Repossessing Virtue

Once in awhile, and soon, less and less often, I will pull my head out of the sand that prevents any economic news from penetrating my senses. This is just a metaphor of course. Sand is gritty, uncomfy. Real escape involves eating popsicles in bed watching reruns of Boston Legal,(which incidentally ran its series finale last week) or trying again to sustain interest in The Emperor of Ocean Park. Just go with the metaphor. Trust me.

So I shook the sand out of my hair, and cleared my eyes just enough to confirm that, in fact, the economy is worse every single day--and that it's worse than has ever been experienced by most alive today. To wit:

*ONE MILLION AMERICANS applied for 24,000 positions available at Best Buy. That means for every one person hired, there were 40 applicants who were not.

*Jobless claims hit 26 year high

*States are running out of employee benefits. What happens when the Federal agency that guarantees pensions runs out? With more and more companies filing for bankruptcy every day, those funds must be dwindling. (Hope it's not heavily invested in the market.)

* Applications for EGG DONOR and/or surrogate mother opportunities have increased by 30%.

Yeah, you read it right.

I could go on, but it's wearisome and it's almost time for Boston Legal. Thankfully, I'm out of Edy's Fruit Bars. (I can bury my head in the sand forever and not escape a metabolism that cannot afford 21 grams of carbs per popsicle!! I got this mantra from somewhere: "(bad) carbs are sugar, sugar turns to fat") They do chill my personal summers though, so I guess it's a tradeoff. (Delusion reigns).

But enough about comfort food; there's comfort on the economic front. This week's Speaking of Faith segment was Repossessing Virtue which explores "human and spiritual aspects" of the economic downturn. It's not only a tres cool title, the show's well worth a listen.