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Woke up to 10.2 unemployment

98.164.211.146
Posted on November 6, 2009 at 07:16:02
JeffH
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Posts: 2139
Location: Orange County, So Cal
Joined: April 5, 2000
Contributor
  Since: August 8, 2005
 As a plumber, I see this on a daily bases from the street level and it's xtemly disconcerting. I try to be sensitive in my charging practices although I to have to make a living. This is difficult, as every cost aspect of my business has gone up. For those of us that do make a 1/2 way decent living, I would hope that we are charitable to those in real need regardless of political and ideological position. Christmas is upon us and it's going to be a trying season for many many people out there (regardless of how you feel about the holidays). Find a charity and make something happen!

RE: Woke up to 10.2 unemployment, posted on November 8, 2009 at 21:29:30
a95sonoma
Audiophile

Posts: 184
Location: Belmont Michigan
Joined: July 23, 2008
 10.2 that's oh so last year. Want to try 15%. The county (Montcolm, MI)next to me has 20 percent employment, and so does the county (Gratoit, MI) I grew up in right next door. These are rural counties so the real unemployment rate is probably closer to 30%. Where I live (Kent) the rates at 12.5%. I have been scraping buy on a part time job for the last year with no health insurance, but I still have a job and my home. The local paper has ran a few articles about people living in tents on state and county camp grounds moving from park to park after the authorities get wind of them and make them move. The unemployment office looks like grand central station, and the want ads in the paper went from 10 pages a couple years ago to under one page.

Fell asleep in the 20th century did you?, posted on November 6, 2009 at 11:51:27
dave c
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Posts: 28377
Location: Ferny Hills
Joined: April 17, 2000
 It takes a long time to turn a once major economy round.
Much of it comes from confidence to try things and the bleating emanating from Winger County is sounding like a deliberate dirty protest to me.
Those wishing to drag America further down into the shit are your big problem.
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You don't understand., posted on November 6, 2009 at 11:53:15
Bruce Kendall
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  Since: February 4, 2005
 It actually felt good when Reagan was in office.



Did you believe that Good was going to triumph over evil?, posted on November 9, 2009 at 13:10:14
jedrider
Audiophile

Posts: 4824
Location: No. California
Joined: December 26, 2003
 I just thought that he was the first of the figure head Republican Presidents. It was not a consistent show and it was a little unclear who was running it, probably why it wasn't such a complete disaster and gave those who didn't analyze his rhetoric, but just wanted to believe, all those feel good moments.

The figurehead Presidency was perfected during the Bush the 2nd administriations, which will probably go down as one of the most successful presidencies of all time: The people were hoodwinked (51 percent of them at least) about 100 percent of the time!

For whom?, posted on November 6, 2009 at 12:05:22
dave c
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Posts: 28377
Location: Ferny Hills
Joined: April 17, 2000
 It felt scary to me.
Sad but scary.
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Sheesh! Do I really have to season everything, posted on November 6, 2009 at 12:14:30
Bruce Kendall
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  Since: February 4, 2005
 with smiley faces?



well I do... ;-), posted on November 6, 2009 at 12:20:52
dave c
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Posts: 28377
Location: Ferny Hills
Joined: April 17, 2000
 Anyway, why would you think MY post wasn't humourous of intent?
;-)))
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"We, the sheeple"?... :o) nt., posted on November 6, 2009 at 12:02:57
feet's too big
Audiophile

Posts: 8860
Location: West Midlands
Joined: November 22, 2002
 NT.

I've been worrying about it for years. The Stimulus will only prop us up for so long, posted on November 6, 2009 at 07:56:02
jdaniel@jps.net
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Posts: 4452
Location: No. California
Joined: December 16, 2003
 I've often been frustrated that major Conservative talk-show hosts have done nothing but demean innovation, such as electric cars, etc. and so many Conservatives pull their kids out of College because they fear the nutty Liberal Social Studies professor might indoctrinate at the expense of preparing their child for employment in a post-Industrial world...while India and China in the meantime pump out doctors and engineers.... I realize people laughed at the Wright Bros and Ford, but at least we still got the upper hand. Today Hyundai was the first to develop the hybrid drive train.

Regarding the loss of our manufacturing base, an ex-Economics professor/friend of mine tells me that it isn't necessarily a problem if we're a "service-based" Economy rather than manufacturing-based; both are equally exportable and "real;" a surprise to me. His thoughts remind me how counter-intuitive Economics can be in this age in which everyone thinks he is an Economist. I watched people on Fox "angry as hell" about the Stimulus...I wonder how much they understand the domino-effect that would occur--affecting us all--without at least the saved jobs in teaching/law-enforcement, etc. We are indeed a hybrid Socialist/Free Market society--each feeds the other.

Re: unemployment, what I find interesting--in a science of small numbers kind of way--is that every late afternoon I have a beer on my porch, and I watch Illegals ride their little bikes home in a Denny's uniform, and then ride their bikes back to work about an hour later in a Wendy's uniform. Holding two jobs....
RE: I've been worrying about it for years. The Stimulus will only prop us up for so long, posted on November 6, 2009 at 15:15:41
JNS
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Posts: 656
Location: Midwest
Joined: March 30, 2008
 Your first paragraph is completely absurd. I cant think of a single "conservative" that would deny their child an education because of a liberal professor. They might choose what they felt to be a more conservative college, but I think your statement shows how ouf of touch you really are with the beliefs and feelings of a good portion of America. I think you miss the point that teachers dont need to say anything about politics in their classrooms. They can prepare students quite effectively without letting their political opinions be known. The simple fact is that you feel this indoctrination is fine because it mirrors your political and social beliefs. I can imagine how you would complain if a professor tried to sell your child on conservative ideology.

