Gas Money

--Recycling, Michael Kountouris

I'm going where the sun keeps shining
Thru' the pouring rain
Going where the weather suits my clothes
--Everybody's Talkin', Harry Nilsson

A man willing to work,
and unable to find work,
is perhaps the saddest sight
that fortune's inequality exhibits
under this sun
--Thomas Carlyle

Strong wind destroy our home
Many dead, tonight it could be you
Strong wind, strong wind
Many dead, tonight it could be you
--Homeless, Paul Simon

In the Big Rock Candy Mountains,
There's a land that's fair and bright,
Where the handouts grow on bushes
And you sleep out every night
--Big Rock Candy Mountain,
Harry McClintock
_____________________

Recently, Florida Governor Rick "Pink Slip" Scott misguidedly called for an increase in the number of engineering and math students in the state as a solution to the unemployment problems the state is suffering. Sorry, but graduating students who will face dwindling job prospects is not the solution.

While Ranger was sitting in Publix enjoying a yogurt the other day, he was approached by a homeless man with a zero-sum scheme: If Ranger would allow the man to purchase his groceries on the man's Food Stamp card, Ranger would then pay the man back in greenbacks. He explained that he needed money for gas because his car was on empty, a car which also serves as his living quarters.

The man recently was released from a 50-day jail sentence for holding a sign on the road and violating the city's easement policy [local Ordinance 12-62] -- aimed at reducing panhandlers and protesters -- since he could not pay the bail nor afford the $385 fine. (He never said what was on the sign, and Ranger never asked; this is Publix's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.)

Now, Ranger associates with the hoi polloi which mill about the only lake in downtown Tallahassee (which was actually a rainwater drain off pond, but that's another story), and so knows this man with the hustle. He is an unemployed engineer with a graduate degree from the Florida System -- of this, there is little doubt. His unemployment recently ran out, and he has taken on various piecework projects over the term of his unemployment, often traveling out of town to do so, but he cannot seem to extricate himself from the rabbit hole he has fallen down. His is not an atypical story.

Here is where Ranger gets all Bolshie: What is it in the universe Republican that eludes his comprehension? Here is a skilled, adult male engineer, Mr. Scott -- where does he fit into your Floridian utopia?

The sadness is, neither party will or can solve this man's or this nation's problems. So, how does a nation live in a car? A person can do so, but what is the national equivalent? The good news is, the man is driving a Ford vehicle and is still buying BP petrol.

As General Petraeus asked, tell me how this story ends.

How Now Brown Cow?

What if I can't stay
What if you can't stay
What if I can't leave
What if you can't leave
--What Do We Do Now?,
John Hiatt

With people running round and round,
bringing one another down
People running round and round,
bringing one another down
--Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush,
Steve Winwood
_______________

On yesterday's 60 Minutes, Andy Rooney suggested that middle managers -- a group among those hardest hit by today's job losses -- reeducate themselves to become plumbers or other trades craftsmen.

Well, it sounds like a ginger peachy, can-do populist idea, except if all the middle managers do so, they will still be out of a job.

National Public Radio did an in-depth feature on "Retraining and Long-term Unemployment," in which craftsmen themselves were retraining for Information Technology positions, and not enjoying a particularly favorable placement rate. So perhaps Mr. Rooney should have presumed the transition of these hapless middle managers into tradesmen, and then taken them into their next possible incarnation and beyond, until some future imagined period when they might gain security.

The building industry cannot support the tradesmen it presently has. Also, has Mr. Rooney considered the impact of his suggestion upon all the illegal Mexican tradesmen so diligently plying their trade who would be displaced by the earnest middle managers who would be now vying for their jobs?

Don't Spend It All at Once

Armaments, universal debt and planned obsolescence
-- those are the three pillars of Western prosperity
--Aldous Huxley
_________________

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there, and to all the people who have helped a child and to anyone who has helped midwife anyone -- yer all mums to me.

Tangentially related is the above coupon for a free meal at Kentucky Fried Chicken. Note the caveat: "Not valid on Mother's Day." Please keep this in mind as you consider taking your mother out, and marry that to this week's news that the economy's looking up (despite the fact that least one of every ten people you meet is out of work.)

Think about those folks who might've thought to take their mom to KFC to celebrate her day. Only they won't be able to use their coupons for awhile anyway, as so many people tried to cash in on their free meal that KFC corporate was forced to rescind the free meal program.

There were hour-plus waiting lines at several KFC's nationwide this week, and police had to set up a cordon in Greensville, S.C. Coupon holders now must go through some arcane application process to gain a second voucher, but hey -- this time with a free Pepsi, too.

We all know the routine: Make the process arduous enough, and you will force an attrition rate. It is much like the food stamp program. The application process is so prohibitive for many without cars and petrol that they just scrap the whole idea, either relying on the kindness of family and friends, food banks, or just going hungry.

Voila! The states declare a great victory as they saw ever-decreasing food stamp rolls.

Today's Wall Street Journal gave notice on their front page to the statistic that "17% of children under 5 may go hungry." I don't know about those over five, but I do not think it magically gets better for them. The New York Times' Bob Herbert sets the figure at a round 20% (Far From Over). So one in five kids you pass probably has a rumbly tummy.

Sorry I haven't more chummy mum's day news, but that's not what we're here for. We'll gladly report the happy when we see it.