So why are more companies not yet hiring?
U.S. Workers are still filing a large amount of unemployment claims and this is after five weeks of declines in this area.
Where are the culprits and which industries are still hurting? It’s apparent as we have seen over the last year is that a gradual stabilization of the economy does not naturally translate to a increase in the labor market stability.
The gripping effects of the recession have no indications of going into a double dip as economist like to call it, trade gaps are narrowing, imports and exports are up, and yet bottom line profits are not improving.
Where are the jobs going and why even after the influx of billions of dollars in stimulus funds…the unemployment rate still hovers around 9-10%?
Something I’ve Observed: A locust is a locust and not something else
A locust...look hard...take note...look again
Can I please resolve this confusion once and for all? It’s the late summer time, the summer means lemonade, baseball, pre-season football, and the incredibly loud, buzzing sound in our trees that occurs every night around dusk. Yes, the sound of locusts!…err WRONG!
Ladies and gents, you are hearing the mating call of the Cicada. It looks nothing like a locust, is not related to a locust, and never even had relations with the locust anytime in insect history. Calling the cicada a locust has been passed down from one misinformed generation to the next, from one overall clad grandpa to his kin’s kin.
Most city folk have never even seen a true locust because they typically travel in swarms by the billions and can wreak havoc on crops. If you’ve seen a grasshopper, you have seen a close relative of the locust. But a cicada isn’t a locust—–cicada—-locust—cicada—locust.
The cicada literally comes from a Latin word meaning “buzzer”. So remember, locusts look like grasshoppers and destroy crops, cicadas are those scary looking, though harmless buzzing guys you hear everynight in your yard.
God, I can finally sleep now that this has been clarified!
Thanks for all the props !!
Facebook status messages that are better left unsaid…
Here is another in my series of rants and satirical views of our favorite pastime, Facebook.
Anyone who knows me within my inner circle understand how status messages in Facebook crack me up, I often make cracks and laugh at them because hey, I can.
I am an avid user of Facebook and do leave an occasional status message so I know how the game is played, but I do try to keep a lid on what I feel is appropriate banter for the general public and what I should keep to myself.
Over time I have observed countless types of status messages and long to decipher where they come from, what the motive is for posting them, and what reactions the user is trying to harness from their friends.
My compiled list of common Facebook status genres:
1) The Mood Status: This is a very popular one which usually starts with a negative ode’ to Monday morning or the next morning after a heavy night of drinking. Can also indicate that someone is having a great day. Examples: “I feel blessed today”, “Monday’s can bite me”, or “I miss my Aunt Edna, wish she wasn’t tied to the top of the car”.
2) The Joke Status: This typically implies that there was no original thinking put into it and as a last ditch effort, a joke or riddle was used as a status filler. Examples: “Two guys walk into a bar, ouch that had to hurt”, “I was staring at the stars last night and wondered, where did my ceiling go?”, “Everyone should breast feed, it’s room temperature, cat’s cant get into it, and the containers are attractive”
3) The Boring Status: This is a status that’s like your providing a GPS coordinate of your every move and it’s not an exciting one at that. Examples: “Just left for work”, “Throwing clothes in the dryer”, “Eating dinner with my mom”. Again, we could live without the realtime update, maybe better left to Twitter.
4)The “TMI” Status: All too common but all the while very funny. Examples: “OMG, my dog just puked on my lap”, “Colonoscopy went well, but (butt) still a little sore from the cam”, “Can someone tell me what kind of green discharges are normal?”
5) The Chronological Status: If you miss too many of these you won’t follow along and will miss something vital. Examples: “Just took my math test, wow was it hard”, “Took math test two days ago and waiting for my score”, “Sweet, got my score back!”, “Holy Shit I flunked, mother*** ”
6) The Posted it Wrong Status: Very simple one. Examples: “John is”, “Beth is”, “Chuck is”
7) The Write on Wall Status: I know a lot of people who fell victim to this when the FB format changed earlier in the year. Examples: “Dude, that is awesome, lets get ripped!”, “Are you serious?, he’s a jerk, “OMG, LMFAO, LOL, your baby pics are adorable, call me! 
”
The Chain Letter Status: One of my all time most hated things on FB. Examples: “The top 25 list”, “Write 10 things you dont like about me”, “Sign the petition to make puppy mills legal and pass it to 25 of your friends and you will see a picture of God display on your FB page!”
9) The Come Back to Haunt you Status: This is all too common and makes me cringe when I read it, folks, keep it to yourself best you can. Examples: “OMG, are all managers ‘effing worthless”, “Nothing like being drunk 5 days in a row!”, “Who knew I would get put on the sexual offenders list for that party I hosted last night, hehe”
10) The AWOL Status: Not a status but rather the complete lack there of. One of your friends who you added over 6 months ago and they have gone dormant. Not sure if you need to message them to see how they are or just leave it be. Makes you wonder, did they get all hyped up for FB for the first week then realized it’s a black hole, crack like substance that requires that you little by little wean yourself off?
Maybe no status is the best kind…
Keep your chin up America!!!
Something I’ve Observed: Health care reform is a two headed snake
I am very confused and troubled by all the backlash and analysis of the health care reform proposals. 
Health care is broken…or is it? The current system employs millions of Americans in good paying, secure jobs in the private sector. Those jobs could potentially be lost if more Americans were given “non-private” options at a cheaper price.
Most insured Americans obtain their insurance from an employer based plan…so if you were to lose that plan are you obligated to now enroll in the government backed plan even if the provisions or coverage was not as good as your employer based plan? However, if the portability option comes into play, you take the plan with you…but you don’t have your job anymore, so do you now pay the actual premium for the plan that your emplorer paid or does it adjust to a more affordable price while you search for a new employer plan? I am hearing that many private based plans could disappear with these changes.
I am all for dissemination of medical techniques and procedures. We should all be granted much more freedoms when it comes to how we are medically treated and what medicinal approaches we are most comfortable with. If a “panel” of experts is assigned to a specific medical discipline and given the task of deciding best courses of treatments for people, does that sever the relationships people already have with their doctor when it comes to health choices? Are we placing too much medical decision making in the best interest of the “whole” or the “individual”?
It’s not that I think the plan reformation will be a complete move to a Socialist plan, I am not that definitive in my thinking. I just want to be sure that our leaders do not sway so far from the private sector that it has a negative impact on the good things the system currently provides.
Which leads my thoughts in a completely different direction? The current system is a market based health system in which individual, stock driven companies call most of the shots. As much as I would like to believe there are regulatory forces in place, my gut tells me otherwise. Multi billion dollar organizations have a lot of influence on health legislation and legislators. Many ask the questions so why with all this market freedom, capital, and research funds…do we not have the magic number on treating societies major ills? (obesity, heart disease, cancer, etc)
With all the focus on health, exercise, and wellness…why is 90% of our country still fat? Does the balance swing back towards the food industry’s interest as well? I think so….actually I don’t understand any of the statistics, the trends, the habits, the demographics, or why nothing ever seems to level out in the long run. Does anybody know, please help me.
Something I’ve Observed: Dislike of the “really busy” people at work
Maybe this should not annoy me as much as it does, but everytime I hear it, I want to scream, belt the person, or look at them and say “who cares?”
You have two populations of people at work, those who work and those who are always announcing to everyone else that they are working.
You know who I am talking about? It’s that person who is just completely “overextended”, hasn’t any more capacity for additional work, and seem to be yapping on the phone more than anyone else in the room.
It’s also not surprising that these same people never get anything done, it’s because they are so “damn busy” they just don’t have time for anything else on their plate. Did these people go to some special university that specializes in daily self affirmation of their success over very little achieved?
In this economy, how are these people keeping their jobs? There is a trick to looking busy, is it the mass of printed paper scattered over a desktop, or having your head buried in a phone all day? I know, it’s that very fast paced walking down the hall with glasses low on the nose holding something that looks official…that must be the trick to the disguise.
I don’t take too well to these people…
I find myself gravitating towards those people who never spout off about how busy they are. Yet, they have a high stress position and have major accountability to get things completed, and they usually do.
The workers who typically keep to themselves, don’t mingle in the cool crowd, and have a very clean work space, these are the folks who normally are on the ball. They are organized and are able to successfully use the electronic media within the PC to save documents rather than post art all over their walls as to appear as if they have unreal job responsibilities.
Save the artwork for the fridge…
Rant over and off my chest…thank you.
Something I’ve Observed: An introduction…
I was so inspired by the Simple Thought series that I had to introduce something similar, but not as informational and news worthy. “Something I’ve Observed” is more of a snapshot of something currently in my head that is either bugging me, bothering me, or enlightening me.
