Dallas Morning News Editorial Writers Take Another Shot at the Working Poor
Today we have a lead editorial in The Dallas Morning News, our city's sole and only daily newspaper, which starts off with a certain mistake that wounds my heart every time I see it. Again today they say, "There's a troubled neighborhood along South Lamar where residential property has suffered from decades of steady encroachment by heavy industry."
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Real heavy industry, what the word truly refers to, is something you would recognize the instant you saw it for the first time -- ore freighters docked at one end, miles of stacks rising to the clouds, a roar that shakes the ground, a stench that slaps your face and hundreds of thousands of people flocking straight to it from the four corners of the world with ferocity in their eyes, determined to walk into that hell and come back out with a brick house, two new cars and a bunch of kids in college. Apparently whoever keeps writing that line on the Morning News editorial board has never seen the real thing.
Instead what they are campaigning against again today is the scrap metal recycling business, a light, low-impact industry that rips nothing from the ground, puts up no sky-scraping smokestacks, may clang a bit but does not roar or stink. And it provides desperately needed scarce employment for the people who live near it.
Today's editorial is again urging appointed and elected officials at City Hall to use zoning authority to squeeze the recycling industry out of the South Lamar district along the river, an area that has been home to that business for more than half a century. It's not easy to propose persuasive reasons for squeezing out and running off a legitimate tax-paying payroll-meeting industry that operates within all of the federal, state and local environmental laws and strictures.
More at http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2014/05/morning_news_editorial_writers.php .
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"The Dead Sea Scrolls". 
Why is it that the solution rich people have for the poor is compassion, or more love, or more marriages -- but not money to pay the bills?
And they are accused of being lazy when there are not enough jobs to go around, and many of them are working 2 jobs to stay afloat?
If they had money to pay the bills, they wouldn't be poor anymore, would they? 
Hell, I have a fucking doctorate, not in a "useless" specialty like fine arts or liberal arts, thank you, and I'm probably unemployable because of age. 
Having too many skills or an advanced education is considered to be a hindrance. Most companies are scared that older prospective employees are so intelligent that they are unwilling to accept direction from others, might be potential whistleblowers, or won't fit into the corporate culture of meeting the P/L statement for the fiscal quarter since they consider the long term sustainability of the company.
I recall reading an article a few years ago where actuarial scientists determined that employees past the age of 42 are considered to be a liability for a company as far the issues of health insurance and lost time from work are concerned. It is more convenient to hire someone with less experience and train that employee to fit into the corporate bureaucracy rather than take a chance with an older prospect who is more knowledgeable. My advice to my younger friends these days is to be prepared to be self-employed for the last two decades before they retire since working within the corporate structures is a trap that has very limited opportunities for further career advancement.
