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Robert Reich gives you a peek at the commencement address that nobody will ever give: Members of the Class of 2012, As a former secretary of labor and current professor, I feel I owe it to you to tell you the truth about the pieces of parchment you're picking up today. You're f*cked. Well, not exactly. But you won't have it easy. First, you're going to have a hell of a hard time finding a job. The job market you're heading into is still bad. Fewer than half of the graduates from last year's class have as yet found full-time jobs. Most are still looking. Robert Reich (UC-Berkeley) That's been the pattern over the last three graduating classes: It's been taking them more than a year to land the first job. And those who still haven't found a job will be competing with you, making your job search even harder. [...] But this can't go on. If unemployment stays high for many years, if the wages of young college grads continue to fall, if the costs of college continue to rise and state and local spending per college student continues to drop, and if the college debt burden therefore continues to explode -- well, you do the math. At some point in the not-too-distant future these lines cross. College is no longer a good investment. That's a problem for you and for those who will follow you into these hallowed halls, but it's also a problem for America as a whole. You see, a college education isn't just a private investment. It's also a public good. This nation can't be competitive globally, nor can we have a vibrant and responsible democracy, without a large number of well-educated people. So it's not just you who are burdened by these trends. If they continue, we're all f*cked. Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2007: We've been told that the escalation upon which Mister Bush has founded his hopes for fixing "the situation" in Iraq would produce a few extra casualties in the short term, a sort of bloody investment in a more peaceful future. So far, those few extra casualties are adding up to the worst six-month death toll for American troops since the war and occupation began 50 months ago. Those in uniform aren't the only stepped-up casualties, according to today's The New York Times: Contractor Deaths in Iraq Soar to Record At least 146 contract workers were killed in Iraq in the first three months of the year, by far the highest number for any quarter since the war began in March 2003, according to the Labor Department, which processes death and injury claims for those working as United States government contractors in Iraq. That brings the total number of contractors killed in Iraq to at least 917, along with more than 12,000 wounded in battle or injured on the job, according to government figures and dozens of interviews. The numbers, which have not been previously reported, disclose the extent to which contractors — Americans, Iraqis and workers from more than three dozen other countries — are largely hidden casualties of the war, and now are facing increased risks alongside American soldiers and marines as President Bush’s plan to increase troop levels in Baghdad takes hold. ... Truck drivers and translators account for a significant share of the casualties, but the recent death toll includes others who make up what amounts to a private army. The claim has been made that Iraqi civilian deaths are down. But, given that the Iraqi government refuses to cooperate with the United Nations in sharing data about such deaths, and given outrageous shenanigans, Iraqi government figures for civilian deaths are utterly untrustworthy. [...] Tweet of the Day: Nine-year-old's lunch blog shames school into making improvements: http://t.co/... Gold star for you, kid! — @grist via HootSuite High Impact Posts. Top Comments.

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IN THE UK, the Nanny-State Apocalypse Is Now.

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21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: Should I confess my Facebook flirting?

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TEN TOY-AND-GAME-BASED MOVIES that would be better than Battleship.

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ALAN DERSHOWITZ: New Evidence is Consistent with George Zimmerman’s Self Defense Claim.

