Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and West Virginia all get Minimum Wage increases today

IMF: Decline of union power has increased income inequality

IMF: Decline of union power has increased income inequality

The empty vessel of yesteryear: SEARS shows no sign of improving.. and instead is becoming more irrelevant by the day..

I still utilize the store for my oil changes and tires… but the last time I went there for a suit, I had a choice of one or none.

The store is dying a slow death…

Half The Country Makes Less Than $27,520 A Year And 15 Other Signs The Middle Class Is Dying

Half The Country Makes Less Than $27,520 A Year And 15 Other Signs The Middle Class Is Dying

Washington POST reports" The recovery puzzle: Matching jobs to job-seekers

Post the want ad and wait for people to line up? In places such as this town in rural Ohio, it’s not that easy.

This is an interesting story..
And a lesson on why the American economy is not steamrolling back to life.. (no matter what any politician or President says)

The skills of Americans are becoming obsolete.. We are the service economy.

So why happens with robotics replace the waiter? What happens when the service is performed by a mindless patented creature? 

I don’t know.

And no one seems to be trying to answer that dangerously close question..

Washington POST reports" The recovery puzzle: Matching jobs to job-seekers

Staples to close 225 stores as sales move online

Staples to close 225 stores as sales move online

Big people. Little houses.

A new idea: “Tiny houses” to end homelessness.. 

My quick take: It looks more like little dog houses, as though there is a new low in America.. that instead of trying to get better jobs in this nation, or industry, or good construction, we are going to promote the idea of making one body ‘homes’ that people can hide away in like pieces of garbage.. 

One ‘advocate’ quoted in the NBC story says that this could ‘revolutionize housing’ in the United States.

He may be right. The only house most Americans will be able to afford will be these tiny houses..

TIME TO LOSE WEIGHT, AMERICA! You’re being downsized..

A 'tsunami' of store closings expected to hit retail

CNBC: Get ready for the next era in retail, one that will be characterized by far fewer shops and smaller store footprints.

There are three or four malls within a 40 mile square radius of Coal Speaker home base that are practically empty.. Malls try their best to hide empty stores with decoration and advertisements, but there are barren spots. Too many..

I recall those wonderful days of fall, back in the 1980s and 90s when malls were busy.. Internet came and shut it all down.

I know I actively take part in the current day Internet fad. But I will miss stores. I will miss malls. I will miss places like that.

We all will.

It would seem the economy is about to get a big hit this year.. if CNBC is right, a lot of places you shop at (or don’t?) are about to close doors. JC Pennys was first. Who’s next?

A 'tsunami' of store closings expected to hit retail

The McDonald's employee resource site has been shut down

It’s no surprise. The site was completely out of touch with reality..

There was one section on the mock budget that left a line for second income—perhaps an acknowledgment that Mcdonalds money alone will not assist you living.

There’s a lot of debate lately about the wages Mickey Ds pays—and the lack of them. I heard some in the debate argue that making more than minimum wage is just too much for flipping burgers—but that argument discounts one important factor, that flipping burgers and the service economy as a whole is the new American job!

There isn’t much manufacturing .. Tech development in the United States is behind so many other nations.. Fast food and restaurant work is here to stay—until the robots take over I guess ..

But it really is a big economic issue.. The fact that so many, often including college graduates, are with left with no jobs besides service work, makes me almost think it propels the debate into an uncharted territory..

I don’t eat fast food much, but I have worked in restaurants most of my life and have a dream of owning one in the future .. (Distant future as I look at my
Bank account).. And I can tell you: One income from a restaurant is not enough to survive.

The EBT crash.. 'Was it a dry run?' someone asked. Nah, said me. Then my brain started to ponder..

….but how long would it take before social unrest if they never did?

I asked this question of myself a number of times yesterday. If you didn’t know, the EBT system was down in much of the United States. The technological glitch stopped people from using their food stamps to purchase items at grocery stories across the nation. 

I heard one person asking, “Is this just a dry run?”

And that is a fascinating question, given the possibility that if our government can’t agree on anything, October 17 may be a very bad day in the markets, and the global economy. That’s the date we default.. on debt.. owned by lots of other nations.

China will be seeing red!

Nonetheless, the prospects of permanent inactive EBT cards—and social security checks that stop being sent—are possible Armageddon-like scenarios that the United States faces. About 49% of people live in a household that receives some type of government assistance.  that can be minor, to major. 

I have long held a belief that the people on welfare and other programs, though maligned and used as political fodder during election campaigns to divide voters, don’t pose much of a threat to anyone.. As a matter of fact, numbers back up my way of thinking: The government spends MORE on corporate welfare and programs than it does on the social end of it.. fat cats stay fat while stray cats pick at the garbage .. The same goes for humans, where big companies can achieve greatness with the held of a long arm  of Uncle Sam, while social programs seem to simply keep people in the darkness of a permanent lower class ..

But all of that aside, the prospects of the food stamp program going down …right now.. are interesting.

That comment, ‘was it a dry run,’ keeps sticking in my mind like glue. 

