Why Good People Can’t Find Jobs 07.09.2012

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The problem with the labor market isn’t that the unemployed aren’t looking for work — it’s that employers aren’t looking very hard for workers.

via Why That Great Interview Didn’t Land You a Job: Recruitment Intensity Rates and Mass Unemployment | Next New Deal.

The more broadly you read about a specific issue, the better your understanding becomes of that issue.

 

Red Yeast Rice: An Introduction NCCAM

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Some red yeast rice products contain substantial amounts of monacolin K, which is chemically identical to the active ingredient in the cholesterol-lowering drug lovastatin. These products may lower blood cholesterol levels and can cause the same types of side effects and drug interactions as lovastatin.

Other red yeast rice products contain little or no monacolin K. It is not known whether these products have any effect on blood cholesterol levels.

Some red yeast rice products contain a contaminant called citrinin, which can cause kidney failure.  In a 2011 analysis of red yeast rice products sold as dietary supplements, 4 of 11 products were found to contain this contaminant.

via Red Yeast Rice: An Introduction | NCCAM.

Personally, I’m sticking with a statin.

Consider Loneliness in Senior Health Assessments

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Researchers evaluated six years of data on 1,604 people 60 and older and found that 43% were classified as lonely. Compared with other study participants, those individuals were more prone to have their mobility decline, lose upper body strength, have trouble climbing stairs and decrease their daily activities. Loneliness also was associated with an increased risk of death, the study said.

A separate study of 8,594 adults 45 and older found that those between age 45 and 65 who live alone have significantly increased risk of mortality — and particularly cardiovascular-related death — than those who don’t live alone. That study also was published online June 18 in Archives of Internal Medicine.

via Doctors asked to consider loneliness in senior health assessment – amednews.com.

Aviva Update – 07.05.2012

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Aviva Plc, the U.K.’s second-biggest insurer by market value, plans to exit almost a third of its units to bolster capital reserves and limit the impact of further turmoil in the euro region.

The insurer plans to sell 16 non-core divisions including U.K. bulk-purchase annuities, its South Korean unit and some partnerships in Italy, the London-based firm said in a statement today. The company is aiming to bring its capital levels in line with other insurers to between 160 percent and 170 percent of reserves required by regulators from 140 percent today.

via Aviva to Exit a Third of Business as Insurer Boosts Capital – Insurance Networking News.

Bruce Krasting on Social Security

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The SSTF has stated that the date in which the TF falls to zero will be 2033. The actual termination date of the TF is much closer than that. It could come as early as 2023. Anyone who is 55 or older should be worried about this. Based on current law, all SS benefit payments must be cut by approximately 25% when the TF is exhausted. This will affect 72 million people. The economic consequences will be severe. The drop in SS transfers translates into a permanent drag on GDP of 2%. In other words, when this happens, the country will be unable to have any significant positive growth for a long time to come.

via Bruce Krasting: Bernanke – My Goal is to Wreck Social Security.

TF = Trust Fund

Y’all better start planning for a much smaller Social Security payout.  Interesting viewpoint in this blog post.  Ignore at your own risk.

Why Good People Can’t Find Jobs – Part 2

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The sad truth is that it’s costly and risky to hire anyone to do anything, and “bankable projects” that might generate profit/require more labor are few and far between. The overhead costs for employees have skyrocketed. So even though the wages employees see on their paychecks have stagnated, the total compensation costs the employer pays have risen substantially.

via charles hugh smith-Dear Person Seeking a Job: Why I Can’t Hire You.

Go read this article.  There are quite a few insightful observations.

Steven Pressfield – The Lunch Pail Manifesto

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The Lunch Pail Manifesto

  1. We must find the work that brings our lives meaning.
  2. We must strive to make our work purposeful, truthful, and authentic, a pure offering to our Muse and fellow human beings.
  3. We must wage a lifelong war with Resistance and accept that instant gratification is an oxymoron.
  4. We must not speak of our work with false modesty or braggadocio.
  5. We must not debase our work for short term gain nor elevate it above its rightful station to inflate our ego.
  6. We must not covet the fruits of our work, or the fruits of others’ work.
  7. We must respect others’ work and offer aid to fellow professional laborers.
  8. We must accept that our work will never be perfect.
  9. We must accept that our work will never be without merit.
  10. We must accept that our work will never cease.

via Standing 8 Count | Black Irish Books | Get In the Ring!.