Sunday Open Thread [10.7.12]

A rainy Sunday -- one where you might curl up with the papers and coffee. Except that this morning's NJ has a "Special Report" called Are You Better Off? Have you read it? I did -- pretty much word for word and what a mess this is. Starting with the conceit that the financial problems started in January 2009 and largely undermined by that throughout the pieces, I'm pretty sure I didn't learn anything. And don't get me started on the piece that picked two "right-leaning" economists and two "left-leaning" economists that largely left the "right-leaning" ones alot of cover behind a political start date, rather than the start date of the recession. But hey -- maybe I missed something.

Saturday Open Thread [10.6.12]

Welcome to Saturday! Today I want to bring your attention to a new Bill Moyers interview with Mike Lofgren, the ex-GOP staffer who wrote the incendiary Goodbye to All That: Reflections of a GOP Operative Who Left the Cult . Mr. Lofgren has written a book extending on his thoughts on the extremism of his old party (and the dysfunction of Democrats) called The Party is Over: How Republicans Went Crazy, Democrats Became Useless, and the Middle Class Got Shafted.

Friday Open Thread [10.5.12]

The James Bond Edition. Today is the 50th Anniversary of the film creation of Royal Navy Commander James Bond, CMG, RNVR, spy icon by Sir Ian Fleming. Dr. No was the first movie, starring the always amazing Sean Connery and establishing a formula for (mostly) fascinating movies that have been watched and obsessed over for a half of a century. Yes, these movies (especially the older ones) are sexist, politically incorrect, but I'm a fan anyway. Happy Anniversary, Mr. Bond! Hope you all will join me in having a martini (vodka -- shaken, not stirred) in Bond's honor today.

Here We Go Again

Expect more of this:
Someone vandalized an Obama campaign building in Des Moines by spray painting the words “Muslim Lier” on a large banner, police said. The word “liar” was misspelled on the sign, officers said.
Sigh. And we know it's only going to get worse from the functional illiterate group.  Everybody... buckle up.

Unemployment Drops Below 8%

Good News! The U.S. economy added 114,000 jobs in September, with the unemployment rate falling from 8.1% to 7.8%, according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics.