Old photo from a local Chamber of Commerce telling men to keep walking—don't ask for jobs here.

December 15th, 2009

by Michael Luo and Megan Thee-Brenan
- New York Times

WebNote:  Read this column then check out the comment section on the NY Times site. Looks like Americans might finally be getting mad enough for that R3volution.

More than half of the nation’s unemployed workers have borrowed money from friends or relatives since losing their jobs. An equal number have cut back on doctor visits or medical treatments because they are out of work.

Almost half have suffered from depression or anxiety. About 4 in 10 parents have noticed behavioral changes in their children that they attribute to their difficulties in finding work.

Joblessness has wreaked financial and emotional havoc on the lives of many of those out of work, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll of unemployed adults, causing major life changes, mental health issues and trouble maintaining even basic necessities.

The results of the poll, which surveyed 708 unemployed adults from Dec. 5 to Dec. 10 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus four percentage points, help to lay bare the depth of the trauma experienced by millions across the country who are out of work as the jobless rate hovers at 10 percent and, in particular, as the ranks of the long-term unemployed soar.

Roughly half of the respondents described the recession as a hardship that had caused fundamental changes in their lives. Generally, those who have been out of work longer reported experiencing more acute financial and emotional effects.

“I lost my job in March, and from there on, everything went downhill,” said Vicky Newton, 38, of Mount Pleasant, Mich., a single mother who had been a customer-service representative in an insurance agency.

“After struggling and struggling and not being able to pay my house payments or my other bills, I finally sucked up my pride,” she said in an interview after the poll was conducted. “I got food stamps just to help feed my daughter.”

Over the summer, she abandoned her home in Flint, Mich., after she started receiving foreclosure notices. She now lives 90 minutes away, in a rental house owned by her father.

With unemployment driving foreclosures nationwide, a quarter of those polled said they had either lost their home or been threatened with foreclosure or eviction for not paying their mortgage or rent. About a quarter, like Ms. Newton, have received food stamps. More than half said they had cut back on both luxuries and necessities in their spending. Seven in 10 rated their family’s financial situation as fairly bad or very bad.

But the impact on their lives was not limited to the difficulty in paying bills. Almost half said unemployment had led to more conflicts or arguments with family members and friends; 55 percent have suffered from insomnia.

“Everything gets touched,” said Colleen Klemm, 51, of North Lake, Wis., who lost her job as a manager at a landscaping company last November. “All your relationships are touched by it. You’re never your normal happy-go-lucky person. Your countenance, your self-esteem goes. You think, ‘I’m not employable.’ ”

A quarter of those who experienced anxiety or depression said they had gone to see a mental health professional. Women were significantly more likely than men to acknowledge emotional issues.

Tammy Linville, 29, of Louisville, Ky., said she lost her job as a clerical worker for the Census Bureau a year and a half ago. She began seeing a therapist for depression every week through Medicaid but recently has not been able to go because her car broke down and she cannot afford to fix it.

Her partner works at the Ford plant in the area, but his schedule has been sporadic. They have two small children and at this point, she said, they are “saving quarters for diapers.”

“Every time I think about money, I shut down because there is none,” Ms. Linville said. “I get major panic attacks. I just don’t know what we’re going to do.”

Nearly half of the adults surveyed admitted to feeling embarrassed or ashamed most of the time or sometimes as a result of being out of work. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the traditional image of men as breadwinners, men were significantly more likely than women to report feeling ashamed most of the time.

There was a pervasive sense from the poll that the American dream had been upended for many. Nearly half of those polled said they felt in danger of falling out of their social class, with those out of work six months or more feeling especially vulnerable. Working-class respondents felt at risk in the greatest numbers.

Nearly half of respondents said they did not have health insurance, with the vast majority citing job loss as a reason, a notable finding given the tug of war in Congress over a health care overhaul. The poll offered a glimpse of the potential ripple effect of having no coverage. More than half characterized the cost of basic medical care as a hardship.

