Slashdot Mirror
OddTod Laid Low by the Law
nickynicky9doors writes "The International Herald Tribune has a NYT article on the recent woes of Tod Rosenberg who started 'Laid Off: A Day in the Life'. Mr. Rosenberg started www.oddtodd.com to tell the tale of a laid off guy who spends days watching TV and eating chips. Oddtod became so successful Mr. Rosenberg reaped cash donations and national TV exposure. Unfortunately it also brought the attention of the Department of Labor who have explained the catch of having to be actively looking for work while collecting unemployment benefits. Another dot com bust."
I bet the Department of Labor just wishes they were as successful as this "unemployed" guy.
"Will work for 15 minutes of fame"
Money for nothing, pix for free
Maybe if he sends the Department of Labor a box of fudge stripe cook-ayes they'll forgive him. :)
I would love to see a slashdot interview of todd... what i really want to know is does he really talk like that? For those of you who haven't seen it, definately check him out. I was even going to by his "Home Of The Whopper" underwear, but I had already bought my novelty clothing item of the month... So maybe later!
Once upon a time...
This guy really needs to get a real job. Director of Business Development for a dot com, huh? Good luck, sucker.
"$405 a week..."
That's about 4x as much as I make as an employed college student. Somebody sign me up for unemployment!
Mr. Rosenberg started www.oddtodd.com to tell the tale of a laid off guy who spends days watching TV and eating chips.
I didn't know CowboyNeal's first name was 'Todd'....
I wonder if the same argument would apply to someone collecting donations on the street. While it is likely that these people are not collecting unemployment how do they define "earning money". On the same note would gambling also be considered "earning money", I know in Canada winnings are not taxable yet there are some professional gamblers that Revenue Canada is attempting to tax due to the fact they consider it a job.
I stole this Sig
I've been (mostly) unemployed in NYC for almost 8 months now. I've spent much of that time on a new web project:
http://subintsoc.net
If someone actually buys the t-shirt we've got for sale on the site, the Dept. of Labor could come after me for making money while collecting unemployment benefits. Then again, technically, it's not a dot-com...it's a dot-net. So maybe Microsoft will come after me instead...
If you visit, try the new do-it-yourself Terror Warning Generator!
And remember, Cogito Ergo Rebello...
When unemployment dries up, and your dot-com fails, I've heard that prostitution pays off pretty well.
Maybe he should try that?
oh what's the problem .. put in a link to his resume on the page and then he'll be "actively" looking for a job by advertising his skills on the web ! The labor dept and everyone will be happy ! Well he might as well get a few job offers that way ;-)
Companies are paying attention to TV now?
Doesn't that mean we should expect more free wifebeater t-shirts for the stars of Cops? Wouldn't it be great to see a Polo logo or a Nike Swoosh on the next drunken, pantless, 3-toothed hick?
------
Today's Top Deals
Nobody is better at doing nothing than me. To prove my point; he's doing a show about him doing nothing while I'm doing nothing about me doing nothing.
There, I beat him fair and square.
So this guy actually made quite a bit of money from being laid off. I suppose its only fair they take any unemployeement benefits away, being that he now successfully has a (paying) job being jobless. Saddly the people who donated money to him are probably the same people who cast their eyes away from homeless people or those who are on welfare and can't afford a computer and a web diary. Guess being in the media does pay.
can't sleep slashdot will eat me
Leave it to our good ol' Merkin government to make sitting on one's ass and eating potato chips a crime punishable by back taxes.
Looking at some unemployment requirements, most of them require you to be making "contacts looking for work". If his web site has had a million visitors, well I think I could argue that he's made a million potential work contacts. I suspect if times weren't so bad in his chosen field, he probably would have had dozens of job offers by now.
After all, isn't looking for a job simply marketing? I think he's done a pretty good job at marketing, although I'm not sure what type of picture he's portrayed of himself...
Answering emails all day could also count. Perhaps he was answering emails to prove to people he could be useful. Perhaps each email is a job contact.
I could go on all day. Someone could really have fun with this....
You too can be a drain on society! Join one of our groups listed below. Be as funny as possible while you're at it and no one will think poorly of you.
1. Rich people who file for bankruptcy
2. Able people who file for unemployment
3. Healthy people who abuse insurance claims
4. Smart people who don't apply themselves
Seriously, unemployment benefits are a lifesaver for many people who don't have the ability or the opportunity to quickly find new work. Don't be surprised if one day it gets as screwed up as medical and car insurance by people screwing the system. YOU ultimately pay for it.
