Today's Link

Here's a link for all the unemployed addicts forced to live on cat food out there, this time from the New York Times:

Generation OMG

Interesting takeaways: for those who like labels, this article calls millennials the "homelander" generation (as in security) and also calls us the next "Silent Generation." The basic thrust of the article is that the generation that lives through the Great Recession may/may not be branded by it, and that we older members of the cohort may prioritize either security/creativity in our jobs/unjobs.

I remember when people were talking about how millennials were going to be the "organization kid" generation and how we were going to do try and do everything before we had mental breakdowns. Now we're going to be like the children who came of age during the Depression? I suspect this is a combination of Great Recession Alarmism and the modern (post-modern?) desire to analyze and categorize in media res.

P.S. Millennials and Homelanders sound like rival factions in a sci-fi novel, no?

It's the Small Joys That Make Irregular Employment Worth It

It's the small joys that make irregular employment worth it. For example, while tutoring tonight I had a student who tried to make up a great word: multaplicitus. While I told him I was pretty sure that no such word existed (multitudinous was the word I suggested he was probably looking for), I nonetheless liked the word he invented. Here's my suggested definition for it:

multaplicitus: adjective, derived from combining "multiple" and "duplicitous," describes anything which employs a high number of examples in support of something which is nonetheless false

Perhaps the spelling should be regularized to multiplicitous? What do you think? Any takers for making this an actual neologism? If you can come up with a better definition, too, leave it in the comments section. (Something involving Tacitus maybe was my only other thought, but I'm sure you can do better.)

Isn't this messed up? Leave me a comment about how messed up this is.

First, the context: I recently volunteered for an organization which sends inmates educational and recreational reading material. The image below is of a postcard that an inmate had used to write to the organization in order to request books.



In case it's blurry, the front of the postcard reads: "Rescued Dogs & Cats enjoy Sheriff Joe Arpaio in an Air Conditioned Jail."

In smaller print, the back of the postcard continues (unpictured): "Front: While inmates live in the hot desert's Tent City, rescued dogs and cats enjoy the air conditioned comfort of a converted jail. Phoenix, Arizona."

How messed up is that? Here's my beginning effort at cataloging how messed up this is:

1) So they had enough prison space, but decided to make a Tent City anyway? Did they have a brainstorming session about how to make prison worse? (I love cats and dogs as much as the next guy -- well, dogs anyway -- but I'd rather see them have their own shelter than a converted jail. I suspect finding the converted use for the jail was a secondary happening anyway.)
2) They are so proud of their Tent City that they made postcards to promote it? (I mean, seriously, a postcard? Hmmm, let's look at the gift shop rack: Ooh, sunset on the Potomac, that's nice. Oh, "wish you were her" with a picture of a woman in a bikini, that's cute in a tacky way. Hmm, what's this? WE ARE AS CRUEL AS POSSIBLE TO OUR PRISONERS. Oh god, why is this here!?)
3) They then made those postcards available for inmates to use? I can't even imagine the theory of mind going on there.
4) They must be the only postcards available, or perhaps cheaper than others, because why else would an inmate want to "brag" about the fact that he/she was forced to live in a tent city? That adds an additional layer of messed-up-ness to the people who made the postcards and then made them available to the inmates.
5) Not just jails, but both times: "air-conditioned jail."
6) How creepy is that photo? And how creepy is the choice of the word "enjoy" ? (The dogs are not enjoying the air-conditioned jail -- they're specifically enjoying Sheriff Joe Arpaio.)

Isn't this messed up? Leave me a comment about how messed up this is.