[Denver, December 8. Image via Getty]

DENVER - DECEMBER 08: Job seekers wait in line to enter a career fair December 8, 2009 in Denver, Colorado. Some 500 applicants turned out for the event, despite the bitter temperatures and snow. In an effort to boost jobs nationally, President Barack Obama on Tuesday proposed small business tax cuts, new infrastructure spending and energy efficiency. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

[Hefei, China; November 19. Image via Getty]

Chinese students look at a newspaper outside an employment fair in Hefei, in east China's Anhui province on November 19, 2009. China's urban registered unemployment rate stood at 4.3 percent in the second quarter, unchanged from the first three months of the year and up from 4.2 percent at the end of 2008, official data showed, however, the actual jobless figure may be much bigger than the official rate, which does not take into account migrant workers and university graduates, where a recent report showed about three million graduates were still unemployed. CHINA OUT AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

[Ware, Massachusetts; October 28. Image via Getty]

WARE, MA - OCTOBER 28: An employee at the American Disposables Inc. factory works on the assembly line October 28, 2009 in Ware, Massachusetts. The factory, which has been producing diaper and paper products for over 30 years, recently had to let go of most of its employees following a decline in sales of nearly 85 percent in May and June. Ware, an old New England factory town, is struggling to find its place in an economy moving away from manufacturing. The unemployment rate in Ware is currently at 9.7 percent with negative job growth and over 11percent of the population living below the federal poverty level. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

That's why Lyons, working with couples therapist John Jacobs, has compiled a list of 5 ways women can help a man through this tough time. Jacobs recommends:

• Be his cheerleader, because men need to be rooted for.
• Don't push him to do anything, like talk about the feelings fueling his bad behavior (or how he needs to get off his ass and send out a resume or two.)
• Sit quietly, in case he decides to say something important to you.
• Make sure you don't stop sleeping with him. Men need sex.
• Don't place any blame on him for the state of your relationship.

This, despite the fact that Jacobs acknowledges explicitly that a man may well take his unemployment out on his partner and the relationship! In fact, if a guy's behavior changes, well, it's the woman's job to figure out how to deal with that... in addition to the increased financial responsibilities.

But the shift in family dynamics-and a guy's behavior-may significantly change the way wives feel about their situations: more burdened, more responsible, and less admiring of their other halves, whom many women still expect (even if only subconsciously) to be the primary wage earner.

Another shrink says the same thing: as the more emotionally-attuned person in the relationship, it's a woman's job to put up with male bullshit, even if said male is making no effort to contemplating what he's doing, or why.

But given that the capacity to earn a living remains one of the central struts of male self-esteem, "there's certainly data to demonstrate that unemployed men may not cope with [job loss] very well," says Jessica G. Schairer, a clinical psychologist in private practice in Los Angeles. "They tend to get more depressed." And withdrawn, despondent, and irritable, she adds. Women often misinterpret the signs of depression as anger towards them, which can make it very hard, if not impossible, to respond with what Schairer says their husbands actually need: "more love, compassion, and support-even if they're behaving like they're going to reject it."

Right. Well, during the last economic downturn, I was in a long-term, heading-for-marriage relationship when my partner's career started hitting the skids. In the 6 months before his department was eliminated, the writing was on the wall, but he didn't want to do anything about it. He refused additional responsibilities outside his official job description and went to work during only the bare minimum of hours. He didn't send out resumes, he didn't network, he didn't call a soul: he just came home and watched television or played computer games (and, I found out later, chatted up women he met on a dating site). He didn't want to listen to advice, he didn't want pep talks... he didn't even want help writing his resume.

