SecState Kerry is in Geneva today to discuss the Russian suggestion that Syria voluntarily give up her stores of poison gas, rather than be plied with incendiary devices by the US. Assad asserts that his compliance is because of Russia, and not US threats:
"Syria is placing its chemical weapons under international control because of Russia. The U.S. threats did not influence the decision," Interfax quoted him as telling Russia's state-run Rossiya-24 television channel.
A version of the Russian plan that leaked to the newspaper Kommersant described four stages:Syria would join the world body that enforces a chemical weapons ban, declare production and storage sites, invite inspectors, and then decide with the inspectors how and by whom stockpiles would be destroyed.Reuters
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And that doesn't express the nastiness of the situation. Because it has been over ten percent, in reality, since some time late in 2009 or earl 2010. This is something that is now structural in nature. We've baked in that 1 in 9 people cannot get work.
And even THAT misses a good part of the picture. Most of the jobs lost could be classified as good in terms of pay and benefits. 56% of the jobs gained, last time I looked, have been low wage low benefit jobs.
What is happening is that the workforce, and the middle class, are being hollowed out.
What has the President done to address these issues? He hasn't done squat. Not one thing. Late in the spring of 2012 he proposed an employment plan to add about one million jobs. That plan was inadequate to the point of being laughable, and the plan died a quiet death, much like the President's budgets.
Now the arguments are that the President can't do anything because of those nasty Republicans. Really? Has he TRIED? He has not. Mind you, I don't think the President or his advisors know what to do, and frankly I think they're happy to see this employment environment. Poor, unemployed people vote Democratic. So this is all gravy to them.
But if they HAD ideas, why aren't they being vetted and fleshed out? Why isn't the President out there hammering away at the public to swing Republic support his direction? He isn't doing these things. He isn't even trying.
Part 3
And while this goes on, what's happening is that people like me who should be entering the most productive years of our careers aren't working at all. And likely will never work again, and certainly not at anything like the rates we used to earn. No one will hire us.
People older than me are seeing their plans for retirement being destroyed. The Boomers, as a class, are about to get very poor as they enter their golden years.
And worst of all, younger people are being weighed down with student loan debt that they will probably never repay. But, thanks to bankruptcy laws as written by people like Joe Biden, they will be debt slaves for the rest of their lives. Sure, they're making stupid decisions, but everyone in positions of responsibility from the President on down is telling them about the importance of education.
So these debt slaves, who are also struggling to find decent employment, are going to put off family formation. They're going to put off starting households. And guess what? New family formation and starting new households (even rental households) helps drive economic recoveries.
Generations are being ruined by this economic crisis, and the President can't even be bothered to talk about it. Instead we've been hammered this year with DOMA, and Syria, and whether or not the President is going to speak about dear departed Trayvon, and on, and on. And the only thing different from last year is that we're not be hit with "binders full of women" and the like. It's one distraction after another, and the most vital issues of national well-being, that of having a sound and healthy economy, is being steadfastly ignored by the President, who is supposed to be President of us all.
...
Oh, I did forget one thing. The one proposal the President has made that has a direct bearing on the economy is his immigration platform. He wants to give amnesty to millions (no one is sure how many) illegal aliens here, and greatly expand the immigration policies so that we will import tens of millions more Third World peasants in short order.
Given that a highly educated workforce will allegedly lead us to the next Golden Age, this policy makes no sense. Given that there aren't enough jobs for the people already here, this policy makes no sense. Given that wage suppression is a long-running problem, this policy makes no sense. And yet it's what we've got. The President, and his allies in the Republican Party leadership want to import tens of millions of Mexican peasants to do the jobs Americans just can't get.*
And none of this is new. Not one damned bit of it. And this is what 65+ million of you voted for last year. As bad as Romney was (and lord he sucked), he at least wasn't a proven failure. Those of you that voted for Obama last year voted for the economic destruction for millions of Americans at the hands of a President who doesn't even care to recognize that there's an employment and wage crisis in this country.
