Texas church rife with anti-vaxxers causes outbreak

The anti-vaccine movement is alive and well, much to the detriment of all residents of North Texas and surrounding regions. This is attributed to a church which is said to have many members who object to vaccination. One would assume for the usual bevy of hysterical claims fostered by the willfully ignorant in service to the powerful. They definitely caused a mess in this case: [Read more…]

I see half-dead people

There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you guys: what happens at local US med facilities starting around midnight on Jan 1, 2014? Because I see a rag-tag mob of sick and injured people walking, even staggering into ERs and waiting rooms by the millions. Like Dawn of the Half-dead: The Real Horror Story. [Read more…]

Another jobs Monday come and gone

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It is a weekly ritual for millions of us now. Scan all the boards for newly posted openings on Monday mornings. I usually start at about 6 AM and apply for anything I haven’t already hit — and I have hit anything more than a few days old. Today’s pickings were slim though. After filtering out scams and other crap, maybe half a dozen legit new job postings remained in total, probably because of a looming holiday weekend ironically called Labor Day. Half those remaining probably paid $14/hr or less.

One of the few new jobs posted that looked better than average was content provider for a rapidly growing, local start-up. [Read more…]

In related academic news, “Trump University” accused of scamming

In news that should surprise no one, Donald Trump is at the center of complaints and a lawsuit alleging he scammed $40 million from hopeful applicants to something called Trump University. According to the suit, Trump U is not a university and was instead merely a vessel to charge people for the privilege of listening to a more sophisticated sales pitch persuading them to spend even more money on equally useless seminars at Trump U: [Read more…]

More tumblers coming soon to a homeless shelter near you

Tumbler: with apologies to gymnasts, my personal term for skilled, educated workers primarily in or near the baby boom generation who have fallen, i.e., tumbled, out of the middle-class into the ranks of the unemployed or underemployed, now mired in inescapable poverty, no health insurance with years/decades to go before Social Security or Medicare can help, and likely soon to be homeless and/or dead in the gutter.

You’d think a Ph.D would offer some insulation against poverty. Think again, many doctored experts are tumbling out of the middle class, others cannot even get hired at a living wage even in academia teaching or researching their topics of expertise.

But fear not! University Presidents and Coaches at the nation’s top schools are doing great. Maybe the others are coming soon to a devastated social safety net near you. Scary graphic below. [Read more…]

Would you work for free please? That would be TERRIFIC

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Suppose the next time a company wanted to hire you, you came back with a standard deal in business these days. You tell them to go ahead and pay you full-time with benefits for three to six months, while you play around on the beach or golf course, and maybe, somewhere along the way — you’re not saying when or how — if you feel like it’s still a good fit, you’ll go ahead and start showing up for work. What might that company’s managers say? Now reverse the roles and you have the great intern scam. It’s all the rage, even in the White House: [Read more…]