Job Report Stronger

Friday, the New York Times published the latest job report as being, "...The strongest jobs report since the recession began two years ago, the nation’s employers all but stopped shedding jobs in November, the government reported on Friday, and they appeared to be on the verge of finally rebuilding the work force."

But who knows if this surge is the result of the Holiday Hire?

The Wall Street Journal also reported the news: Employers shed only 11,000 net jobs while the unemployment rate fell from 10.2 percent to 10.0 percent.

According to the times, the surge was sudden news to even the most optimistic forecasters for the economy. Additionally the paper noted that "The Obama administration was quick to take credit for the improvement, asserting that the $787 billion stimulus package had thus far either saved or created a total of 1.6 million jobs."

The Wall Street Journal proved more cautious, writing, "However, this turnaround may proceed at a much slower pace than previous recoveries. Job losses in this downturn are the result of a sharp drop in private-sector job creation. Reduced private-sector investment--rather than an increase in layoffs--is the primary engine driving higher unemployment. Yet the Obama Administration has done little to address this problem, focusing instead on increasing government spending rather than encouraging entrepreneurial activity. In a telling example of the White House's approach toward employment, yesterday's job summit excluded groups that represent job creators like the Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Businesses."

The Journal continued to note that the increase could simply be due to the fact that many individuals are simply giving up. Leaving the workforce, and pausing in their searches. Though the majority of those leaving the workforce were teenagers, with 62,000, still, about 70,000 men age 20 and over left the labor force, but 35,000 women of the same age entered the labor force.

The journal concluded, "Since teenagers are far more likely to be unemployed, this helped reduce the unemployment rate. It is likely that the unemployment rate will climb once potential workers reenter the labor force."

Oprah announces the end of her talkshow

On Thursday, the New York Times and media outlets across the country reported network mogul Oprah Winfrey will end her talk show, Oprah, in 2011 to reportedly try her had at a cable station of her own.

CNN also confirmed the report on Thursday, noting, "Winfrey's show has often been that national voice. When she covered the topic of mad cow disease, the nation's dairy farmers watched sales plummet; when she selected James Frey as an author to watch and later admonished him, the nation went right along with her."

The network will be named after her, Oprah Winfrey Network, or OWN.

According to the times, the show will end with the completion of Oprah's 25th season on air, but the talk show will likely move to her new network.

The times also reported, "In a statement, CBS Television Distribution said, '“We have the greatest respect for Oprah and wish her nothing but the best in her future endeavors. We know that anything she turns her hand to will be a great success. We look forward to working with her for the next several years, and hopefully afterwards as well.”'

Both pieces went on to venerate the "passion" and "invigoration" of Oprah's work within the United States and elsewhere, mentioning her success and philanthropic spirit.

New Law prevents misuse of genetic information

Sunday, the New York Times reported a new law was the most important anti-discrimination law in the last two decades. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act will go into effect next week.

According to the TImes the law will be, "prohibiting employers from requesting genetic testing or considering someone’s genetic background in hiring, firing or promotions."

But perhaps of higher interest during these heated times of health care debate is another piece: "The act also prohibits health insurers and group plans from requiring such testing or using genetic information — like a family history of heart disease — to deny coverage or set premiums or deductibles."

Reuters also reported on the new GINA law.

According to the news outlet, Former President Bush signed GINA into law in May 2008.

Under GINA, companies are prohibited from using genetic information in employment decisions, and from intentionally acquiring genetic information. When in possession of genetic information, employers must adhere to strict requirements and store the data in separate health-related files.

Nina Slattery, division manager of GovDocs, spoke with Reuters. "With each generation, labor law evolves to meet new challenges, in this case,innovations in science and health care. When it comes to hiring practices, guidelines for dismissal, or terms and conditions of employment, employers and the workforce now have a clear direction on their rights and responsibilities."

Difficulty in prosecution for Jessop trial

Tuesday, the New York TImes reported the difficulties in the trial of an alleged statutory rapist from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

The TImes reported, "A year and a half after the state authorities raided a fundamentalist Mormon ranch here, the first of a half-dozen leaders of the sect has gone on trial on charges that he had sex with an under-age girl who state officials assert was one of several wives assigned to him by church elders."

The problem is that the case fundamentally lies on the evidence of DNA samples from both the girl and Jessop, rather than testimony of the actual girl involved in the case.

The Associated Press reported Wednesday the case rests on allegations that the girl, now 21, was married to Jessop at age 15 and gave birth at 16. "Church records that defense attorneys are fighting to keep out of the trial indicate the girl had previously been married to Jessop's brother before being reassigned to Jessop, who authorities allege has nine wives."