Many in the ranks of the unemployed appear to be rethinking their career and life choices. Just over 40 percent said they had moved or considered moving to another part of the state or country where there were more jobs. More than two-thirds of respondents had considered changing their career or field, and 44 percent of those surveyed had pursued job retraining or other educational opportunities.

Joe Whitlow, 31, of Nashville, worked as a mechanic until a repair shop he was running with a friend finally petered out in August. He had contemplated going back to school before, but the potential loss in income always deterred him. Now he is enrolled at a local community college, planning to study accounting.

“When everything went bad, not that I didn’t have a choice, but it made the choice easier,” Mr. Whitlow said.

The poll also shed light on the formal and informal safety nets that the jobless have relied upon. More than half said they were receiving or had received unemployment benefits. But 61 percent of those receiving benefits said the amount was not enough to cover basic necessities.

Meanwhile, a fifth said they had received food from a nonprofit organization or religious institution. Among those with a working spouse, half said their spouse had taken on additional hours or another job to help make ends meet.

Even those who have stayed employed have not escaped the recession’s bite….

Read more at the New York Times

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Introduction to the English Language series

This is the third and concluding part of this three part introduction for Stop Confusion; Speak Clear English

We will begin at where else but at the beginning

We will begin our quest for a greater command of the English language with the basics of English grammar, punctuation, usage, etc. From there, we will proceed to delve deeper and deeper into our subject. Uh, don’t worry, deeper and deeper, in this case, does not necessarily mean harder and harder.

There will be concepts offered from time to time in this series that will cause you some consternation. You will get through those little trials though and before you know it, you will be a learned speaker of the English language.

Believe me, if I did it, so can you. All you have to do is apply yourself.

Now to the real beginning, the acknowledgements.

Acknowledgements:

Some free online resource for grammar, style, and usage are Daily Writing Tips and The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL). The last named is a very robust website, the former is less so.

The best free online resources for anything having to do with English vocabulary are: Ask Oxford, which is the online version of the Compact Oxford English Dictionary (COED) and much more. The next is the American Heritage Dictionary (AHD); and the next best is; Merriam-Webster Dictionary (MWD). It remains, however, my go-to resource online because it offers the best interface and it offers audible pronunciation of the words defined. When a little more in-depth knowledge of a word is wanted,Thesaurus.com (a COED based resource) is a good thesaurus and dictionary, and more is good for that. So is The Free Dictionary. And, finally the Online Etymology Dictionary (Online ED), is good for those who already speak English fairly well want more in-depth knowledge of a word. There is no better online tool for the heritage of English words.

All of these online resources can easily be found. Simply Google them; that is, search for them through Google. Google is clearly the king of online search.

Some of the most important sources I used for grammar, style, and usage are not available online. The first two of these are both inexpensive. They are the rightly acclaimed The Elements of Style (TES), the original and the third edition and Warriner’s English Composition and Grammar (WECG). This last one is available only as a used book. Used books can be inexpensive, especially when purchased online. The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) is in a class by itself as the arbiter of American style compositions.

No English dictionary is equal to The Oxford English Dictionary (OED). It is the arbiter of English words definition. Its 20 volume dictionary of the English language is astounding. Bartlett‘s Roget’s Thesaurus (BRT) is the best thesaurus I have found.

And now I wish to acknowledge the best and most important of them all

I wish to take my hat off and bow in praise of a very special group of people: all the elementary, junior high, and high school English teachers who taught me and survived to tell about it. I am sure those teachers won themselves a far greater reward in heaven for having putting up with the insults and the dirty tricks pulled on them by us meanies. We were sometimes unbelievably dumb and we seemingly always had an uncanny meanness about us. How those teachers survived and continued to love us is one of the great mysteries of my life.

Here’s a little anecdote about one of those dirty tricks

I remember one elderly teacher in high school who drove a Model T Ford to school It was a nice, neat black one; a coupe sedan: I never saw a Model T in any color other than black and all those were coupe sedans, as far as I recall. And, yes, that English teacher’s car was even then an old car.

One day some of my fellow students picked up her Model T and sat it back down so that it sat crosswise in the narrow driveway that fed into the school parking area.