Simple Thoughts are more thought provoking, insightful, and are things that makes you go… Hmmm. Something I’ve Observed is a mere spewing of non headline news but needing to be blogged on.
Let’s connect through our social network…but I’m only keeping you around for seven years then you’re gone!
Another installment of my rant and raves about all things related to Facebook and the like. 
Interesting (but kind of worthless) studies being done on friendships and social networks. This one does fascinate me simply for the fact that I think it rings pretty dang true. Most of us have long lasting friendships that we cultivated in grade school, junior high, high school, or college and for the most part, those relationships are still in tact. They might be strained by distance, family, or career paths, but they remain solid in some fashion.
The researchers found that most people’s “close” network of friends changes approx every seven years and those people are replaced by new ones. However, let’s not forget that in those social groups still remain the long lasting friendships that never go away, like I mentioned earlier.
I tend to look at this study in the context of social networking sites and the impact they have on our life at that particular moment in time. Most would agree that social networking is dictated by a combination of factors: your past, your location, your interests, your lifestyle, and your job.
What’s the first thing that most people do when they open a Facebook or MySpace account? You immediately attempt to locate all of your “real friends”, either those from the past or those you just met. Instantly a chain reaction is kicked off in which you add everyone to your list.
Next, you analyzed those you work with and determined who met the “cool factor” enough to be added to your friend list as well. I did it and I know you did too. Only a handfull of those “professional based” friends will still be around over the years, some will become good friends, some will become references or your professional “posse” I like to call it. Some you will never see or talk to again…and yet they were a “friend” at one time. Kind of a loose, interpretation of a strong word and it’s thrown around very easily.
Are you necessarily the best of friends with all of these people?, of course not. The same holds true for trusted co-workers, band mates, buddies on your softball team, etc. There is a sense of collective good feeling to reach out to those who you share a past (or a present) with. But, we all know the virtual connection is a fleeting one. You allow this person to penetrate your social network just enough to share a few stories, maybe a referral for a job, make some happy hour plans, or swap old stories of the past until you run out of things to say. 
The act of adding friends in the virtual world is dictated by the context in which we meet those people. Just one year ago, half of the people in my social network (if you call it that) didn’t even exist to me. Take a step back and look at who comprises your social network…are they co-workers?….family?….neighbors?…direct reports?…your current manager?…a friend of a friend of a friend who walked your sister’s dog one night last July?
Your social network is expendible and the members come and go like the wind. You change jobs, you move, your family situation changes, you meet someone new, you part ways with someone. All of these “conditions” dictate the make up of who your friends are at any given moment.
As you’ve guessed by now, I can be a little cynical of social networks and what their real value is. It is not a cyanisim grown out of hatred or despise for the world of social networking, but rather based on experiences or the experiences of other people I know. I have seen people brought to tears by messages left on social sites, I have seen people misinterpret something causing anger. I have seen people say things on a social site of which most people would not have shared with anyone had it not been for the website they were on. I have seen people alienate themselves in jobs based on a purely accidental posting of something better left unsaid.
I have grown to respect the social network because it can serve a purpose, some of which are heeded warnings. Do keep in touch with trusted co-workers even after you leave a job, do keep in touch with people who you share a history with, do keep in touch with people who are real world friends, and do use a social network for the benefit of the common good (a charity, a cause, etc). Don’t use social networking to air your dirty laundry, don’t use social networking to spread hate and scorn for others, don’t use social networking for your own personal or professional gain and not recognize the actual “person” who made it possible (this applies more to LinkedIn), and finally don’t use social networking as a tool to elevate your virtual status among your peers…because frankly you don’t have a status, none of us do.
When I have examined my own Linked In network, my Facebook network, my “real world” friends (some of which also live in the virtual world with me), I come to some conclusions.
My conclusion is a simple one, social networks are 5% useful, 5% virtual voyerurism, and 90% pure, internet based entertainment (as is this rant although I tried to infuse some truths).
The only internet past time that conquers social networking is PORN.