Then he got laid off, with a multi-month severance package, the promise of good recommendations and his final semester of grad school tuition paid for. He decided to "find" himself. This involved: sleeping until noon; sitting around in his pajamas all day; not bathing; refusing to go out because he "didn't have the money"; a steadfast determination not to look for a new job unless it involved the Foreign Service or the Peace Corps despite their lack of provisions for spousal employment and long-term hiring windows; lots of online computer warfare games; no interest in speaking to me; potentially less interest in touching me; and an outright refusal to seek therapy, couples or otherwise. I rooted for him, I encouraged him, I tried to talk about his feelings and our relationship, I attempted to show physical affection despite near-constant rejection or perfunctory performance ("Oh, well, if I have to... are you done?"). And, at the end of the day: he wanted to be a jerk about it.

I understand depression and mental illness all too well, and I know the toll it can take on a relationship. But, at the end of the day, sufferers have to be able to look at the toll their behaviors are taking on their partners and relationships and do something.

Plus, no one's even been cuddled — or coddled — out of a depression. They have, however, learned that they can treat their partners like crap and get away with it when times are tough all around, and that is something no woman should have to put up with just because she's got the "emotional acuity" and he's the one lacking a job.

Recession Tip For Wives: Lay off Your Laid-off Husband [US News & World Report]

[New Delhi, June 25. Image via Getty]

An Indian girl cradles her sleepy brother in New Delhi on June 25, 2009. Sixty percent of India's workforce is self-employed, many of whom remain poor, and over 70 percent of the labour force in the formal and informal sectors combined is either illiterate or educated below the primary level of schooling according to NGOs. AFP PHOTO/PEDRO UGARTE (Photo credit should read PEDRO UGARTE/AFP/Getty Images)

• The Obamas arrived in France and President Nicolas Sarkozy rolled out the red carpet and then demonstrated how best to remind your wife she's married when she meets the hottest head of state. [Huffington Post]

• After the British press went not-Lady gaga over Michelle Obama hugging the Queen, Buckingham Palace issued a statement that the Queen liked it. I mean, who wouldn't? [CNN]
• The British now think Michelle is totally awesome, including the Queen, who reportedly asked her to stay in touch. [Washington Post]
• John Oliver wants us to know, though, that girl is poison. [Huffington Post]

• If you wanted some real G-20 news, apparently Sarkozy and Chinese President Hu Jintao got into a fight about tax havens and Obama broke it up. [ABC]
• A low-level Clinton aide mistyped the number for reporters to dial into a conference call with Hillary Clinton yesterday, so they all ended up calling a phone sex line. Only 4 stayed on the line with the phone sex operator, though. [CNN]
• To add insult to injury, House Minority Leader John "Helmet Head" Boehner then critiqued the hair or every reporter that showed up for his presser. He figures if no one shows up anymore, no one can ask him any hard questions. [CNN]
• Now that Attorney General Eric Holder dismissed the charges against former Ted Stevens pursued by the Bush Administration, Alaska Republicans really, really want a do-over election so he can get re-elected instead of the guy Alaskans actually elected. Sarah Palin wants it, too. [NY Times, ThinkProgress]
• Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill wants all the single ladies unemployed journalists to go to work for the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board. [Politico]
• Patrick Fitzgerald issued a 19-count, 75-page indictment against former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. It includes an allegation that he attempted to extort Rahm Emanuel, so Blago's lucky he just got indicted and isn't fish bait in Lake Michigan. [NY Times, Huffington Post]
• Newt Gingrich wants his own Republican Party away from all those Republicans that think he's a huge dick and don't want him to be their Presidential candidate in 2012. [Politico]
• The Senate passed Obama's budget yesterday so now we can all live happily ever after. [The HillExcept that unemployment is now at 8.5% and employers eliminated 663,000 in March. [Huffington Post]
• So Republicans are going to keep talking about the fake world currency. [Washington Independent]

Yesterday, as I searched in vain for news that didn't make me want to tell stupid people to shut the fuck up, I found out from Nicholas Kristof both that he's part of a video game about women in the developing world (yes, I follow him on Twitter) and that Senator Barbara Boxer will be chairing a new subcommittee on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee specifically charged with women's issues. Can we all just love Nick Kristof and Barbara Boxer a little this morning? Thanks.