The "Just Kidding" foreign policy is joined at the hip with the "What, me worry?" economic policy.
NOTE: I should probably read through this to make certain I'm saying what I mean to say, but fuck it. No one is going to read it or care down here anyway. No one would care if it was its own post. When it comes down to it no one fucking cares about the millions of us that are getting fucked in the ass by this economy while this President fucks around trying to kill Syrian children. People don't give a fuck about American families being ruined in this economy of Obama's, Obama certainly doesn't, so let's just say fuck it and bomb Hell out of Syria too.
* The current immigration policy position of the elites runs counter to certain lessons learned during the Great Compression, but you won't hear jack-shit about that from any one that matters.
Blogger wouldn't take it as one comment: too long. Not that anyone gives a shit.
Ritmo, do you really think I care which party takes half my income and wastes it. It just happens to be something Democrats brag about, and I should know since as a lifelong Dem I've gotten all the mailings. Maybe you can't think of anything better to do with your money, but I have ideas, vision and energy, and I don't need to take your money to make them happen.
@Icepick: tl:dr
Please don't take offense
Obama's economic record is the pits of the world.
Quick! Name 15 countries with better economies that you'd rather live in than America! Betcha you can't do it!
But it must have made for some fun bluster to say it, I suppose.
Ritmo, do you really think I care which party takes half my income and wastes it.
Yes. I actually think you do.
It's an objective fact that budgeting improves under Democrats compared to Republicans for every administration since at least Reagan, if not further. It doesn't fit your story-book narrative, but that's how facts are. And that's with the economy that Bush gave Obama.
R&B writes: Matt Drudge is reporting a breaking story on how John Boehner just convened a Republican strategy session in which it was announced that they would introduce a bill declaring that only debt incurred under Democratic presidents would count toward the official debt. All Republican raised debt would be permanently considered off-the-books. For serious.
Since "Obama's Debt" far exceeds "Shrub's" debt (your hyperbole), I think this is insignificant.
On the other hand, it's high time that we re-recognize that Congress has the purse strings and that Executive branch party control typically counters legislative branch control. In short: Republicans are responsible for ObamaDebt (at least since 2010).
Please don't take offense
No one is going to read it, or care if they do. No one gives a fuck about the unemployment problem in this country. The President won't even talk about it, except to say it's not his fault during an election year.
Basically, the U-3 rate is really over 11% if counted honestly, and this is what Obama claimed during his last election campaign is GOOD NEWS, and what his voters agreed with.
No one actually wants to read analysis of the numbers. And I didn't even bother to drop the hard data in there.
Quick! Name 15 countries with better economies that you'd rather live in than America! Betcha you can't do it!
But it must have made for some fun bluster to say it, I suppose.
Yeah, your argument is that at least we're not Zimbabwe.
You bastards really are evil as Hell.
Since "Obama's Debt" far exceeds "Shrub's" debt (your hyperbole), I think this is insignificant.
I know. It's not like there wasn't a cataclysmic near-depression of a financial crisis to take care of or anything.
Here it is in pictures. Enough with the damn stories and fairy tales.
Wow, what great selective editing by Ritmo! Outstanding!
How can budgeting improve under Dems when they don't actually have a budget?
Name 15 countries with better economies that you'd rather live in than America!
But then, why has Obama been in such a rush to make America more like other countries? To transform us. I thought that was the point. To make us more European, economically.
Aren't those economies good examples for us to emulate? Isn't that part of the point of Obamacare?
Ritmo: I just wanted to put that out there. And yes, it's for what he did, but at least as importantly (or educationally, apparently, given the comment and ensuing silence on it here) for what he stands for.
So, it is at LEAST as important to kill people you disagree with as it is to kill them for heinous crimes. Got it.
Ritmo's the consummate dissembler.
Yeah, your argument is that at least we're not Zimbabwe.
You bastards really are evil as Hell.
