the buzz log

Lost your job? That's the bad news. But the better news is that you don't have to count down the days watching daytime TV (the horror). You can go back to school with a government-funded grant.

With yet another half-million workers laid off in April alone, the jobs that are available often require skills the unemployed haven't acquired: high-tech know-how, for example. That's where the new website Opportunity.gov comes in. It's a new government initiative to help the jobless go back to school while they're out of work. Immediately, searches for the website surged online.

Admitting that the old jobs lost may never be regained, Obama wants those who have been laid off to find training for, as he put it, "the industries of tomorrow." The website is set up to assist the unemployed with Pell Grants from their state, so they can go back to school and get equipped for the future. Hey, it beats sitting on the couch waiting for the phone to ring.