The Democrats moved the health care ball a little further down the field this weekend, when the House passed its comprehensive reform bill by a slim margin. In order to gain the necessary votes, however, Speaker and Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi had to allow the inclusion of a restrictive abortion amendment. From CBS News: The [...]

From Vanity Plates: Creepiness in 8 Characters or Less.

…to express a big concept. Witness the web site Indexed, which is described by its creator, Jessica Hagy, as “a little project that lets me make fun of some things and sense of others. I use it to think a little more relationally without resorting to doing actual math.” Published “weekday mornings as the coffee [...]

Click on an image to see it full size. More photos here.

From the previously mentioned blog Unemploymentality.

In honor of today’s announcement of the horrendous unemployment rate, we bring you Unemploymentality, subtitled “Lifestyles of the penniless & downtrodden.” According to the site, The unemploymentality is a transformative state of mind that is the result of a sudden loss of job. Initial symptoms include spite and resentment towards the ubiquitous “economy.” People in [...]

If you had to pick one company during these uncertain times that might provide the most job security (excluding those in the online porn sector, of course), a good choice might be Google. The Big G is everywhere, and if you really need proof of the search engine’s cultural relevance, just check out how many [...]

Low-income African American New Yorkers talk about their experiences with the city’s Work Experience Program. Produced by Community Voices Heard. Posted on the Social Work/Social Action blog and blip.tv. Of course, if you’d lilke the opposite view of New York City workfare, the American Enterprise Institute is happy to give it to you.

The Awl recently culled these facts about food stamps from various news articles: 1. “Nearly half of all U.S. children and 90 percent of black youngsters will be on food stamps at some point during childhood, researchers say.” 2. “The U.S. Department of Agriculture said nearly 200,000 retailers nationwide now accept food stamps, 20 percent [...]

Fascinating post from the blog Impotent Rage called Some Personal Thoughts on Homelessness and Reciprocity, written by a social worker and advocate for the homeless. The writer serves a rep/payee for a homeless man, and it’s her job to pick up his disability checks, cash them, and disburse the money to him, which she does [...]