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Tomorrow in key battleground states, the RNC has organized a “volunteer day” or Walk Day. This is the first major Get Out The Vote effort of the general election for Republicans. I had a few moments to talk with RNC Political Director Rick Wiley and spokesperson Kirsten Kukowski from the RNC today about what the event is all about, and what they hope to accomplish. First, here’s the official blurb: RNC National Walk Day. Tomorrow the RNC will hold a national walk day to engage our grassroots activist across the country in battleground states to knock on doors of independent voters and add to our Get Out the Vote efforts to defeat Barack Obama. The states participating include: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The primary goal is to get as many people “to the doors” as possible, rather than just over the phone, says Wiley. Volunteers and campaign workers are going to pound pavement, going door to door on foot in order to both identify republican leaning voters that may not yet have been reached, and to get those voters interested, involved, and eventually, in the voting booth. Wiley referred repeatedly to adding voters to various “universes”, the early voting universe, the absentee universe, etc. So the idea here is that the walk tomorrow gives the various local offices the ability to sort of guide potential voters through the entire process. And that’s not all that the GOP is up to. The RNC is referring to the various local locations as “Victory Offices”. It is the victory offices that will be the hubs for the National Walk tomorrow. But even with the emphasis on knocking on doors and interacting directly with voters, there is a major online component as well. Via Facebook, the party has a new, high-tech app for encouraging volunteerism. The Social Victory app is a multi-faceted tool that gives users the ability to, for example, see local events like the National Walk day; Opportunities to volunteer, in other words. Here’s a screenshot (click to enlarge): You can also, per usual for apps like this, forward info, “like” things (natch), and even set up virtual phone banks to call on behalf of the campaigns. When you put together shoes on pavement, and clicks on apps, I’m staring to have a good deal more confidence in the party’s ability to capitalize not only on volunteers, but on the web, in a competitive way that we just didn’t see in 2008. That year, Barack Obama’s machine online was the stuff of legend. I don’t know if the GOP is going to be legen .. wait for it .. dary this time around. But the fact is the Victory Center app is actually pretty awesome, and with an effective voter ID and GOTV effort, I don’t see them being eclipsed by the Obama machine this year. I’ll try to get an update for you on Monday on how it all worked out. So far, looks pretty promising to me. Oh, I did ask one more thing. I asked if they would say they were “super duper” excited about the RedState Gathering in Jacksonville, Florida, August 2 – 5, or if they were just “very very” excited. The answer? “The former!” Good answer!

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  Hello, human diary. It is I again, Mitt Romney, your better. Today has not been a good day. I mentioned before that the previous Republican occupant of the White House had endorsed me; for some reason this led to me having to have a phone conversation with him today. I am still unclear why. He is a nice enough fellow, and I attempted to bond with him over our mutual love of elevators, and riding in elevators, and putting things into elevators. I believe he enjoyed my banter. (I also invited him to come view our many fine horses, but he was strangely quiet during that part of the conversation.) I mentioned to an audience of commoners yesterday that if my wife and I were going to move to any place in America, I would move to their state. This was a brilliant move on my part, especially because I was able to correctly remember which state I was in at the time. Note to self: Do not repeat this trick too often, when reporter units are present. Speaking of reporter units, Eric F. has instituted a new plan. The old plan was to block them from attending certain events or asking questions; they responded to this in a negative fashion. The new plan is for me to engage them in human banter. My understanding is that I need to appear likable, even though few of these reporters are in my peer group when it comes to wealth or the number of sports team owners they are acquainted with. I told several of them they were the wrong height; they appeared to take this as a joke, which further confuses me. Nonetheless, I am determined to impress the American common class with my wit and banter capabilities. I have practiced ceaselessly, and believe I am improving rapidly.

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**Written by Doug Powers Mitt Romney is now in the process of sifting through potential running mates (for all I know, so is Barack Obama). Let the vetting process begin: The team for Beth Myers, the Romney adviser leading the search for the GOP’s vice presidential nominee, has already contacted potential running mates, according to a source close to the Romney campaign. By beginning the process early, the Romney camp hopes to avoid the mistake of John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign, when that campaign found itself unprepared for the onslaught of public attention that greeted Sarah Palin. But, when asked directly by The Hill, three of the top candidates on the shortlist — Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) — declined to comment on the process. Who should Romney choose? I’m still up in the air, but just for early weekend kicks, let’s take a poll. I’ve chosen 20 names that have been thrown around in VP discussions over the last few weeks. There’s also an “other” if you have somebody else in mind — there wasn’t room for all the possibilities. Here they are in no particular order: Who should Mitt Romney pick as his running mate? Sen. Rob Portman Sen. Marco Rubio Rep. Allen West Rep. Paul Ryan Sen. Kelly Ayotte Rick Santorum Gov. Bob McDonnell Gov. Rick Perry Gov. Mitch Daniels Sen. Jim DeMint Sen. Pat Toomey Tim Pawlenty Rep. Michele Bachmann Gov. Nikki Haley Gov. Bobby Jindal Sen. John Thune Gov. Scott Walker Newt Gingrich Gov. Chris Christie Gov. Susana Martinez Other View resultsVote Now Powered by FreeOnlineSurveys.com Sen. Rob Portman0% Sen. Marco Rubio0% Rep. Allen West0% Rep. Paul Ryan0% Sen. Kelly Ayotte0% Rick Santorum0% Gov. Bob McDonnell0% Gov. Rick Perry0% Gov. Mitch Daniels0% Sen. Jim DeMint0% Sen. Pat Toomey0% Tim Pawlenty0% Rep. Michele Bachmann0% Gov. Nikki Haley0% Gov. Bobby Jindal0% Sen. John Thune0% Gov. Scott Walker0% Newt Gingrich0% Gov. Chris Christie0% Gov. Susana Martinez0% Other0% Create a poll like this **Poll has a margin of error of plus or minus however many people figure out that the vote is Chicago-style. While you decide, watch the Romney campaign’s first ad of the general election called “Day One”: **Written by Doug Powers Twitter @ThePowersThatBe