That is not his [normal] voice. He is interviewed by NPR, and you hear him about half way into it.
m pa ct/wnyc/raotl/otl022502g.ra
http://www.realimpact.net/rihurl.ram?file=reali
I my self was collecting unemployment from september til mid december. And remaind jobless up until just this week. I stoped collecting because i figured it would help modivate me. ive been living off left over x-mas and birthday money.
But i have been orderd to repay my unemployment bennifits of 2,020. When i was actively searching for work. So im in the process of appealing that.
But leave it the government to give you a helping hand and then knock you ass back down. When you decide to try and help your self.
As somebody currently collecting unemployment, I can say that it's bullshit. First of all, the "maximum" is ridiculously low. Secondly, unemployment benefits are taxed. Thirdly, you don't get to collect unemployment if you earn a fraction of your measly unemployment check. Meaning, I'm bored to tears. They want me to be employed. But, if I get a MINIMUM WAGE job while I'm waiting for a REAL job, then I'm ineligible for unemployment. In essence, instead of getting some grunt job while I'm waiting for a real job, I'm encouraged to stay COMPLETLELY unemployed. It's complete bullshit.
The guy can get off pogey and go work at McDonald's. No sympathy whatsoever. He'd better not get any better treatment than they'd give a typical blue collar laborer.
It's about $10.00 / hour...
considerably above minimum wage.
--
RumorsDaily
Myth 1: You make that much on unemployment? You lucky fuck!
Reality: If you filed after Jan 6th, 2002, the California state employment maximum is 330.00 a week, for up to 26 weeks. You can't file again for a year, and you have to have worked a substantial amount during the benefit year to be able to get more. That's 8580.00 to last a year, before taxes. Yes, it's taxable. That's well below the national "poverty line".
Myth 2: Well, still, it's enough to live on, you lucky fuck.
Reality: Maybe where you live, but not everywhere. In most major cities in the US, it's not enough for basic living expenses. Move to the country? Well, there aren't any jobs there, either, and less infrastructure. Oh, and if you have any other expenses, you're pretty much screwed. For example, I pay 100.00 a week in child support (a very modest sum), so I have to live on 230.00 a week. If I had a car payment, student loans, or other debts, I'd be toast. As it is, my lease locks me into over 1500.00 a month in rent. Hey, you do the math -- it's pretty grim.
Myth 3: You're better off getting a job at Wal-mart or something.
Reality: A "good" basic job might pay the same as the unemployment, but it'll also eat 40 hours a week of job-hunting time -- and management at that McJob isn't going to let you go on interviews every other day, either. Even if the McJob might pay a little more, it may hinder your ability to get Work In Your Field, which is a net loss in the long term.
Myth: People on unemployment are lazy anyway.
Reality: A lot of people treat job hunting as a full time job in and of itself, spending hours a day sending out resumes, querying employers, researching, etc. Do they sometimes get depressed and do nothing? Sure -- and that's perfectly normal for such a demoralizing, life-changing event.
Myth: You're supposed to take any job you can get.
Reality: In California, at least, there is no expectation that you will "take any job". The state expects you to look for work in your field, and to accept a reasonable offer of work, or explain to their satisfaction why you didn't. A job offer asking you to move 2000 miles is not reasonable, but one with a 20 percent cut in pay may be.
I could go on and on here, but the bottom line is, it's not a day in the park. I'm one of those people trying to do the best I can to get a job, while working to improve my chances -- which can be tough. For example, I had to get special permission from the State to take college credit classes -- they had to be things that would help me gain job skills, and I couldn't take the classes during any time that would prevent me from working or looking for work. I ended up taking internet-based community college courses that required no deadlines or class meetings.
People have asked me, "So, that Odd Todd thing, is that how it is?" and I've told them that it's a lot like that, yeah. I get up and I feel crappy that I can't find a job. Like many of my unemployed friends, I don't go out the way I used to because it costs money. There's a lot of inertia involved -- but it's not about laziness and it's not about "scamming the system." It's just about unfortunate economic realities, folks.
I would set up a repayment plan, since they can't get blood from a turnip, and in my next episode I would talk about my blunder, and why it was wrong.
Oh, the new donations!!!
