movie is bland and inoffensively corporate.

TJM introduces you to the movies of Alexander Mackendrick

Whoops! I posted about Dan Goldman losing the NY congressional primary. He might do that, but it won't be tonight -- the primary isn't held until June 23.

One race to keep an eye on: the Levi's heir nepo baby and egregious "Designated Liar" Dan Goldman -- one of the Democrats from a safe district Democrats send out to spread their most indefensible lies -- may actually lose his lower Manhattan/Brooklyn set due to, get this, antisemitism in the Democrat primary electorate.
Antisemitism? In the anti-Nazi Democrat Party? Sounds crazy, I know, but apparently the anti-Nazi Party wants to eliminate Jews.

Henry Rosoff
@HenryRosoff

🚨EXCLUSIVE POLL:

Brad Lander is 34-pts ahead of Congressman Dan Goldman with #NY10 Democratic Primary voters. @ZohranKMamdani is backing the former Comptroller.

@bradlander: 57%

@danielsgoldman: 23%

Poll by @PIX11News & @EmersonPolling.

MORE: http://pix11.com

Oh my Totenkopf Tattoo, that is a DRUBBING!
I'm usually very anti-antisemitism but if the Communist Antisemite Jihadists can pull this one off, Go Communist Antisemite Jihadists, Go!

Democrat Senator Rueben Gallego, who served his wife with divorce papers when she was nine months pregnant so that he could marry his side-piece, counsels us that we should not judge Graham Platner for his infidelity because these things are personal matters, Racists:

Sahil Kapur
@sahilkapur

Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., on Platner: "We know that Graham has lived not your typical political experience. He's been very clear and open with his wife, and they worked through whatever they worked through. At the end of the day, this man has had 60 more town halls than Susan Collins has. He's winning the polls, he's willing to accept that he has grown as a person, and I think we should accept that."

Gallego says the drip-drip of revelations won't harm Platner's campaign.

"I think you guys are all in a bubble here right now. The drip, drip that's actually happening is Americans are really, really hurt the fact that gas is still high, food is still high, they can't buy a home, you can't afford rent. They're not going to care about text messages and everything else like that that happened years ago, especially when it was worked out between spouses."

I like that he says that it's okay that Graham Platner sexted 12 different women within months of marrying the woman to sponge off her because he wasn't then "living a political life" -- the clear meaning being, "We all cheat, we just don't cheat when we're running for office, and he didn't know he was running for office when he was sending dicpics to half the women he ran into."
Except he was running: His own wife turned the sexts over to his campaign.
And obviously Reuben Gallego didn't let his "political life" get in the way of his extramarital dating life:

Podcast: CBD goes solo in a short segment...talking about Iran, the nativist issues surrounding Reform and Restore in the UK, and the delicious pain of an imploding Democrat Party, courtesy of Talerico and Platner!

TJM ranks all of John Ford's films. All of them. TJM is very tired.

Funny -- if you don't mind clicking on TikTok. "Amy.Pranks.22" set up an AI scam-call screener which replies to a foreign scammer trying to get her bank information with Trumpian bluster. This might be fake because I don't see how a program can respond in real time, but it's funny.

Food Thread Pizza Dough Recipe

The ULA rocket just launched
Thanks to Joyenz
The rocket's enormous engines are fueled by "the volcanic heterosexual lust between James Talarico and his Neighbor With a Uterus 'girlfriend'"
I hope Amazon's rocket works better than the Amazon Prime app does as far as allowing people to watch the black and white version of "Spider-Noir"

From the CA Post:

Spencer Pratt is now Karen Bass' biggest headache.

A bombshell California Post poll conducted with McLaughlin & Associates shows the reality TV star-turned-mayoral candidate has surged to a statistical tie with the incumbent mayor.

And voters blame homelessness, affordability and the direction of Los Angeles as the reason for turning on Bass.

Pratt now leads the field with 30.1% support, compared with 29.5% for Bass, setting up a razor-thin race heading into next week's primary.

Socialist councilwoman Nithya Raman sits in third place at 23.4%.

Thanks to beckster

Just like "Spartacus" Corey Booker, now that James Talarico is running for a higher office, he unveils his previously-unknown "girlfriend" and hooboy, it just so happens she used to work for him, and, get this, likes to "dance the night away" at gay bars
Gee I wonder where they might have met
Oh and she's a vegan
When Corey Booker needed a "girlfriend," he conjured up known LGBTQ activist Rosario Dawson. How convenient that when these guys need a girlfriend to show off to the normies that just happen to find an activist with a strong history of and interest in Supporting Gay Men
But seriously, this James Talarico romance with a Neighbor with a Uterus is a love story for the ages. The passion of their lovemaking is hotter than a blue star with a core of Primordial Sex Atoms created in the Big Bang

"Journalists" are all drunks, criminals, sex-pests, and liars, exhibit #25,239,331

And just like that, #PunchANazi became Punch a Ballot for a Nazi

Was the "transatlantic accent" favored by stage and screen actors of the 40s and 50s "fake"? This linguist says no, it was a real accent

"Teen" charged with five counts of attempted murder after attempting to run down police officers with his car in yet another "teen takeover" permitted by woke racist incompetent Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson
Johnson's response to the "teen takeovers" of streets and businesses that he refuses to make arrests to stop is to go after social media companies for not deleting messages to coordinate the "teen takeovers." Um, they're supposed to find these messages and delete them in real time?
It makes no sense but he has to offer an "alternative" plan to just arresting lawbreakers -- which he absolutely refuses to do, saying we "can't arrest our way out" of rampant crime.

The Babylon Bee's crack AI team uses AI crack to simulate the first woman president

TJM explores the world of John Ford movies.