on

By ananci in "ultimate goal: go off grid, live self sufficiently" on Ask MeFi

I live most of the year in a small, fairly self-contained village of about 8 people. We do use grid power where we can't get micro-hydro. There's not enough sun to make solar workable (we're in a valley). We all have wood stoves to heat and cook, big gardens, forage for food and medicine, and hunt and fish for meat as well as raise chickens and sheep. Our main needs from the outside world are salt, grains, cooking fats, sweeteners, tobacco, and tea/coffee. There is a large vegetable farm our friend owns up the road, and most of us work there during the summer and we get lots of free produce. We have neighbors we visit to harvest from their orchards and wild berries.

Being totally self-sufficient all on your own is honestly almost impossible unless you are willing to really, really rough it. The things you need depend on your climate, but outside of a few outlier 'lives in the woods by himself in a cave' folks, this is not easy to achieve.

So you need a house. Insulated from heat and cold. This means building a good shelter with air flow and heating. Wood burning stoves are a good solution. If you're in a 4 season climate, you will need between 2 and 4 cords of wood, (60 hours or so of chopping if you know what you're doing) which have to cure for a year before you can use them, even from dead standing. So chainsaw, axes, wedges, and probably a truck. Which means gas. This means money on an ongoing basis.

You need water. A well or a spring, or a creek close enough to the source to not need filtering. This all means pipes or tubing and maybe a pump unless your sources is higher than your house. Also costs money, and needs to be replaced eventually.

You need food. Most gardens are geared to fruits and veg, and you'll need a lot of space to grow enough to live on without supplementing from stores. Depending on where you are, you might be able to harvest some berries and fruit if you have producing bushes/trees on your land. Or you can plant them and wait until they are mature enough to produce. You will need to freeze, dry or can what you pick or it's gonna go bad before you can eat it all. So you need canning stuff (big pot, grabber tongs, hella mason jars, and those lids have to be replaced every couple years). A root cellar (lots of digging! So much!) will keep your root veggies and apples fresh through the winter if it's deep enough. Wash your cabbages and carrots in bleach water every now and then. You'll add a month to their viability. You'll want a dehydrator for sure. you can build a passive solar one, but we use an electric one as fall fruit in an outdoor space is a bear fun time pantry. You need garden tools. They cost money and need to be replaced periodically.

You still need protein. Say you live in a place where you can fish and hunt (in season). You need to pay for licenses for these things. You can trap smaller game, but that's much more challenging. If you are hunting larger game you will need a deep freezer to store (electricity!) or be content with a massive salting / smoking process that will allow you to store meat long term.

You also need carbs. Grains need a lot of land space, and the right climate. Getting them to an edible state means you'll need to thresh, winnow, and grind your wheat/oats/spelt etc. Grinding means you need a stone mill. A hand crank meat grinder isnt going to cut it (literally) but you'll want one anyway for other stuff. Potatoes are a good source, and are easy to grow in the right climate. These need to be stored in a cool dry place away from rodents and insects to last all year.

You need fats. Wild crafted diets are low in fat, which is not always a good thing. Game meat is low in fat, and you can't make cooking oil from it. Deer tallow will make soap and icky candles. You need bees for good candle wax (and honey!) Raising chickens can get you both fat and eggs. But they need a place to roost that keeps them safe from predators.

You'll need fencing to protect your garden from deer and bears. Without an electric fence, your garden and chickens are going to get eaten or trampled. Dogs help with this, as do shotguns.

So you need micro hydro (only if you have an accessible, appropriate water source that has enough flow rate) or solar (if you live in a place that gets enough sun all year round.

You need medicine. Our mainstays are tinctures and teas. A very small sampling: nettle, mint, mullein, poppy, willow bark, chamomile, chaga, lions mane, spruce tips, elecampane, milky oat, pearly everlasting, ghost pipe, pine pollen, raspberry leaf, and red clover.

If you really want to go all out, you need clothing and cleaning cloth, so you'll need to tan leather or weave flax or cotton. We have alpacas we shear for fiber. They are cute and less trouble than llamas, but won't haul anything, so sometimes we have to borrow a donkey if we're pulling things up a steep path. You'll need soap, so save your tallow.

