Q: "When Bahrain was chosen as a strategic ally to United States, we were in the thick in term of many areas, in term of civil society, in term of human rights, in term of democracy. A lot of declines happened in the last period, and you are aware about all these things. Many people are arrested, lawyers and human rights activists. Sometime we feel that there is no, let’s say, red lines or constraints between United States and their allies. The situation was perfect, but now it is changed.."... we issue several reports. We issue a human rights report, we issue a religious freedom report, we issue a human trafficking report and other reports where we express concerns about other nations. And since I became Secretary of State, we’ve also been reviewing ourselves, because I think it’s only fair if we’re going to review other countries that we review the progress or problems in the United States. And I know when you’re in the midst of societies that are as dynamic as Bahrain is, with so many changes happening, that it’s easy to be very focused internally and see the glass as half empty. I see the glass as half full. I think the changes that are happening in Bahrain are much greater than what I see in many other countries in the region and beyond. Now, I’m not saying – as I’ve said many times already this afternoon, nothing is perfect, nothing is done, there’s a lot of work that still lies ahead. And people in the parliament are going to bear some of the responsibility for being able to navigate toward positive outcomes. And yes, I mean, people are arrested and people should have due process, and there should be the rule of law, and people should have good defense counsel. We believe in all of that and we say all of that. But on the other hand, the election was widely validated because it was free and fair and had high participation. So you have to look at the entire picture. "
- Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, at a town hall in Bahrain December 3rd, 2010.
The real Bahrain
Dangerously silent on human rights
Peers attack Bahrain over civil rights
Brutal repression of human rights defenders in historic crackdown
The envoy to Bahrain speaks out about a domestic crackdown
Source: The employment situation - December 2010 (BLS): "... The number of unemployed persons decreased by 556,000 to 14.5 million in December, and the unemployment rate dropped to 9.4 percent. Over the year, these measures were down from 15.2 million and 9.9 percent, respectively. Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (9.4 percent) and whites (8.5 percent) declined in December. The unemployment rates for adult women (8.1 percent), teenagers (25.4 percent), blacks (15.8 percent), and Hispanics (13.0 percent) showed little change. The jobless rate for Asians was 7.2 percent, not seasonally adjusted..."
