The latest White House claim insists that unemployment dropped to a three year low of 8.3 percent — the lowest it has been in nearly three years. This is according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But not so fast; a rowing number of financial experts around the country are reporting that the figures have likely been manipulated using a creative accounting method that significantly decreased the number of Americans in the workforce. According to them, the actual unemployment rate is closer to 9 percent rather than the 8.3% reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

It’s a relatively easy, clever ruse; the unemployment rate is determined by simply dividing the number of unemployed job-seekers by the total number in the labor force. By reducing the number of workers in the overall workforce, the administration can easily show actual unemployment dropping, but in reality the improvement has been questionable for months.

As a growing number of people drop out of the workforce because of a multitude of reasons, the BLS conveniently labels the unemployed person a “discouraged worker.”
Interestingly, the BLS immediately categorizes them as “marginally attached to the workforce,” whereby they or no longer considered to be part of the nation’s working population. Dumping them from the employment rolls ensures the unemployment rate will move lower thereby skewing the unemployment numbers during the past year.
This would account for the unprecedented record number of persons currently unemployed, estimated to be nearly 1.5 million.

The bottom line here is the job market remains bleak, and those searching for work continue an uphill battle due to the shrinking number of actual employers. Those that are hiring are doing so guardedly and are writing employment contracts for specified durations of time similar to the way people invest in CDs. Anyone who believes the unemployment bubble has reached maximum capacity and is actually declining had better take a peek beneath the surface to see the actual reality of the ongoing situation.

What’s your comfort zone for the price of dinner? How does $10,000 a  plate sound to you? How about the time of day you prefer to go to dinner, does rush hour seem ideal?

If you happened to be in Albuquerque, NM yesterday afternoon you too could have been stranded in rush hour traffic that was backed up on the Interstate highways for 10 miles from the airport to downtown. No, it wasn’t a horrendous traffic accident that caused the inconvenience, it was Vice President Biden’s motorcade making its way through the heart of downtown Albuquerque at the height of rush hour in route to dinner, a $10,000 per plate fund raiser.

It’s so reassuring to know that the “Einstein of Washington” was willing to log a few miles on his vice presidential jet at taxpayer expense and concurrently screw up the lives of a few thousand workers who simply wanted to get home to their families after a long work day. And yes, I realize it’s amazing that this many people actually have jobs. But seriously, who would pay ten grand to hear Biden speak during dinner? Wouldn’t that actually detract from the quality of the meal. Then again, I suppose you could think of it as an outrageously expensive dinner at a comedy club…

The use of GPS devices for tracking people and things is on the brink to becoming routine.
We’re teetering on the verge of a revolution that will allow us to locate and track every person and physical object regardless of where its located on the planet. This new technology can be used for both positive and negative initiatives, depending upon whose using it and their personal objectives.

For example, a positive use would be locating a lost hiker, finding a stolen vehicle, and the possibilities are virtually limitless.
Unfortunately, this opens the door for potential abuse and use for unscrupulous actions.

The reality that Big Brother will have the capability for tracking even the clothing you’re wearing is a direct flashback from “1984.”
Fortunately, the Supreme Court made a recent ruling limiting the police use of GPS tracking devices thereby precluding, at least to the time being, yet another encroachment on our personal freedom by the current administration. Given the fact that we’re now living in a time of radical encroachment on personal freedom, the feds aren’t likely to shelve their intent to spy on everything and everyone they choose. In effect, we’re moving toward a surveillance society. If the wrong Supreme Court justice is appointed, we, the people, will become nothing more than we, the spied upon.

Interestingly, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is prepared to approve operations for an arsenal of small helicopter spy drones for use by local police in a number of cities around the country. The manufacturer, AeroVironment Inc. has another device being specifically designed and built for law enforcement agencies. This miniature sized helicopter weighs a mere 5.5 pounds and fits easily into a police patrol vehicle. The estimated cost will be at least $40,000. This company is developing bird-sized spy drones that will, within a couple of years, be produced that are no larger than a common house fly.

Finally, and you may find this one hard to believe but you can check it out for confirmation, there’s “talking underwear” in the research and development stage thanks to a team of snoop-a-phoebes working in the Pentagon. I don’t even like my talkative, interactive GPS device that sits on my dashboard and helps me become reoriented toward home at times. So the last thing I need or want is a life of living in Snoopville for my remaining days.

Yeah, you’d better prepare to loosen your grip on personal freedom because if the feds have it their way, not a single person or thing on the planet will be off limits for snooping and surveillance technology. I doubt the Founding Fathers would be real cozy with this one, and you shouldn’t either. Smile and say something clever, you never know when someone from Washington might be watching and listening to the way you’re handling your Constitutionally guaranteed personal freedom…