It’s just a blip, things will be like before any day now.

Last month, Oregon’s jobless rate was 12.4 percent, second highest in the nation. Washington saw its rate climb to 9.4 percent, which mirrors the U.S. average. Employment trends in the metro area mirror statewide trends in Oregon and Washington.

In the 12 months through May, construction employment in the Portland-Vancouver metro region has declined by 10,800 jobs, the professional and business services sector is down 11,900 and manufacturing has given up 11,700 jobs, according to the Oregon employment agency. Manufacturing has been particularly hard hit, with losses in primary metal, down 300 jobs, and machinery manufacturing, off 200.

What we should do is lower interest rates about five points, that’ll work.

Huh? Why can’t we have negative interest rates, you some kind of fancy pants professor or something? If we paid people to borrow money to buy things they can’t afford, what could possibly go wrong? We’ll just recast the terms. Er, um, I’ll get back to you on the exact terminology, I don’t want to appear derivative.

Don’t you understand that neo-liberalism requires a steadfast, hands-off government approach that involves The Greenspanian suppression of interest rates at artificially low levels? What could be more hands off than Fed-created negative interest rates?

We also need a steadfast, hands-off attack on unionization, the root of all evil, and a steadfast, hands-off set of trade deals that steadfastly prevents any other governments from being nice to communists unions. And if anyone wants to see a doctor, that little issue must steadfastly be obfuscated (in a hands-off sort of way) in order to keep people healthy because WE’RE NUMBER ONE! WE’RE NUMBER ONE! USA! USA! JON AND KATE! JON AND KATE!

Here’s a sobering graph:

“Unemployment won’t peak until this time next year, and then it will remain very high through next year,” Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Economy.com, told the Post. “It won’t get back to full employment until 2013 or 2014. This really speaks to the severity of the job losses that have been absorbed by the economy. They were massive.”

So we’ve hollowed out our manufacturing sector even more, our financial sector is a basket case and the cost of higher education is skyrocketing. But if people would just buy more houses and cheap plastic crap to put in their houses it would all be over!

Jobs continue to be the biggest single concern for regular folks, but not for the jet-setting Wall Street thieves who ruined the economy in the first place. In their world nothing has really changed all that much. Forty years of dogma is hard to shake. Trust the invisible hand, my friends, even if it’s reaching into your pocket.

Here’s the case of an actual small business owner (as opposed to the apocryphal small business owners so frequently cited by large corporate interests) who supports the public option on health care and is speaking out.

Taylor, part-owner of TNT Software, will be a featured speaker at a major health care reform rally June 25 near the Capitol Mall. Sponsored by Health Care for America Now, a coalition of a thousand groups representing small businesses, health care providers, community organizers and labor unions, the rally will advocate for a government-run “public option” modeled on Medicare as part of national health care reform.

“Our message is that we need to support President Obama’s plan for a public health insurance option,” Taylor said last week. “Our feeling is that a public option should be available to every person in the U.S. As small business owners, that will give us another option, rather than having to rely on a single health care option.”

Funny, once you get outside the Chamber-AMA-right-wing-noise-machine nexus people actually like the public option. I’ve been wondering when more business folks would make the argument that health care must be dealt with in some practical fashion, this is great.

Cue the slime machine in three…two…one.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKUZuv6_bus[/youtube]

My understanding is that Persian culture reveres poetry. If this doesn’t cause a lump to form in your throat, maybe nothing will.

(Props to HuffPo.)

UPDATE 10:16 AM Sat. June 20–There are disheartening accounts from the BBC and elsewhere of protesters being shot and beaten. On an intellectual level I understand why Barack Obama needed to play things close to the vest.

On an emotional level it’s beyond appalling what is happening in Iran.

OC Weekly has a fascinating look at one Dr. Orly Taitz, the “queen bee” of the anti-Obama “birthers.”

The problem is most of the above facts aren’t true.

