The Media and the Repugs are Not listening to We The People, this is a blog dedicated to Our Stories of This Depression that was years in the making.We need to document The Truth of These Times.
"The number of new jobless claims in the United States rose by 1.2 percent to 652,000 during the week ending March 21 as the country reeled from recession, the Labor Department said Thursday.The initial claims for unemployment benefits was roughly in line with the 650,000 figure forecast by analysts and marked an increase of 8,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 644,000.The claims peaked two weeks ago at 657,000, a 26-year high.The four-week moving average of initial claims, a more reliable indicator of unemployment trends, was 649,000, down by 1,000 from the previous week's revised average of 650,000, the department said.It said that the number of people receiving unemployment benefits for the week ending March 14 increased to a new record high of 5.56 million, an increase of 122,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 5.43 million." Raw Story Snippet , do link to title for more....
~~~~~~~~~~~ Do read the Comments on this post::: Fran brought up a really Important Point below, for each of those laid off there is Now More People without Health Care and Health Insurance, it is really true...I am working on a post right now that I am actually trying to revise the Un-Insured Numbers and Under-Insured Numbers, it should be up this weekend.
Also Walking Man who lives in Michigan makes a point about Un Employment and in Michigan it is 22%....he is right that we NEED the Infrastructure Projects to start NOW...I agree we need WPA projects....and they need to start SOON...otherwise we are in for a long hot devastating summer....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "In every bit of honest writing in the world there is a base theme. Try to understand men, if you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and nearly always leads to love. There are shorter means, many of them. There is writing promoting social change, writing punishing injustice, writing in celebration of heroism, but always that base theme. Try to understand each other." – John Steinbeck in his 1938 journal entry.. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Plenty Down below...the Repugs "Budget" Brochure and a complete analysis of the 16 pages of drivel...Job Numbers, a post about Eric Cantor was at the Brittany Concert the night Obama gave his Press Conference on the Economy,and more..... I have been thinking alot about the Economy and the Jobs situation and so I will start posting about the WPA projects.... Down below is some videos on the Projects in the 1930's....and some music...Click the title a Garden Video, today's is on Soil and getting the garden soil ready ( our's is still too hard, but within the week, I need to start digging my Hope Garden)... I will be posting about Some New Books this weekend, and also updating on Fargo....have a good rest of the Friday.... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick Taylor an author explains HOW and WHY the WPA Projects helped our Country:
About WPA Works Projects : Art
Music for the night, John Mellencamp " Pink Houses"...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And for Something Completely Different.... Ayn Rand being interviewed by Mike Wallace in 1959..... ( 6-6 and I have been talking about her all week, I encouraged him to read "Anthem " and "We the Living" before "going Galt" and reading Atlas Shrugged or The Fountainhead...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I don't know why no one else has started asking this Question ? How long does a Recession last or deepen before anyone asks the Truth ? And Why is no one pointing out that the Iraq Mess might have cost too much ? for Everyone.....And I do hope people realize that Bush did this...and should be held responsible...Bush NEVER ever ran a successful business....remember Arbusto ? or Harken ? yeah...Daddy Bush had to come bail him out.....this time there is NO Daddy to Bail Out Bush's mess.....
But on another note I do wonder when we will see the Swiss Bank Account List....is the Carlyle Group on it ? Bush and His Daddy ? Dick Potter Cheney ? and how many of the Bailed Out CEO' and other Crooks ( like Sanford? Maddoff ? Lewis of BAC..????)
It is time for the Media to report more on what is really happening to Real People...like More Foodbank Stories, etc. Please do write to them and tell them that....ALL the media. It is not right that Wallstreet Whining gets hours of Airplay yet, my neighbors being evicted and losing jobs gets Silence......This Economic Situation got personal for Many Folks many months ago. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I live in a hood where I can not even count the number of foreclosed homes that sit empty, where families sleep in their cars, where elderly folks use change to buy soup, where Phd's and nurses ( new grads and old) are jobless and living on the edge, where teachers have been laid off, where no one I know has Healthcare ( much less "insurance")...... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "This is Not America"?...David Bowie, video I made with Mandt about What is America right now....( please share it).
WRITE to the Media Make them report The Truth, interview Food Banks, Unemployed, SHOW the Joblines.....Report What We The People are going through.....Everyday...Right Here..Right Now.
Most of those in tent cities are not typical homeless, they are usually families, and underemployed or newly unemployed....Most shelters do not allow families, they are not set up for families....it is almost impossible for many families to pay first and last monthes rent and also utility deposits. And as this Housing and Crisis and Job Crisis continues we all need to be aware of what is happening to families in this country...Our Country..
This is Not America...or is it ? ( David Bowie's song)..(" America and the New Depression".....is how it is named on Youtube.) Mandt and I made this video together, and it is explained in more detail below....