I could go on. But really, this is a massive, MASSIVE effort for a single person. Without access to money or the outside world it is going to be a slog. But wow, if you're into it, go try it! I don't recommend you buy some remote property and cut yourself off from the world to see if you can hack it. One bad winter where you run through your firewood? One bad frost or dry summer that kills your crops? There's a reason people tend to settle together.

So yeah, you need good land, good water, good equipment, many years to get established, some friendly neighbors, and some way to get money when you need it. Or a bunch of people already doing this that like you and want your help.

Go look up a victorian household guide on Project Gutenberg. So many good ideas! They have instructions for making everything from soap to paint.

Good luck!




on

By aramaic in "Bye, Amazon" on MeFi

Good must always be ditched in favor of a theoretical Perfect.




on

By chavenet in "So how's that work from home working out for you at home?" on MeFi

Hire good people; review their work; correct errors.

This is the "eat food, not too much, mostly plants" of modern management.




on

By emjaybee in "So how's that work from home working out for you at home?" on MeFi

"It's silly to say, 'I just trust them all,' and close my eyes and hope for the best," he said. Some workers have grimaced at the surveillance, he added, but most should have nothing to hide: "If you're uncomfortable with me confirming the obvious [about your work], what does that say about your motives?"

Actually, not being able to provide your employees with the least amount of autonomy marks you as a shitty (and ineffective; how much work are YOU getting done if you are spying on your team constantly?) manager.

Hire good people; review their work; correct errors. That is your job as manager (along with putting out fires, managing interpersonal issues, and administrative tasks).

People also respond positively to trust and productivity goes up (as well as problem-solving ability).

Mistrust means people do the minimum, stop caring about their job except as revenue generation, and leave as soon as they can. They certainly won't take initiative, why bother? Clearly their boss/company sees them as ungrateful jerks just itching to slack off and steal.

How you treat your employees affects how they perform. This is not rocket science.




on

By nebulawindphone in "Third quarter phenomenon: the bacon wars" on MeFi

Oh for fuck's sake. There's some really interesting stuff in these links, most of it has nothing to do with the three-quarter point of anything, and none of it is making any kind of claim about when this will end.

It's a bunch of interesting stories about how people fail under isolation, and fail harder when relief still feels out of reach. Sure, one thing that can make it feel out of reach is knowing you've still got a quarter of your mission left. Another thing is having no clue how long things will last, which hopefully we can all agree is relevant?

Can we take a deep breath, pretend that Athanassiel chose a pull quote that wasn't total pedant-bait, and start over?




on

Georgia Playlist: Avery Gipson

Now we add some more songs to our essential Georgia playlist from Avery Gipson . We ask artists to pick two songs written or performed by another Georgian that best represent the state. At 18 years old, Avery Gipson is already an award-winning singer-songwriter. Her first single , “Look What You’ve Done,” came out earlier this year.




on

Georgia Playlist: Jontavious Willis

Jontavious Willis got his start singing gospel in his hometown of Greenville, Georgia, but something clicked inside him when he heard the blues. His second album, Spectacular Class, came out earlier this year. Critics and blues artists hailed it and declared him a wunderkind and genius who proves the blues is very much alive.




on

Georgia Playlist: Deerhunter/Moon Diagrams

Earlier this year, Rolling Stone called Deerhunter, “one of the great guitar bands of the 21st century.” But that’s not the only music to come from the Georgia band. Moses Archuleta is co-founder and drummer for Deerhunter. He also has a solo side project called Moon Diagrams, which released a new album, titled Trappy Bats , in August. We invited Archuleta to add two songs to the Georgia Playlist. That’s our collection of songs written or performed by a Georgian. His picks? Athens band Pylon, and Atlanta native Playboi Carti.




on

Georgia Playlist: Glenn Jones

Glenn Jones got his start in the music industry at a young age, signing to gospel label Savoy Records at just 17 years old. Later, his single “Here I Go Again” reached the top of the R&B charts in 1991. Now, Jones is based in Atlanta and releasing new music under his independent label, Talent Room Entertainment. On Second Thought invited Glenn Jones into the studio to share his additions to the Georgia Playlist.




on

As Seen On TV

Comedians Ashley Nicole Black ( A Black Lady Sketch Show ) and Chelsea Devantez ( Bless This Mess ) order this audio quiz about infomercials just in time to get free shipping and handling. Heard on D.J. "Shangela" Pierce: Quaran-Queen. Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit JONATHAN COULTON, BYLINE: Hey, everybody. This is Jonathan Coulton. You know me from ASK ME ANOTHER, but I'm also a singer-songwriter. I'd like to take this opportunity to play a song that I wrote. This is called "Theme From Ask Me Another." (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) COULTON: From NPR and WNYC, coming to you from our respective homes in beautiful Brooklyn, New York, it's NPR's hour of puzzles, word games and virtual backgrounds, ASK ME ANOTHER. I'm Jonathan Coulton. Now here's your host, Ophira Eisenberg. (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) COULTON: Well, that was perfect, as usual. Why don't I call Ophira, see if she's around? (SOUNDBITE OF BELL) OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST: Hello. COULTON: Hi, Ophira. How are you? EISENBERG: Jonathan




on

Stephen Sondheim's Star-Studded 90th Birthday Salute Made For Perfect TV

Copyright 2020 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air . DAVID BIANCULLI, HOST: This is FRESH AIR. I'm TV critic David Bianculli. I've watched many broadcast and streaming specials since the coronavirus began affecting our lives, but one in particular really got to me. It was the recent 90th birthday salute to Broadway composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, featuring performances from an array of musical theater stars. This is Donna Murphy. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) DONNA MURPHY: (Singing) Isn't it rich? Are we a pair? Me here at last on the ground, you in midair - send in the clowns. BIANCULLI: Nothing I've seen on TV since the pandemic hit has impressed me quite like "Take Me To The World," the star-studded 90th birthday salute to Stephen Sondheim. It was shown April 26, is still available for viewing and will be for some time. Aimed to raise funds for a favorite charity of his, Artists Striving To End Poverty, "Take Me To The World" was presented on YouTube and Broadway.com




on

Steve Martin On His Years As A Comic — And Walking Away From Stand-Up

DAVID BIANCULLI, HOST: This is FRESH AIR. I'm David Bianculli, editor of the website TV Worth Watching, sitting in for Terry Gross. Today on FRESH AIR, one of our favorite interviews from our archive - Terry's conversation with comedian, actor and writer Steve Martin. He's also an accomplished bluegrass musician and has been posting occasional videos on social media playing banjo in the woods. Last month he visited CBS's "The Late Show" with Stephen Colbert in a special socially distanced comedy bit with Colbert sequestered inside his house and Martin with his guitar, strolling in a forest, determined to sing a song that Colbert is just as determined not to hear. (SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE LATE SHOW") STEPHEN COLBERT: So we go now live to Steve Martin in the middle of the woods. Hi, Steve. STEVE MARTIN: Hey, Stephen. Thanks for having me on. COLBERT: Well, Steve, you're certainly welcome. MARTIN: You know, Stephen, I was thinking that something we as people need to remember right now




on

Judith Warner's New Book On Middle School Suggests It Doesn't Have To Be All Bad

Middle school spans those tween and early teenage years when, for many, puberty hits. Bullies seem to reign supreme. And we begin to grow into ourselves. Like most, writer and reporter Judith Warner was once a middle schooler. She's also the mother of two former middle schoolers. In her new book, And Then They Stopped Talking To Me , she investigates why the middle-school years can be so awful — and what we can do to help make them a little bit better. Interview Highlights On asking people what words come to their mind when thinking of middle school Soul crushing. Shattering. A rush of nausea. Any variation on the word misery that you can come up with. By and large, the answers were so powerful. And yet then there were a couple of people who had good memories too. And that was something that was important for me to hold on to and listen to in more detail. On deciding to write the book It really grew out of a kind of random thought one day when my daughter was in middle school and I




