Help The Middle ClassNews and Information For The Heart Of America
CNN/OPINION: U.S.-Mexico ‘War On Drugs’ A Failure (CNN)
Editor’s note: Charles Bowden is the author of 11 books, including “Down by the River: Drugs, Money, Murder and Family”; “Juárez: The Laboratory of our Future”; “Some of the Dead Are Still Breathing” and his latest, “Murder City,” about Ciudad Juarez. He is a contributing editor of Esquire and writes for newspapers and magazines such [...]
Unemployment Holds Steady At 9.7%. Temp. Hirings Up March Job Figures (Politico)
President Barack Obama got the first unequivocally good news on the nation’s employment picture Friday, as new government figures showed the nation gained 162,000 jobs in the month of March.
The unemployment rate held steady at 9.7 percent. That’s the first time the nation has gained, rather than lost, in jobs since late 2007, with the [...]
Online Education Scholarships Help Parents Return to School (US News and World Report)
For many parents who split their time between 40-hour workweeks and taking care of their kids, the idea of continuing their education seems almost impossible. An online learning site called eLearners.com has helped parents overcome the three main barriers to returning to school: time, money, and lack of confidence, says Helen MacDermott, content director for [...]
RETAIL WATCH: How Retailers Get You To Spend $$$$ (Yahoo! News)
Chances are your wife doesn’t need a matching pair of slippers to go with the pajama set you bought her this holiday.
But if you spend $5 more, you get free shipping on your order. So it would be silly not to buy them — right?
As the crucial holiday shopping season progresses, retailers are desperate to [...]
Update: What The Stimulus Should Be Doing For You
Whatever its impact on the overall economy, the plan will give your finances a jolt.
You’d definitely want something to show for spending nearly $800 billion, and lawmakers hope a wide-ranging stimulus package will breathe life into our economy. Mark Zandi, of Moody’s Economy.com, figures that the package will give some two million people jobs they [...]
Stimulus Snafus-Aid Being Doled Out At A ‘Snail’s Pace’
Building repairs are underway on public housing in Imboden, Ark., and Cumberland, Ill., states across the country are receiving money to weatherize the homes of low-income residents, and the Silver Star Construction Co. is about to start work on two road-resurfacing projects in south-central Oklahoma with a total cost of $12 million.
“We were thrilled to [...]
One Layoff Leads To Another
A video game company lets go a writer, who then lays off his nanny, who stops visiting his barber, who can no longer afford the waitress’ meals.
When customers sit beneath an intricate gold mural, order kung pao chicken and confide that they’ve just lost their jobs, waitress Alice Lau understands their hurt and fear. She’s [...]
Gov’t Sitting On $22 Billion of Unclaimed Property – Some Of It Might Be Yours
STORY HIGHLIGHTS: • States are sitting on at least $22 billion of unclaimed property • One of the newest and largest sources of unclaimed assets — insurance-company shares — is just starting to flow into state coffers • People often receive letters from private companies offering to track down [...]
After A Layoff, Carefully Pick What To Cash Out First
Unless you got fired for driving your boss’s car into a lake, there’s nothing funny about losing your job. And unfortunately, 3.6 million people — more than the population of Chicago — have lost their jobs since the recession began in December 2007.
If you’re suddenly unemployed, you have a number of unpleasant choices to make. [...]
CNBC’s Interview With Economists Roubini and Taleb (The Two Guys Who Got It Right)
Fascinating interview with Nuriel Roubini and Massim Taleb the two guys who got it right. Unfortunately the CNBC interviewers kept missing the point; still some very significant predictions. Courtesy of Oxdown Gazette
Oxdown Gazette » CNBC Conducts Year’s Stupidest Interview with Roubini and Taleb.