There are indeed classes in which a discussion of Politics is appropriate, posted on November 7, 2009 at 09:53:43
jdaniel@jps.net
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Posts: 4452
Location: No. California
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 but Conservatives can often forget that Math and Science is neutral. I've looked high and low for a tea-party meeting footage in which a woman was heard yelling "burn books," "take your children out of college," but I can't find it on Youtube. Perhaps someone else can.

I don't think that this is the time to undermine American Education in any way. Academia, for all its nutty professors, are our only hope. Academia was the one of the first institutions Hitler went after....

RE: I've been worrying about it for years. The Stimulus will only prop us up for so long, posted on November 6, 2009 at 09:22:33
Dave Mester
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Posts: 492
Location: Chicago
Joined: August 14, 2006
 I agree with most of your points. Without the 'stimulus', we would all be in serious trouble, and that's no theory.
"Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government."
--Thomas Jefferson
Hybrid Drive Train? Does not make much economic sense., posted on November 6, 2009 at 08:31:36
Chris O
Audiophile

Posts: 3060
Location: Memphis, TN
Joined: March 22, 2002
 All trains are diesel/electric or electric, there is little opportunity to recapture braking energy and storing it. They run at relatively constant speeds. Trains are much more efficient than trucks or planes currently. The problem with trains is the tracks and infrastructure.

The big change that we have going on right now is that most people with a job pretty much has everything they need. 10 TVs are not better than 5 TVs in the home. Consumerism growth in the US is showing signs of topping out. Our country's economy is driven by internal consumerism. The US does not make many products for export anymore due to commoditization and cost. The booster rockets have cut out yet we have not achieved escape velocity.

___
Long Live Dr.Gizmo
"The problem with trains is the tracks and infrastructure.", posted on November 6, 2009 at 08:52:28
oscar
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Posts: 13472
Location: Fort Worth, TX
Joined: October 25, 2000
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  Since: April 4, 2002
 The problem with the USA is we do not have enough train tracks/infrastructure; and we will need them badly when the days of cheap oil are over and we will need more energy-efficient transportation solutions.

This problem combined with a need to generate jobs seems to me a logical excuse for Stimulus activities to take the form of revamping our infrastructure to accommodate more rail-based mass transit/freight distribution and restructuring neighborhoods/cities to accommodate this.

RE: "The problem with trains is the tracks and infrastructure.", posted on November 6, 2009 at 15:07:33
JNS
Dealer

Posts: 656
Location: Midwest
Joined: March 30, 2008
 Well this is all true, but I think that you are missing perhaps the biggest problem. Ameicans dont traditionally like to use mass transit. Good solution for the cities, but we have a big country. Last time I looked we are significantly larger than many of the countries that many use as a model.

I have to humbly-disagree, at least locally, posted on November 7, 2009 at 09:38:57
jdaniel@jps.net
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Posts: 4452
Location: No. California
Joined: December 16, 2003
 I have a friend who commutes from Sacramento to the local college town of Davis on the Amtrak, which goes on to San Franciso, etc. When gas peaked at $5 a couple of years ago, (did we ever know why?), the trains became packed.

As long as we have cheap oil, we have the luxury of "personal transportation"., posted on November 6, 2009 at 16:51:40
oscar
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Posts: 13472
Location: Fort Worth, TX
Joined: October 25, 2000
Contributor
  Since: April 4, 2002
 When the cheap oil goes away (and it will), we will have to adapt. Suburbia only exists because of cheap oil. When gas hits $5/$10+ gallon, driving 50 miles/day to/from work simply will not work for most Americans. It's only a matter of time before we have to contract "suburban sprawl" and replace with neighborhoods centered around mass transit. The only question is how painful that transition will be.

Better save that increasingly precious fuel for farm equipment and for bringing food from the farms to the Cities.

I was mistaken. Hyundai is coming out with the one of the more affordable fuel cell cars. nt, posted on November 6, 2009 at 08:38:52
jdaniel@jps.net
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Posts: 4452
Location: No. California
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 .

RE: I was mistaken. Hyundai is coming out with the one of the more affordable fuel cell cars. nt, posted on November 6, 2009 at 13:59:47
JNS
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Posts: 656
Location: Midwest
Joined: March 30, 2008
 Maybe you brilliant Californians should step up the innovation.

RE: I've been worrying about it for years. The Stimulus will only prop us up for so long, posted on November 6, 2009 at 08:06:23
castironandtubes
Audiophile

Posts: 3854
Location: NY
Joined: October 31, 2003
 "Hyundai was the first to develop the hybrid drive train."

Really? Got a source on that? I didn't think they had done anything with hybrids until very recently.

re: Illegals it is possible that some of those jobs are not available for legals because the illegals are the available preferred workers.

Yes sad news about unemployment but this was long expected and the signs continue to point to recovery in the job market eventually. 119k jobs lost is not bad compared to a few months ago.

Dave

Sorry Tubes, I was mistaken. With regard to jobs..., posted on November 6, 2009 at 08:44:16
jdaniel@jps.net
Audiophile

Posts: 4452
Location: No. California
Joined: December 16, 2003
 I suppose it's coldly comforting that job-loss is slowing from approx. 600,000 in January (not to mention the previous 2008 months) alone to a "mere" 200,000 in October.

RE: Sorry Tubes, I was mistaken. With regard to jobs..., posted on November 6, 2009 at 12:44:38
castironandtubes
Audiophile

Posts: 3854
Location: NY
Joined: October 31, 2003
 No doubt it's an indication of how we are still hurting, I know I am as are most people that I know. The only positive is that generally the current indicators point to a better situation down the line.

Dave

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