Many Things

I found an interesting article over at Truthdig about perhaps the most notable achievement of President Obama's administration...one that perhaps will remain virtually invisible for generations until some historical perspective can be achieved. I agree that had Obama not acted aggressively on the economy, things would now be much, much worse. Here is an excerpt: The hardest slogan to sell in politics is: “Things could have been a whole lot worse.” No wonder President Barack Obama is having trouble defending his stimulus plan. If governments around the world, including our own, had not acted aggressively—and had not spent piles of money—a very bad economic situation would have become a cataclysm. But because the cataclysm was avoided, this is an invisible achievement. Many whose bacon was saved, particularly in the banking and corporate sectors, do not want to admit how important the actions of government were. Anti-government ideologues try to pretend that no serious interven...

I had told friends that I would not join them on Facebook, but about three months ago, I did anyway. It's been a blast, plus I found a short temp job via Facebook Marketplace. I also joined Twitter, but I almost never use it. I guess I need someone to teach me its finer points, as I see little virtue in it. On the other hand, now I am addicted to Facebook, especially one of its many games, Mafia Wars. When I first started playing it, little did I know it could become addicting. I've been addicted to games in the past, such as Hearts on Yahoo Games, so I'm sure in time that this addiction will pass away as the others did. I know it will when I find a job and get busy with "life" again. However, in the meantime, join my mafia, damn it.

Contrary to any rumors, I have not been kidnapped or ran away to some far away place. Nothing much has been happening with me except getting poorer financially. I have worked a couple of very short jobs: one six-day contract and another that was under 40 hours. I've had no luck finding work in or out of my field of technical writing. I lost my qualification for unemployment back in March after having quit a contract job I wasn't qualified for. The only way to be reinstated in unemployment is to get a permanent job that lasts for at least six months and then be laid off again. Consequently, I've been borrowing from my home equity loan to make house payments, pay for groceries and utilities, and to pay all the deductibles and co-pays from my gall bladder surgery. I've almost maxed out the loan. Luckily, I will be 62 in mid-September, so I qualify for early Social Security, with a lifetime reduction of about 25-30% because I am not at the full retirement age of 66. My paym...