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I'm currently reluctantly self-employed after being laid off at age 56 in 2001 (part of an 80% work force reduction).  I have two observations that apply to today. 

1) In many skilled trades (I'm in printing) it's more probable that you'll find "per diem" or part-time work without benefits, and this is almost always the employers' choice.  It's ALWAYS to an employers' advantage to have disposable journeyman-level skilled workers on tap without having to hire that talent full-time with benefits. Unemployment Insurance should allow the unemployed to take this work as it comes along without penalizing the wokers so heavily for taking a day or two of work as it becomes available, or taking a part-time no-benefits gig that pays an amount that basically wipes out the weekly unemployment benefit and shortens the length of time one is qualified to collect unemployment since long-term unemployment is becoming the norm.

2) A second point related to the topic has to do with loans taken by workers against their 401K's.  Many workers who've been in a job for a while take low interest loans against their 401K's without tax or penalties, paying it back as part of their regular paycheck deductions.  When somebody gets laid off the outstanding amount of the loan becomes due in full or else the amount is deemed a disbursement to the employee and therefore subject to both taxes and penalties.  This hits the worker at a time when they're most economically vulnerable and unable to deal with either a lump-sum repayment or absorbing the hit of back taxes and penalties for a "disbursement" that wasn't the choice of the poor unemployed schmuck.  Both the Feds and State tax collectors should set up a system where people unemployed against their will can continue repaying these loans at the rate they were while employed and not add governmental abuse to the ordeal of unemployment.

posted 4 years, 1 month ago
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I primarily use radio for my news source,  since I can multitask while listening.  When it comes to print vs. online I'll go for the print version every time simply because it's MUCH easier to browse.  As to the advantages of interactivity I think it's as much a distraction as a help in this age of short attention spans. 

The biggest downside to print is environmental, but recycling helps ease that guilt.

posted 4 years, 3 months ago
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I'm breathing a sigh of relief for the Supreme Court and the Federal Judiciary. Another Republican Administration would have plunged the Judiciary into a new Dark Ages that would have lasted at least two generations.

With all the political litmus tests given to the Ashcroft/Gonzales Justice Department new-hires we can't say that the Bush nightmare is over. It's going to take years to clean out that rats nest. Still, justice in America is decidedly more secure now than it was 24 hours ago.

posted 4 years, 6 months ago
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Opera seems like baseball - huge stretches of boredom with a few bright and brilliant moments of excitement and beauty. Recorded opera and live opera are two entirely different experiences - the visuals carry you through the ho-hum stretches and heighten the appreciation of the arias. What about offering discount tickets to people who already attend live theater or live music - present your stub from another event and get a discount on the opera.

posted 4 years, 8 months ago
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The most important religious freedom is freedom FROM religion, period. Between Obama's Faith-Based-Initiative pandering and genuflecting to the Leviticus crowd at Saddleback, it's obvious that we're talking about mighty fine shades of grey when trying to distinguish between him and the religious lunacy infecting recent political history.

posted 4 years, 9 months ago
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How's this for an over simplification / stereotype of "Reedies" that also speaks to privilege and drug culture on campus: the most common nickname I've heard for Reed students is "Trustafarians," as in dreadlocked rich kids doing the ganja.

posted 5 years ago
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My mother was British and French and she brought her cultural tastes with her when we moved to the States, so I grew up in a brick house covered in ivy and climbing roses. When I became a home owner I naturally planted lots of climbing roses and ivy. I've always been conscientious about making sure the ivy doesn't jump out of my yard, knowing how it can take over.
Someone recently pointed out to me that every time I cut back the ivy and put it in the yard debris garbage can I'm in effect spreading it around outside the confines of my yard. Is this true, and if so, what's a fellah to do?

posted 5 years, 1 month ago
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