--- Grow a pair, liberals... stop letting the Republicans bully you!
First of all, I actually have been doing freelance web development gigs here and there during this period. So I haven't really been unemployed the whole time.
/. and get back to whatever YOU'RE supposed to be doing. :)
Second, as an NYC resident, I pay some of the highest taxes in the nation -- city and state taxes as well as federal. My taxes went into the government's coffers when I worked full time. Now I'm just getting some of that money back.
And I have looked for work. Tonight in fact I spent a couple hours cataloging my job search (I have an interview w/ the Labor Dept. tomorrow, and rest assured they'll cut off my benefits if I don't prove to them that I've been looking for work.)
Now, to all who call ME a shirker, stop reading
Geez, people, relax. Lose the wage slave mentality.
So you shouldn't have signed a lease for $1500 a month working in an industry that everyone knew was unstable. Declare bankruptcy and be done with it.
C'mon, guys, give him a bit of credit. He's followed the dotcom business plan to the letter and made a few bucks!
Step 1: Register domain name.
Step 2: ??????????
Step 3: Profit!
Hey Taco! Looks like you're using the "infinite monkeys and typewriters" scheme to generate Ask Slashdots again...
Compared to around £50 (c.$75) a week in the UK (with higher cost of living in London than in most US cities), this sounds great.
Quit moaning.
I know I am prolly going to get mod'd down to flamebait for this, but here goes:
I actually *agree* the labor deptartment on this one. I mean, the purpose of unemployment benefits is to cushion the edge of being laid off and give you a little something until you get back on your feet. If you aren't looking for work, you're cheating the system and the community -- what's to stop everybody from freeloading? Hence, the rule seems a sort of necessity. He should have expect the man to come down on him from the time his website became popular - I mean, don't they always?
Just my $.02
To make laws that man cannot, and will not obey, serves to bring all law into contempt.
--E.C. Stanton
"Odd Todd" Rosenberg does out-of-work programmers a big f*cking favor just when they most needed it.
So stop eating those chips and send Todd the money you save. And while you're down at the post-office, stop off at Starbucks and get a real job so you can afford to send the poor guy more because, for cryin' out loud -- he deserves it.
Seastead this.
Oddtodd's animation is obviously fictional and hyperbolic. It isn't a videotape, and there is no guarantee it matches reality. I hope the Department of Labor has better proof than the Flash file.
:-)
Besides, setting up a website that generates lots of traffic in order to promote oneself is in my opinion an EXCELLENT way to seek employment.
Myth 6: The benefits system has any kind of internal consistency.
Reality:
I was pretty young and naieve then, you can tell. The trouble was that I didn't understand that the system is set up to support binary states: In work. Out of work. Nothing in the middle, no gray areas. You practically have to lie through your teeth (with the state's tacit collusion) to get enough to live on, and at some point when you get a job that pays a living wage, you're expected to stop lying.
Trouble is, once you get used to the idea that pretty much everybody in the benefits system is involved in a huge scam (and that the benefits office colludes out of compassion), it begs the question: at what point exactly does it become wrong to lie, when at $1 a week less, it was OK?
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
This guy was supposed to have been head of business development at a dot com but you'd never know it from looking at his Web site. His sad sack sense of humour may have gotten him some sympathy and attention but I doubt if an employer would hand him responsibility based on what they see at his site.
If he's in business development you'd expect him at least to use the success of the site to promote his skills to a potential employer. There's not even a resumé. He actually has some ads at the bottom of the home page and buried behind a link called Odd Todd Officials, but even when you find them they're so poorly done you're not sure what you're looking at.
From the point of view of getting a job, his site is worse than useless. Let's see how his goofy outlook holds up after another few months of eating potatochips.
Because when his unemployment runs out, he'll be making $0/week? Also, I don't know the structure of benefits under unemployment, would working at Wal-Mart give him better health care, etc?
If it ain't broke, you need more software.
That this guy has managed to run a very successful dot.com. He gets lots of visitors who are willing to fork over a bit of money here, a bit of money there... and it all adds up.
:)
What does that mean? He probably was a good director of business, who was screwed because his superiors were idiots. He's actually demonstrated real good business sense here and a company would probably do well to hire him to run their dot.com.
Why bother.
The article said "unemployed people are supposed to be actively looking for work, not spending all of their time answering e-mail, drawing cartoons and getting interviewed on television about being unemployed."
