On Gay Marriage

"Gays are the only people who actually still want to get married"--
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach on Larry King Live

It is simply breathtaking how unenlightened most of the U.S. remains on social issues eight years into the new millenium. Here is Rabbi Boteach's take on gay marriage.

"...What I will say is that religion in America has made homosexuality into a false bogeyman, which has seriously distracted religion from giving real values to an increasingly valueless society. Is this really what religious values in America has come to, opposition to gay marriage?"

"What do you think would do more to save heterosexual marriage in America? Making sure gays can't get hitched, or changing the tax code so that marital counseling among heterosexual couples becomes tax-deductible so that couples can actually afford the help they need? What should religion be devoting its energy to? Opposing gay marriage in California, or supporting an effective national campaign for school vouchers so that parents can afford to send their children to schools that teach religious values like male respect for women and the sanctity of a loving relationship?"

Read the full article in the Huffington Post here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-shmuley-boteach
/gays-as-the-new-religious_b_144339.html?page=2

Real Unemployment Rate Soars to 11.8%

As Alan Abelson points out in this week's issue of Barron's, 240,000 payroll slots went up in smoke in October, and that total would have been higher by 71,000 were it not for these mythical jobs that were "created" via the infamous birth/death model.

Abelson also notes that--

"The category that gives you a better feel for the way things really are out there on the the job front is dubbed U-6 and includes marginally attached workers, part-timers who can't find a full-time job and the officially unemployed. In October, that measure reached 11.8%, the highest since 1994, when it was designed, compared with 7.9% a year ago."

MrKen is ever so thankful that he's retired!

To read this week's Barron's magazine for free follow this link:
http://online.barrons.com/public/main