BREAKING – The U.S. added a meager 80,000 jobs in June, the government reported earlier this morning, falling short of market and analysts expectations and showing that the labor market cooled off considerably in the second quarter. Unemployment stayed the same, at 8.2%. Chris Miles reports live.
Best of the Week – Happy Friday from the entire PolicyMic team! It's been a fun week of fireworks and BBQ. Here are some of the week's top highlights:
- Thanks to all our Pundits who put together shareable, patriotic, and thoughtful stories on July 4th. Teddy Bommarito takes home the prize for most epic Independence Day story of the week for his article 236 Things Every American Should Know About Independence Day. Big thank you to: John Giokaris, James Velasquez, Robert Taylor, Sarah Swong, Perry Nagin, Daniela Quintanilla, Ahmed Medien, and more!
- Megan Malloy wrote one of the most shared articles of the week, racking up 209 shares for Texas Republicans 2012 Platform Opposes Critical Thinking and Supports Corporal Punishment. Missy Kurzweil took the prize for Most Mic'd article this week (39 mics!) for her article How Collaboration Can Kill Creativity.
- Bootcamper Kai Zhang wrote the most viewed bootcamp story of the week (2,774 views) with her article Zombie Apocalypse Uncovered: If It is Not Bath Salts, It Must Be a Government Conspiracy.
* Want to learn how to improve your writing, go viral, and build an audience online? Join our PolicyMic writing bootcamp! Email Mike Luciano (mluciano@policymic.com) if you're interested.
Feedback – We're brainstorming fun and awesome ideas for what we can do to put together amazing coverage of the 2012 election this fall. Beyond our normal articles and live blogs, what else can we do to be come the destination for millennials to receive news and discuss the election? What would you like to see during the conventions, debates, and on election night?
Getting Hitched! Congrats to close friend and member of the PolicyMic family Raj Hathiramani, who's getting married to Aditi Gupta! Raj proposed in this amazing video on July 4 (Warning: It's amazing).
TARP Fail – Nearly four years after Washington bailed out Wall Street, small banks have yet to repay $11 billion of taxpayer money. The government is threatening to unload its stakes in the banks at big discounts to new investors. Many of the 324 institutions, mostly tiny community banks and niche players, wonder whether they'll be able to stay in business.
Romney Goes Global? (via Politico) "Romney’s campaign is considering a major foreign policy offensive at the end of the month that would take him to five countries over three continents and mark his first move away from a campaign message devoted almost singularly to criticizing President Barack Obama’s handling of the economy.” On his list? Britain, Germany, Israel, Poland, and Afghanistan.
For Ron Paul Nation, Internet Freedom Will Be the New Revolution (Chris Miles) – Forget "End the Fed," Ron and son Rand Paul will focus on net neutrality, internet freedom, and the devil known as data collection.
Why Turning on Your AC Will Actually Make You Hotter This Year (Mijin Cha) – Every year, it’s likely to get hotter unless we do start making some significant changes to the way we live. A good first step is to stop consuming so much energy.
NYC Citi Bike Share May Lead to More Accidents (Whitney Sher) – Working in a NYC emergency room, I fear July 31, the opening day of the New York Citi Bike share program, when there will be an influx of 10,000 bikes on city streets.
Friday Fun – President Obama: Arm-Wrestler-in-Chief? (USA Today); The unscientific things Higgs Boson taught us (The Atlantic); Kenyan paraplegic is on a 2500 mile journey by wheelchair (NY Times); 20 most amazing pictures from outer space (Fun of Art).
What We’re Reading – The European WWII atrocity you never heard about (Chronicle); Scientists vs. dopers at London 2012 (Smithsonian Mag); Why Marxism is on the rise again (The Guardian); Numbers tell of failure in drug war (NY Times).