For starters, the Pakistan “travel ban” is a complete fabrication based on zero evidence and completely contradicted by State Department records and a 1981 New York Times article. The full transcript from Obama’s grandmother shows that she never said he was born in Kenya—in fact, she repeatedly said he was born in Hawaii. The law allowing foreign-born children to obtain Hawaiian COLBs didn’t exist until 20 years after Obama was born, while Obama’s published COLB says his birth information was recorded four days after his birth in 1961. And those “forensic experts” who say Obama’s document is phony? There have only been three of them: Two haven’t published their real names or any verifiable credentials (one went by the moniker “TechDude”), and the other merely said that she can’t make a determination of a document’s authenticity based solely on a JPEG.

Oy. It’s all so pathetic, it’s both hilarious and very sad.

(Props to Eschaton.)

From TPM:

So what are some of the biggest names of the Republican Party up to, now that the GOP is itself in the dumps? Well, some of them are hitting the circuit as motivational speakers.

Colin Powell, Rudy Giuliani and Steve Forbes have joined up with the “Get Motivated!” seminars run by Peter and Tamara Lowe, and are traveling the country to speak to business groups.

And get this — according to TPM, it would have cost over $2,000 to see Rudy two years ago, but now you can see him for $4.95 (or send your entire office for $19.)

I once knew someone who was sent to a motivational speaker type thing as an office punishment. You’d have to do something pretty bad I guess.

What I don’t understand is what people are being motivated to do. Sell out their principles for expediency? Oh, wait, now I get it.

Can’t actually abide liberals.

One of the rarest commodities in the establishment media is someone who was a vehement critic of George Bush and who now, applying their principles consistently, has become a regular critic of Barack Obama — i.e., someone who criticizes Obama from what is perceived as “the Left” rather than for being a Terrorist-Loving Socialist Muslim. It just got a lot rarer, as The Washington Post — at least according to Politico’s Patrick Gavin — just fired WashingtonPost.com columnist, long-time Bush critic and Obama watchdog (i.e., a real journalist) Dan Froomkin.

Personally I blame Craigslist and non-objective bloggers. Luckily there are so many liberal voices in today’s national media.

In addition to his Rupert Murdoch perch at Fox, Krauthammer remains as a regular columnist at the Post, alongside fellow right-wing Obama haters such as Bill Kristol, George Will, Jim Hoagland, Michael Gerson and Robert Kagan — as well as a whole bevy of typical, banal establishment spokespeople who are highly supportive of whatever the permanent Washington establishment favors (David Ignatius, Fred Hiatt, Ruth Marcus, David Broder, Richard Cohen, Howie Kurtz, etc. etc.). And that’s to say nothing of the regular Op-Ed appearances by typical Krauthammer-mimicking neoconservative voices such as John Bolton, Joe Lieberman, and Douglas Feith — and the Post Editorial Page itself.

What we really need more of now is establishment Washington ideas, that will be wonderful. Maybe then we could have some Goldman Sachs alums fix the economy and some big pharma and AMA folks could pitch in with health care reform.

Meanwhile we can keep the rabble distracted with immigration, abortion and guns.

They fall for it every time.

So Rick Steves’ decision last year to go to Iran and try to get a sense of the place looks pretty smart now, huh? He caught a lot of flak at the time from some quarters.

What I appreciate about Steves is his robust intellectual honesty and curiosity. He didn’t pretend to be doing anything but what he does, which is to see the world and tell folks how to get around in it. Certainly, he acknowledged the conditions imposed on him and didn’t stray all that far into politics, but he didn’t pretend to know stuff he didn’t.

Then he learned stuff about Iran.

I say good on him.

Via Alternet comes this:

First, from an American media perspective, here was another great moment for folks to demand what they wanted to see covered on national news media. What a moment of media dissonance: As protests erupted — and in some cases, turned violent — in the streets of Tehran and elsewhere in Iran, major broadcast media in the U.S. had little to no news on the events at all. By using the hashtag1 #CNNfail to collect all of the dissatisfaction on Twitter, Americans were able to shift the focus of the conversation and eventually influence CNN’s decision makers to start covering stories by Sunday.

Okay, I’ll admit I haven’t really seen the point of Twitter until now. Those crazy kids and their desire to change things, both here and in Iran!

Good on them.

UPDATE from Geov (9:12 AM)

Translations from: http://twitter.com/alirezasha

“I just talked to my cousin in Azadi Sq., there are more than three million people there.”

Azadi Square is a famous main square in Tehran, a city of about ten million people. Make no mistake — these protests are a serious threat to the regime.