Bless her heart; that dear ole soul may have been a little late getting home that night. That driveway was a tight squeeze when you drove on it in the usual manner. I was unhappy then that I missed out on that dirty trick on what we all agreed was a mean, but excellent old teacher. In hindsight, I’m glad I missed out on that particular dirty trick.  That dear old soul wasn’t really mean at all; she was simply a demanding teacher. Demanding because she knew that she had to be demanding if she was to have any hope of getting excellence out of any of us rowdies.

All I can say about those ole time school teachers is I pray to God they got a special reward for enduring us meanies. Their sickeningly paltry pay checks were certainly not much of a reward, so I would say, they had something coming for all the silent suffering they had to endure from us and from those in the educational power structure they work under.

Can you believe it?

Soon after my return home from military service one of my former teachers, Mr. Leigh, who was by then a grammar school principal, offered me a job as a teacher. I turned that offer down on the spot, even though I had no prospects of another job of consequence. To reason immediately came to mind. The job didn’t pay enough and, considering my lack of education, I would have felt like I was stealing had I taken the job.

And now, welcome to the Stop Confusion; Speak Clear English series. Now, dive in and learn English. I did it before you and you can do it now. Believe me; it will be worth the effort.

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Introduction to the English Language series

Part two of this three part series: Stop Confusion; Speak Clear English.

My journey

Fortunately, soon after I left high school it dawned on me what I had given up in leaving. That realization prompted me to start studying on my own to regain what I had lost in leaving school. I soon found myself wondering if I should enroll in college, once I completed the high school level subjects I had undertaken to study, or should I instead follow in the footsteps of Abraham Lincoln and other successful, self-taught men.

At first I studied tentatively, since I had almost no idea of how to study. Soon though; I began to come to grips with the mechanics of studying. That is when the thirst for knowledge really started to kick in.

Since then, I have hardly ever been without a book. Much like the lamb in the Mary Had a Little Lamb, nursery rhyme, no matter where; everywhere that [I] went, [my book] was sure to go.

I did eventually enroll in college, but my real education came from my studies on my own and through private tutoring by a very special and much learned man of letters.

After I had studied diligently for sometime under this man’s tutelage; some of my friends began to notice that I was changing, and becoming more articulate and well-rounded.

How I came to meet my mentor

Once some of my friends were talking about a certain very learned gentleman of letters they knew of, and how he just might be willing to teach one of us, if he thought we were serious students.

I knew about him, but not very much. His reputation was that of a somewhat mysterious man and a demanding teacher. Few people I spoke with knew much about him other than that he was well-known—in some circles at least—and a well-respected teacher of a certain liberal arts discipline that required excellent speaking, thinking, and writing abilities.

The more I thought about him, the more I thought, why not.

From that point on, there was no stopping me. I went to his home a few days later, hoping to see him; and see him I did.

After being with him just a short while I could see that he positively radiated kindness, wisdom, and knowledge, as if he were filled to overflowing with it all.

The upshot of this meeting was that he agreed to take me on as a private student. God bless him; when he looked on me he saw, not the untutored fellow I was, but a student worthy of his attention.

Soon I came to look upon him more as a mentor than as simply a teacher.

He was demanding of himself and of me

The curriculum he put me through was comparable to similar curriculums offered in university honors programs across the United States. Add to this the fact that I was privately tutored by this highly regarded teacher and you have a program that was easily superior to any anyone I knew had ever heard of being offered anywhere else.

I have related this little story to show my store, but also to show you what can happen when you apply yourself. The simple act of learning to speak English well will cause people to start seeing you in a different light. It is amazing the good things that can seemingly fall out of the sky for anyone who applies themselves diligently to the study of the humanities and the other liberal arts.

As you will see later, I believe the humanities, as that term is usually understood in academia and by much of the public at large, comprises less than half of what is needed for a well-rounded, classic liberal arts education.

Change is gradual

Since the changes are gradual, you may not notice them in yourself at first, but, as you become more proficient in the English language, other people will begin to take notice of how you have changed, and how you have become more literate, and . . . well, smarter. Then, slowly you will begin to notice that, when you read, your comprehension has become so much better, and that concepts that before would have been beyond your capacity to understand have now become clear. You will also notice that you are now able to retain more of what you read.