Just another Monday morning traffic rant
Highway driving is unique in that it’s a big game of give and take. At times, you give a little and let someone change lanes in front of you- other times you take, and purposely cut people off because they won’t let you in. (Even after your turn signal has been on for 10 minutes)
One of my new pet peeves is dealing with the merging traffic. Merging on the highway essentially has two reference points – that of the driver on the ramp, and that of the driver(s) in the far right lane of the highway. In my view – this is the quintessential moment of truth which determines whether or not a potential catastrophe will be avoided or not. Again, this all depends on who’s willing to giveth or taketh.
According to most traffic laws, the merging traffic is to yield to those drivers already on the highway, makes sense. In some states like California, the traffic is so heavy that merging traffic has a stop light which instructs them when to enter the highway. The issue is much more complicated then that and here is a breakdown of scenarios we face during this scary 8-10 seconds of time:
1) Merging driver is hauling ass on the ramp!
A favorite of mine because this driver feels that in order to successfully enter highway traffic, one must reach 75mph on the ramp and blow away every driver currently in the right lane. This driver is typically in a Ram pick up, red Nissan Altima, or a late model Trans Am firebird. I can usually see this joker coming down the ramp a good 30 seconds before he reaches the highway and proper concessions are made. Either change lanes or risk getting plowed.
2) Driver in right lane mimics the exact speed of the merging driver.
This is a strange phenomenon when you are the merging driver and oh so pisses me off. Magically, the right lane driver becomes your shadow and you can’t shake them, you slow down, it slows down, you speed up, it speeds up. When this person does eventually let you over, you’re halfway into the grass. There needs to be an option to simply make your vehicle hop over this person and land in the lane next to them. Take note, this can also happen to the right lane driver who experiences a merging car doing the exact same thing – so both parties can be guilty of this one.
3) Merging driver who’s lane is ending and they don’t signal when coming over.
This is the moment when you wish that idiot would pull over and say a small prayer that you let him in, otherwise his vehicle would have kissed a V-shaped, steel turnbuckle head on. Not only did he fail to see his lane ending and the sign was clear as day; but he waits until the last minute and darts left with that casual “two blink” signal. As if his car is saying “Yeah, I just cut you off and whacha gonna do about it?” Well, shooting you isn’t an option so I’ll let it go and curse out your mother.
Here is my solution or plea to other drivers. If both drivers would slow down a little and take note of each other’s presence, we would not have headaches at merges. It’s so easy for the right lane driver to inch up or fall back a bit as a courtesy. (Even in heavy traffic, it can be done!) Just the same, the merging driver needs to take caution and understand it’s not a race to see who gets there first but rather a well calculated game of give and take that must be equally played…fairly!
Everyone be cautious and slow down a bit – it’s not that friggin hard.
Pitfall Harry never induced me into taking Cymbalta or killing myself
Get a clue and a life
I love video games. They are interactive, they’re colorful, they promote hand/eye coordination…BUT they don’t run your life! Jesus Christ, another story of some poor kid who’s mere existence is defined by his addiction to a godforsaken video game. Even if the kid was joking, this is pathetic, sick, and just plain…I don’t know what to call it.
When did parents quit teaching their kids that there are things you can say around people and things you can’t? Oh wait, this isn’t the parents fault because this is the day of the “me generation”. The kid who is raised to get everything they want, when they want it, and not have to work for it. They are tech savvy, media whores, myspace junkies, and afraid to get a job. Was that too harsh? Based on that, I can assume that this generation IS able to read…wheeew! I was worried about that one.
Do you hear the lack of empathy in my typing voice? You bet…hey kid, you’re being locked up for being stupid, for being immature, and for thinking the people on the other end of that phone can be treated like you treat your own mother. Speak up young people and let your voice be heard.
Are video games defining you as a generation? I’m convinced there has to be a subset of young people out there who are driven and have a little more common sense than this monkey does. I admit, young people probably get too much bad press and negative attention from their elders (or stupid bloggers like myself). Maybe we see too much of the dumb stuff you engage in and not enough of the really good things you do as well. I know that teenagers are actively involved in charity work , community service projects, etc…but – it never gets the publicity. Heck yeah, I was a idiot when I was younger, we all were. We didnt have the cool toys in the late 80’s early 90’s, but damn it we had Guns & Roses, cheap Milwaukee’s beast 12 packs, and half beaten down cars that we drove around in all night. Don’t lose yourself in your iPod, your Wii, your Play Station, your XBox 360, or your iPhone – lift your head up on occasion and look at the world around you. The world doesn’t exist on an LED screen with cool emoticons, chat windows, text boxes, gas masks, abandoned warehouses with snipers hiding in them, or half naked Anime chicks talking dirty to you telling you to do bad things to her with the click of a mouse (however, I think that’s kinda cool myself). Point being- get out the fantasy world for a little bit and don’t ever inform tech support that you plan on killing yourself.