Anyway, onto the dirty news of the day. The U.S. economy shed more than half a million jobs in January, more American soldiers committed suicide than were killed in combat that same month, and it's entirely possible that one of the damns China built recently was the proximate cause of the earthquake that killed so many people last year. But, hey, don't pay attention to the man behind the curtain; Eliot Spitzer liked to fuck prostitutes without condoms and is a whiny little bitch.

In the mean time, the "negotiators" for Hamas who went to Egypt, it turns out, weren't really there to negotiate as much as launder some money which, due to Egyptian interference, they didn't quite manage to accomplish. Larry Summers is having as much trouble negotiating interpersonal relations as Hamas, as he's busy thinking of ways to dick over and lock out Paul Volcker. Who knew he was Dick Cheney 2.0 (without the bum ticker)? And Cheney may have found his next move, if he wants to go work for yet another evil organization  Ticket Master probably needs a new spokeshenchman after they dicked over Bruce Springsteen and all his fans buy buying up the tickets to his event and then reselling them above face value on their own reselling site. But, no worries, there are cute mammals roaming the White House grounds!

In Administration news, CIA director nominee Leon Panetta is feeling less torture-iffic than his predecessors, Obama went and ralled his troops on the stimulus package and he's having the Census Director report to Rahm Emanuel rather than the incoming Commerce Secretary, Judd Gregg, who, incidentally, tried to defund the department and politicize its functions. That sort of begs the question of why you'd nominate a guy you don't fucking trust to do his fucking job, but maybe that's just 'cause I ain't had my Kool-Aid this morning. Anyway, Congress is delaying both the switch over to digital television signals because it's even more of a clusterfuck than anyone imagined and Hilda Solis' confirmation hearing because Republicans are still quaking in their expensive leather boots at the thought of Wal-Mart workers unionizing. But, hey, I was right and it turns out that Bush did go jacketless in his Oval Office despite all the carping from the former Bushies about Obama not being formal enough. So, I guess they can all shut the fuck up now. Oops, I did it again.

I will try to keep this as short and sweet as possible before I go off and live out every girl's childhood dream of watching Mommie Dearest while knitting in their underwear (otherwise known as "unemployment"). Don't worry about me though, a young man from Nigeria has contacted me about an exciting business opportunity! You see, his billionaire brother needs an American to hold onto some of his money for a few months, and I'll be able to keep a few million dollars for myself. All I have to do is send him all of my personal information and bank account numbers. Seems like a good deal to me.

Anyways, I want to thank all of the wonderful women I have worked with at Jezebel. I am still dumbfounded as to how I successfully tricked Anna into hiring me to work with such a talented and hilarious group of women. Moe, Dodai, Megan, Jessica, Sadie, Tracie, Jennifer and (especially) Anna are some of the most intelligent and patient people I have ever worked with. Also, Margaret, Katy and Cheryl are some of the best and hardworking interns floating around the blogosphere. I am really proud to have worked at Jezebel and see it develop over the past year and a half.

I would also like to give a special "thx" to the dark overlord, Nick Denton, for occasionally remembering to give me money. Even though that time has come to an end, it was fun while it lasted.

I want to give all of the commenters and readers a quick shout-out for being so funny and (usually) showing me support. Thanks for always keeping me on my toes.

Bye!

• Hottie Obama speechwriter Jon "No Relation" Favreau is embarrassed tonight, after this picture of him cupping a cardboard Hillary Clinton's boob was posted on Facebook. Clinton spokesman Phillippe Reines stole our hearts, though, when he responded, "Senator Clinton is pleased to learn of Jon's obvious interest in the State Department, and is currently reviewing his application." [Washington Post]
• But is the picture faked? We've got some evidence after the jump.
• Meanwhile, Caroline Kennedy has apparently actually talked to New York Governor David Paterson about taking Hillary Clinton's Senate Seat after she resigns. Kennedy is, reportedly, definitely interested. [Huffington Post, MSNBC]
• Mitt Romney's wife, Ann, has a lumpectomy today for a Ductal Carcinoma In Sutu. It has not spread and she's already home with her family. Best wishes, Ann! [Politico]