Well, what does Todd say on a page behind a like entitled "Gimme a JOB"? "you'd have to really pay me alot to take me off schedule on producing cartoons for this site."
Sounds to me like they have a case.
Cheers,
Philip
Esli epei etot cumprenan, shris soa Sfaha.
I had something similar happen a few years ago. It went sort of like this:
Welfare Social Worker: Okay, so you're filing for aid because you are unemployed and denied compensation, so you have no income and no assets.
Me: Yes.
Social Worker: Under Welfare rules, you're an "ABOD", an able-bodied worker. So you're ineligible for aid.
Me: But I'm not getting Unemployment because I was fired for being disabled. Disabled people can't get unemployment.
Social Worker: Are you disabled, or can you work?
Me: I can work, but I'm covered under the ADA, the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Social Worker: Then no benefits for you! *bam*
Cut to State Unemployment office
Unemployment caseworker: So you were fired because you were disabled.
Me: Right.
Caseworker: Well, if you were fired for being disabled, then that would count as an unfair firing, so you'd be elible for benefits....
Me: *dazed hungry look* Yes?
Caseworker: But if it *was* unfair, then you must really be disabled. If you are, you don't qualify for Unemployment Compensation.
Me: And if I weren't disabled?
Caseworker: Then you were fired fairly. Either way, NO benefits for you!
Me: Ummmmm.....
Caseworker: Have you tried the welfare office?
Back at the Welfare office...
Welfare Social Worker: Good news! You don't qualify for most aid, but we CAN give you food stamps.
Me: Well, that'll help. Now if only I can find a way to pay my rent before I get evicted...
Welfare Social Worker: Oh no! If someone gives you money to pay rent or utilities, that will affect your food stamps. You have to report any money over 25.00, and we'll deduct that from the food stamps.
Me:So, I qualify only if I promise not to pay the rent or utilities?
Welfare Social Worker: Exactly! Have a nice day!
Completely fucked. *laugh*
$1500.00 for rent... Holy crap.. I strongly reccomend moving to the midwest or other technical center and get your cost of living to a reasonable level. My house payment is Less than $700.00 and I live in a upscale neighborhood, (not rich buttheads that all drive SUV's and live in houses that are less than 5 years old) My house is 50 years old, It is a very nice place, awesome, quiet neighborhood that is heavily police patrolled on Foot because of the higher taxes I pay. to the point that my car is rarely locked overnight. granted I drive 45 minutes every day to work (many of my friends in chicago have a 45 minute commute to work and they only live 2 miles from work.. I live 36.) and I dont get the insane $150,000 a year job as a sysadmin.. but I live very comfortably, I can buy whatever I want on Ebay, or thinkgeek.com,bestbuy,whatever most all the time, my daughter has it very well. (yes a man with custody of a child... the HORROR! to all the feminatzi's out there)
basically my point... Live somewhere where the cost of living is sane. No-place in california is sane.... Hell where in california can you live on waterfront property for less than $700.00 a month?.. they wont rent you a campsite for that. my suggestion is to pack up and get the hell out of that state. your chances of a better life rise dramatically when you start driving east.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
You need to get a bunch of brainbench certifications and embellish your resume better.
If you smear the ink with the right wording you can get past the idiots in Human Resources and get in front of someone that has a clue and knows that CS degrees are worthless to begin with... you need to be born a programmer you cant learn it.
read up on how to make killer resumes, and NEVER EVER send a resume to a human resource department.. social engineer your way to the person in charge of the department you want to hire in to. get THAT person your resume.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
In fairness, though, unemployment is meant to keep you afloat from week to week while you look for a job. It's not not meant to be a long-term anti-poverty program (those exist but unemployment isn't one) and it's misleading to talk about as a year's pay.
Not to disparage you or anyone who is out of work -- some of my friends are going though the same thing and it breaks my heart to watch. I wish I could be more positive, but I think the reality is that the days of high-paying web development and admin jobs for high school dropouts and liberal arts majors are over, and they're never coming back.
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
I am 100% sure he did not pay for the right to use a Def-Lepard and Staind Music Clip, nor did he get permission from Nickelodeon for the spongebob theme clip. Granted I think it was neat, and bits of it were funny, but many sites get giged hard by the lawyer leaches on silly things like that, and it takes a little effort to find royalty free music out there. (Or how about a Independant band that would happily let you use their music?)
although, on a similar note... Does Spongebob Squarepants fall under the MPAA balloon? or would Nickelodeon just go to his house and fill it with that green-substance they keep pouring on people?
