Recently by Scott Barzilla

The Mitt Romney comedy tour continues in full force. At a recent speech he managed to piss off people from the left and right at the same time. He told America that he doesn't care about the poor and that if the safety net needs to be fixed he'll fix it. Of course, he came back and tried to fix his little gaffe, but these things take on a life of their own. For most of...

In his state of the union, President Obama urged all of the states to raise the dropout age to 18. To prove I'm not simply a sheep I will say that is absolutely the wrong thing to do. In fact, I think that's moving it in the opposite direction that it needs to go. The big problem is that public school curriculum stop serving the needs of the majority the minute they all step into...

It's been a long time. I want to introduce myself. My name is Scott Barzilla and I am unemployed. Back in November, things were picking up. I had what seemed like a firm offer from an insurance company and I got a holiday job at Barnes and Noble. That job went away when the holidays ended and the insurance company is still doing background checks. Meanwhile, I've shelled out nearing 500 dollars getting certified. It's...

My time at Barnes and Noble is coming to an end tomorrow. The funny thing is that the people there are split into three categories. There are the managers. They may have started in another field, but they are making a go of it there. They are in it for the long haul and probably making some decent money. There is a sizeable group of us that were downsized from our career of choice and...

I noticed when I looked at the dashboard that I had not written in a month. Well, time flies for the unemployed and the underemployed. The good news is that I found a job that helps our family get through the holidays. The bad news is that it really cuts into the writing time. When I add up the work schedule, studying time for insurance tests, and baseball statistics work it adds up to little...

Rarely do the worlds of sports, education, and morality collide in any real way. However, they have collided in Pennsylvania this week as Penn State University is embroiled in the the biggest scandal to hit college sports in at least a decade. Former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky has been charged with sexual abuse. That alone is not the story. The story is the cover up that ensued. The New York Times is now reporting that legendary...

When I was in school, the portion of history that fascinated me the most was intellectual history. I called it the history of ideas. I am big believer in the fact that ideas really can and do change the world. At the basis of every history is the story. All stories have protagonists and antagonists and there is always some liberty taken with the facts. Most people don't trust details you know.At the center of...

It seems the Perry campaign is running out of steam. I know all of you are shocked at the news. In other news, Kim Kardashian filed for divorce. I guess I was somewhat surprised because I thought he'd make it to New Hampshire. At least his campaign is on life support unlike the Kardashian marriage. According to recent polls, he is running fifth or sixth in Iowa. His campaign has decided to stop preparing for debates...

Dear Mr. Selig,If you are anything like me, you sometimes run hot and cold with your emotions. When that happens, I am practiced at the art of writing the scathing letter where I get out all of my emotions and use every dirty name in the book. Then, I crumple up the paper and start over. I did that once and then published my second draft over at Bleacher Report. As you might have suspected,...

A few weeks ago, I attended a job fair that was sponsored by the Houston Chronicle. The funny thing was that it was broken into three sections: nursing, engineering, and general. They wouldn't even allow me into the nursing or engineering section even though those companies were also hiring people that weren't nurses or engineers. Heck, I even tried to sneak into them to give them my resume and I was rebuffed.That being said, I...

Representative Steve King from Iowa and Representative Eric Cantor were on the tube a while back talking about the jobs bill. Both of them said they didn't want to do go forward with the bill. After spending much of time vomiting the drivel they usually do, King made a temporary moment of honesty when he told the world that they didn't want to do anything until after the November election.The commentator asked the next obvious...

In his book, We're Right, They're Wrong, James Carville described the kind of Democrat he was by calling himself a 5/65 Democrat. That way, he said that people should either be working or going to school from the age of five to 65. It should be the business of government to not only make this as easy as possible, but they should be about protecting those beyond the two extremes.However, it is another conversation in...

Rick Reilly of ESPN gave a speech at a convocation for a journalism school and spouted off comments that all bloggers should be interested in. Essentially, he said that we are saps if we write for free. However, I'll let you decide for yourself."When you get out there, all I ask is that you: DON'T WRITE FOR FREE! Nobody asks strippers to strip for free, doctors to doctor for free or professors to profess for...

As most of us know, the Buffet plan is a simply plan that calls for millionaires to pay the same percentage in actual income as those in the middle class. It is inspired by billionaire Warren Buffet who actually believes he should pay more. However, considering that the avid Fox viewer has the political acumen and knowledge of a rabies infected dog, here is how I think they should play it. I will borrow from...

I was out playing golf the other day and came inside to beat the heat. My father and I had the silly notion that we could walk 18 holes in 90+ degree temperatures. So, when I entered the 19th hole I was a bit woozy. So, when I saw that the station was on Fox News I sat down and listened for awhile. Who knows how much I heard was reality and how much was...

In these tough economic times (where jobs are scarce and corporations fierce) it is high time to take a long look at the protections that workers have. When I was a salaried employee those protections were afforded me. First, I had the protection of the contract itself. The district could not simply drop me mid-contract without cause. Furthermore, I had an established due process I could go through in the district and we had the...

"I've been looking all over the place for a place for me, but it ain't anywhere. It just ain't anywhere.' Syd BarrettToday something happened at work that I never thought possible. I went in to our a pre-shift meeting. The supervisor came by the room and asked me to step out into his office. There he told me that it just wasn't working out. I wasn't a good fit for the position and I needed...

Historians have always told us to make sure we learn our history or we will be doomed to repeat. That sounds easy enough, but we must be sure to understand the lesson first. Our parents told us about the boy who cried wolf, Pinocchio, and other all of the Brothers Grimm tales.  Those all had simple lessons that were easy to learn. Yet, how do we take the convoluted events of our lives and convert...

All of us taught this story to our children at some point. Of course, many of you probably remember it as the tortoise and the hare. The general idea is that slow and steady wins the race more often that speeding out of the gate. Here we are in August of 2011 talking about an election that will take place in November of 2012. Obviously, we are early in the game. There is only one...

As most of my regular readers know, I have always been interested in the interplay between politics and religion. We had another event (deftly covered by our very own Carguy) that married the two together. Rick Perry sponsored the "Response" and seemed to handle himself well. During the event he mentioned that "God does not have a political agenda. He has a salvation agenda." If only he really believed it.A funny thing happened during my...