• Joe Biden hired left-wing progressive economist Jared Bernstein of the labor-backed Economic Policy Institute as he chief economics adviser. He's the new Don Quixote of the Administration. [Washington Independent]
• U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan, who's been appointed all over the Bush Administration over the last 8 years, is refusing to do the traditional thing and resign her position in the Western District of Pennsylvania. Apparently, she wants to be able to file for unemployment along with the rest of us, so she's just got to be fired. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
• The Bush Justice Department reluctantly informed the Bush Defense Department that, despite the fact that the EPA is the least respected agency in the Administration, the Defense Department can't simply flip them the bird and refuse to clean up contaminated sites. The Defense Department then gave the Justice Department a wedgie. [Washington Post]
• Jimmy Carter says that we've almost eradicated Guinea worm disease from the earth, since cases are at all all-time low. Almost 80 percent of the 4,410 cases reported this year were in the Sudan, though. Do not Google image search "Guinea worm disease" unless you have a very strong stomach. [MSNBC]
• And, now to the photographic evidence that the Favreau-Clinton shot was completely faked. I, of all people, ought to know. It was me in the original.

MEGAN: Hey, there, what's up?
MOE: I'm getting coffee. I'll be online in 5. I really feel like its the seventies today. Even the good news on the front of the Times about the natural gas in Louisiana is kind of dark.
MEGAN: Sure, no worries
MOE: Well the good news is that former Defense Policy Board chairman Richard Perle is in on some Kurdish oil deal. That is bound to make him a lot of money and he sure deserves it having had the foresight to liberate The Iraq and also suck up to Bill Clinton's friend that dictator guy across the border in Kazakhstan, even as Seymour Hersh and his cabal of elite treason-loving freedom haters were knocking that for being a "conflict of interest" or whatever. Thanks to Wikipedia, we know Richard Perle explained back in 2003 that Sy Hersh was basically a terrorist, so we probably don't need to spend much more time on his smears. Especially with such other positive energy deals in the works as this one that is making everyone in De Soto Parish, Louisiana, suddenly a card carrying Cadillac owning rich person! And that makes 1 place GM might make a profit this year.
MEGAN: Well, unless they bought it outright, I'd say GMAC bought a bunch of Caddies more than people in DeSoto did, but no matter.
By the way, Bush has signed off on the first military execution since 1961. It's also the first actively-pursued execution since then. Can we all take a moment to be unsurprised that the soon-to-be executed man is black?
MOE: There are six other men on military death row. Are you saying that's why he got to go first? Incidentally, I never thought much about the death penalty before The Idiot wherein the lead character is this charismatic Christ figure named Mishkin, which happens to be the name of the retiring Federal Reserve board governor who apparently wants to set inflation targets, something I don't have much of an opinion on today, although I read somewhere else that only about a third of jobless are receiving unemployment benefits these days, down from 44% in 2001 and 52% when all "social safety net" stuff was actually taken seriously, before the breakdown of the family made us all stupid and neighbors started locking their doors at night and buying homes in ever farther-flung suburbs, a trend no one thought would ever ever end but boy were they wrong, but hey, on the bright side, it's a good thing we didn't turn out Berlin, right? All opera and free education and cheap rent and richly endowed cultural institutions and SO LITTLE GDP GROWTH??? Anyway, we were supposed to "weigh in" on that Tennessee guy. Um, he sucks is my opinion.
Because all the drawbacks of breakneck economic growth are so easily reversible! Oh wait.
MEGAN: Yeah, I'm sort of all like, meh, whatever, another crazy person went on another crazy shooting and we're supposed to go, ohhhh, it's because he hated liberals? Well, maybe he just hated Unitarians, it's not like he went to the local Democratic Party offices. Why would anyone expect that the guy's homicidal/suicidal rantings would make sense? It was like 4 pages long. I haven't written a letter that long since my best friend in junior high moved to Canada, not even the one time that I got a letter from a guy I'd been dating in college 3 weeks after the school year ended telling me what a stupid, slutty, vicious cunt I was but that he was only writing to make sure that he hadn't knocked me up so then he really wouldn't have to have speak to me again. God, damn, I wonder if I still have that letter somewhere. Anyway, even he didn't merit a 4 page reply. But God knows what Mr. Crazypants in Tennessee will write when he learns GOP hero Dan Quayle is about to turn Mr. Fancypants and is in talks to join Dancing With the Stars.
MOE: Yeah, oh god, Dan Quayle, it's the nineties again all right. Except insofar as the pollution in China is hella worse.
MEGAN: They're even still defending their human rights record. Seems like it would've been easier to try harder not to be human-rights violators in the last 20 years or whatever, but whatever.
MOE: Pitchfork crapsters: previous link contains JARVIS COCKER, J MASCIS, SEBADOH, LIZ PHAIR, BUILT TO SPILL, MISSION OF BURMA annnnnnnd Flava Flav, referencing his popular reality TV show! To get us back on the Dan Quayle angle. Lou Barlow does not sound like he held up too well, but we'll forgive him because his cover of Ratt's "Round And Round" was such a sparkling contribution to the culture. Okay, and also, pollution. because it's kind of a really good story with implications for the whole next century.

