Cryptic Priorities

Friday Sep 04, 2009

The US economy is in a deep 2-year tail spin, unemployment is at a national level of nearly 10%, California unemployment at almost 12%, senior citizens are

losing their retirement security, thousands of others have lost their homes, 18 million people don't have health insurance, and thousands of Americans are living in poverty.

And last week someone paid $ 4.6 million to purchase the crypt above Marilyn Monroe.

The purchase was made via eBay with an auction value starting at $500,000. Her final resting place is in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery. She died in 1962.

Let's stop and think about this for a moment.

In terms of educational opportunity the drop out rate is far too high, expensive state of the art technology is lacking, and thousands of college students can't get into classes this fall.

One university has recently offered to add a class this spring for every $6,000 donation.

For the money this individual paid to be buried above Marilyn Monroe, he could have sponsored 767 university classes. How about an investment in jobs, food for the hungry, or some other higher priority?

What is a higher priority? Almost ANYTHING else. The buyer probably purchased the crypt for bragging rights. Am I missing something? Where are people's priorities?

Update: The winning bidder backed out of the deal, so the seller has emailed the 11 other bidders who bid at least $4.5 million, giving them 24 hours to submit new offers.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-marilyn14-2009aug14,0,2135061.story

Category: Economy

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Education For The Unemployed

Friday Aug 21, 2009

President Obama wants to make it possible for people receiving unemployment benefits to go back to school.

He maintains that by retraining for reemployment or new employment that America can ¿lay a new foundation¿ for our nation¿s economic growth by investing in our citizens in this way.

I agree. Why haven¿t we done this before?

Generally those receiving unemployment benefits have to show that they are available and actively seeking a job. To be available for work, you can¿t retool or retrain on a full time basis. Although that seems like a reasonable goal, what if there are no jobs to return to? Would it not make better sense to be retraining or in class getting ready for jobs that are available and will be available in the future? Not to mention the jobs that are empty now because people with needed knowledge and skills are not prepared.

We need fundamental rethinking of our unemployment system and how it works. Can we have a better benefit for our economy and for the individuals looking for a brighter future?

With unemployment running double digits and a continuing recession of almost 2 years and running, I say, ¿Yes.¿ Let¿s change our paradigm and redo the structure.

This IS an idea whose time has come!

Category: Government

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