Euro in trouble

Notice how government officials always blame currency "speculators" for their country's woeful finances? How about trying to balance your budgets first before pointing your finger at others?

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0330ba78-149f-11df-9ea1-00144feab49a.html

Unemployment - don't believe the hype

Despite today's official unemployment rate being reported as 9.7%--down from last month's 10%, don't fall for the inference that the jobs picture is improving. The number of those out of work for over half a year has tripled in the past year. Based on those who have given up looking for work, of those forced to take lesser jobs, the unemployment rate is over 17% or 22%--depending on your source. See shadowstats.com.

FDA integrity

http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/scientific_integrity/fda-survey-questions-and-results.pdf

14. FDA routinely provides complete and accurate information to the public.
strongly agree 7% (64)
agree 40% (393)
no opinion 21% (210)
disagree 26% (251)
strongly disagree 6% (60)

15. I have been asked explicitly by FDA decision makers to provide incomplete, inaccurate or misleading information to the public, regulated industry, media, or elected/senior government officials.
frequently 1% (7)
occasionally 6% (60)
seldom 10% (96)
never 67% (660)
not applicable 17% (163)

16. I feel that FDA decision makers implicitly expect me to provide incomplete, inaccurate or misleading information to the public, regulated community, media, or elected/senior government officials.
frequently 3% (26)
occasionally 8% (74)
seldom 11% (104)
never 60% (586)
not applicable 19% (188)

http://www.ucsusa.org/scientific_integrity/abuses_of_science/summary-of-the-fda-scientist.html

In 2006, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) distributed a 38-question survey to 5,918 FDA scientists to examine the state of science at the FDA. The results paint a picture of a troubled agency: hundreds of scientists reported significant interference with the FDA's scientific work, compromising the agency's ability to fulfill its mission of protecting public health and safety.