As someone who grew up in Kansas (and we got the heck out of there as soon as we had the means to do so,) I would just like to say I’m sorry that some Kansans are so messed up and they’re really not all like this.

The protesters targeted Mount Zion Baptist Church in Seattle during the worship service, shouting and waving placards saying “You’re Going to Hell” and “God Hates Fags.”

Jonathan Phelps, one of the protest ringleaders, said Mount Zion and other churches are spreading lies.

“They’ve preached that lie from hell that God loves everybody – that you can live like the devil and have any hope of heaven at all,” Phelps said.

The Phelps clan is a real piece of work, that’s for sure. I realize it’s easy to dismiss “flyover country” but there are lots of good folks back in the Midwest who have to battle the crazy folk while still managing to deal with business. The fellow who taught us high school biology, for example, wound up as a leading force fighting the Discovery Institute’s attempts to impose their ideology on Kansas high school students.

Once up on a time Kansas was almost progressive, but it’s kind of gone to hell now politically, despite the gains by Democrats under Kathleen Sebelius.

It’s too bad because when Kansans aren’t buying into Discovery Institute creationism, they tend to have an admirable emphasis on education and child welfare. Think “Minnesota nice” with a southern Plains flair, all but obscured now on the national scene by hate and craziness.

I’m certainly no expert on Iran, but it is kind of striking that if you want to find out anything about what is going on you have to seek sources other than U.S. based news outlets. This is obviously a very serious situation that impacts not only our foreign policy but thousands of immigrants from Iran now in the U.S. And there’s nothing on the cable tee-vee because it’s the weekend.

So much for the oft-repeated axiom that “at least television covers breaking news well.”

Anyhow, you can check out this BBC story if you wish.

The BBC’s John Simpson saw secret policemen being attacked and chased away by protesters, which he says is extremely rare.

Some of the protesters in Tehran wore Mr Mousavi’s campaign colour of green and chanted “Down with the dictator”, news agencies report.

Four police motorbikes were set on fire near the interior ministry, where votes had been counted, our correspondent says.

Yes, it’s a fluid situation and this doesn’t mean there is necessarily a revolution in the offing. But three decades after the “Islamic Revolution,” a hotly contested election and apparent public outrage over the results might warrant some satellite time.

Well, you would expect coverage if there are any American correspondents anywhere in position, which I don’t imagine there are. Your liberal media in inaction. I’m not saying they should risk their lives, but you’d expect some live coverage from somewhere in the region, maybe send Rick Santelli to the UAE or something.

TPM links to a KOMO story at the P-I web site concerning the arrest of an Everett woman accused in a double homicide in Arizona. Turns out she’s described as a leader of the “Minutemen American Defense.” From KOMO via the P-I:

An outspoken anti-immigration activist from Everett has been arrested in Arizona in connection to a deadly home invasion robbery.

Shawna Forde, the executive director of the Minutemen American Defense, is one of three accused in the shooting deaths of 29-year-old Raul Flores and his daughter, 9-year-old Brisenia Flores, at their home in Arivaca, Ariz., a town 10 miles north of the Mexican border.

Two others – 34-year-old Jason Bush and 42-year-old Albert Gaxiola – were arrested. All three have been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, one count of first-degree burglary and one count of aggravated assault.

According to the Pima County Sheriff’s Office, two men and a woman posing as police officers forced their way into the Flores ‘ home in the middle of the night on May 30.

It is not known exactly what transpired next, but Raul Flores and his daughter were shot and killed. The girl’s mother was wounded and is recovering in a local hospital, deputies said.

The Everett Herald ran a piece about Forde in February after she made allegations that Mexican drug cartel figures were somehow connected to the shooting of her ex-husband, but it’s fair to say the article casts serious doubt on that contention. There’s also some interesting um, other stuff. From the Everett Herald on Feb. 22, 2009:

Exactly what Forde does on the border is unclear. She reports being interviewed about immigration issues by dozens of journalists; a handful of articles appear to have been published.

Her Web site features shaky videos, often focusing on the garbage left in the desert by people sneaking into the country. On one film clip, Forde claims to have found a place in the desert where human smugglers regularly rape women. On another, she suggests border agents have found bodies of drug smugglers whom she claims were duped by terrorists into carrying radioactive materials into the U.S., hidden inside loads of marijuana.

