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Apple Shutting Down Towson Store: Unionization Or Retail Conditions?

The emerging big story about recent college graduates isn't their unemployment or underemployment. It's their push-back through unionizing. That's being called the "new labor movement."  As Noam Sheiber depicts it in "Mutiny: The Rise and Revolt of the College Working Class" this development has all the passion, determination and sacrifice of the 1930s auto workers campaigns to establish a fair contract between management and labor. Yes, allegedly labor activists are losing jobs because of their organizing. Featured in "Mutiny" is the history of Apple retail. That brick and mortar concept started off with a great deal for young workers. Training, a sense of purpose and pride in the brand characterized the work experience. But much of that eroded. In response was the campaign at the Towson Mall location in Maryland for representation by a union. Yahoo Finance reports: "Workers at the Towson location voted to join the International Assoc...
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BoomerVille: Maybe This Will Lift By Monday Morning

  Dow Futures 47,662.00 Change - 467.00   0.97%  
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Mythos and More: Now That the End Could Be in a Few Years

In the Spring edition of Vanity Fair , Joe Hagen nails it in his article on AI. He reports: "Nobody really knows how to build guardrails that work." So, here we are with breaking news that business and government leaders are meeting to discuss the implications of Anthropic's Mythos. They know that no one knows. As Anthropic itself describes Mythos, which hasn't been released (with exceptions): " ... is capable of identifying and then exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities in every major operating system and every major web browser when directed by a user to do so." The user could be a madman. Or an alleged non-truthteller like OpenAI's Sam Altman, as positioned and packaged in The New Yorker.   Therefore, the end could be near. Some estimates are within a few years. Sure, Anthropic can hold back its Mythos. But others, putting profit ahead of safety, could develop their own version. A bad actor user could hack into the systems which could destroy life on...
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BoomerVille: 2027 Social Security COLA Could Bring Some Financial Comfort

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  As we age, income from work tends to go down. So, even those of us Boomers who are still out there in the labor market or operating our own businesses are beyond our peak earnings years. We do depend on Social Security to get us through.  So, it helps de-escalate our rising financial angst in these inflationary times to hear estimates about where our Social Security COLA could be for 2027. CNBC  reports: "The cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, could be 3.2% in 2027 due to sharply rising gasoline prices ..." Of course, some of that could be reduced if the monthly Medicare deduction increases yet again. Amid all the gloom talk we Boomers still get it that we may be the last lucky gen in America. Despite severe recessions and stock market crashes we had the best of economic times, along with cheap higher education and degrees which were marketable. My first house outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania cost about $30K. It was a two-family so I rented out half.  Currently ma...
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"Alma Mater" Means "Nourishing Mother" - Litigation-Minded Students Not Buying That

COVID brought remote learning to higher education. And with it the beginning of upheaval in the traditional bonding between students and colleges/universities. That centuries-old relationship was captured in the notion of the institution you graduated from as your "alma mater." The concept means "nourishing mother." Instead of a nourishing mother during COVID, some students experienced their educational institution as financial predator. They banded together in class action lawsuits to be refunded tuition and fees that had been paid for in-person instruction.  As a result, now here we are as Bloomberg Law observes: "The student class-action trend appears here to stay and may indicate a major shift in the student-university relationship." This time around the litigation focuses on amounts not spent on meal plans. Litigants want those funds back. They contend not refunding violates state consumer laws as in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey about unspent ...
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Time to Get Out

From Main Street to social/professional networks the meme has shifted radically. In job search and promotion possibilities it used to be: Be persistent. Currently, as this Reddit posting hammers, it's: Get out.  In my intuitive coaching/tarot reading, essentially I am sizing up clients' employment situations the same way. That is, assessing: If they should ditch searching for a job in a certain field or even holding on amid so much job insecurity where they are employed.  And, when. Overall, what I have observed is that most knowledge workers wait too long to throw in the towel. What is operating is magical thinking that somehow their talent, proven skills and hustle will "save" them. One policy analyst clung to that illusion for two years of joblessness before they came to me for guidance.  As the deluded hang on their financial reserve collapses, along with their self-confidence and relationships with loved ones. The latter simply tire of what could be labeled ...
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BoomerVille - Generation Which Changed So Much ...

  For too many of us former social change agents, our money is primarily out of control. That includes not only the value of our investments. It's also about the predicted return of high inflation and rising interest rates. Will we turn into our frightened parents? They never unwound after The Great Depression. Tonight we will sleep, though. The Dow roared back today. Futures aren't doing a disaster: Dow Futures 48,056.00 Change - 88.00   0.18%  
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