As much as I (usually) admire Thomas Friedman's columns in The New York Times, I really disagreed with one he wrote this past week about the new class of "Untouchables." It was an odd choice for a descriptive term, since "Untouchables" also refers to the lowest class of the Hindu caste system. However, here Friedman means just the opposite ... the new group of people whose jobs will be safe in the new, broken economy that seems to be taking shape for the next few years. He seemed to make a case that those who have lost jobs brought it upon themselves by being, well, so much useless dead wood.
It seemed a harsh assessment that didn't take into account so many other factors, such as the implosion of easy credit and the housing market, or the way that so many corporations have overextended themselves. I'm not quite as ready as Thomas Friedman to dismiss so many millions of unemployed Americans who are ready, able, and willing to give "good value" to employers if given a chance.
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thomas friedman, untouchables
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My son and I are in something of a quandry over the upcoming "Percy Jackson" film. Should we see it or not? He really loves the series that starts with "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan. In fact, he even has me hooked. The problem is that when we read great books like this, we have our very own, original images of what characters should look like, settings, etc. When we go to see a movie, that is all displaced by the imagery "downloaded" to us on the screen. In fact, good as they are, are sometimes wish I'd never watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy by Peter Jackson.
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lightning thief, rick riordan
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