This brings me back once again to one of the primary reasons for an English speaker to gain a greater command of English.

Stop Confusion; Speak Clear English is not just an empty slogan. The better you understand and speak English; the better able you will be to think lucid, precise thoughts and this will allow you to live a longer, fuller, happier life.

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1. Stop Confusion; Speak Clear English (Part I)

Introduction to the English Language series

Part one of a three parts of Stop Confusion; Speak Clear English.

This series is about improving the reader’s knowledge and understanding of the various aspects of this superlative wonder we call the English Language. Good English language skills are basic to an English speaker’s ability to formulate clear thought images in their mind and turn them into clearly laid out concise thought constructs in verbal or written form.

Fortunately, English is not as difficult to learn as that last sentence is to understand.

Did that last sentence sound a little deep to you? Did you find it difficult to understand or perhaps even incomprehensible? Maybe you had to read it twice in order to understand it. If your answer to any of these questions is yes; take heart.

It may be that you were so unsure of the validity of all or a part of the sentence that your mind decided not to believe it or to at least suspend judgment. All of that going on in your mind could have made the sentence sound like a first cousin to gibberish; like the writing in the cuneiform script image depicted here would appear to be to most people, and that could have caused you to find it difficult to understand. In any event, it is a difficult sentence.

English is truly not as difficult to learn as that last sentence is to understand. All of us should review the basics of clear English once in a while.

I was thinking of Vince Lombardi as I wrote that last sentence. Maybe you, too, recall the story of how one day, when, as the then new head football coach at Green Bay, Wisconsin, he became so frustrated with what was going on with his players on the playing field that he blew the whistle and said, “Everybody stop and gather around.”

Then, kneeling down, he picked up the pigskin, and said, “Let’s start at the beginning. This is a football. These are the yard markers. I’m the coach. You are the players.” He went on, in the most elementary way, explaining the basics of football.

Like Vince’s players, let’s gather around so we can review how to speak clear English and stop confusion.

I don’t claim to be an accomplished linguist or grammarian

I make linguistic and grammatical mistakes sometimes when I speak and when I write. Even the most learned among us make the occasional error. Ordinarily, however, I speak and write clearer English than most people. Knowing my English is not perfect does not keep me from trying to better my own English language skills, or offering those of you who may need it, the fruit of my research into the writings of those who have a superior knowledge of the rules, acceptable usages, styles, vocabulary, spelling, et cetera.

The English Language files will include posts devoted to: English grammar, usage, vocabulary, etymology, spelling, and literature. An abundance of hyperlinks will be offered here-some might say offered ad nauseam—for words in the English Language files that I think that some readers, may have only a hazy understand of-here—I have in mind ESL readers.

I have already admitted that I make grammar and usage mistakes all too often when speaking and when writing. However, I do not see myself totally lacking in linguistic abilities. In fact, I have no doubt that my English is far better than that of the average college graduate; even those with a PhD of some sort. It was not ever thus, however. To paraphrase a wag, whose identity has been lost in the mists of time, I have come a long way, baby. There was a time when I did not know a verb from a predicate, or an adjective from an adverb, and I wasn’t all that sure of what a semicolon was or how to use it either. You see, I was a high school dropout.

If you have stayed with me and read this far, then you, too, are  interested in how to Stop Confusion; Speak Clear English and, thus, have a better life. Part II is just a click away.

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Governor Bobby Jindal and Family

by Matt Langford on February 26, 2009

Bobby Jindal, the governor of my state of Louisiana, has gained much respect in political circles in the last few months. His preparedness in dealing with potential Hurricane disasters skyrocketed him to the top of the Republican ranks.

Recently, Governor Jindal was asked to deliver the GOP rebuttal to a Barack Obama speech concerning the economy. His eloquence, charm, style, success, and age have led many to refer to him as the “Republican Version of Barack Obama.” Despite harsh reviews from his first national speech (although some may argue that their minds were made up before the speech), he is still seen as a politician on the rise.

