Lunch Links

A mixed jobs report

The Labor Department reported Friday morning that 431,000 jobs were created last month and the nation’s unemployment rate dropped to 9.7 percent. On the surface it sounds like great news. But the bulk of those jobs, 411,000, were from the government’s hiring of temporary census workers.

Private employers, nervous about the recovery, created just 41,000 jobs in May.

Not an easy week for Erskine

Despite Erskine Bowles’ warnings of dire consequences, the UNC system will have to find another $139 million in spending cuts at its campuses under the House budget, as opposed to the Senate plan.

Bowles’ other job – steering President Obama’s bipartisan fiscal commission – is also running short on funds. The Fiscal Times reports that the panel barely has enough money to cover office rent and salaries as it works on ideas for taming the federal deficit.

Mission impossible

BP is still working to tame the oil spill in the Gulf. They are having some success with a cap that started siphoning oil and gas to a tanker on the surface overnight. It’s unclear how much is being collected, though rough estimates have been placed at 42,000 gallons a day.

For those charged with protecting the wildlife, this latest photo gallery shows that this is nearly an impossible mission.

On the Political Front

GOP congressional candidate Tim D’Annunzio’s mission is now convincing voters that he’s not unfit for public office. On his website, D’Annunzio works to dispel five myths including the claims that he is a “loose cannon” who believes “God is going to drop a pyramid on Greenland.”

Of course a few more clicks away on his website, and you can buy your very own “Crazy for Tim D’Annunzio” campaign button.

South Carolina Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer is challenging state Rep. Nikki Haley to take a polygraph test to prove she did not sleep with a former Bauer consultant.

Pam’s House Blend and Joe.My.God both make the case for why the Family Research Council should be classified as an official hate group.

And Deadline.com asks the burning question: Is Rush Limbaugh movie material?

“The Rush Limbaugh Story” is reportedly in the works. Writer/producer James Sclafani sums it up this way:

“This is Citizen Kane meets Private Parts, where you have a man who always had trouble relating to people in the outside world, but does it effortlessly in the booth,” said Sclafani, adding that Limbaugh is the proverbial fat kid, ignored in high school, and determined to prove everyone they were wrong about him.

Weekend happenings

Gates open at 5:00pm at the new Raleigh Downtown Amphitheater. Before it becomes the Bud Light Amphitheater, you can check out seven local acts for free this evening during their Open House.

If you want to see the Backstreet Boys on Sunday, that one’s going to cost you.

Enjoy your weekend!