Forensic expert Amy Smuts had testified Monday that the probability of Jessop being the father of the alleged victim's daughter was 99.999998 percent.

The case is also using documents from the countless that were seized when the state raided the Yearning for Zion Ranch--the home of the group in El Dorado, Texas--last year.

According to the Times Jessop faces at least 20 years in prison if he is convicted.

Search for individuals missing in crash turns to recovery effort in San Diego

Sunday the New York TImes reported that a search for military victims of a coast guard crash has now turned into a recovery mission for both pieces of the craft and for the individuals missing.

According to the AFP, the nine missing airmen crashed mid-air; the collision happened Thursday between a Marine Corps helicopter and a coast guard plane and ended in fiery heat.

""We no longer believe there is any chance anybody could be alive. We are moving into a salvage, recovery and investigative phase," said Coast Guard Rear Admiral Joseph Castillo for the AFP Sunday. "The wreckage of the C-130 and the Cobra helicopter were found on Saturday, but no signs of crash victims. A Pentagon spokesman on Friday said it was "likely" the missing airmen had all perished," reported the AFP.

The names of the victims were released Saturday. According to the Times they are: The Coast Guard plane’s commander, Lt. Cmdr. Che Barnes, 35, is from Capay, Calif., and his co-pilot, Lt. Adam Bryant, 28, is from Crewe, Va. Also on the plane were Chief Petty Officer John Seidman, 43, of Carmichael, Calif., a flight engineer; Petty Officer Second Class Carl P. Grigonis, 35, of Mayfield Heights, Ohio, a navigator; Petty Officer Second Class Monica L. Beacham, 29, of Decaturville, Tenn., a radio operator; Petty Officer Second Class Jason S. Moletzsky, 26, of Norristown, Pa; and Petty Officer Third Class Danny R. Kreder II, 22, of Elm Mott, Tex.

The crew members aboard the Marine helicopter were Maj. Samuel Leigh, 35, of Belgrade, Me., and First Lt. Thomas Claiborne, 26, of Douglas, Colo.

Los Angeles approves $1.13 billion for airport rennovations

Despite the current downfall in airport traffic, the New York Times reported Monday that an airport panel had voted to approve $1.13 billion in funding to rennovate the Los Angeles International Airport.

The L.A. Times posted a concurrent piece stating that, "By early next year, travelers can expect to see construction on two new concourses and gates to accommodate the next generation of large commercial airliners."

The L.A. Times also reported the board approved $140 million in contingency funds for the project and approved the sale of more than $1.6 billion in revenue bonds to pay for construction and to refinance existing debt.

The board is calling the approval a huge step forward.

The New York Times reported city officials are backing the decision by awarding several contracts for the overhaul, and also reported, "The project — which will be financed with bonds, not federal stimulus money — will be the first significant renovation of the airport’s international terminal in more than 25 years."

Most major airlines went through renovations in the 1990s or early 2000s. The intention for the Los Angeles airport is to modernize many of the airport's facilities that haven't been upgraded since the city's preparation to host the 1984 Olympics.

According to the L.A. Times, "The so-called Bradley West project also calls for nine new gates that will handle the latest in large commercial airliners, such the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the giant Airbus A380, which can be configured to carry more than 800 passengers."

The city council is reportedly on board for the project, but the projects will be voted on within the next week.

Colorado spacecraft a hoax

Sunday, the New York Times reported the decision of a Colorado father to release a spaceship-like helium balloon into the air and notify the authorities that his son was aboard was made two weeks before the event actuated.

“These people wanted to get some national attention, with the ultimate hope that they would end up with some form of a TV deal,” said the Larimer County undersheriff, Ernie Hudson, the Times reported.

Search warrants have been carried out on the house of Richard Heene, the boy's father, and authorities plan to press charges that include, "three felonies: conspiracy to commit a crime, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and attempt to influence a public servant. The last carries a possible prison term of six years. The charges could also include a misdemeanor, filing a false report."

The Minneapolis Star Tribune also published the story. The associated press story reported speculation about the hoax theory arose immediately after the boy was discovered hiding in the rafters of the family's garage.

The 6-year-old boy, Falcon, reportedly spoke on television about the family "doing this for a show," and subsequently got sick on two television interviews thereafter.

It has been reported that his father had pitched a reality television show to TLC, and been turned down.

According to the New York times, the parents met while enrolled at an acting school in Los Angeles. Mr. Heene had long held dual interests in scientific tinkering and television: in 2001 he produced an instructional video about turning cardboard boxes into forts for children.

"Star Wars" in concert staged across country

Features in both the Mercury News and CNN.com have noted the success of the newly staged live performance of John Williams' famed Star Wars Score, and George Lucas' approval of the show.

CNN focused on an interview with Lucas by David Daniel in which Lucas replied the stage show wasn't his idea. However, he is reportedly pleased with the results.

The show is built around the series' famed scores from the films, performed by a symphony orchestra and choir, and accompanied by specially edited clips from all six movies, displayed on a mammoth LED screen. In his interview with CNN, Lucas reports that while he's seen other live versions of the shows, the touring show is much more. "It's so much more emotional," said Lucas, "because what they've done is taken the emotional content of the score ... one is obviously the Imperial March, one is obviously romantic ... and then they've cut all the pictures around that from all the movies, so that you get this really wide range of visuals going with the music, and it really is quite powerful when you see the depictions of all of the various Imperial shenanigans that were going on over the Imperial March."

According to Mercury, the show also features a traveling exhibit of costumes, props, artifacts, production artwork and behind-the-scenes videos from the Lucasfilm archives. The items include Williams' original handwritten score for "Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace."

Andrew Daniels, the original actor who played droid C-3PO in all the series films, is the narrator of the show. He told Mercury News that the difficulty was not so much culminating the show, night after night, but tearing down and moving to the next city.

The aim is to illustrate how essential an effective musical score is to a film's success, and Daniels reported just how intricate Williams' score has been.

"I saw quite a chunk of the original movie without music" while doing voice-overs for the first film in 1976, Daniels says. "It really opened my eyes to how absolutely essential music can be to a movie."

The tour began Oct. 9 in Sacramento, CA and concludes in Nashville, TN Dec. 13, 2009.

E.Coli outbreaks rising in the last years.

Saturday the New York Times released an investigative piece on the rise in outbreaks of the E.Coli virus, uncovering lapses in the safety and testing of the ground beef industry.

The story focused specifically on 22-year-old Stephanie Smith, a native of Cold Spring, Minn. who was stricken by the E.Coli two years ago after eating a hamburger distributed by Cargill and cooked by her mother. She was left paralyzed from the waist down and suffered brain damage after several seizures and nine weeks in a medically induced coma.

Once a children's dance instructor, doctors don't expect her to walk again.

The times used Smith's story to couch a further investigation of the meat industry's E.Coli testing and practices. Though Cargill refused to answer questions and released a statement concerning their desire for safe food, the paper was able to interview Costco representatives who explained the extensive testing procedures Costco ensures for their ground beef.

The trouble, reported the Times, is that ground beef is not one cut of meat, it is a combination of many kinds of meat ground together. Because the meat is combined, it is easier to infect large quantities of meat with meat that carries even small amounts of the bacteria. Confidential records from Cargill reported that though Smith's burger was toted as 100% Angus beef, its actual contents came from a mix of slaughterhouse trimmings and a mash-like product derived from scraps that were ground together at a plant in Wisconsin. The ingredients came from slaughterhouses in Nebraska, Texas and Uruguay, and from a South Dakota company that processes fatty trimmings and treats them with ammonia to kill bacteria.

The company also keeps its processes and ingredients very secretly.

In concurrence with the Times piece, the United Press International released a piece Sunday discussing a boost in the bacteria's activity. According to professors at the University of Illinois, they have reached a better way to study the bacteria and its affects using lasers and optical traps to track the way the bacteria behaves.

Because these laser can confine specific cells to track, it is then easier to introduce specific stimuli and track the way in which the cell responds.

Though most outbreaks of E. Coli are not as severe as Smith's, thousands of individuals are stricken with the affects of the bacteria each year through food borne illness.

Clinically insane killer escapes guards on field trip.

The New York Times reported a legally insane killer escaped at a field trip to a county fair on Thursday in Spokanne, Wash.
According to CNN.com, the fugitive, Phillip Paul remained on the loose on Saturday. He is believed to be traveling in the direction of family in Sunnyside, Wash.
Citizens are urged to call 911 with information.
According to the Times report, many--including the fugitive's brother, and Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire--are questioning why a state hospital would allow a clinically unstable person to attend a public fair. As a consequence, Eastern State Hospital, is undergoing an internal investigation at the demand of the Secretary of Health and Social Services of the state.
CNN has posted a photograph of Paul and reports that the fugitive may have planned his escape. He took most of his clothing with him in a backpack when he left his room for the fair.
The inmates were monitored by staff in a ratio of 33 to 11.
Paul is a paranoid-schizophrenic with symptoms so severe, CNN reported, he has disturbed even professionals in the medical field.
"He's the only paranoid schizophrenic -- I've seen hundreds, maybe thousands of them -- that frightened me," Dr. Frank Hardy, a licensed psychiatrist, said in one of the documents, according to KREM. "The first time I took one look at him -- and I've never done this before or since -- I asked the jailer to remain in the room while I examined him. (CNN).