on

LA Radio DJ Nic Harcourt On 5 Recent Local Music Discoveries

You might not be able to pack your bag, get on an airplane and jet off to some new exciting place right now, but don't worry, you can still travel and explore here with World Cafe Sense of Place. In this series, we take you deep into one city's music scene, and today, we're kicking off our sessions from Los Angeles, with more to come every Friday in May. We start with a bit of an overview from someone who really knows what he's talking about. Nic Harcourt is a legendary name in LA radio. He hosted Morning Becomes Eclectic on KCRW for many years, and now he's a host at our affiliate station, 88.5 KCSN/KSBR. We recently connected with Nic via video chat to find out what's going on right now, the new LA bands you need to be listening to: Freedom Fry, The Buttertones, Los Abandoned, Pure Protein and Brad Byrd. Hear songs from each of them at the top of the playlist below, which also features artists and songs you'll be hearing in the coming weeks. Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit




on

Heavy Rotation: 8 Songs Public Radio Can't Stop Playing




on

Writer Caitlin Flanagan On Having Stage IV Cancer During The Pandemic

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.




on

Director Alice Wu On Her New Film 'The Half Of It'

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.




on

Author Amy Jo Burns On Her Debut Novel 'Shiner'

NPR's Scott Simon speaks with author Amy Jo Burns about her debut novel, "Shiner," set in the West Virginia mountains.




on

Not My Job: We Quiz 'Full Frontal' Host Samantha Bee On Backsides

Samantha Bee is the host of the late night comedy show Full Frontal, so we've invited her to play a game called "Full Backtal." Three questions about the people who stand in for actors when a posterior shot is required, and the star is either unwilling or unqualified to do it. Click the audio link to find out how she does. Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.




on

EU-Kommission fordert Verlängerung des Einreisestopps

Die EU-Kommission will eine Verlängerung des Einreisestopps nach Europa bis zum 15. Juni. Die Lage in Europa und weltweit bleibe wegen der Corona-Pandemie instabil. Entscheiden muss aber letztendlich jedes Land für sich.




on

Das könnte hinter Russlands erstaunlichen Corona-Zahlen stecken

Die Sterberate Corona-Infizierter in Russland ist extrem niedrig. Die Regierung verweist bei der Frage nach den Gründen auf den Erfolg der russischen Strategie – einige Bürger dagegen trauen der Zählweise der Toten nicht.




on

Immer mehr Klagen gegen die Corona-Auflagen

Die Corona-Auflagen beschäftigen auch die deutschen Gerichte. Denn mittlerweile sind rund 1000 Eilanträge von Klägern gegen die Einschränkungen eingegangen, so der deutsche Richterbund.




on

„Je geringer die Infektionen, desto schwieriger wird es“

Wie sind Beschränkungen bei sinkenden Infektionszahlen überhaupt noch zu rechtfertigen? Und werden nach dem neuen Notfallmechanismus bei neuen Ausbrüchen ganze Städte abgeriegelt? Hessens Ministerpräsident Volker Bouffier (CDU) hält die kommende Phase für heikel.




on

Frontex rechnet mit Migranten-Zustrom

Nach einem internen Bericht der Europäischen Grenzschutzagentur Frontex ist mit einem Zustrom von Migranten an der Grenze zwischen der Türkei und Griechenland zu rechnen. Der Bericht liegt WELT vor.




on

Kurz nach hochrangigem Treffen – Sprecherin von Mike Pence positiv getestet

Die Corona-Erkrankungen im Umfeld des Weißen Hauses häufen sich: Die Sprecherin von Vizepräsident Mike Pence hat sich mit dem Coronavirus infiziert, ebenso ein Assistent von Trumps Tochter Ivanka. Der Präsident gibt sich unbeeindruckt.




on

WELT-Sondersendung – Alle Infos und Entwicklungen zur Corona-Krise

Die Coronavirus-Pandemie bestimmt weiterhin das Leben überall auf der Welt. Laut Robert-Koch-Institut liegt die Reproduktionszahl in Deutschland derzeit bei 0,83 – ein leichter Anstieg zu den vergangenen Tagen. Sehen Sie alle Entwicklungen hier live.




