According to data from the state Department of Labor and Industry, unemployment in Pennsylvania went from 7.8% in July to 8.2% in August. This is further evidence that, at least for the ‘rust belt’ if not for financial centers, a double dip depression is already upon us.

From the LOS ANGELES TIMES: Pat Robertson has made many controversial statements over the years, such as suggesting that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were God’s punishment for the U.S. tolerating abortion and homosexuality. His critics are usually those on the politically opposite spectrum of the conservative Christian leader, or outside the Christian faith.

From the WASHINGTON POST: Worried that a mounting debt crisis in Europe could trip up the global economy, the Federal Reserve opened its vault Thursday to the central banks of other countries in an effort to head off a crippling shortage of dollars.

If one lives in Lancaster, one faces ongoing situations where one doesn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. Here are a few: 1) School District of Lancaster board chair Richard Caplan ( a good guy) defends against accusations by board member Charlie Crystle (another good guy) that the board may have violated the Sunshine Act.

From CNN: …2. Indict people. There are certain people in American finance who haven’t been held responsible for utterly ruining the economic fabric of our country. Demand from the attorney general a clear status of the state of investigation concerning these extraordinary injustices imposed upon the American people.

From NEWSMAX: Tuesday’s GOP victory in the heavily Democratic New York City’s 9th Congressional District once held by former Rep. Anthony Weiner touched off a political earthquake and offered a “stunning rebuke” to President Barack Obama as he gears up for his re-election bid in 2012, political pundits and pollsters say.

From ALJAZEERA: The US poverty rate hit its highest level since 1993 last year, with a record 46 million people living below the American poverty line, according to census data. A government report released on Tuesday said the poverty rate rose for a third consecutive year to hit 15.1 per cent in 2010, up from 14.3 per cent a year earlier.

From the HUFF NEWS: What do you tell a guy who is sick, goes into a coma and doesn’t have health insurance? Who pays for his coverage? “Are you saying society should just let him die?” Wolf Blitzer asked. Paul interjected to offer an explanation for how this was, more-or-less, the root choice of a free society.

From BBC: The head of the National Transitional Council has delivered his first speech in Libya’s capital, Tripoli, since the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi. Mustafa Abdul Jalil outlined his plans to create a modern democratic state based on “moderate Islam” to thousands of flag-waving supporters in the newly renamed Martyrs’ Square…

From POLITICO: Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s humble origins and down home straight talk are central to his political identity, but for years Perry has enjoyed lavish perks and travel – mostly funded by a group of deep-pocketed supporters – that are allowed under his state’s lax ethics and campaign rules.

From USA TODAY: …Citing its own 2009 study, America’s Health Insurance Plans, an industry trade group, says 87% of people who apply nationally for individual coverage are offered a policy. That figure, however, includes people who are turned down for one policy but offered another that may cost more or have fewer benefits.

We are not going to excerpt Gil Smart’s courageous article about 9/11 that appears in the Sunday News. It is so cohesive and so profound that “Fulfilling the prophecy” must be experienced in its entirety.