Tuesday Miscellany!

• Corporate profits are up; stocks are up; but employment is still lagging badly. Are we in a post-employment economy? And how do job sites like Monster make the problem worse?


• This PPP poll of Virginians' attitudes on gun control tell me that Virginia is shifting from a purple state to a blue state.


• It's election day in New Jersey, Virginia, and Washington. Easy calls: center-right buffoons McAuliffe (D) and Christie (R) will win their respective races for Governor, and the Democrats will keep control of the New Jersey General Assembly. Moderately hard calls: Washington initiative 522 will fail, Democrats will keep the New Jersey Senate, and Democrats will pick up just enough seats in the Virginia House of Delegates to break the Republicans' filibuster-proof majority.


• The CIA forced doctors to torture prisoners as part of the "War on Terror."


• India just launched a spacecraft to Mars. This makes me irrationally happy.


• I know I wasn't the only Bears fan who was delighted to find out that Aaron Rogers will be out for three weeks, all but guaranteeing that the Bears will dominate the NFC North this year. Of course, that just gets them into the playoffs. Winning once you get there? Different story!

Why I donate to the Red Cross instead of the Salvation Army | Donate here http://rdcrss.org/N5tB2 |

I admit that, when I was a kid, I would put the occasional quarter in the Salvation Army bucket. You'll never see me give them a penny as an adult.

It's not just their tacit homophobia. It's also that they refused to help a friend of SC's because said friend "looked too goth."

On the other hand, I saw first hand the work the Red Cross does towards disaster relief, when they helped Katrina survivors relocate to Portland and elsewhere. That's why they get my holiday charitable donation money, and have since 2005.

You can donate to the American Red Cross here.