This Song has been stuck in my head as I listen to the Repug Governors talk about NOT taking the Money, because of " Principle". What "Principle" is that ? Letting People starve and live on the street ?Have they NO shame ?
Mandt and I collaborated again on the above Video, he is so talented.....The photos are from around the Country, addressing the New Depression, photos of job lines, foreclosed homes,Job Lines- the photo of thousands that lined up for 35 fFD jobs in Florida, and yes boarded up homes from all over, not just CTown.... and yes, there is a photo of President Obama hugging Henrietta Hughes, she is the woman from the Fort Myers Rally who had been living in her car for over a year with her son....( thanks to that rally she connected with a family that did "lend" her a home....but grief and sorrow and worry brought her to the rally that was held not far from where she slept with her son). There is also a photo of a woman that lost her home in Galveston during IKE, and there are Train Photos from Obama's Trainride InAugural Weekend of What he and Michelle saw as they traveled on that Track, the huddled masses and boarded up foreclosed homes....and yes at the very end there is a VET....One In Three Homeless are VETS...( and No One has investigated HOW MANY VETS and VET families have been foreclosed....or how many return home to be Jobless ?).
Interspersed with Current Photos are photos from the 1930's taken by Dorothea Lange when she took photos for the Public Works Project. I chose them because they truly show the Plight of the Times etched in Folks' Faces....and if you look around, the faces look much the same....the Only difference is her photos are Black and White ? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About the Stimulus Package, All States receive Some Aid of some sort,but more importantly it is about acknowledging the Reality that We ALL are in for some Hard Times....it is better to admit it and work together on facing it and finding Solutions. we are out of time for Deluded Republicans and their Principled Stands that will harm more people and starve folks.
I try everyday that I work to go to work to be very grateful that I have some kind of work...any work.....but I also take something with me....a Bit of Hope and I try to spread that...I remind people that a year ago we had a Delusional King at the Helm of his Titannical Administration that could not say the "R" word....much less look out his window or hell even do a Flyover of the Economic Terrorism that he has wreaked upon this Country....for yes, we have been raped and pillaged economically by the corporotized Neocons.....and I have seen estimated that the Iraq War actually has caused over 1 trillion dollars in economic damage in our economy.....I remind folks that atleast NOW we have a President that gets up Every day and Works on this Mess for us...ALL of us and he is willing and able to talk Reality to us...We The People needed that. We will get through this together, but atleast now we have a President that is awake at 3am, just like us...we all are truly in this Together.
And if you run into Repugs who say Obama is "spending Too much Money", remind them that Bush spent Nothing on US, Nothing on WE THE PEOPLE...that Obama is Investing In Us, We the People , and Our Children and Our Needs and Our Future....and it is about damned time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Housing Update from my area. Here in C-town by the Lake, on the East Side I learned this week that Our Foreclosure Rate is FORTY ONE TIMES the National Average....which would certainly explain the number of empty houses in my hood.The Main Banks here Charter One, Wells Fargo and PNC of Pittsburgh ( that was National City) have put Foreclosures on hold while Obama's Housing Program is being structured and implemented, ( atleast until March). And according to Economists his Plan does address housing needs and problems, and that includes for Renters. ( I do wonder if it has funds for Shelters and Food Banks and Vet Programs as well, but I have not found it on the Internet yet.) (About the Foreclosure Hold here.....hopefully for 6-6 and I that will mean that our spot is safe for now... we already moved once due to having a foreclosed landlord back in 2007...and we are hoping that we don't have to do it again...)
Be good to each other....we all need to take care of each other.... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sunday Updates: 20 % in LA County recieving Assistance and Aid.... ( gee good their Repug Governor KNOWS that times are hard..)
I made this video montage with Mandt of Agitdiaries last year, I found the photos, some are from the internet and some are mine. The music is "Tear Drop" by Massive Attack, Liz Fraser....and he assembled it and put it on Youtube. The photos are from around the Country, Seattle, LA, San Diego, Boston, NY, DC, Baltimore, and NOLA, and Portland, and yes, Cleveland. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I am still worried that DC is not acknowledging how many are being hurt here, that due the Housing Situation and the Job Situation there are many more Homeless and people living on the verge....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So I have been trying to find RECENT statistics on Homelessness, and on the internet, most of the stats are from 2000...(that's right, the stats from the Bush years do not exist) Go ahead and click the title, and you will find the Current Government Page, that 's right - it is ONE lousy page. And then there are links to PDF's. Now here's a clue for the FEDS, people that are homeless reading about Resources at a Library- can NOT Download a PDF !!!
HOW can Funds be distributed to the people that are homeless and resources provided if there are NO Recent Numbers ? I know people are more than a Number, but this is criminal. WHY are there no stats even on Katrina Refugees ? VETS ? Elderly ? Families ?
