While U.S. employers added 162,000 new jobs in March, the first significant addition of jobs to the economy in three years, the unemployment rate held steady at 9.7%, an indication of how far the labor market must go to recoup the millions of jobs shed during this recession. While any added jobs are a positive, there still many negative trends buried in the data: 40,000 of the increase came in the form of temporary jobs; 48,000 more of those jobs are due to temporary Census hires; and there’s a long way to go to make up the estimated 8+ million jobs lost over the course of the recession. So is there reason to celebrate, at least a little, in a good March?
After a relatively peaceful period in relation to its restive southern Muslim provinces, Russia absorbed several terrorist blows this week, the most gruesome coming in the form of twin suicide bombings in the Moscow subway system that killed 39 people. A Chechen rebel group claimed responsibility for the Moscow bombings and another double suicide bombing in Dagestan that killed an additional 12 people, saying that the attacks were retribution for the killing of civilians by Russian troops operating in these predominantly Muslim areas. In the past the Russian government under Vladimir Putin has reacted with a hard, violent line, and both Prime Minister Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev are making similar promises of a “harsher” response this time around. But is there a taste among the Russian public for a more reasoned, diplomatic approach to working with Muslim elements inside Russia?
Can you feel it building? America’s favorite past time is about to begin another season and the anticipation is intoxicating. With expectations for the Dodgers and Angels set extremely high, anything short of a “Freeway Series” would be a disappointment. But with an impending divorce settlement, iffy off-season moves, and improving division rivals, anything can happen in 162 games. Patt talks to Charley Steiner about the upcoming campaign.
It started with patents for DNA tests designed to gauge women’s risk for developing breast and ovarian cancer—a genetics company held an exclusive license for these tests that enabled them to control the market and even force other scientists to halt research projects involving the breast cancer genes. This week a U.S. District judge ruled that the genetics company “discovered” the DNA sequences that make up the two genes, but did not “invent” them, therefore invalidating seven patents related to the breast cancer test. While the ruling will certainly not be the last word in the argument of patenting genes, it does complicate the effort of companies to turn profits off of genetic research—if DNA can’t be patented because it’s created by nature, how about patents for proteins, enzymes, bacteria and other biological materials that get turned into useful medicines?
Many people think that working from home is a dream. Inc. magazine transformed that dream into a reality when it decided to publish its entire April issue without going to the office. Aside from some minor technical issues and difficulties juggling home and work life, production went fine. Staffers simply planned conference calls and used tools like Skype and instant messaging to communicate. So how necessary is the office… that cubicle filled world? Could this be the beginning of the workplace revolution?
From the latest in the Akashic Noir series: “Orange County, California, brings to mind the endless summer of sand and surf, McMansion housing tracts, a conservative stronghold, tony shopping centers where pilates classes are run like boot camp and real-estate values are discussed at your weekly colonic, and ice-cream parlors on Main Street, U.S.A., exist side-by-side with pho shops and taquerias. Orange County Noir takes you for a hardboiled tour behind the Orange Curtain where a reclusive rock star has lived way too long in his own head, a crooked judge uses the court for illicit means, a cab driver prowls the streets with more than the ticking meter on his mind, where cultures clash, housewives want more than the perfect grout cleaner, and nobody is who they seem to be.”
Patt Morrison is known for its innovative discussions of local politics and culture, as well as its presentation of the effects of national and world news on Southern California.