on

Noch immer misstrauen viele Deutsche dem Onlinebanking

In vielen Staaten vor allem Skandinaviens nutzt fast die gesamte Bevölkerung eine digitale Bankverbindung. In Deutschland sind es 86 Prozent. Vor allem Jüngere aber nutzen lieber das Smartphone als den Bankschalter




on

Rasen vertikutieren - So funktioniert es

Ein dichter und widerstandsfähiger Rasen braucht viel Pflege. Daher sollten Sie mindestens ein Mal im Jahr Ihren Rasen vertikutieren. Was Sie dabei beachten sollten, erfahren Sie hier.




on

Smartphones für Senioren – Worauf Sie beim Kauf achten sollten

Viele Senioren möchten mobil telefonieren und Apps zur Organisation des täglichen Lebens nutzen. Allerdings sind moderne Smartphones häufig auf jüngere Nutzer zugeschnitten. Doch es gibt Ausnahmen. Hier erfahren Sie, worauf Sie beim Kauf achten sollten.




on

Haben Corona-Infizierte die Chance auf Schadenersatz?

Ein deutscher Anwalt hält es für möglich, dass Covid-19-Infizierte erfolgreich auf Schadensersatz klagen können. Es gehe um Summen von bis zu 7500 Euro. Der Nachweis orientiert sich an einem Muster, das bereits erfolgreich angewandt wird.




on

Help Blue Knights March On to 2021

With the cancelation of WGI and DCI seasons, Ascend Performing Arts is working diligently to come back stronger in 2021 but need your help. Together we can make it possible for members of the Blue Knights Ensembles to “March On” into 2021.



  • Alumni
  • Blue Knights Drum & Bugle Corps
  • Blue Knights Percussion Ensemble
  • Blue Knights Winds
  • Front
  • 2020
  • I Go On
  • March On

on

Short on Cash? Here's Some Advice For Families Stretching Their Budgets

Updated on April 13 at 5:06 p.m. ET Forget living paycheck to paycheck. Many families have lost work during the pandemic and are running out of cash as they wait for unemployment checks and government rescue money to arrive. These are highly unusual times, and family budgeting recommendations are also unconventional. Kathy Hauer, a financial planner based in Aiken, S.C., says she's telling people to do things she has never recommended before: "Defer as many payments as possible and worry about it later." But, she says, don't just ignore all the bills. Make sure to call all the companies and ask for forbearance — either a delayed payment or a new payment plan. This is an especially hard time for lower-income families who don't have a lot of wiggle room in their budgets, Hauer says. They may not be able to borrow money from other family members. If they have bad credit, they can't qualify for personal loans from banks. Many also don't have credit cards or are close to maxing those out.




on

Unemployment Money Not Reaching Millions Of People Who Applied

About 17 million people have applied for unemployment benefits in the U.S. in recent weeks. It's an astonishing number that's nearly 10 times what the system has ever handled so quickly. But, by one estimate , that money is still not flowing to about half of those people who desperately need it. And others are only getting a trickle of what they should be receiving. Many people have been out of a job for a month now. That's a long time to be without your income in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. "It's really intense and it's really frightening," says Nicolena Loshonkohl, a hair stylist NPR has been checking in with in Roanoke, Va. She's a single mom with a 2-year-old daughter. As a regular employee at a local salon, she says it was pretty easy to file for unemployment online. And she's now started to get payments. Loshonkohl feels fortunate about that. But so far, she's only receiving $340 a week. And that doesn't cover her rent, health insurance, food and other basic costs of




on

Why Is The Fed Sending Billions Of Dollars All Over The World?

Editor's note: This is an excerpt of Planet Money 's newsletter. You can sign up here . US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images As the global economy shuts down, the U.S. Federal Reserve has begun sending billions of dollars to central banks all over the world. Last month, it opened up 14 " swap lines " to nations such as Australia, Japan, Mexico, and Norway. A "swap line" is like an emergency pipeline of dollars to countries that need them. The dollars are "swapped," i.e., traded for the other country's currency. The Fed has also started allowing around 170 foreign central banks that hold U.S. Treasury bonds to temporarily exchange them for dollars. Sending billions of dollars abroad in the middle of a historic economic crisis might seem crazy: As America's economy crumbles, why are we moving our precious dollars *out* of the country? The answer has to do with the Fed's unique position in the global economy. Dollars are the lynchpin




on

Europe's Economy Was Hit Hard Too, But Jobs Didn't Disappear Like In The U.S.

