semiotic_pirate | May. 18th, 2008

The following is a series of semi-connected bits and pieces found while rooting through my links list. Some are articles or posts in their entirety, others are just links to follow to an article/post. Enjoy... and please reply with any comments, questions, jokes, etc. I like hearing people's opinions, even when I argue them to death when I disagree with their viewpoints. *wink*

Found this posted a while back on Stay Free - and it makes me more optimistic about the coming yes/no employment decision:

Introducing the new American worker

Newsflash: kids today are self-absorbed, lazy little pricks. That's what we learned on this recent 60 Minutes episode. There have been a number of news articles on this topic: how twentysomething "millennials" raised on a diet of warm fuzzies and relentless self-esteem building are a disaster in the workplace, needing constant praise and attention. 60 Minutes focuses on how U.S-based corporations are coping by reframing old-school Successories-style motivation with new gimmicks like "wacky" in-office parades, award certificates, and free handjobs.
( Read more... )
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Finally, an interesting term describing top-heavy home loans:

jingle mail n. The practice of abandoning one's house and mailing the keys back to the creditor because the mortgage is worth more than the house itself.
—jingle mailer n.

Example Citation:
Making it harder for people to discharge their credit-card debts has other drawbacks as well. Homeowners would once do almost anything to keep up payments on their homes, even if it meant falling behind on other debts. In the past year, though, economists have reported an increase in the number of people who are just walking away from their homes, because it's now often easier to abandon a mortgage than a credit-card bill. (The practice has even been given a name — "jingle mail," because people simply send their keys back in an envelope.)
—James Surowiecki, "Going for Broke," The New Yorker, April 7, 2008