Shougang Steel Group, the giant steelmaker whose name translates as "Capital Steel," was ordered to relocate most of its operations hundreds of miles away to a partly manmade island. Xiang Dong, who worked at the company for 16 years, says he cried when his unit was shut down on March 31. Most of his 600 or so colleagues were transferred to the new facility. "Of course I was sad. A lot of coworkers cried when it stopped," says Mr. Xiang, who continues to work as a caretaker at the mothballed production line. "But this is for the Olympic dream. We do some sacrifices for that."

MEGAN: Speaking of human rights records, did you know the American Medical Association didn't support the 1964 Civil Rights Act? That they deliberately shut down black medical colleges, understaffed black hospitals while forcing the segregation issues, allowed affiliates to keep black doctors out and are only just now apologizing? Because I didn't.
MOE: Oh God, I looked at that story and had no idea what it was about, other than I didn't feel like I needed another reason to disrespect doctors this week. Holy shit.
MEGAN: Ahem. I'm feeling a little disrespectful to the medical establishment this morning, though, but I will change the subject before I rage out for the 2nd time in as many days and so we can talk about the Doha talks in which they're still debating the same fucking issues they did 2 years ago when I got my writing start authoring a "humorous" round-up of the week's events in the WTO negotiations. No, for real.
MOE: Oh, great last graf:

Consider this statistic: In 1910, when Abraham Flexner published his report on medical education, African-Americans made up 2.5 percent of the number of physicians in the United States. Today, they make up 2.2 percent.

MEGAN: Yeah, that was the best kicker I'd read all day.
MOE: Anyway, I have to go sort of. But the buzz today is Obama closing in maybe on Tim Kaine for VP. Do you think Obama could win your state? Maybe I could go home and vote there since Philly seems to have forgotten I existed. Garry Kasparov thinks O needs to go hard on Russia, not a shock, the Ataturk Thought Association is worried the country is turning into Iran following a raid on their headquarters. And I'm still hung up on China, because at some point the world needs to figure out how to make the whole green collar jobs thing work, and just to spite the fucking Republicans I hope they do it in Berlin.
MEGAN: One of my friends just took a green collar job! He mostly took it, though as a third job because his former employer outsourced a bunch of their work and his second job as a tattoo apprentice doesn't pay the bills either so now he's working at a recycling plant. He says he doesn't feel very green except on the really hot days and then he does, but only around the gills.
As for Virginia, polls show it's tight, so who knows. The Washington Post keeps running stories I'm too lazy to find at the moment that Obama's operation in the state just keeps expanding and expanding so maybe? I don't think Kerry was within a point or two of Bush, like, ever in 2004.