It’s that time of year again. I think it starts with the back to school commercials for Staples and Target. School reminds those of us on skid row and in Debtors Prison that time really is passing and not in a good way. For the chronically unemployed August is when you start looking for and filling out applications for jobs to be sent the Tuesday after Labor Day. This will be my third Tuesday after Labor Day of Unemployment. The first one I sent out 100 applications sure I would get my pick of jobs. Last year I sent out 300 sure I would get a job. This year I will send out 500 sure licking envelopes on materials that still need to be mailed will dry out my throat. Debtors Prison is like San Diego: weather is always the same. Unemployment has seasons and I would say the beginning of the “unemployed year” is August 1st.

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What do student debtors and the unemployed have in common? No, not Benito (or the millions of others who are in the same boat). Selfishness. That’s not a criticism. I’m not judgmental. It’s certainly not praise. I am not Mike Triforce. It’s not even a challenge because I am not President Kennedy.

But I would be remissed if I didn’t point out two trends and suggest that perhaps one should rethink which hole their particular cog in the machine fills.

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People, I look good. I was just looking at some pictures of myself from a 4th of July party.  I mean I look spectacular. Paparazzi would have to follow me for weeks just to even have a chance at a bad shot. You know who looks terrible though? These Bush era big oil attorneys testifying in front of Congress. They are wrinkly, pale, flabby and have the stink of deceit on them. Haven’t they ever heard of face men?

Then it hit me. That’s where my next job is – big oil. If defending rich individual murderers gets you paid then imagine how much bank is in defending industrial murderers? AAAnnnd you don’t have to spend years in the DAs office working for slave wages.

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For a drifter, I really hate sleeping outdoors particularly in the summer.  The bugs are loud as hell. The ground gets damp in the morning. You can’t tell the newly homeless from the experienced hippie. You smell like ass as does your surrounding environment. I’m going over to Benito’s basement and I don’t care if I wake his mother so long as she doesn’t call the police.  I better have a new post though when I show…hence this post. About Monopoly.

So what’s the biggest difference between Monopoly and life? If you said in life everyone doesn’t start with the same amount of money you would be correct. Next question, what is the biggest difference between Monopoly and the life of a student debtor?

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Alpha Man here. I gave KF Li the by-line to piss off Triforce. Before I hand the Mike over, no pun intended, I just wanted to say that I can’t speak to your current employment situation or your relationship but I can definitely say your ass is fat and your pants are way too small. Your fat does not look like muscle and nobody mistakes you for a weightlifter. You told the truth about your passive racism and I am telling the truth about this.

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Well not according to our own personal hit count, but possibly given the amount of attention the subject of “scam blogging” is getting in fact ATL’s own David Lat has just written a post called ” In Defense of Going to Law School ” perhaps he realized that if people really did heed his advice then eventually the website he started would be useless… Bit it’s all good he had a good ride and besides he’s debt free. Though I am not bitter because I’ve gotten laid during the current administration and didn’t just get blamed for killing my mom’s flowers who I don’t live with during the heat wave… OH WAIT.

I guess I should post the link for those of you who stumbled upon this page and have no idea what I am talking about…

http://abovethelaw.com/2010/07/in-defense-of-going-to-law-school/

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It’s summer. Posts are sporadic. Just because we don’t have jobs or lives doesn’t mean we can’t go outside. Going outside is free and trust me you can do it alone.  But you know what the best part of summer is? Occasionally you have a revelation. Here’s mine. Just Don’t Graduate.

The number one indicator of future success isn’t where you go to school or your grades. It’s not even now much dough your mommy and daddy have it is the year you graduate from school and how the economy is doing then. We tend to think of this as something we can’t control like our age. Not so.  Read on to get the particulars of my brilliant Van Wilder-esque plan

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So if this was any other blog I, the most consistent female contributor, would be going on some wild zany trip between jobs where I would discover my lesbian side and drive a car that only only people who don’t have to work at all drive. Well sorry guys. If you’re looking for a sex fantasy you’ve come to the wrong place.

Instead I am going to elaborate on the plan I mentioned earlier about how to get the rest of my JD paid for and earn another degree to boot. Read on for the details.

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So I am aware that there are alot of blogs like this one, particularly ones that focus more on law school. I realize that these, like most blogs and radio talkshows before them are cynical, preachy and well…crazy. But am I a “Scam Blogger?” aka am I a blogger whose primary goal is to encourage individuals not to go to law school because I perceive it to be a scam?

Believe it or not I designed this blog to have balance. We have a conservative voice in Mike Triforce who loves the practice of law. We have someone who went the MD route, the PhD route, the MA route and someone who cut their losses. But there are some damning trends…

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It’s obvious that Above The Law is required reading here at Debtor’s Prison.  In fact, I think it’s unfortunate that the blog is dominated primarily by lawyers BECAUSE if say, American Legal work can be outsourced, what can’t? Without further ado here is the link:

First my two cents. The title is fitting because indeed those in the know DID know this would happen…and it’s a classic example of the “scam blogger” effect where even if you utter a highly watered down version of the truth most people not in the know think you’re at best crazy and at worst a cynical, whining, fingerpointing lay about. Is this pathetic? Yes. Would I take this job? Maybe and here is why: shame.  It might be worth poverty wages, stomach parasites, and leaving everything I’ve ever known to look myself in the mirror and know that I am surrounded by individuals who are staring at me for a very different reason.

Read on to hear what the gang thinks

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