Should we be excited? Angry?

There’ve been a couple of stories that have stood out to me in some of my news surfing and Facebook scanning today.  The first has to do with a good/bad news scenario.  The second is just troubling.

THE FIRST

A report from NPR showed the nation’s unemployment rate fell to 8.6 percent in November from 9 percent in October as payrolls went up by 120,000 jobs.  Great news, right?

Well, maybe not all THAT great.  The report also said that the labor force shrank by 315,000 people.  How’s that?

That’s the number of people who have just given up on finding a job because it’s become too discouraging.

And it’s really not all that surprising that the unemployment rate dropped that much at this time of year.  Retailers were among those who did the most hiring, mainly because of the holiday season.

What will the numbers show when this holiday season is a memory?

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) saw fit to do some partisan grandstanding at the news.

“Any job creation is welcome news, but the jobless rate in this country is still unacceptable.  Today marks the 34th consecutive month of unemployment above eight percent.  As you may remember, the Obama administration promised unemployment would stay below eight percent if its ‘stimulus’ was enacted. That promise has gone unfulfilled.

“Because the president’s policies have failed, the House has passed a series of bills designed to remove government barriers to private sector job creation. There are now 25 bipartisan jobs bills passed by the House awaiting a vote in the Senate. The key to getting all of these jobs measures enacted is the United States Senate. President Obama should use this opportunity to call on Senate Democrats to immediately give these bipartisan bills the vote they deserve.

“The American people want action on jobs, and the House is listening to the American people.”

Quite frankly, I’ll believe that when I see it.  And I’m not holding my breath for a second over that announcement.  If the House is listening to the American people, then why did Republicans and a few Democrats stonewall the sweeping jobs bill that President Obama came out with a few months ago?

Here’s why: President Obama came out with the sweeping jobs bill, one that included both Democratic AND Republican proposals.  And some people want to see Obama defeated in 2012.  It’s really as simple as that.

And hundreds of thousands upon millions of Americans are feeling the effects.

For a national leader, John Boehner makes a great shoe salesman.

THE SECOND

There’s been a report in the Media section of The Huffington Post of arrests and harassments going on in the Occupy Wall Street movement.

No news there, you say?  Well, what if I told you that the arrests and incidents involving harassment were happening to journalists?

I know some people who would cheer upon seeing and hearing that news.  After all, it’s just the damn liberal media, right?

Think about this: journalists are supposed to represent one of the last bastions of freedom in America.  Why would journalists be facing arrest and harassment at Occupy Wall Street?  And it’s not just in New York either, it’s in Los Angeles.

Are journalists members of the Occupy movement?  Or are they (as many that I’ve seen) still trying to find a clue as to what the Occupy movement really represents?  If they’re shouting to be heard, chances are that it’s not because they’re agreeing with the Occupy protesters.

Be concerned.  Be very concerned.

ONE FINAL NOTE

On Sunday, I plan to launch what I hope will be a growing “movement” of my own.  There are many people I know who are either among the long-term jobless now, or have been without a job on a long-term basis in the not-so-distant past.  People living from the East Coast to the West Coast.  And some of them are finding themselves jobless directly as a result of inaction or political grandstanding on the part of our nation’s leaders.

Beginning Sunday, I hope to give an open forum to people such as these.  I have two profiles lined up already.  These are real people that I know personally enough from interaction on the worldwide web, but they are real people nonetheless.  I know their faces, I know their names, I know their personalities.  And I will give you a chance to get to know a bit about them yourselves.

I can tell you this.  They might believe in a thing like the Occupy movement.  But they’re not lazy.  And they’re denitely not “OccuTARDS.”

I would encourage anyone who knows people in similar circumstances — long-term jobless, aggressively searching in order to turn their lives around — to get in touch with me so I can share their stories as well.  I’ll get into the causes of their unemployment, and — as I’ve shared so intimately in my own posts — the feelings that go on inside of them as they face their individual struggles.

If you know of anyone, look for me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/daddysangbassdude.

This nation needs to start thinking about putting politics aside for good and start solving the problems for real.

THAT is my “proclamation.”  Will you join me?

Showing me a “revelation?”

Well, apparently my “guide” didn’t have Java in the grand plan for my future.  At least, perhaps, not yet.

Yes, I found out by email this morning from the technical recruiter that I was going through that the company that was looking for a COBOL programmer to help convert that code to Java has decided to go with another candidate.  I felt so sure that I was THE leading candidate for the job, too, from everything the recruiter was telling me and the feeling I got from my interview on Monday afternoon.  Apparently, they were referred to someone else who got the job through another source.

Am I bummed?  Yeah, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t.  Am I depressed?  Nope!  I will just press on.  I can still see what happens with the talent agency that I’m already in with as an “independent contractor,” and see if my voice takes me anywhere.  I sent off a bunch of online applications just last night and actually got a call from another technical recruiter as a result from the East Coast this morning as I was driving home from dropping my daughter off at school, telling me about a position with a company in Park City.  It turned out that didn’t look too promising either.

But here’s the deal.  I refuse to give up hope.  I won’t lose my faith.  It will only be stronger.  I can get certified through further training to help boost my resume.  I can do what I’ve been doing for the past month, continuing to expand my job search beyond programming and into writing.

I can take what I’ve started to build with this blog and turn it into something that can touch people’s lives in many ways, to share other people’s similar experiences — not just my own.  To be honest, I feel like that’s a major part of what I’ve been “called” to do.  Even since before I lost my last job just a little over a month ago, I’ve just had that … feeling.

I’m going to keep looking for “a revelation.”  I’m only just beginning.