the feral houses are pretty cool, until you start connecting their stories to the stories of the people who used to live there, and to those of the people who still do.

to post images [and i'd like to see whatever you've got] --

first, get an account at flickr or photobucket or imageshack or shutterfly [there are others if you don't like these, google image hosting]

then upload your images to flickr [or wherever]

back at corrente --

as you're writing a post or comment, put the cursor where you want the image to be and click the insert/edit image icon [third from left, between blockquote and bold]

when the dialog box opens, paste the url of your image [from photobucket or wherever] into the space labeled image url, and if your image is is wider than 500 pixels, enter some number that is <= 500 into the width box [the program automagickally adjusts the height for you]

click ok, and voila! code should show up in the text box here, and when you preview, you should see your image.

i've lived for a few weeks in primitive conditions, whether by choice [backwoods camping] or not [hurricane aftermath], and i've been unemployed for a few months, and i've lived very, very frugally on the edges of sorry, run-down neighborhoods, but when i try to extrapolate these relatively benign experiences to get a feel for what it must be like to live in detroit, my brain just freezes up.

[and your first link doesn't seem to work]

The General Electric plant here in Louisville opened up 100 jobs, all paying about 1/2 what the current employees are making. They are only allowing application online though, which sux for poor people with no internet access, but there would probably have been riots if they had done in publicly.

And speaking of the stimulus, we are currently having one of the main interstates thru town revamped with stimulus money. And I would like to punch out the person who determined how to spend this.

I-65 had concrete slabs that had lasted 21 years. There were portions where the road bed had buckled, and repairs were needed. But, overall, the slabs have held up, and not having to do more than minor upkeep was a good thing.

Well those days are done, as the idiots in charge of allocating the money, decided that replacing the very effective concrete slabs with flipping asphalt, was a good idea.

Asphalt! Which will need replacing in five years, as this is a heavy traffic interstate, which will mess up the local economy AGAIN, as traffic is snarled for weeks on end.

I mean, OK, if the stimulus didn't provide enough money to completely lay down new slabs, throw down some asphalt as a temporary measure, until new slabs can be lain. But they have totally removed the concrete slabs, and are laying down gravel and sediment as a long term replacement for the concrete slabs.

So not only is the stimulus totally unhelpful for creating jobs, its totally unhelpful to the taxpayers who rely on the infrastructure the stimulus is supposed to repair.

http://dyspathy.com/

it's very local in concern, so it may be someone difficult for people to understand if they're aren't from the area, but nonetheless it is a brutally honest blog when it comes to MI and Detroit politics.

i have said for a long time and i still believe it: the karmic price for letting rust belt cities like Detroit fall into third world condition is going to be paid, and soon. people are so sure their regional economies can't be destroyed by outside forces and inside corruption, but they're wrong. Today's Detroit is America's Future, without progressive economic policy and reform. which we're unlikely to get from these dems, let alone the rethugs who will be replacing them in '10 and '12. middle class america: you've been warned.

Detroit's estimated population is approximately 822,000 (via city-data.com). With 65,000 people applying for this aid (and presumably on the part of families or "households", so multiply that by 2-3), that is a very large % of the families in Detroit in distress. Probably 25-30% of the population.

From WTOP:

One in four working-age adults in Detroit is without a job, and the city's home foreclosure rate continues to be among the nation's highest. One in four families and three out of every 10 individuals live below the poverty level, according to the U.S. Census.

but i gotta tell ya, it's not for the faint of heart. i limit how often i go there because frankly, it makes me really depressed sometimes.

that is a pretty cool blog. thanks, H!

oh, wait. you were probably talking about the utter corruption and lack of funding for the services which provide "civilization." we have a problem with that here.

feral in my sexual habits, and i've got several exs who call me 'a dog.' but perhaps i've said too much...

if storks bring human babies, who brings puppies? box turtles?