Young people – keep doing the good things, respect your parents even though they bug the hell out of you, and do something cool like say hello to an old lady in Walmart (if she ignores you then flip her off), drop off a huge box of your old clothes at a thrift store, or wave to the trash guys as they pull up. Be the teenager that others talk highly of. Besides, that old lady at one time might have been smokin’ hot and you’d be texting her all night if you had known her. Actually, you’d be writing her a sweet handwritten letter, asking her dad permission to see her, and maybe getting a peck on the cheek on the first date- and you’d like it!
Heard It In A Bar RSS Feed- Brittany Murphy’s death is troubling March 13, 2010Not that it’s another tragic celebrity death, not that it’s another young life taken so early…these are all troubling and sad in their own right. It’s another tragic case of someone getting caught up in the web of drugs…the legal type! It truly saddens me that so many of these stars seek out more and more prescription [...] […]kansasview
- Internet fun for the weekend… March 13, 2010By far one of my favorite websites of late is called GraphJam.com. Essentially, the website attempts to break down the world and how we interact with it in a series of graphs. It is hilarious when you see how the world around us can be so easily summed up in a pie or bar chart. [...] […]kansasview
- So why are more companies not yet hiring? March 13, 2010U.S. Workers are still filing a large amount of unemployment claims and this is after five weeks of declines in this area. Where are the culprits and which industries are still hurting? It’s apparent as we have seen over the last year is that a gradual stabilization of the economy does not naturally translate to a increase [...] […]kansasview
- Facebook is down…Facebook is down…5:42 (cst) March 13, 2010This website is not a help desk for Facebook but it’s a civic duty to keep the American public aware of all possible natural disasters!! Facebook is down! Facebook is down! Don’t toss your Iphone in the river or hurl it at your wife and complain that it doesn’t work worth a s***. Here is the current [...] […]kansasview
- Hot new golfer to challenge Tiger’s limelight March 13, 2010It’s tough not to hear Tiger Woods’ name in the media of late with all this marital infedelity hoopla and now text messages coming out from his brood of women across the country. Frankly, it’s getting old and let’s focus our attention on those athletes who don’t get all the attention. Especially those golfers who shy away [... […]kansasview
- Eight years of success turns into one year of demise for Kansas coach Mark Mangino March 13, 2010The story and the jokes can finally come to an end. Sports fans throughout the midwest have been following the fate of KU head football coach Mark Mangino and allegations that he verbally and physically abused his players. Well fans, now that he has resigned and the weeks of rumors and headlines about his coaching future [...] […]kansasview
- Tiger’s “cat” is almost out of the bag March 13, 2010Of course we couldn’t wait too long before throwing in our own two cents about the Woods story, it wouldn’t be American! I’m getting to the point where I’m getting angry because this is now a public issue. It’s private until Tiger hopped behind the wheel and crashed his vehicle. It’s private until the police are called a […]kansasview
- Come on ABC…Lambert only kissed another guy, big deal March 13, 2010What’s wrong ABC? You can’t allow a very flamboyant and talented singer on GMA? However, you have prime time shows that openly display homosexual men/women and sometimes they kiss! Brothers and Sisters, Modern Family, Grey’s Anatomy, they all have gay characters who quite frequently engaged in PDA. Granted, these are actors but there is […]kansasview
- Wow! Those facebook pics sure got some attention! March 13, 2010Interesting story out of Quebec, if you haven’t read the article, do so. Once again, a story comes along that just sends my editorial neurons out of whack. So, you go to the doctor and are diagnosed with severe depression…so severe that she is forced to go on short term disability for a year from her [...] […]kansasview
- Palin…go away! March 13, 2010Seriously, I don’t care that you have a new book….I don’t care that you have a tattered relationship with your daughter’s “baby daddy“…and I find absolutely nothing of this fascinating in the least. It’s all over TV, she’s been on every talk show on earth….all for what? To increase exposure for a […]kansasview
- Brittany Murphy’s death is troubling March 13, 2010