ONE lousy page..... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I think I need to write to the Obama Administration.....in the meantime it is good to know there are Shelter and Soup Kitchen Resources in DC that are worth reading about.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So I was working on this post....and Obama held a Town Hall meeting in Fort Myers, and he actually reached out and comforted Henrietta Hughes, a Homeless woman living in a her car for over a year with her son......I don't remember the last time I saw a President....or any elected person reach out to a Homeless person.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Millions of Americans are living one paycheck away from the Street.....Living on a Prayer....Today we met for a few moments Henrietta Hughes at Obama's Fort Myers Town Hall....her story touched us...made us cry...Living in her car for over a year with her son....she has been living on prayers...for too long....
( Representive Nick Thompson's wife is now reaching out to Ms Hughes and offering her the use of a home.....the update is over on Watergate Summer....) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bon Jovi Acoustic " Living on a Prayer".....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I keep wondering WHAT will wake up DC, What will make this Crisis Real to them ? It's in DC too....it's all over...Why doesn't the media talk to Depression Experts ? or Economists ? or Paul Krugman ? or hell REAL Americans ?Americans living on the edge, losing their homes and jobs....and young folks pulling out of college, and older folks losing their homes due to medical bills.....It's real and it's happening.....
I have been watching the Repugs and the Media this week, and it occurs to me that none of them KNOW what this is.....or understand WHAT the Economy has done to normal Americans....that We the People are Hurting...and we all have stories....We have neighborhoods with empty houses, and friends, neighbors and family members out of work, or losing jobs, and Healthcare stories, and we SEE the Truth everyday.....The Media and DC are NOT listening to Our Pain and Our Angst....So we have to Write and Blog Our Stories, Our Reality,...Document Our History. So please do tell your stories here, or post them to Youtube, I will post them.....in the 1930's under the Works Project Great artists documented the damage...we need to do the same. Obama is trying to give Americans a works Project with the Stimulus Package, but unfortunately the Media and Repugs are Ostructing a Program that will create jobs and protect the health and welfare of the unemployed.....The Numbers are staggering and worrisome.....
Today the totals for January are 598,000 for jobs lost, that is 3.6 Million since it was "revealed" we are actually in a depression, 1.6 Million in less than 2 monthes....We are In Trouble ( which was obvious when Bush could not even say the"R" word for over 16 monthes....)
Here is a Piece of my story...... ....and WHY I understand The Pain, WHY I see IT....One of my part time jobs is at a market, I help old people count change to buy soup.....I have so many neighbors out of work I can not count them....I have watched people leave my hood, foreclosed, abandoning their houses, and landlords losing their properties. ( I already moved once in January 2007 due to a foreclosed landlord....and I might have to do it again...). I am a nurse ( RN) who can NOT find Fulltime work, only part time work, and I work most hours at Other Jobs....ALL the Hospitals here- the BIG ones have a Freeze on....that is just a piece of my tale....
And then tonight over at Watergate Summer my other blog, Fran of Ramblings left a comment that tugged at my heart....... "last week a busy corner had no home for sale signs- this week there are 3 plus one big red sign for an "auction" of a home (I'm guessing foreclosure).
My husband's one month "temporary" layoff has turned into 6 weeks, then 2 months, with word still pending as to if they will in fact go back to work.
For now, there is unemployment comp, but we are looking @ '08 taxes & because there is no college credit money this year (The college tax write off HOPE program was only good for 2 years), so according to the IRS there is no hope for us this year.
We may have to cough up almost $1000 bucks while unemployed to pay the IRS & having housed a college student rent free all year.
Where is the box to check off," simple oversight" or "honest mistake"????
How about- due to the depression, we don't have the damned money???
Pretty soon this cycle will come full circle to the IRS... people will simply have to default on taxes because the $$ is not there.
Game over.
I can't believe that # of jobs lost in 2009." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So I read what she wrote and it made me realize that we all need to share OUR stories....This is Our History....and there is the Fierce Urgency of Now......and I am listening..... and I will keep listening....... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tracy Chapman..."Talking about a revolution"
Do watch the Video from this CBS story out of Miami- interesting that MSNBC or CNN or FOX did not show this...it happened February 3rd...more than a 1000 lined up, many camped out attempting to apply for 35 -40 Fireman jobs...
NEWSGUY sent this from LA....kind of sobering...and surreal....Here in Ohio...we have Tour Buses and alot of empty houses, so I guess by Summer we could have Poll Ads....send me your photos, I will post them...
I am truthseeking scorched whistleblower,Buddhist mom nurse. I am a newsjunkie,research fiend...I am on Twitter
@watergatesummer. On the Radio 99 Report and The Night Train.