I don’t propose any form  of conspiracy theory that the government would use some sort of weird experiment to see how people would react (now they’d never do such things, right?), but it’s surely interesting timing. The week coming up when the system may actually halt, and this weekend a little 17-state issue for people trying to use their cards.. 

Corporations that rely on government have their safety net already. They bought it—often with money from the government.. but those relying on a weekly check or a pittance of money to live? They don’t have a safety net.. Their net is tattered and filled with holes.. filled with pitfalls. What would happen if the social security checks stopped? The EBT cards? The rest of it that 49% of Americans rely on? Some others have speculated on what would happen..  I will let them do the speculation. I am just asking questions—questions based on what we saw yesterday with the system crash.

And if you don’t believe me, or other non-experts in the field of anything, rely a little on the good word of CNBC. They know their money. And they also wrote about 7 doomsday default scenarios that the United States could experience should the house of cards fall down..

So was it a dry run?

Probably not.

But I sure bet the powers that be, whomever they be, are studying the outcome of just a few hours of a system crash to see what would happen if one of those seven disasters played out in a post October 17 world…

No, this is not Newt Gingrich in drag. It’s Janet Yellen. And yes, she’s a woman.

Expect to see her face a lot more from now one.

Give em’ Yellen: Janet Yellen about to take over the Federal Reserve. Evans Pritchard writes: “The Fed will be looser for longer. The FOMC will continue to print money until the US economy creates enough jobs to reignite wage pressures and inflation, regardless of asset bubbles, or collateral damage along the way”

Today.. woman with lots of white hair. Tomorrow: Time Mag’s man of the year?

This is a striking story .. unbelievable numbers.. and we all feel the fear . . 80% of United States adults face near poverty and unemployment. 80%.. That means four out of five American adults are struggling in this economy with joblessness, or the fear of it.. The Associated Press says it signals “a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream”.. The elusive American dream..

6 Startling Facts About Moms Working In The Restaurant Industry

Well… they are not startling unless you are a mom in the restaurant industry, know one, or have one..

This could go for several industries.. 

But so often people, not just moms, but also some men, who work in the trade of serving the well-to-do their steak and lobster are unappreciated. 

Even Justin Bieber urinates in your bucket when you least expect it..

6 Startling Facts About Moms Working In The Restaurant Industry

So this is what happens when Congress wants to 'reform' something: Student Loan Calculator

Big banks enjoy government interest rates as low as 0.75 percent. Meanwhile, student loans are set to double if Congress doesn’t take any action. How will your future be affected?

The website http://democracyforamerica.com/studentloandebt shows you exactly how the new Senate school loan bill will effect you. For me, I better pick a higher monthly payment … read it and weep.

So this is what happens when Congress wants to 'reform' something: Student Loan Calculator

Americans hate their jobs and even perks don't help

So utntil the economy improves, or the manufacturing-based is back, or people just flat out what a hire again, until then don’t take this job and shove it even though we absolutely hate it..

Americans hate their jobs and even perks don't help

Bank of America whistle-blower’s bombshell: “We were told to lie”

Bombshell: Bank of America whistle-blowers detail horrid schemes to fleece borrowers, reward foreclosures (UPDATED)

How many more ‘bombshell’ reports can we get before we just stop being blown away? We are probably filled to the top of our minds with whistle blowers telling us the truth—so much truth that we just resign from reality and delve deep into fiction and fun. It’s summer after all.. so no better time like the present to offer up some disgusting reports of schemes inside the BOA..

Bank of America whistle-blower’s bombshell: “We were told to lie”

The New York TIMES: Faces of the Minimum Wage

The number of Americans earning minimum wage has grown significantly since the recession hit; here, stories of getting by.

Good read. And important..

Where are we going as a nation? Is it acceptable that we are not creating good jobs anymore, but instead expanding the base of the minimum wage earners—a future where the middle class will not exist and it will only be a rich vs poor Robinhood society..

The New York TIMES: Faces of the Minimum Wage

More Americans quit jobs, a sign of confidence

WASHINGTON (AP) — More Americans are quitting their jobs, suggesting many are growing more confident in the job market.

Really? Maybe people are just quitting before they get fired.. or just tired of dead end jobs.

I love economists.. they see so much in something that’s not there.. Any little thing—and the amazing thing is those small little events, like people quitting their jobs, are enough to move money markets around the globe..

More Americans quit jobs, a sign of confidence

Changing times.. 

40% of moms are now the family breadwinners..

Don’t think for a second that it means women are making more.. Women are still underpaid when compared to men in certain positions. Equal pay remains an issue..

This story also means everyone is making less, fewer have pensions, only some have 401Ks, and finally, unemployment has hit construction and manufacturing—industries that primarily have affected men. I think this is less a good thing and more a sign of bad economic times. They say the Great Recession is over. If that’s true, it’s certainly a long time to recede..

Happy days are here again?

The Dow made history today, hitting 15,000 after a strong jobs report

For every rise there’s a fall. Lets hope the economy is rising finally and that happy days are indeed here again.. Until the next economic autumn sets in.

However reality cannot escape me.. I don’t see the ‘happy days’ for the 99% yet.