When the British economy ground to a halt a few weeks ago, Reda Maher suddenly found himself among the ranks of the unemployed, alongside untold millions of other people around the world. But unlike many others, Maher can rest easy, knowing that money will keep flowing into his bank account until he's called back to work. "I woke up a couple of hours later than I normally would. I won't lie," Maher said one afternoon earlier this month. "I took a nice long masked and gloved walk. I've got a remote personal training like fitness session in about 20 minutes." The United Kingdom recently began paying 80% of the salaries of workers laid off because of the coronavirus pandemic. The government caps the pay at about $3,000 a month, but many employers, including the London-based video streaming service where Maher works, add to what the government hands out. Maher also doesn't need to worry about being left without health care coverage, thanks to Britain's National Health Service. Across




on

Deluge Continues: 26 Million Jobs Lost In Just 5 Weeks

Updated at 8:46 a.m. ET The number of people forced out of work during the coronavirus lockdown continues to soar to historic highs. Another 4.4 million people claimed unemployment benefits last week around the country, the Labor Department said . That brings the total of jobless claims in just five weeks to more than 26 million people. That's more than all the jobs added in the past 10 years since the Great Recession. Still, the pace of job losses is slowing. About 5.2 million filed during the week that ended April 11 and last week was the third consecutive week of declines. Don't see the graphic above? Click here. The coronavirus crisis has suddenly ended a decade of remarkable job growth. The unemployment rate, which sank to nearly 50-year lows, is expected to soar into double digits. The pace of job losses has the broader population worried. A Gallup poll found that a quarter of working Americans believe they will lose their jobs in the next 12 months. That's a record high. The




on

A Trombonist Wonders When An Audience Will Gather To Hear Music

"You can't really have a concert if you can't have an audience," David Roode muses. His career as a concert trombonist in Cincinnati went abruptly on hold when stay-at-home orders took effect in March. "I had months of gigs that were just canceled." Roode and his wife, a concert pianist, have done some recording while on lockdown in Cincinnati. And they've tapped into savings they typically rely on during the slower summer months. "If I kind of burn through my summer money now, then when the summer comes and there's no work, there might be more of a problem," Roode says. He's done some soul-searching about the role of a musician during a pandemic. "The medical professionals are the ones who are on the front lines who are really making a difference," Roode says. But he thinks artists and performers will eventually be in demand again. "I really think when this is all over, people are going to want to go hear concerts and they're going to want to have that experience." Read more stories




on

A Staggering Toll: 30 Million Have Filed For Unemployment

Updated at 8:38 a.m. ET The telephone lines are still jammed at the nation's unemployment offices. Another 3.8 million people filed claims for jobless benefits last week, according to the Labor Department . While that's down from the previous week's 4.4 million, a staggering 30.3 million have applied for unemployment in the six weeks since the coronavirus began taking a wrecking ball to the U.S. job market. That's roughly one out of five people who had a job in February. The pandemic has cut a wide swath of destruction through the economy, as restaurants, retailers and businesses of all kinds closed their doors in an effort to slow the spread of the virus. Don't see the graphic above? Click here. An NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found half the people surveyed had either lost a job or had their hours reduced because of the pandemic and the aggressive public health measures to contain it. The sudden job losses are all the more striking after a long period of record low unemployment, in