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From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE… Late Night Snark: Gay JP Morgan Commencement Frisking Edition "Rush Limbaugh criticized President Obama's support of gay marriage, accusing the president of leading a 'war on traditional marriage.' Limbaugh wants it to mean something if he ever gets traditional-married for the fifth time." ---Seth Meyers - "This is the true measure of how far we've come as a nation. In, like, five years the prime talking point from Republicans about people who support gay marriage has gone from 'It will destroy society via turtle fucking' to 'Oh, of course you’re for it, you'll say anything popular to get re-elected.' That...is progress. ---Jon Stewart - "President Obama and Mitt Romney both gave commencement speeches over the last few days. Obama was like: 'You can be whatever you want to be.' Romney was like: 'I can be whatever you want me to be.'" ---Jimmy Fallon - "The average college graduate now leaves school $27,000 in debt. But the good news is that now it means they're more than qualified to work as financial advisers at JPMorgan." ---Jay Leno - "Mitt Romney once lost $2 billion. Then he found it in another pair of pants." ---David Letterman - "There is no greater ally in the fight against violence than the NYPD and their 'Stop and Frisk' program, which allows New York police to search anybody they find suspicious. Since this is New York, I believe they look for people who are acting strange, and then stop everybody else." ---Stephen Colbert Five years ago: "The elections are heating up. In a recent interview, John McCain said the last music he bought was The Beach Boys, while Mitt Romney said the last music he bought was Roy Orbison. Apparently, McCain and Romney are both running for president in 1964." ---Conan O'Brien Bar's open. Your west coast-friendly edition of  Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]

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$$$ G8 leaders urged to focus talks on growth [FT]$$$ JPMorgan Returned $168M To MF Global, Trustee Says [Bloomberg]$$$ Chesapeake Cuts Board Compensation [WSJ]$$$ Ben Horowitz: MBAs aren’t as bad as everyone thinks [PandoDaily]$$$ Bloomberg TV’s Matt Miller vents about Nasdaq FB glitches to NYSE traders [Bloomberg TV]$$$ Boston radio talk show host Howie Carr released evidence that appears to confirm [Elizabeth] Warren may have plagiarized at least three of the five recipes she submitted to the 1984 Pow Wow Chow cookbook edited by her cousin Candy Rowsey. Two of the possibly plagiarized recipes, said in the Pow Wow Chow cookbook to have been passed down through generations of Oklahoma Native American members of the Cherokee tribe, are described in a New York Times News Service story as originating at Le Pavilion, a fabulously expensive French restaurant in Manhattan. The dishes were said to be particular favorites of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and Cole Porter. The two recipes, “Cold Omelets with Crab Meat” and “Crab with Tomato Mayonnaise Dressing,” appear in an article titled “Cold Omelets with Crab Meat,” written by Pierre Franey of the New York Times News Service that was published in the August 22, 1979 edition of the Virgin Islands Daily News … [Breitbart via DI] $$$ Morgan Stanley is looking for a VP in Global Regulatory Policy in New York [DBCC]$$$ JPMorgan to be haunted by change in risk model [Reuters]$$$ JPMorgan unit has $100bn of risky bonds [FT]$$$ Galleon prosecutor aims to cement legacy in U.S. Gupta trial$$$ The government should fine the hell out of Rajat Gupta instead of criminally prosecuting him [Slate]$$$ Cannibal allowed to leave mental hospital for a stroll, just four years after he beheaded and ate sleeping bus passenger [Daily Mail]Continue reading »Follow Dealbreaker on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

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