Still, little is known on a national scale about Jindal. One of the foundations on which the Republican party is based is a strong belief in Christianity. Many politicians on both sides of the aisle attempt to hide or explain away any affiliations they may hold with a particular faith.

Jindal, however, proudly penned and published the following words:

I was born in the United States immediately after my parents arrived here from India. I was raised in a strong Hindu culture, attended weekly pujas, or ceremonial rites, and read the Vedic scriptures. Though my prayers were a child’s constant stream of requests and broken promises, Hinduism provided me with moral guidance and spiritual comfort. It never occurred to me that I should consider any other religion; to be a Hindu was an aspect of my Indian identity. A childhood friend, a Southern Baptist intent on converting the world, first introduced me to Christianity by telling me “you and your parents are going to hell.” I was hardly convinced.

My friend’s exhortations did, however, prompt me to investigate my Hindu faith and motivated me to read the Bhagavad-Gita. Although I found the stories fascinating and the writing magnificent, I was uncomfortable when Krishna convinced a reluctant Arjuna to secure his rightful inheritance by making war against his cousins. Though I did not like seeing a deity advocate violence, this feeling was not enough to reject an entire faith. I wanted to examine Hinduism on its own merits and doctrines.

The main tenets of the Hindu faith involve two basic beliefs. The first is that all souls earn their way into nirvana, a state of blessedness, through good deeds. Since this takes many lifetimes, souls are reincarnated until they succeed. One’s material circumstances are based on the past life’s choices; the very worst souls are incorporated into animal bodies…

The second tenet is that all religions are equally valid paths to the same God. This strips one of the right to criticize any set of religious beliefs, including those of cults and other extreme groups. Thus, God is not concerned with having His followers believe in truth. It is sincerity, and not content, that matters. Yet I had had for years a sincere prayer life and still felt a void in my religious faith. Though I was searching for an objectively true faith that would lead me to God, I was beginning to doubt this existed and was ready to accept the “philosophies,” if not the religious beliefs, associated with Hinduism.

My journey from Hinduism to Christianity was a gradual and painful one. I was touched by the love and simplicity of a Christian girl who dreamt of becoming a Supreme Court justice so she could stop her country from “killing unborn babies.” I was also angered by the arrogance of my Southern Baptist friend who claimed his faith was the one true path to God. He seemed to deny the experiences of billions of people who have never seen a copy of the Bible.

I began reading the Bible to disprove the Christian faith I was learning both to admire and despise. I cannot begin to describe my feelings when I first read the New Testament texts. I saw myself in many of the parables and felt as if the Bible had been written especially for me. After reading every book I could find on the historical accuracy of the Bible and Christianity, I was convinced that the Bible had remained unaltered throughout the centuries and that circumstances surrounding Christ’s death led to the conversions of thousands. However, my perspective remained intellectual and not spiritual.

My investigation of Christianity might have remained at this theoretical level had it not been for a short black-and-white film. Though its depiction of the crucifixion was harsher than that of many similar movies, something about this film hit me very hard. For the first time, I actually imagined what it meant for the Son of God to be humiliated and even killed for my sake. Although the movie did not convince me that anything was true, it did force me to wonder if Christians were right. I realized that if the Gospel stories were true, if Christ really was the Son of God, it was arrogant of me to reject Him and question the gift of salvation.

It would require many hours of discussion with a pastor before I was ready to take that leap of faith and accept Christ into my life. It would take another two years for me to be baptized into the Catholic Church. My parents were infuriated by my conversion and have yet fully to forgive me. I tried to prepare myself for the worst; though I was ready when they ended their financial support, I was not as prepared for the emotional battles. My parents went through different phases of anger and disappointment. They blamed themselves for being bad parents, blamed me for being a bad son and blamed evangelists for spreading dissension. There were heated discussions, many of them invoking family loyalty and national identity. My parents have never truly accepted my conversion and still see my faith as a negative that overshadows my accomplishments. They were hurt and felt I was rejecting them by accepting Christianity. I long for the day when my parents understand, respect and possibly accept my faith. For now, I am satisfied that they accept me…

The motivation behind my conversion, however, was my belief in one, objectively true faith. If Christianity is merely one of many equally valid religions, then the sacrifices I made, including the loss of my family’s peace, were senseless. I was comfortable in my Hindu faith and enjoyed an active prayer life; I only gradually felt a void and stubbornly resisted God’s call from within the church. It was Truth and Love that finally forced me to accept Christ as Lord. “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life: No one comes to the Father except through me’” (In. 14:6). Christ’s redemptive sacrifice proved that God loved me and was lifting me up to Him.