on

20.2 Million Private-Sector Jobs Are Gone

The private sector slashed a record 20.2 million jobs between March and April — a somber preview of Friday's monthly jobs report. That's up from the 149,000 private jobs cut a month earlier. The ADP National Employment Report released Wednesday was not surprising, given that more than 30 million people have filed for unemployment benefits as the coronavirus pandemic shut down much of the economy. But the latest numbers are stunning nonetheless. "Job losses of this scale are unprecedented," said Ahu Yildirmaz, co-head of the ADP Research Institute. "The total number of job losses for the month of April alone was more than double the total jobs lost during the Great Recession." Small businesses cut 6 million jobs, medium businesses 5.3 million and large businesses nearly 9 million, ADP said. The service sector cut 16 million jobs — including 8.6 million in leisure and hospitality. Manufacturing jobs fell by 4.3 million. The Labor Department's official report for April, which also




on

3.2 Million More Are Out Of Work As Jobless Claims Keep Piling Up

Updated at 8:43 a.m. ET Another 3.2 million people filed for unemployment for the first time last week, bringing the total number of jobs lost during the coronavirus crisis in the last seven weeks to at least 33.5 million. Last week's number was down from the nearly 3.9 million initial claims filed the week ending April 25, and filings have fallen for five weeks in a row. The claims numbers come one day before the release of the April jobs report, which is expected to show a staggering jump in unemployment to around 16%. The Congressional Budget Office has projected that unemployment, which hit 4.4% in March, will average nearly 14% during April, May and June. Moody's Investors Service predicts it will rise to 15% during the quarter. The real unemployment rate is probably higher, says Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute. "I think we are not near the peak yet," she says. "I think we are still going to see additional job losses show up in the data for May,




on

Friday's Jobs Numbers Will Be Brutal But Won't Tell The Whole Story

The Labor Department is expected to deliver a historically bad employment report Friday, showing millions of jobs lost last month as the jobless rate soared to around 16% — the highest level since the Great Depression. Unemployment inched up to 4.4% in March as the coronavirus began to take hold in the United States. It approached 25% during the Great Depression and remained elevated until World War II. As painful as the report for April will be, it won't tell the full story of the economic wreckage left by the coronavirus and the government's drastic efforts to control it. The report is based on surveys conducted in the middle of April, and claims for jobless benefits suggest that millions of additional jobs have been lost since then. What's more, the headline unemployment figure includes only people who are actively looking for work and those on temporary furlough, ignoring millions more who have been involuntarily idled by the pandemic. Even with those limitations, the April




on

One For The History Books: 14.7% Unemployment, 20.5 Million Jobs Wiped Away

Updated at 11:43 a.m. ET The Labor Department delivered a historically bad employment report Friday, showing 20.5 million jobs lost last month as the nation locked down against the coronavirus. The jobless rate soared to 14.7% — the highest level since the Great Depression. The highest monthly job loss before this was 2 million in 1945, as the nation began to demobilize after World War II. The worst monthly job loss during the Great Recession was 800,000 in March 2009. Loading... Don't see the graphic above? Click here. Unemployment was 4.4% in March as the coronavirus began to take hold in the U.S. It approached 25% during the Great Depression and remained elevated until World War II. Loading... Don't see the graphic above? Click here. The carnage was felt across industries in April. With most travel shut down, leisure and hospitality jobs fell by 7.6 million. The retail and health care sectors each dropped by 2.1 million. Manufacturing lost 1.3 million and government jobs fell by 980




on

Women Bear The Brunt Of Coronavirus Job Losses

Very briefly, at the end of 2019 and the start of 2020, there were slightly more women on American nonfarm payrolls than men. That's no longer true. The historically disastrous April jobs report shows that the brunt of job losses fell on women. Women now account for around just under half — 49% — of American workers, and they accounted for 55% of the increase in job losses last month. One way of looking at why that matters that is to look at the gap that opened up between women's and men's unemployment last month. The below chart shows women's unemployment rate minus men's unemployment rate since 2007. Usually, the line bumps around near or just below zero — meaning men's unemployment is usually near or slightly higher than women's. But that spike on the far right shows how women's unemployment leapt to be 2.7 points higher than men's in April. Women had an unemployment rate of 16.2% to men's 13.5% last month. That's uncommon for a recession. The below chart is a longer view, and the




on

„So aussagekräftig ist die Reproduktionszahl garantiert nicht“

In Deutschland kommt langsam ein wenig Normalität zurück. Diverse Beschränkungen werden aufgehoben, so dürfen zum Beispiel Kinderspielplätze wieder öffnen. Was das bedeutet und ob dadurch das Ansteckungsrisiko wieder steigt, erläutert der Infektiologe Klaus-Dieter Zastrow.