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
I have no way of knowing, but I am wondering about the people complaining about their meager benefits, and talking about how they can't afford to pay their bills with their unemployment checks, and how they can't afford living in a $1500 apartment (but would never get a roommate).
I am wondering if they are the same people who, a year and a half ago, were all buying copies of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and constantly posting to slashdot that government has no business taxing the wealthy (and therefore deserving) to help out the poor (who should just get up and start their own businesses).
The reason I wonder is that there seem to be fewer Randroids, "you don't work... you don't eat" people, people who complain and whine that underemployed people complain and whine. And there are more people talking about inadequate unemployment benefits, and how the government should help people pay their rent and food while they go to school to improve their job skills.
I know that it could be a coincidence, but I keep wondering if they are the same people.
God is real unless declared integer
But this guy is more important than the rest of us, so . .
The disgraceful behavior by the government here isn't demanding the stolen money back, or the penalties for not responding to proper inquiries ab out the theft, but that there was no criminal prosecution . .
hawk
Nowhere does it say that one must spend all waking hours looking for work, so he can simply say it's his hobby, and that he did it in additon to looking for work as required. Anything he put on the site stating he was goofing off can be chaulked up to the concept of fiction and poetic liscence (or does the DOL think there really is a guy named Charlie Brown who keeps falling on his back when Lucy pulls the football away?
This ones a no brainer
Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
Doesn't the unemployment office require documentation of your quest for work? I know the last time I was drawing unemployment (12 years ago, in Michigan), I had to turn in a form every week listing at least 3 "contacts". E.g., go to that small business in Cadillac that's in my field and looks like a great place to work, and confirm that they're still firing, not hiring. Hit two other places in the same industrial park at random. Fill in the form. That's done, it's 10 am Monday, and I've got the rest of the week for _real_ job hunting...
In Washington, "actively looking for a job" means making 3 contacts a week. I have collected unemployment three times in my life (when my contracts ran out), and saw the evolution in the process.
The first time, everyone had to apply in person for the first week. While waiting for the office to open, I stood outside and talked to some people who had collected unemployment a lot before. They talked about cheating the system; they copied business names from a phone book to make them their contacts. Due to widespread scamming of that system, the agency gave up for a while and just said that you had to be looking.
My last time of unemployment was in summer 2000. The system had changed again. You had to list your three contacts every week on a form that - in theory - could be audited. I wasn't. Three contacts a week didn't exactly take long. If Tod was as worried about his situation as he said he was, I'd be surprised if he didn't try calling a recruiter or two a week. Do that and all of a sudden you're legal.
You heard it here folks. He just confessed to committing fraud against the government.
I did nothing of the sort. Of course I didn't claim benefits during the weeks when I was doing freelance work, dummkopf!
Anyway, the Dept. of Labor says my paperwork is A-OK, so I've got 13 more weeks of unemployment checks coming!
Eat your fully employed heart out.
Look, I hate to break it to you, but we are in a RECESSION. Despite your Reaganomic assumptions, those who are not working (or not working full time) are not just lazy. I've looked for work, and sometimes found it. But it's a very tough job market. Count your blessings if you have a job.
See my posts near the top of this topic (about how I've spent a lot of time on my personal web project during my 8 mos. unemployed).
I've battled the blues almost every day of this depressing time. It didn't help that my city (New York) was ATTACKED and virtually shut down during the month of September. Also, my grandfather died right after I was laid off, my wife and I had to move to a lower-rent apartment, I injured myself during the move, and one of our pets contracted a life-threatening illness. Of course I have nothing to complain about compared to the people I know who lost someone in the World Trade Center. But this whole city has been a really rough place for the last several months.
Working on Subintsoc.net and other non-paying web projects (such as MiamiStories.com) during times that I couldn't get paying work has really helped preserve my morale and sanity, as well as honing my skills and adding to my resume.
It sucks not to be able to do what you're good at, and what you used to get paid well for. Sometimes doing it for free, and hopefully providing some entertainment to the world in the bargain, is a good way to go.
If you want free health coverage in the state of Oregon and are a single person, the maximum that you are allowed to make is $712 a month. I suppose someone pulled that figure out of their ass in the late 80's and it hasn't been adjusted for inflation, but hey. . .
