Category: Good Mood

US economy added a whopping 254,000 jobs last month

Good news for Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party.

President Joe Biden touted the better-than-expected jobs data in a post on X Friday morning.

“Great news for American workers and families: Today, we learned our economy gained over 250,000 new jobs in September and unemployment is back down at 4.1%. With today’s report, we’ve created 16 million jobs, unemployment remains low, and wages are growing faster than prices.”

Fed Chair Powell: “There’s really nothing that I can point to in the economy that suggests that a downturn is more likely than it is at any time.” 

The September jobs report also showed an uptick in wage growth, with average hourly earnings growing by 0.4% for the month. That brings the annual rate up to 4% from 3.9% seen in August, according to Friday’s report.

Today in History: August 14, FDR signs Social Security Act

On Aug. 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law, ensuring income for elderly Americans and creating a federal unemployment insurance program. 

The Social Security Act was the most important domestic legislation signed into law by FDR.

As of February 2024, approximately 67 million people, or about 1 in 5 US residents, received Social Security benefits. This includes retirees and their families, as well as people who receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or are young survivors of deceased workers.

Yankee Doodle Dandy

James Cagney as George M. Cohan performing “The Yankee Doodle Boy” 

Yankee Doodle Boy

Verse 1 I’m the kid that’s all the candy, I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy, I’m glad I am, So’s Uncle Sam.I’m a real live Yankee Doodle, Made my name and fame and boodle, Just like Mister Doodle did, by riding on a pony. I love to listen to the Dixie strain, I long to see the girl I left behind me; That ain’t a josh, She’s a Yankee, by gosh. Oh, say can you see, Anything about a Yankee that’s a phony?

Verse 2 Father’s name was Hezikiah, Mother’s name was Ann Maria, 2Yanks through and through.Red, White and Blue Father was so Yankee-hearted, When the Spanish war was started,He slipped on a uniform and hopped upon a pony. My mother’s mother was a Yankee true,My father’s father was a Yankee too: That’s going some, For the Yankees, by gum. Oh, say can you see Anything about my pedigree that’s phony?

Chorus I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy, A Yankee Doodle, do or die; A real live nephew of my Uncle Sam, Born on the Fourth of July. I’ve got a Yankee Doodle sweetheart, She’s my Yankee Doodle joy. Yankee Doodle came to London, just to ride the ponies; I am the Yankee Doodle Boy.

Have a Happy Fourth!

Cactus House

Every time I go to a Gelson’s market in Calabasas, which isn’t very often, I pass a cactus garden and walled house and yard. In August 2020 I finally took my camera and stopped to walk through the garden and photograph it and the gated entrance. Now a local newspaper had called it the “Cactus House.” The paper reported that The house features four bedrooms and four baths in 4,667 square feet. The walled compound also has two decks overlooking a koi pond and
pool.

The view as you drive by.

After you have driven by the entrance to the walled compound is on a side road that is not easily seen. I took a total of 14 pictures of the cactus and palm garden along with the entrance.

The property is estimated by Zillow at just over $2 million and is not for sale now. Photos were taken in 2020.

More Pageantry in the UK Sustains the Soap Opera

Guard at Buckingham Palace

This is a money maker. King Charles III of the UK is expected to be crowned on June 3 next year in a ceremony at Westminster Abbey.

Speaking on condition of anonymity before a public announcement, the government officials said plans are converging on that Saturday near the start of the summer although discussions over which other days will become official holidays are still going on. Buckingham Palace declined to comment.

This event is scheduled at the beginning of the summer season so that it will draw larger crowds of visitors. According to its annual report of 2019-20, a record 3,285,000 people visited the official residences, generating approximately £49,859,000. From a retail perspective, gift shop sales of the royal collection made £19,983,646 in a single year, making its total income of the year to be £71,526,000.

Juneteenth Day

Juneteenth, also called Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. June 19, 1865 — more than two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation had been implemented, America’s remaining enslaved men, women, and children are freed.

Originating in Galveston, Texas in 1866, it has been celebrated annually on June 19 throughout the United States as an official federal holiday since 2021, when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act.

Carnivals and parties in celebration are all over the country. US post offices will be closed and mail will not be delivered from the USPS on Monday, June 20. Because the federal bank reserve will be observing Juneteenth on Monday most banks will be closed including Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JP Morgan. However, TD Bank will be closed Sunday, as is their normal schedule, and will be open Monday.