on

So schützen sie sich vor den Corona-Kilos

Corona bringt uns zum Kochen: Den ganzen Tag in der Wohnung und in Kühlschranknähe. Oft bedeutet das: Ran an den Speck! Ein Ernährungspsychologe weiß, wie man mit Kalorienbomben umgeht – und wann eine Pizza-Challenge hilfreich sein kann.




on

„Unsere Vorstellung von der Welt gilt nicht mehr“

Sorgen, Ängste, Einsamkeit: Die Einschränkungen während der Corona-Pandemie belasten fast alle Menschen psychisch. Forscher untersuchen die Auswirkungen – und haben einen Rat, wie man weniger Stress bei Mitmenschen auslöst.




on

Rätselhafte „Corona-Füße“ – darauf sollten Eltern jetzt achten

Ärzte aus mehreren Ländern beobachten in der Corona-Krise eine seltsame Häufung von Hautveränderungen an Füßen und Händen. Vor allem ansonsten symptomlose Kinder und junge Erwachsene sollen betroffen sein. Was hat es mit den Symptomen auf sich?




on

Seeking Country Songs

Seeking uptempo male/female country songs. Please submit your best tracks for consideration.

Bandwagon Red is a music publishing and artist development company based in Nashville, Tennessee. Does Nashville need another company to do what is being done all over town? The short answer is "No". However, what Nashville and nearly every other industry needs is a revitalization of how their products are produced.

- A&R Team - Bandwagon Red




on

Artistry Worldwide Seeking Full Songs for Artist Placements

Artistry Worldwide is seeking full songs (not just beats) for major artist placements. We specialize in Pop, Hip-Hop, and R&B, but are open to all genres if you have an original sound that we have to hear. We have relationships with UMG, WB, Sony, BMG,Live Nation, AEG, Azoff, Roc Nation, Beyonce/Parkwood, Itunes, and more. Artistry Worldwide and founder/CEO Max Gousse have worked with some of the top names in the music industry including Beyonce, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Rihanna, Rick Ross, Jamie Foxx, Tyrese, YG, Ty Dolla $ign, DJ Mustard, Kieran Alleyne and many more. Please submit your best track(s) for consideration.

Artistry Worldwide is a new media company headed by Max Gousse based out of Los Angeles with a hub in emerging markets such as Toronto, Dubai, London, and Seoul. The mission for Artistry Worldwide is quite simple: to become the number one brand in developing new talent in media worldwide.

- Artistry Worldwide

Deal Type: Song Placement
Decision Maker: Selected tracks will be pitched for final decision
Deal Structure: Exclusive once placed
Compensation: $1,000+ based on placement
Song Quality: Rough Mixes, Fully mastered, Broadcast ready




on

Big Fuss Records Seeking Corona Diaries Song Compilation

Big Fuss Records is looking for amazing artists who have created radio ready, unique Corona Diaries songs for new compilation. We specialize in Pop, Rock, Adult Contemporary and Alternative; Christian, Folk, Country and New Age Inspirational music; Soul and R&B. Please submit your best track(s) for consideration. We look forward to hearing your submissions.

We are a positive music label and believe in bringing inspiration and hope into the world through music. We stay away from dark, death metal artists and explicate lyrics. Our tag line represents how we feel about our artists. We Make a Big Fuss Over You!

We stand for new ideas in the new music industry and work in tandem with artists we represent. We have been in business since 2002. We are selective in bringing the best music to the forefront of the music industry. Our deals are 50/50 splits.

- Kristin Pedderson - CEO/Director - Big Fuss Records LLC

Deal Type: Label Roster Consideration
Decision Maker: I'm the final decision maker
Deal Structure: Negotiable
Compensation: $10,001 - $25,000
Song Quality: Fully mastered, Broadcast ready
Similar Sounding Artists: Coldplay, Lorde and others