It just pisses me off that I am being encouraged by the government not to work, or even work less hours.
bah.
1q2w3e4r5t6y7u8i9o0pqawsedrftgthyjukilo;p'azsxdcf
Hey, 330 Canadian Dollars a week? That's UKP 144! Check out The UK Rates - Maximum UKP53. So you're getting nearly 3 times what we get in the UK. In short: Quit bleating.
Author, Shell Scripting : Expert Re
is downright depressing.
I would know.
You send 3 million resume's out to the world no one calls.
As a goof I listed as experience:
God/Emporer Of Networing
One company called and wanted to know what that entailed...
"You know, setting upsacrifices, virgin burning, the usual."
I don't blame this guy for blowing off a little steam.
This
See, the U.S.A. taxes citizens based on citizenship, and tax-residence ("IRS: are you a resident?" "Yes" "PAY TAX!"; "INS: are you a resident?" "Er, ..." remembers what he told the IRS... "yes." "DEPORTED! for visa violation -- next!"). So an American citizen collecting lottery winning in Canada, even if a tax-resident of Canada, or a dual citizen must pay U.S. tax on them (but can deduct lottery losses against them).
It gets worse.
Because Canada does not tax lottery winnings, there is no offsetting foreign tax credit available on your Canadian taxes. There are some rare tax situations where earnings are taxed in both countries as different things, and thus no foreign tax credit relief is available: you get taxed twice Over the years, harmonization of the Canadian and U.S. tax codes has reduced the number of such situations, but there still are some nasty surprises.
You could've hired me.
Stop waiting for the government to solve your problems for you.
In California unemployment is only $230 per week, and it has run out for me and most people I know anyway. Everyone is spending their retirement money now.
You have hit the nail on the head - Bay Area types who think owning a 3-series BMW and having their own apartment in the Marina District constitute the lowest acceptable standard of living. $1500 a month? You can move to Milpitas for $750 a month and still be in driving distance to all the same jobs.
I am wondering if they are the same people who, a year and a half ago, were all buying copies of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and constantly posting to slashdot that government has no business taxing the wealthy (and therefore deserving) to help out the poor (who should just get up and start their own businesses)
Amen. This site gets so pompus and smug about its so-called agenda, its very amusing. You can boil it down to one theme:ME ME ME ME ME. Whatever is best for ME ME ME ME ME right now is what constitutes the /. agenda.
And now they won't get you a suitable job? The cads! When will it stop? When will the promise, nay, the guarantee of low-cost (actually, NO cost) cradle-to-grave care be realized???
Actually I remember a case where an American living on the border won a Canadian lottery. He moved to Canada to avoid being taxed, however years later he decided to visit some of his freinds back in the US, when he got to the border he was arrested and sued by the IRS for something like 3 million dollars.
I stole this Sig
What's more, almost no Wal-Mart or K-Mart or any other retail store is going to give you a full-time job. You'll be stuck at 25 hours a week, maximum, because if they let you work any more they'd have to pay you benefits--and they'd rather have twice as many half-time workers and not pay the benefits.
Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
Maybe he got dumped by his wife. Maybe she cheated on him and then got a nice settlement. Maybe it's a she, and these conditions are reversed. Or maybe they never got married. You can't know what the truth is simply from the fact that the poster pays child support - but yet you rush to judgment about his (her) lifestyle choices.
Lots of people shirk their child-support responsibilities (and not just the "deadbeat dads" the media like to talk about). Here's someone who is trying to be responsible!
sulli
RTFJ.
You mean evade being taxed.
You could've hired me.
It's not public money, it's money taken out of our own paychecks and "put away" by the US Gov't
Exactly. When it comes down to it, UI (or EI -- Employment Insurance -- as it's called here in Canada) is a form of insurance run by the government. You pay into it from every paycheck, insuring yourself against a potential job loss. If you lose your job, you still have to jump through many hoops until you actually see any money, but that's the same with *any* insurance company.
In contrast, welfare or any other form of social assistance is a redistribution of wealth. Everyone contributes a portion of their income via taxes so that those that can't work for some reason or other don't starve.
It's only software!
as much as oddtodd did, they would be getting more than a kick in the ass as I walk past them.
this is advertising in it's best form - he's got talent and shows it in a form that makes people WANT to see it. I sincerly hope he gets hired... and I hope that dollar I sent him (hey that's a buck and 62 cents Canadian!) bought him another cup of java.