I look forward to seeing how Governor Bobby Jindal does in the next round of elections. Will he stick to his faith and convictions or continue the disturbing trend of denial? Personally, I believe it’s the former. I HOPE it’s the former.

original article for America Magazine

Article Source: Matt Langford, writer

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2. About
3. Introduction

Foolish, incongruous, absurd, it is all of these and more

political files

Not interested?

Some people feign disinterest in politics, saying all politicians are liars and cheats and you can’t believe a word they say, so what’s the use in paying attention to something I can’t help or change. Timothy Geithner could be the poster boy for all the people that think that way. I agree that some politicians are little else than self-serving liars and cheats: some, but not all.

Truth and politics

If a politician told the voters the truth and nothing but the truth; no one, including their mothers would vote for them—okay, maybe their mothers would. That is the reason politicians endeavor to say as little that is substantive as possible. The 1964 presidential race was an excellent example of my point.

Politics and what politicians vote for and against has a profound affect on our lives whether we like it or not; therefore, it behooves us to pay attention and try to make a difference. If we try hard enough we will make a difference and the difference we make may have a totally unexpected and perhaps disproportionate affect on the quality of life of you and a lot of other people.

Our very own tax cheater at our service

Now here is what started me on this little tirade. In the last few days I read about the latest righteous talk to come out of the mouth of a tax cheat name, Timothy Geithner, about tax cheats. Talk about the fox guarding the henhouse. That act easily beat the little fox guarding the henhouse anecdote.

Why, oh, why did our nation’s president ask Timothy Geithner, the Treasury Secretary to talk about tax cheats during his overseas tax-plan announcement a day or so ago?

Here’s a little snippet from that presentation from the cheater himself: Today we are taking another important step toward . . . ending indefensible tax breaks and loopholes which allow some companies and some well-off citizens to evade the rules that the rest of America lives by.

Really? Let’s go back a little way and take a look at Geithner’s “non-answer” answer to a simple question posed by Sen. Jim Bunning during Geithner’s confirmation hearing.

Senator Bunning: Would you have paid your 2001 and 2002 tax had you not been nominated to be the treasury secretary?

Geithner: Senator, as I said initially, I should have asked more questions when I concluded that audit at the time, and I didn’t. When I think back on that, I regret not having done that. But I should have done it at that point.

You may recall that Geithner was working at the IMF when he dodged his taxes. The IMF itself is a tax haven. The income is tax-free. All you need to do is pay your payroll taxes, which is precisely what he failed to do until he was nominated back in December.

Clearly, the liar and tax cheat Timothy Geithner is not the guy to be talking about tax evasion. As Treasury secretary, Mr. Geithner is the individual charged with overseeing the IRS, and he is the man who was guilty of a multi-year delay in paying his taxes. Some people are speculating that Mr. Geithner won’t be around very long as Treasury Secretary. Let’s hope they are right.

Foolish, incongruous, absurd; all of these and more

Mr. Obama demonstrated very poor judgment in using Geithner for this particular attack. One can only wonder why he chose this man for the task of talking about tax cheats. Maybe Mr. Obama thought who better than a tax cheat to talk about tax cheats.

No, I don’t really suppose the president was thinking that way, but still I wonder why on earth he insisted on seeing Geithner’s nomination through in light of all the factual evidence against the man. Another question, of course, would be why he was confirmed by our representatives in Washington?

We should all raise our voices in our own way to get this man completely out of our government at the earliest possible time. Doing this or not doing it may well have a far reaching affect on our collective wellbeing and happiness.

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