{"id":33379,"date":"2015-09-05T00:15:42","date_gmt":"2015-09-05T07:15:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=33379"},"modified":"2020-10-05T07:45:16","modified_gmt":"2020-10-05T14:45:16","slug":"black-coffee-the-labor-day-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id33379-black-coffee-the-labor-day-edition.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: The Labor Day Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe<\/em> …<\/p>\n

If you live in the US, I hope you’re enjoying the long holiday weekend!<\/p>\n

Okay, off we go …<\/p>\n

Credits and Debits<\/strong><\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Labor Day is finally here, but with a record 94 million Americans<\/a> now out of the workforce, there isn’t much to celebrate this year. Again. Well … unless you like celebrating records: that happens to be a 38-year low.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> By the way, 56,253,000 of all Americans out of the US labor force are women<\/a> — that’s another dubious “employment” record.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> The growing number of unemployed women becomes even more astounding when you look at the latest federal statistics. They show that 100% of all female employment gains in the US since 2007 have been taken by foreigners<\/a>. I’ll wait while you go back and read that again.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Actually, I can see why foreigners are gobbling up all of the US jobs gains: This week Nebraska Beef agreed to pay a $200,000 fine after the Justice Department accused it of discrimination because the company had the unmitigated gall to require non-US citizens to show proof of immigration status for employment. No, really<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Is it just me, or has the US Department of Justice forgotten who it works for? Uh huh. That’s what I thought.<\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Despite all of that negative workplace news, the Bureau of Labor insists that the US unemployment rate is now at its lowest level since 2008<\/a> — just 5.1%. Right. So … I guess the Labor Day celebration is back on! Hey, who wants a hot dog?<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? The average tuition at a public four-year college is now $9139. Even worse, if tuition continues climbing at the present rate, the average four-year cost for Millennial parents will be $100,907<\/a>. Yes, that’s just for tuition.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> With that in mind I guess it’s a good thing that, since 2013, California has allowed illegal aliens in the state to access as much as $12,200 annually<\/a> in taxpayer-funded financial aid for college tuition. Or not.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> College tuition costs have risen more than 1120% since 1978<\/a> — and if you want to know who’s to blame, I’ll tell you: the federal government. It’s the proliferation of low-interest student loans that has allowed public and private universities to raise their tuitions to otherwise unaffordable levels.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Of course, the side effect of all that government “help” is that more people than ever<\/a> are now dependent on those low-rate student loans, or some form of federal or state aid just to be able to afford higher education.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> You can bet university administrators and staffers across the nation aren’t complaining<\/a>. And why should they? After all, they’ve been the prime beneficiaries of all that tuition inflation.<\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> It’s a similar story for government “help” Americans receive today with retirement (via Social Security) — and now healthcare (via Obamacare). Sadly, the end result is a dependent citizenry that has lost its ability to be self-reliant. Psst. You can’t be truly free if you’re dependent on others.<\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Americans’ growing appetite for government “help” suggests that they don’t realize that there’s always<\/em> free cheese in a mousetrap.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> In other news, the Dow ended Friday with another triple-digit drop and its second-worst week of 2015<\/a>. For the week, the Dow lost 3.3% and the S&P 500 declined 3.4%. And I suspect this is still just the opening act.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Stocks aren’t the only asset class plagued by falling prices lately — according to financial analyst Dave Kranzler, “the housing market is toast<\/a>” too. Or at least it will be. Soon.<\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Then again, you don’t have to tell that<\/em> to real estate entrepreneur Jeff Greene. He just dropped the asking price on his 53,000 square-foot Beverly Hills mansion by $45 million. Now, I know what you’re thinking … but don’t get too excited — he still wants $149 million<\/a> for the place.<\/p>\n

By the Numbers<\/strong><\/p>\n

The summer movie season draws to a close this week. With that in mind, how many of the 10 biggest movies of 2005 (box office gross) have you seen?<\/p>\n

1<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Star Wars – Episode III: Revenge of the Sith ($380 million)<\/p>\n

2<\/strong><\/span><\/span> The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, the Wardrobe ($291 million)<\/p>\n

3<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ($290 million)<\/p>\n

4<\/strong><\/span><\/span> War of the Worlds ($234 million)<\/p>\n

5<\/strong><\/span><\/span> King Kong ($218 million)<\/p>\n

6<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Wedding Crashers ($209 million)<\/p>\n

7<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ($206 million)<\/p>\n

8<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Batman Begins ($205 million)<\/p>\n

9<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Madagascar ($194 million)<\/p>\n

10<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Mr. & Mrs. Smith ($186 million)<\/p>\n

Source: Box Office Mojo<\/em><\/p>\n

The Question of the Week<\/strong><\/p>\n

[poll id=\"78\"]<\/code><\/p>\n

Last Week’s Poll Results<\/strong><\/p>\n

Have you ever been a victim of identity theft?<\/p>\n