Welcome Home Iraq Veterans

“Around 800,000 veterans are jobless, 1.4m live below the poverty line, and one in every three homeless adult men in America is a veteran. Though the overall unemployment rate among America’s 21m veterans in November (7.4%) was lower than the national rate (8.6%), for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan it was 11.1%. And for veterans between the ages of 18 and 24, it was a staggering 37.9%, up from 30.4% just a month earlier.”

“Whatever the cause, this bleak trend is occurring as the last American troops leave Iraq at the end of this year, and as more than 1m new veterans are expected to join the civilian labour force over the next four years.”

–”A hard homecoming,” The Economist

Related: USA Leaves Iraq?

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Congress Hangs Up on Cell Phone Robocalls

A bill introduced in the House of Representatives, HR 3035, the “Mobile Informational Call Act of 2011,” would have allowed telemarketing robocalls to cell phones at the subscribers expense. After an understandable outcry of opposition, Congress realized that HR 3035 was a wrong number. Sponsors Rep. Lee Terry (R, NE-2) and Rep. Edolphus Towns (D, NY-10) withdrew the bill from consideration.

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USA Leaves Iraq?

The last convoy of United States troops left Iraq today, entering Kuwait and ending almost nine years of official military presence. Operation Iraqi Freedom lasted eight years, eight months and 25 days. 1.5 million troops served, 4,500 died, and 32,000 were wounded. Cost in Iraqi lives? Pick a number over 100,000.

American troops already withdrawn from Iraq are glad to be home for the holidays, though many will be re-deployed to Afghanistan. But at least Iraq is secure, right?

Beach Boys Re-Play

Southern California has a new senior citizen employment program. The Beach Boys will embark on a 50-date 50th Anniversary Reunion Tour starting in February in support of “Celebration,” their new album. Group frontman Brian Wilson will turn 70 during the tour.

“Daddy, who are the ‘Beach Boys,’ and what’s an ‘album’?”

Occupy Starbuck’s

“They’re inside in the afternoon, tapping at laptops and  nursing lattes. They send emails and organize protests, chat with friends and  warm their hands. It’s been two months now, and no one shows any signs of  leaving. It’s undisputed and undeniable: The Starbucks at 15th and K has been  thoroughly Occupied.”

– “Starbucks near protesters’ compound thoroughly Occupied,” Aubrey Whelan, Washington Examiner

Starbuck’s? $5 lattes are for losers. Real K Street habitués occupy DC Coast, Lincoln DC, Café du Parc, The Prime Rib, Siroc, Bobby Van’s, Georgia Brown’s, Potenza, and BLT Steak. There’s no Wi-Fi at these places, but most have valet parking service.

Related: Occupy DC website

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Facebook Refuseniks

Facebook claims 200 million active users in the United States, about two-thirds of the population. “But the company is running into a roadblock,” writes Jenna Wortham. “Some people, even on the younger end of the age spectrum, just refuse to participate, including people who have given it a try.”

“The number of Americans who visited Facebook grew 10 percent in the year that ended in October — down from 56 percent growth over the previous year, according to comScore, which tracks Internet traffic.”

“One of Facebook’s main selling points is that it builds closer ties among friends and colleagues. But some who steer clear of the site say it can have the opposite effect of making them feel more, not less, alienated.”

White House Soup

The White House Soup of the Day for December 16, 2011 via MSNBC and FishbowlDC:

Coconut Sweet Potato.

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Sarah Palin Can’t Sell Her TV Show

Last year former celebrity Temp-Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin had a simulated-reality TV show that featured her slaughtering animals and pretending to work as a waitress. Exciting stuff, but the cable network passed on a second season. Now she’s pitching a show featuring First Thug Todd Palin riding a snowmobile, but nobody’s catching.

“Nobody Wants To Buy Sarah Palin’s Dumb New Reality Teevee Show,” Kirsten Boyd Johnson, Wonkette

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Tattoo Frontier: Washington DC

“If you’re a barber in the District, you have to be licensed and regulated by a city board. But if you’re a tattoo artist or piercer, a certain libertarian ethos seems to govern your trade within city limits—currently, the District remains one of the last places in the country in which tattooing and piercing are wholly unregulated.”

More:

“Regulations on Horizon for D.C. Tattoo Artists,” Martin Austermuhle, DCist

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DJ is MIT BMOC

Joi Ito is a digital activist, entrepreneur, innovation evangelist and venture capitalist. He has also been a DJ and nightclub owner. His present job is Director of the MIT Media Lab, and he says it’s a lot like being a DJ: