Employers are still whining

Work

Imagine living with the knowledge that no employer would hire you even if you were the last person on earth. That’s the knowledge I live with every day as I head out to drive for Uber or Lyft, even as this utterly wastes whatever talent I may possess, even as I despise doing it,[1] even as I know these companies cannot survive in the long term.[2] Now imagine what I think[3] of employers whining that they can’t find workers.[4] And for the record, no, those unemployment benefits that were enhanced during the pandemic and are now being cut back had very little to do with this bullshit “labor shortage.”[5]

Bryan Mena, “Unfilled Job Openings Outnumber Unemployed Americans Seeking Work,” Wall Street Journal, August 9, 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/unfilled-job-openings-outnumber-unemployed-americans-seeking-work-11628531130


Pennsylvania

Rich Lord, “Develop PGH Bulletins: Umbrella group for North Side development to shift direction, change director,” Public Source, August 9, 2021, https://www.publicsource.org/developpghbulletins-pittsburgh-allegheny-county/?mc_eid=f2cfbf15a2&mc_cid=5b4b4cba8e


Donald Trump

Josh Gerstein, “Judge suggests feds are too lenient toward Jan. 6 defendants,” Politico, August 9, 2021, https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/09/judge-feds-lenient-jan-6-503052


Pittsburgh

In the San Francisco Bay Area, I could often be pretty fussy about restaurants because so many are vegan. Not so in Pittsburgh where my all time favorite is run by a Jewish family whose patriarch (as a chef, he’s a genius, but the other stuff is just way too much for me) subscribes to anti-Semitic white supremacist propaganda, another just really isn’t that good, and the others have restrictive hours or out of the way locations that just generally don’t work for me.

So I wind up going to a number of places that also serve animal flesh. One of the places that was relatively conveniently located was D’s Six Pax & Dogz, which has a hummus hoagie that most who know me would not expect me to even touch but is mysteriously really, really good, and even more bizarrely is probably even really, really good for me. So the other night, I stopped by expecting to get one, only to find the place closed, with signs attributing fire damage. Pittsburgh has a lot of really old buildings and there are a lot of reasons they can catch fire. Disappointed, I turned around, went back to my car, and drove home.

I wasn’t expecting the cause of the fire to be arson.[6]

Lori Houy, “Police: Fire that damaged popular Swissvale hot dog shop intentionally set,” WPXI, August 9, 2021, https://www.wpxi.com/news/top-stories/police-fire-that-damaged-popular-swissvale-hot-dog-shop-intentionally-set/CZSDKNGJTBHJZOPDWUFZW7BACE/


Infrastructure

So I get to be really surprised. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework (BIF) passed the Senate. But I don’t think the reconciliation package has a snowball’s chance in hell and BIF might not get through the House of Representatives without it.[7]

Alex Shephard, “Biden Gets His Bipartisan Victory. Now the Hard Part,” New Republic, August 10, 2021, https://newrepublic.com/article/163228/senate-passes-infrastructure-bill-reconciliation-next


I’m in a bit of a mood to celebrate. The lease isn’t yet signed—this should happen Wednesday evening—but I found a new apartment. I’ll be backing off from the social conflict that surrounds my present apartment in an area that doesn’t constantly remind me of my own poverty.


  1. [1]David Benfell, “About my job hunt,” Not Housebroken, n.d., https://disunitedstates.org/about-my-job-hunt/
  2. [2]David Benfell, “This is not a business plan,” Not Housebroken, July 8, 2021, https://disunitedstates.org/2021/06/20/this-is-not-a-business-plan/
  3. [3]David Benfell, “Factory farmed humans,” Not Housebroken, May 17, 2021, https://disunitedstates.org/2021/05/17/factory-farmed-humans/; David Benfell, “About that alleged ‘labor shortage,’” Not Housebroken, June 10, 2021, https://disunitedstates.org/2021/05/09/about-that-alleged-labor-shortage/
  4. [4]Bryan Mena, “Unfilled Job Openings Outnumber Unemployed Americans Seeking Work,” Wall Street Journal, August 9, 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/unfilled-job-openings-outnumber-unemployed-americans-seeking-work-11628531130
  5. [5]Fiona Greig et al., “When unemployment insurance benefits are rolled back: Impacts on job finding and the recipients of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program,” J.P. Morgan Chase and Company Institute, July 2021, https://www.jpmorganchase.com/content/dam/jpmc/jpmorgan-chase-and-co/institute/pdf/when-unemployment-insurance-benefits-are-rolled-back-research-brief.pdf
  6. [6]Lori Houy, “Police: Fire that damaged popular Swissvale hot dog shop intentionally set,” WPXI, August 9, 2021, https://www.wpxi.com/news/top-stories/police-fire-that-damaged-popular-swissvale-hot-dog-shop-intentionally-set/CZSDKNGJTBHJZOPDWUFZW7BACE/
  7. [7]Alex Shephard, “Biden Gets His Bipartisan Victory. Now the Hard Part,” New Republic, August 10, 2021, https://newrepublic.com/article/163228/senate-passes-infrastructure-bill-reconciliation-next

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