You really are a stupid one, Icepick. And I say this as someone who really doesn't feel all that much antagonism toward you. I really don't feel all that much antagonism toward anyone here, really.
But you made the claim that Obama's record on running an economy is the worst in "the world". Those are your actual words. Did you not say them?
If you said them, I want you to tell me which of the 190 or so other countries are doing better. Not just Zimbabwe. Not just an objectively bad economy. Just one. Forget 15 (a small fraction of the number of the world's countries).
I want you to name just one of the 190-some odd countries of the world that you think do a better job than THE WORST economy of "THE WORLD".
Take some responsibility for what you say. It will really help you to see things clearly enough to become less depressed and hateful.
I'll agree that they did more damage to the country than Bin Laden, but they didn't mean to do it.
No, they did mean to do it. They can make that claim about voting him in back in 2008, but not in 2012.
"Ritmo, do you really think I care which party takes half my income and wastes it?"
"Yes. I actually think you do."
Lazy, and devoid of imagination. You have no understanding of the entrepreneurial mindset that creates jobs. Like Obama, you only read about in books written by people who learned about it from professors who read about it in books.
So, it is at LEAST as important to kill people you disagree with as it is to kill them for heinous crimes. Got it.
Far be it from me to quibble with a man who picks a name as cuddly as a famous killing device over his concern for the life of the mass murderer and Caliphate revivalist bin Laden, but I am using the word "decapitate" rhetorically.
You'd think someone who declares half his supposedly beloved country enemies as bad as one of its WORST enemies (and biggest mass murderer of Americans) would understand that.
But apparently he doesn't.
I'm really worried about you, Icy.
The demographics have changed and your time has come and gone.
Go catch aids and die already.
Lazy, and devoid of imagination.
Well, if your standard for fact-finding is creativity, I'm not surprised you get things so colossally wrong.
You have no understanding of the entrepreneurial mindset that creates jobs.
Yes, I do. But more importantly, I understand that it's not the government's job to be as risky as you'd prefer your entrepreneurs to be. The government should promote stability. Leave your risky schemes to you and the more responsible entrepreneurs. Many of whom don't agree with you politically, anyway.
Like Obama, you only read about in books written by people who learned about it from professors who read about it in books.
And more importantly, do the research. Again, it's facts you have no use for. You've gone beyond declaring all knowledge useless, and basically admitted that the empirical method required for bringing to life new knowledge is a bother.
This does explain much about how you think and view the world.
"No, they did mean to do it. They can make that claim about voting him in back in 2008, but not in 2012."
I disagree. The primary characteristics obvious after the last hundred years of progressive mind are control and inability to learn from mistakes. They would grab the same red hot end of the poker every time because that's the pretty end. You can't hold them responsible for bad choices. If you don't believe me just ask one.
You really are a stupid one, Icepick. And I say this as someone who really doesn't feel all that much antagonism toward you. I really don't feel all that much antagonism toward anyone here, really.
Bullshit, There's nothing more hateful than voting for and telling tens of millions of your fellow Americans to fuck off and be happy being poor so you can suck the farts out of Choom's ass.
Seriously, one in nine Americans that want work are out of work, many more want (and not so long ago had) better jobs, and your advice is "Shut the fuck up, at least we're not Afghanistan or Sudan." Said with all the smugness of a Titus, no less.
Here's the country I'd like to live in: One where the elites aren't trying to loot the whole damned thing and impoverish the people. The only difference between the US and Russia is that Putin actually knows what the fuck he's doing.
Pathetic, what a whiner. Icepick, pull yourself together man, go back to school, get training, get out of the house and away from blogs and commenting. Get on some meds, start living life and be productive. Do it for your family, for pity sake, have you no self respect?
"No, they did mean to do it. They can make that claim about voting him in back in 2008, but not in 2012."
I disagree.
The level of debate here tonight is a testament to how unhinged an idea many here will take as seriously as a heart attack.
It's stunningly stupid.
bin Laden versus Democrats. Which are worse, ask the cons of Comment Home?
