A 'misclassification error' made the May unemployment rate look better than it is.

Source: Washington Post

When the U.S. government’s official jobs report for May came out on Friday, it included a note at the bottom saying there had been a major “error” indicating that the unemployment rate likely should be higher than the widely reported 13.3 percent rate.

The special note said that if this “misclassification error” had not occurred, the “overall unemployment rate would have been about 3 percentage points higher than reported,” meaning the unemployment rate would be about 16.3 percent for May.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics, the agency that puts out the monthly jobs reports, said it was working to fix the problem.

“BLS and the Census Bureau are investigating why this misclassification error continues to occur and are taking additional steps to address the issue,” said a note at the bottom of the Bureau of Labor Statistics report.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/06/05/may-2020-jobs-report-misclassification-error/

Obama should address the nation tonight...

He should ask for network and cable news time and talk to the nation as only he could. He should fill the leadership vacuum that our nation is experiencing now.

I'm not crying, you're crying...

FBI serves warrant on senator in investigation of stock sales linked to coronavirus

Source: L.A. Times

WASHINGTON —

Federal agents seized a cellphone belonging to a prominent Republican senator on Wednesday night as part of the Justice Department’s investigation into controversial stock trades he made as the coronavirus first struck the U.S., a law enforcement official said.

Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, turned over his phone to agents after they served a search warrant on the lawmaker at his residence in the Washington area, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a law enforcement action.

The seizure represents a significant escalation in the investigation into whether Burr violated a law preventing members of Congress from trading on insider information they have gleaned from their official work.

Burr sold a significant percentage of his stock portfolio in 33 different transactions on Feb. 13, just as his committee was receiving daily coronavirus briefings and a week before the stock market declined sharply. Much of the stock was invested in businesses that in subsequent weeks were hit hard by the plunging market.

Read more: https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-05-13/fbi-serves-warrant-on-senator-stock-investigation

Equipment pulled from Long Island, NY for project near Mar-a-Lago returns

A dredge transferred earlier this year from Long Island to a non-emergency project near President Donald Trump’s Florida resort has returned to the South Shore and resumed repairs on beaches damaged by superstorm Sandy in 2012, Sen. Chuck Schumer said Sunday

A second dredge that had been transferred to the project near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort will return to Long Island on Friday, Schumer (D-N.Y.) said during a news conference in Manhattan.

“We are glad the dredge is back,” the Senate minority leader said. “It never should have been diverted for a non-emergency project in the first place.”

The Army Corps of Engineers said its contractor, Weeks Marine, will complete work in Point O’ Woods and Ocean Bay Park on Fire Island, part of the Fire Island to Moriches Inlet Stabilization Project (FIMI), as scheduled by June 19.

https://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/long-island-dredge-trump-resort-florida-1.44534045

60 Minutes WOW!

Trump administration cuts funding for coronavirus researcher, jeopardizing possible COVID-19 cure

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-vaccine-politics-scientific-community-60-minutes-2020-05-10/

https://twitter.com/60Minutes/status/1259621162163855361?s=20

Sheriff's Deputy Charged After Leading Armed Mob to Home of Black Teen: DA

A white sheriff’s deputy in North Carolina is facing criminal charges after allegedly leading an armed mob to the home of a black teenager and trying to force their way inside as part of a botched vigilante mission.

New Hanover & Pender County District Attorney Ben David on Friday announced the charges against Jordan Kita, a New Hanover Sheriff’s Office detention officer accused of wearing his uniform while leading the group of people—one of whom was allegedly packing an AR-15—to confront a high school student at his home. Kita has since been fired from the sheriff's office.

The teenager, Dameon Shepard, was playing video games late one evening when the group of men arrived at his door, demanding to know the whereabouts of a 15-year-old girl named Lekayda Kempisty who had been reported missing. Three in the group were said to be armed, carrying a shotgun, a semi-automatic rifle, and a handgun. Kita wore his New Hanover County Sheriff’s deputy uniform and gun, though he had not come to Shepard’s house on official business.

The group said they were going to enter the house and question him, the Port City Daily reports. But in addition to having no legal authority to question or detain Shepard, they also had the wrong guy.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/sheriffs-deputy-charged-after-leading-armed-mob-to-home-of-black-teen-da-says?ref=home

Obama is pissed!

Lincoln Project Targeting GOP Senators

Why I'm skeptical about Reade's sexual assault claim against Biden: Ex-prosecutor

Michael J. Stern
Opinion columnist

During 28 years as a state and federal prosecutor, I prosecuted a lot of sexual assault cases. The vast majority came early in my career, when I was a young attorney at a prosecutor’s office outside Detroit.

A year ago, Tara Reade accused former Vice President Joe Biden of touching her shoulder and neck in a way that made her uncomfortable, when she worked for him as a staff assistant in 1993. Then last month, Reade told an interviewer that Biden stuck his hand under her skirt and forcibly penetrated her with his fingers. Biden denies the allegation.

When women make allegations of sexual assault, my default response is to believe them. But as the news media have investigated Reade’s allegations, I’ve become increasingly skeptical. Here are some of the reasons why:

►Delayed reporting … twice. Reade waited 27 years to publicly report her allegation that Biden sexually assaulted her. I understand that victims of sexual assault often do not come forward immediately because recounting the most violent and degrading experience of their lives, to a bunch of strangers, is the proverbial insult to injury. That so many women were willing to wait in my dreary government office, as I ran to the restroom to pull myself together after listening to their stories, is a testament to their fortitude.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/04/29/joe-biden-sexual-assault-allegation-tara-reade-column/3046962001/