Dave Atkins has put together a good guide to collecting unemployment benefits. I was particularly interested in the info on a state program that will reimburse a large fraction of your COBRA health-insurance payments, since I had no idea it existed and since COBRA is pretty scary if you have a family (so hooray for universal health care!).

Boston Gal reports on an unemployed engineer who had been selling family photos and thank-you cards to try to wipe out his credit-card debt. eBay's just pulled his page, though.

This evening I boarded the Orange Line at State Street for my usual trip back home to JP. Immediately I was greeted by a powerful odor, emanating from a guy who was sitting there with what looked like all his worldly belongings. A few stops later, onto the train came another fellow, obviously mentally ill, who spent the trip mumbling and cursing to himself.

Please don't get me wrong: I'm not blaming these poor folks for using the T to have a halfway comfortable place to spend a cold evening. And believe me, having lived in NYC for 12 years, I've seen a lot on a subway.

Boston Daily finds a bank that isn't using the money for Persian rugs, executive bonuses or just tying pretty ribbons around and then tossing into a vault. Huzzah for Central Bank of Somerville!

Redfin Boston posts November numbers from the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, which show that in November, prices dropped like a rock, unlike past, gradual declines. Even with the plunge, Boston values have still gone down less than prices in other major metropolitan areas:

... It will be interesting to see if this marks the start of a new trend or a just one-month aberration. ...

The Outraged Liberal compares the coverage of Sal DiMasi's possible imminent departure and the news that Gov. Patrick is cutting $128 million from local aid - which helps pay for police, firefighters and road repair:

... Welcome to a journalism feeding frenzy -- created by a local press corps that doesn't routinely cover the daily ins and outs of a $26-plus billion industry, prefers gossip and rumor over facts and wouldn't know context if it hit them in the face. ...

He does give props to the Globe for putting the local-aid story on the front page.

The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center warns that in addition to the $2.1 billion in cuts the Patrick administration has either already made or announced, the state will have to make up another $1 billion. And that, the center says, is "a best case scenario."

Via the Outraged Liberal, who isn't putting quite as much hope on a federal bailout as some state officials seem to be doing.

The Boston Business Journal reports demand for scented wax is down so much the company is cutting 332 jobs and closing 29 stores. However, 28 of those stores are of another candle-related chain the company owns in states nowhere near New England.

This comes on the heels of Filene's Basement announcing the closing of 11 stores - including the one in Framngham - because landlords didn't want to cut rents as much as the chain thought appropriate.

The Boston Business Journal warns us not to be surprised when Massachusetts banks start reporting losses for 2008.