Not just for a limited round, but now going on a few hours.
Incredible.
"And more importantly, do the research. Again, it's facts you have no use for."
That's like telling a hawk to read a book about flying, because that's how you know about it.
The research you speak of is just academics trying to figure out how I do it. I am the source material.
Take some responsibility for what you say. It will really help you to see things clearly enough to become less depressed and hateful.
Are you going to take any responsibility for voting for Obama, and rewarding a man that thinks 1 in 9 people out of work is a successful economy?
They would grab the same red hot end of the poker every time because that's the pretty end. You can't hold them responsible for bad choices. If you don't believe me just ask one.
That's our Bagoh!
Seriously, one in nine Americans that want work are out of work, many more want (and not so long ago had) better jobs, and your advice is "Shut the fuck up, at least we're not Afghanistan or Sudan." Said with all the smugness of a Titus, no less.
Bullshit. And I said what you warped in your manufactured quote in all honesty, with no smugness. You can't even name a European or Asian 1st world country we're doing worse than, even though that's what you claimed.
Your problem is you said something colossally ridiculous, colossally irresponsible, even (if anyone took it seriously), and you can't take responsibility for it AT ALL. Despite the demonstrated ass-hattery of trying to make it mean something different than what you said. (Again, name a country at the top we're doing worse than, not at the bottom. You can't).
This is ridiculous. If it's true what others here allege about you being unemployed (and I don't think Republicans tend to care about anything that doesn't affect them personally, so maybe it's true), then you really should pick up a book sometime - despite what Bag says. He might prefer to employ a workforce as ignorant as he is. But most employers want someone with a brain they don't mind filling with some useful, factual knowledge every now and then. Give it a try, I'm sure it won't kill you. After all, it's not like you're as much the simpleton that edutcher is or anything. You actually seem capable of using your brain... if only you'd bother filling it with accurate info, you might actually go places.
Seriously already.
Are you going to take any responsibility for voting for Obama, and rewarding a man that thinks 1 in 9 people out of work is a successful economy?
Are you going to take any responsibility for voting for a Tea Party, and rewarding a faction that thinks keeping 1.5 million people out of work (and unemployment 1.5% higher) makes for a successful economy?
Yes, pick up a book. Maybe we can get the whole country to sit around at Starbucks reading books. Then we can get in our buggies and trot home to fetch water from the well. Actually, you can do that, right? I have reading to do.
Yes, pick up a book. Maybe we can get the whole country to sit around at Starbucks reading books. Then we can get in our buggies and trot home to fetch water from the well. Actually, you can do that, right? I have reading to do.
You do realize that you're an employer who's advocating post-high school training and education as an evil thing, do you?
Guys, I present President Bag O'. He will run on the idea that America is not dumb enough. We are over-trained. We are over-educated. Everyone knows that stupidity and ignorance is how to improve one's job prospects.
Bizarro World just called and warns that your visa for visiting reality is about to expire.
Icepick's too busy waiting for others to start the Revolution and commenting on blogs all day to do anything to improve himself or the world.
Bag O', CEO.
Only the ignorant need apply. Inquiries may be directed to Bag o C2H4O2.
Quick, Chickie! What compount is that? And for bonus points, what's the word play it gives you when combined with "Bag"?
Oh, that's right. You studied chemistry. Knowledgeable ass. You probably read a book, too. Which in Bag's world, makes you basically unemployable. He only likes people whom he can pay a low wage. It's a more honorable arrangement, or something. Simpler.
Yeah, that's it. Mo money mo brains mo problems.
I have no expectations for anyone, anywhere at anytime.
C'mon now. You did expect the oceans to stop their rise, and you knew damned well you were the ones you've been waiting for. Hey, here we are, and this is fabulous.
FTW
Bag O CEO for President. The anti-education candidate. Training is for suckers! The electorate knows too much! (Except for how to even find their country on a map). He will fix that by giving us all stupid pills. We will forget everything we knew and become low-skilled workers. A wage-slaver's paradise.
