Econ 101: Just three days after an election that was taken as a vote of no confidence in President Obama’s stewardship, the Labor Department announced today that unemployment has fallen to 5.8 percent with an addition of 214,000 jobs in October. Unemployment has dropped 6.7 percent in the six years Obama has been president. Still a problem is stagnant wages, but some economists say that with the labor market heating up, wages may start to rise.

Super Weather: A diminishing typhoon sliding into Alaska from the Bering Sea is expected to plunge a polar vortex of snow and freezing weather into two-thirds of the country. The phenomenon is expected to heat up the West next week while forcing the Jet Stream and freezing cold all the way south to Florida. States east of the Rocky Mountains are expected to have temperatures 20-30 degrees below normal.

The Man With the Tan: House Speaker John Boehner came out with fightin’ words yesterday saying “Finding common ground is going to be hard work, but it will be even harder if the president isn’t willing to work with us.”

Emboldened by the Republican takeover of the Senate, Boehner laid out a list of things he wants, including repeal of Obamacare and approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to the Gulf. Boehner warned the president not to take unilateral action on immigration reform or amnesty. “When you play with matches, you take the risk of burning yourself,” Boehner said.

Declare the Bans: After a string of victories, advocates of same sex marriage were dealt a loss yesterday when a federal appeals court in Cincinnati upheld bans in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee.

In a decision that skewers marriage even while siding with the states that believe they are defending it, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals oddly admitted that “It would now seem, the question is not whether American law will allow gay couples to marry; it is when and how that will happen.”

But the Sixth Circuit decided the issue should be determined by changing societal values, elections, and state laws rather than judges. The court left it to the four states in a decision that will likely pressure the Supreme Court to take up the issue.

Still, while defending the rights of states, the judges gleefully pointed out the hypocrisy of denying marriage to gay couples while allowing it for just about any bum. “States will hand some people a marriage license no matter how often they have divorced or remarried, apparently on the theory that practice makes perfect. States will not even prevent an individual from remarrying the same person three or four times, where practice no longer seems to be the issue.”

Friendly Fire: The navy SEAL code of silence appears to be shattered by multiple claims about who fired the fatal shot at Osama bin Laden. Former SEAL Robert O’Neill just came forward this week to say he fired two fatal bullets. His former colleague Matt Bissonette, who wrote the book “No Easy Day,” said he hit bin Laden once. Now some former SEALS are telling news outlets it was still another SEAL, the first man up the stairs, who killed the leader of al Qaeda. Nothing like fame and book contracts to break up the old gang.

Ukraine: Russia appears to be shoring up rebel-held eastern Ukraine by sending in heavy weapons and fighters.The government says Russia sent in 32 tanks, 16 artillery systems and 30 trucks loaded with men and ammunition.

Crime Blotter: In an embarrassing turnabout, New Zealand authorities have dropped murder-for-hire charges against AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd for lack of evidence. He’s still charged with threatening to kill and possession of illegal drugs.

Corrections Dept.: We know, we know, Taylor Swift quit Spotify, not “Spottily”. Who among us has not been sandbagged by auto-correct?

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