On the video, Forde says the smugglers’ bodies can’t be touched because “the radiation is so heavy (it) will kill you on contact.”

Forde is circumspect when questioned about how her group works with law enforcement agencies. In the interview at The Herald, she described presenting what she called “after-action reports” to a man she declined to identify, except to say he is a former employee of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Very sad. Obviously law abiding groups that want to change immigration laws cannot be held accountable for what appear to the heinous actions of a lunatic, but it’s also clear that the lunatics are acting out with increased frequency right now.

What’s also sad is that there are no easy answers. The First Amendment gives us all very broad freedoms, especially when it comes to political speech, meaning that all citizens need to evaluate the credibility of those who speak and the types of persons with whom they associate. Who would imagine that people who run around in the desert playing army would have mental issues?

The responsible thing to do right now is decry violence. The killings of a doctor, military recruiters, a museum guard and a nine year old child are reprehensible examples of deranged losers using politics as a cover for their inability to function in the world, and reasonable Americans are sickened by the current outbreak of violence.

Geez.

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) compared President Obama’s actions in the auto bailouts to Vladimir Putin. “They said, ‘Set aside the rule of law, let’s strip secured creditors, bondholders, of their rights. Take them away outside of the bankruptcy process and give them to the political cronies and the auto workers’ unions,'” said Cantor. “It’s almost like looking at Putin’s Russia,” he added. “You want to reward your political friends at the expense of the certainty of law?”

It must be rough being one of the richest people in Congress.

Cantor’s net worth comes largely from dozens of investments in mutual funds and individual stocks. Cantor’s wife draws salaries from a New York bank and the Virginia College Savings Plan, as well as director fees from Media General Inc. and Domino’s Pizza.

But Cantor’s net worth has suffered along with other members who invest in the stock market. For example, Cantor invested between $1,000 and $15,000 in General Motors on June 4, 2008, when the stock was trading at $17.01. On Wednesday, General Motors stock closed at $1.45.

This is Republican logic for you: “we ruined the economy, and even though we’re still rich we’re not as rich as we used to be, therefore Obama is a socialist.”

Up is down, etc.

The New York Times reports on a CDC study concerning the most common sources of food poisoning.

Poultry was the most commonly identified source of food poisoning in the United States in 2006, followed by leafy vegetables and fruits and nuts, according to a report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It sounds like serious efforts are underway to improve things:

A bill that would substantially reform the food safety program at the Food and Drug Administration edged a step closer to a vote on Wednesday during a markup session at the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health. A companion measure is being considered in the Senate. Margaret A. Hamburg, the F.D.A. commissioner, said last week that she supported the legislation, although she had asked for some changes.

After the nightmare of the Bush administration, it’s about time government got back to performing basic public health and safety functions with renewed vigor. We shouldn’t even need to be doing this one-hundred years or so after Upton Sinclair published The Jungle, but that’s what neo-liberalism wrought.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5-mX1OLdOs[/youtube]

I’ll just watch the river flow.

The bidness guys ‘n gals are truly excited about potentially reducing health care costs that affect their bottom line. Well, not really.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said it will spend $100 million in an effort to stem the “rapidly growing influence of government over private-sector activity,” in a major new move by the powerful business group to counter the Obama administration’s regulatory agenda.

Because regulation would lead to horrible things like rationing, high overhead costs and bureaucracy, none of which exist in the current system. Most private insurance plans are simple, comprehensive and cover pre-existing conditions and specialist visits with little or no hassle.

Obama could come up with a proposal that costs them each one cent per year, drops manna from the skies and gives them eternal youth and three hour and fifty nine minute erections, and they would still hate him because manna represents “socialism.”

Tribes must stick together, no matter the little kiddies with teeth rotting out and old folks losing their houses after illnesses. Neo-liberalism may be dead as a doornail, but until the very serious people who destroyed the economy actually understand what has happened, which will be never, moving forward will be a slow slog.

You wouldn’t want to wind up with a crazy-quilt, nonsensical insurance system that places arbitrary hurdles in front of people, that would be terrible.