Ritmo, I didn't mean to diminish your self worth. Being literate is quite an accomplishment, but so much more has happened to the rest of us since first grade. We learned to do things, make things, invent things, hire people, build businesses, and organizations. We've developed other peoples skills, and showed them how to do what we have learned. But reading about that stuff other people do is nice too, I guess.
Bagoh, he's just offering another false dichotomy. Either support bombing Syria or be a stay-at-home nihilist that never leaves the house. Give your hard earned money to egg-head academics studying useless crap or be against potty training.
Hey, Bagoh, I'm a little curious. Exactly what kind of machines does your company run? I have an idea that it's high end industrial tools.
Being literate is quite an accomplishment, but so much more has happened to the rest of us since first grade.
Oh, so you read at a 1st-grader's reading level. My apologies. That explains quite a bit.
For the most part, a business will be able to reach most of the people they need to if their product literature is aimed at an eight-grade reading level, which is considered semi-literate. Good to know you can take expectations even lower.
Good to know you like to "make things". Not only that, you "do things". I think the parents who taught you to draw on walls in caves 30,000 years ago must be proud to know that their unfrozen caveman son has been defrosted and is saying mean things about the people who get money using their brains! Employing all those semi-literate fellow Neanderthals must have really paid handsomely!
Even though their quality of life must suck because of it. Admit it, you pay them under-market wages. I'd wager you do and want to know how far under a liveable wage you find your glee in paying the employees whose ignorance is so important to you.
I have an idea that it's high end industrial tools.
Bag O' definitely employs a lot of tools but he hates being at the "high end" of anything. That would be snooty and antithetical to his self-deteriorating philosophy.
Being literate is quite an accomplishment, but so much more has happened to the rest of us since first grade.
You mean, like how to stop moving your lips when you sound out the words?
" Training is for suckers! The electorate knows too much! (Except for how to even find their country on a map)."
Dude, I saw some kids learning to sing about Obama's greatness before he was even elected. That is some damned good forward thinking and advanced training right there. With that they have everything they need for success in a progressive world. Besides if they are already in the country why do they need to find it on a map?
Guys, I present President Bag O'. He will run on the idea that America is not dumb enough. We are over-trained. We are over-educated. Everyone knows that stupidity and ignorance is how to improve one's job prospects.
Have you ever read anything bagoh20 has actually had to say about training and education, R & B? Here's a sample from earlier this year over at TOP:
"We need to have some form of structured development of skills for people going through childhood, or they will not become useful adults. High school does not currently provide a robust system of that education. It has been for some time little more than daycare run by people primarily concerned with self-interest. We made it into a union interests driven animal that leftists can plug their pet theories into for fun and profit.
We should return shop classes and physical education. These develop the soul with real world experience, that lasts a lifetime, and have centuries of proven value. They are not experiments run on our kids.
We could have awesome education in this country, we already spend the money, the only real problem is politics. We have very poor education in many places, and it has been run continuously by the same people with the same ideas while that happened. We need to change the people in charge, period."
You did expect the oceans to stop their rise, and you knew damned well you were the ones you've been waiting for. Hey, here we are, and this is fabulous.
I covered the bit about the "ones you've been waiting for" in a cheerbit
That's our Nixon!
Icepick, thanks for the information. You have a way with words. Is there absolutely no hope for relocation or re-training? Nursing is lucrative. One thing I think Obama might be generous with is student loans. Community colleges offer 2-year nursing degrees, and you'd have most of the stuff already, like psych, soc, eng, etc.
'Night all.
Ritmo, friendly tip, you're degenerating.
(I want to punch you for some of what you're saying to bag. But, I'm a lady, can't hit for shit, and bag's better than anyone else here at word-boxing-- nay, ju-jitsu-- with style.)
Leave the trolly nastiness to fiona, can't you?
I'm just playing with him yashu. I'm pretty sure he doesn't take it seriously.
"Admit it, you pay them under-market wages."