$1500.00 for rent... Holy crap.. I strongly reccomend moving to the midwest or other technical center and get your cost of living to a reasonable level
I see this working...
Welfare Social Worker: So you got laid off in California and you moved here to collect benifits?
Me:Yes, A poster on slashdot told me it was cheaper to rent here.
Welfare Social Worker: You know you have to live and work in THIS state for X months before you can collect benifits from our state?
Me:You mean that poster didn't think seriously about it before he said it?
Welfare Social Worker: Exactly! Have a nice day!
iRepairIT - iPhone, Mac, & PC Repair
You asked.
That is such a scam. If the job you're doing would qualify for benefits if you worked full time, I think they should have to pay the fraction of benefits that you work for. (5/8ths in that example.)
Reality: A lot of people treat job hunting as a full time job in and of itself, spending hours a day sending out resumes, querying employers, researching, etc.
Yes, let us not forget Bernard Shifman.
--
"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
It's not public money, it's money taken out of our own paychecks ... If you don't put the money in, you don't get the money back.
No fscking kidding. If I had mod points, I'd mod you up. No clue how the original post got +4 Funny. Must be a lot of clueless moderators out today.
-Ryan, with the unoriginal sig
Wrong dumb ass AC, ya think taking Freshman english makes you a linguist? ... but We call...). This is the endpoint (for now) of a historical tendency over the last several hundred years to eliminate uses of the subjective case in ever more syntactic positions. This tendency has been fought tooth and nail by prescriptivists for at least the last couple hundred years, and they don't give up easy, so in some quarters the use of 'us' in your sentence is frowned upon. It is, of course, the natural form to use (compare how unnatural it sounds to say even 'He and I went to the store.' rather than 'Him and me went to the store.'). Anyway, that's the linguistically PC answer, ie, to do what comes naturally to you. But don't go losing your job if that usage aggravates your boss, for example.
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It depends who you're talkin' to/to whom you are talking and how colloquial the situation is. Us linguists call 'we' the 'subjective case' or 'nominative case' and 'us' the 'objective case' or 'accusative case'. The modern colloquial tendency in nearly all varieties of English is to use the objective case everywhere *except* in unadorned position immediately before the verb (Us linguists call
Jim
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James L. Fidelholtz e-mail: jfidel@siu.buap.mx
Posgrado en Ciencias del Lenguaje tel.: +(52-2)229-5500 x5705
Instituto de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades fax: +(01-2) 229-5681
Benemrita Universidad Autnoma de Puebla, MXICO
Hello? All money that the gov't has comes from someone else, but it's still public money. And as everyone has pointed out, unemployment benefits are a form of insurance, not an entitlement. Just like every other form of insurance, you don't get a payout just by asking, you have to meet the terms. In this case, you have to look for work. The amount brought in by employers is not enough to cover everyone paying into it at the same time, just that fraction likely to need it. By receiving benefits that one is not entitled to, by virtue of not living up to the requirements, one is taking money away from a limited resource that could be better spent on someone willing to play by the rules. Even in basic economics textbooks, if you aren't looking for work you don't count as unemployed. If you are no longer classified as unemployed, you don't receive unemployment benefits. Receiving an insurance benefit when you do not meet the criteria is fraud, exactly the same as if you faked a back injury to get workman's comp.
Your post indicates a basic lack of understanding about how unemployment works. The government doesn't keep track of how much has been paid into an unemployment fund on behalf of each employee, so that said employee can draw down off of their own contributions. That's absurd. There is no umemployment savings fund for you and you alone. Two folks who are laid off from the same job get the same benefits, no matter that one is just a few years out of college and the other has been a full-time worker for 30 years.
And you must live in a pretty damn affluent area if you truly believe that "if you don't put the money in, you don't get the money back". That might, maybe, be the ideal case for Social Security, but for the overwhelming majority of government payouts directly to an individual the most money comes out to those who have put the least in - y'know, the poor? A guy paying taxes on 100K a year isn't going to be getting foodstamps, or running up Medicaid bills. He doesn't need it.
I'm certainly not going to get into a lengthy argument about the purpose of taxes, though with Libertarians in this thread it might be a fun exercise, but you need to be a lot more sure of what you are talking about before you call me a moron.
You're just jealous 'cuz the voices talk to *me*