Here are NewWork News stories from previous month

The U. S. economy seems to be hemorrhaging jobs (Thursday, 7/3/08)
The United States lost 62,000 jobs in June, nearly a half-million in a year. Peter Goodman says that the "cycle of job loss" is likely to last into next year.

In related news, America's largest airline expects as many as 6,000 more job cuts, as it attempts to stay in business in spite of sky-high fuel costs.

Is the world worrying about the credit crunch? (Thursday, 7/3/08)
Yes, but not nearly as much as about inflation, according to Secretary Paulson. It's the biggest economy worry throughout the world, he says. Mark Landler seems to agree. He is in Frankfurt where he says that the European Central Bank has decided to raise a key interest rate.

Labor organization supports the scrapping of beef import agreement (Thursday, 7/3/08)
South Korea has Asia's fourth largest economy, but some experts are saying that a labor organization's decision to strike against American beef could threaten the nation's long-term economic performance.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: The U.S. Conference of Mayors: Online Publications (Thursday, 7/3/08)
The American political landscape may be nearing something resembling an "inflection point," as engineers understand that term. In fact, Morley Winograd and Michael Hais, in their important new book, Millennial Makeover, indicate that America is about to go through one of the "political realignments" that have occurred every several decades since the 1828 election. The huge cohort born between 1982 and 2003, along with their effective use of MySpace and YouTube, already have begun to turn nearly everything upside down.

Following several years of partisan polarization, with its dependence on caricatures and stereotypes, something certainly seems to be happening now that a large proportion of Americans surveyed indicate that they are "independents," rather than identifying with either major party.

At the same time, the Great Mentioner has been talking about the possibility that Republican Senator Chuck Hagel could become Democratic Senator Barack Obama's running mate in the next presidential election. Moreover, former Bush II Secretary of State Colin Powell has been discussed as a possible running mate with either Republican John McCain or Democrat Barack Obama. Even Bill Gates has been mentioned as a possible running mate with John McCain, even though he seems to have been more aligned with the Democratic party over the years. What on Earth is going on? Maybe Americans simply have become more realistic and their political leaders are simply reflecting this growing realism.

For instance, both Democratic and Republican mayors seem to face many of the same problems, and ideology or snide remarks about each other don't help much. The U. S. Conference of Mayors brings leaders together and encourages the notion that they have more in common than might be inferred from their various party affiliations. In fact, they've made more than 50 papers available on the Internet. Here are the U.S. Conference of Mayors' Online Publications.

Here's some of the latest grim economic news (Wednesday, 7/2/08)
Burton Frierson writes from New York about U. S. jobs and housing, and it isn't a pretty picture.

Energy experts scratch their heads (Wednesday, 7/2/08)
Approximately a decade ago, it was dot-com stocks, more recently houses, now oil? Is it a bubble? Crude oil prices have been heading for the stratosphere, and the reasons appear to be numerous. The weak U. S. dollar is playing a role. Increased energy demand from ravenous economies such as China and India seem important. Speculators seem to be contributing their share.

However, it's all very confusing, even to Nobuko Tanaka and Chakib Khelil, heads of the International Energy Agency and OPEC, respectively. Here's more from George Jahn in Madrid.

Factory order increase fails to impress (Wednesday, 7/2/08)
Factory orders in the United States increased by a meager 0.6 percent last month, according to the Commerce Department.

Is bankruptcy on the horizon for what was once the world's largest automaker? (Wednesday, 7/2/08)
It's not impossible, says Merrill Lynch. General Motors will need to raise up to $15 billion in cash SOON. Other U. S. automakers face similar problems, according to analysts.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Revitalizing Arts Education Through Community-Wide Coordination (Wednesday, 7/2/08)
President John F. Kennedy once remarked that the arts have more to do with our ends than our means. They have tremendous capacity for humanizing society and inhumane situations.

Economic pressures encourage people to think of education mostly in terms of jobs or career preparation, but, in the long-run, education for living and education for democracy may be even more important than education for work because of what they can do to sustain society as a place people will want to live and where individuals will not be forced to pretend that they are more alike than they really are.

The famed RAND Corporation has been looking into public-private partnerships as a way of restoring arts education in public school districts. Here is RAND's report, Revitalizing Arts Education Through Community-Wide Coordination.

Slooooooow, but not in recession (Tuesday, 7/1/08)
Ros Krasny says that economic reports indicate that the American economy is still growing, but ever so slightly.

Inflation takes the fun out of an expanding manufacturing sector (Tuesday, 7/1/08)
The weak American dollar has helped manufacturing expand a bit in June, but the "fly in the ointment" has been inflation. Here's more from Burton Frierson in New York. Meanwhile, construction spending declined for the 11th time in a year.

Wal-Mart loses class-action case in Minnesota (Tuesday, 7/1/08)
A judge has ruled that Wal-Mart is guilty of violating Minnesota labor laws. The company is planning an appeal.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Tips for Homeowners on the Brink (Tuesday, 7/1/08)
If you're in danger of having to move from your house to the curb out front, here are some tips for homeowners on the brink.

Incidentally, technically speaking, Americans who are facing the prospect of foreclosure really aren't "homeowners." If they were, nobody would be able to foreclose on them. Most people who live in houses pay for them over a period of decades. During the intervening time, a bank or some other lender really is the "homeowner."

Here are NewWork News stories from previous months