Gov. Paterson signed a bill that gives New York residents 16 more weeks of unemployment! That brings the grand total to 18 months! I guess that’s why NY residents have been getting less unemployment than CT and NJ! Now it all makes sense! Unemployment is great and all but I’m sure most people would prefer a job.
Unlucky: Thirteen More Weeks Of Unemployment Benefits In New York State.
There’s plenty of hiring going on…just probably not for your dream job…unless you want to be a “fry guy”. Also, there are 4 1/3 unemployed Americans for every job opening. Now that’s some reality for you. And the people hiring don’t want you to take a job ‘just until things better’…even if it is as a cashier at Fairway…they want you to be in it for the long haul. Le sigh. What’s a former lawyer/blogger to do in this economy?
Jobless Rate May Be High, but Millions Are Being Hired – NYTimes.com.
Well, perhaps I do…after re-reading my last two posts. I can’t help that NY is suddenly suffering from a case of the Seattles weather wise. WHERE IS THE SUN! It’s been FOUR DAYS! I can see it poking through…but COME ON. I guess I should just be happy it’s not raining.
Anyhoo, the powers that be have realized that people are feeling a little down in the dumps. I don’t know what could have possibly given it away! Perhaps it was the skyrocketing unemployment rate? Or maybe the foreclosure epidemic? Or mayhap the sudden spike in murder-suicides? Whatever it is that tipped them off, there’s now help…online…
Website offers emotional rescue from economy | Lifestyle | Reuters.
Very interesting article on the current health care crisis and one that every American should read. If the pretty graph that compares your wage increase (or lack thereof) to health insurance premiums increase, read on and figure out if you can come up with a better solution. I’m one of the lucky few unemployed people who, thanks to the stimulus plan, can still afford her COBRA payments. If I don’t have a job in 9 months (which is when Uncle Sam stops helping me out with my COBRA payments) I don’t know what I’m going to do for health care. I’ll be even more broken then than I am now which is going to make private insurance pretty unrealistic…and I’m not going to be alone. But at least I’m single and don’t have a family that relies on my health insurance too…and at least I’m fairly young and in good health (knock on wood). But the cold hard facts are that the unemployment rate is climbing to 10% pretty quickly and the health care crisis is just going to get worse if we don’t do something about it soon. As more people lose their jobs, I betting there are going to be a lot more sugarbabies on that site looking for sugardaddies and this time it’s going to be to pay their health insurance premium instead of college loans or fancy handbags. There’s something about that sort of desperation that makes it hard to even joke about that site now. Private health insurance companies aren’t going to lobby Congress or the White House to adopt a plan as radical as this one, so it’s up to the public. Just something to chew on. I also have to add that Health Law was one of the scariest classes I took in law school and this article seems to be over simplifying…a bit…but maybe I was over-thinking? It would be unlike me…but perhaps.
Why consensus health care reform won’t work. – By Timothy Noah – Slate Magazine.
And here’s a Slate editorial response to the above article. I think the title says it all and I’m too sleepy to ’splain it to you.
Well, not so much an article as a collection of super interesting stuff Consumerist put together. Pretty sure I’m not skimping “too much” since I’m on unemployment and broke…6 solid resources to find a job…need that…7 misconceptions about the stimulus-interesting. And then Things to buy before the economy improves! Won’t be looking at that…because I can’t afford to buy anything.
Not sure how I missed this last week…I guess I had some off days…some lags…some distractions with topics that were a little more fun. But holy crap this would suck. Don’t get me wrong, I believe states can put REASONABLE restrictions on public benefits…and make people jump through a REASONABLE amount of hoops to get them…but piss tests…that would be a NIGHTMARE! Currently, unemployment is pretty suhweet…both on the state side and the recipient side. It’s all online. I log on, I tell them what I’ve been up to, if they want me to come in, they let me know…if not, then they send me my check. Very little work for them and very little work for me-which allows me to spend more time job hunting! The idea of having to visit an unemployment office once a week, wait in a HUGE line to piss in a room with a city employee watching is horrifying. It’s like going to the DMV! On the regular! That would kill at LEAST a day…and what if you have a job interview! “Oh sorry I can’t come in and interview for my dream job. I have to go piss in a cup or NY State is going to sue me for benefits I’ve already taken and prohibit me from collecting future benefits I’m entitled to…but thanks for the opportunity! I’m sure there are TONS of other jobs out there!”
On the other hand…it could create a shit ton of jobs…even more jobs when you consider the amount of appeals and retesting and everything that goes with this sort of undertaking. But, last I checked, NYC is supposed to be cutting jobs…and shrinking the budget…not increasing it’s spending. And COME ON. Can’t we do something ELSE? Like more teachers? Or start more public works projects? Something productive rather than spinning our wheels with piss testing?
States consider drug tests for welfare recipients – Yahoo! News.
Walgreens is offering free clinical care for people who are unemployed and have no health insurance. It ain’t a lot but it’s something! They treat allergies and that alone is huge as pollen counts are creeping up.
Health Care: Walgreen Health Clinics Now Free For Unemployed.
New York City’s unemployment rate is up to 8.1%! AND it was the highest month-to-month increase ever! Way to go Big Apple.
I posted earlier that the Japanese actually have a word for working yourself to death: Karoshi
Now it seems that the economic downturn has increased Japan’s already high suicide rate. The fact that they also have a “suicide forest” is pretty bleak as well. But at least Japan takes things like working yourself to death and suicide because of unemployment seriously and have made treatment a priority…on the other hand, it seems fair to say that societal pressures have to be contributing and creating the problem to a certain degree. It seems like the number of murder suicides in the US has increased but it’s possible that the media is just paying more attention to these horrible stories now as they seek out any stories that are even slightly related to the depressed economy and joblessness.
Desperate Japanese head to ’suicide forest’ – CNN.com.
I guess my point is, it’s hard to tell when someone is crisis…sure I haven’t showered or gotten dressed today…but that doesn’t mean that I’m taking walks in suicide parks…on the other hand, there are plenty of people who mask the signs very well. We have to look out for each other right now-those of us who are struggling with the pressure of being the only bread winner in the home, those of us who are jobless and feeling less than fabulous about it, and everyone else who’s just depressed about the current state of affairs. Spring starts tomorrow and let’s hope its a fresh start for everyone.
Article from the NY Times that details a growing trend. Companies are firing people for things like misconduct so they won’t have to pay unemployment benefits. Ralph Reese’ s story is disgusting and I hope that Whole Foods has to do more than just pay his unemployment. But I’m not sure if you can get more damages for having been wrongly denied a benefit…but the bottomline is that more employers are making it harder for employees to collect unemployment. I was luckly-when my office decided to give me the heave-ho, it was because they were eliminating my position which is a green light to unemployment. So make sure you check the rules for receiving unemployment in your area before you poop on your boss’s desk.
Fired Over a Tuna Sandwich, and Fighting Back – City Room Blog – NYTimes.com.
Recent Comments