Nobody pays under-market wages in a free society, but you wouldn't understand that. Maybe you haven't gotten to that chapter yet.
As it is, California is about to pass the highest minimum wage in the country. Tell your President to catch up. He's not even the best at what he's best at - killing jobs.
Is there absolutely no hope for relocation or re-training? Nursing is lucrative. One thing I think Obama might be generous with is student loans.
First, nursing is for Filipinos. Or more accurately, Filipinas.
Second, I already did the retraining thing. It went nowhere, because at the end of the day no one wanted to hire anyone new to the field, and by now no one wants to hire anyone LTUE. That's jsut the truth of the matter.
And student loans are for suckers. All I got out of my retraining, ultimately, was more student loan debt that I can't repay and can't discharge. It's another way of crushing people, and pushing it hard in times like these ....
Have you ever read anything bagoh20 has actually had to say about training and education, R & B?
I hadn't read that quote but I'd agree with him that we need not only more skilled labor training, but more respect for it. Not only that, but I think I can say as much without denigrating professional, white collar or graduate training, either. They're all important. On that I totally agree. We do need to allow for better skilled training options prior to turning 18.
But he is deluding himself on one thing, though. Doing this will increase the strength of the unions, once again - as it did once we became the industrial powerhouse we were coming out of the Coolidge-Hoover depression. But the thing is, that's a good thing. And it's great for progressive, reality-driven politics.
Icepick would tell his first difficult patient, "Die from AIDES already!"
I'm just playing with him yashu. I'm pretty sure he doesn't take it seriously.
That's cool then, I guess. Carry on with the rough-housing, but try not to break the furniture. At least not the expensive sofa.
Nobody pays under-market wages in a free society, but you wouldn't understand that. Maybe you haven't gotten to that chapter yet.
That's total bullshit. You have no understanding of professional labor. In a given geographic market, some wages are higher, or lower. If they're paying you a certain percentage less than the average pay in your geographic market, you go to the boss and remind them they need to do a market-adjustment, or you go to another job - which isn't always as easy to do as it should be to get the employer to do the right thing and pay you what you work. Not everyone is their own best advocate, but then again, you already knew that: Without that fact, you wouldn't be the kind of employer you are.
But yes, that does explain your complete ignorance of non-manual, non-executive labor. You should learn about it, and how you intend to run a society without any doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc. Kind of like you would North Korea, I guess.
deborah, relocation is no good because (a) every place that isn't North Dakota or Washington DC sucks just as bad as here, or worse, (b) I actually own my house, and there's no way I could leverage the cheap house I own (I could maybe get 40,000 for it, if I got lucky) into a comparable living arrangement anywhere else (and by comparable, I mean any place we could live in semi-comfort with a 'rent' this low - insurance and property taxes et al run less than $200 a month) and (c) my wife actually has an okay job at the moment. Relocating to get me a job just takes one away from her.
But forget all that. That is irrelevant. I'm one person. There are, in reality, about 18,000,000 unemployed people* that want work now, and about 9,000,000 of them have been out of work for AT LEAST six months. Employers don't even want to look at resumes or applications from such people. There are millions of people in my situation or worse (many lots worse), and the thing is that no one really gives a fuck about us. And the President and his minions, from Jay Carney down to the Ritnmos of the world, don't even want to acknowledge we exist.
Of course, Romney just pissed all over us last year too, with all the subtle nuance that one could expect of a John Kerry press conference on Syria. So both parties have told us to get humped. The difference is, the Dems are patting themselves on the back about what a great job they've done with the economy.
* And this doesn't count all the people who are part time but want full time work, and the people entering the work force, and the people wanting something better than their current job.
Carry on with the rough-housing, but try not to break the furniture. At least not the expensive sofa.
We're like puppies, nipping at each other. I know Bag and Bag knows me. We get disappointed with each other's sillier ideas, but it's really not that big a deal. He's got a good sense of humor and takes very little all that seriously. He knows life is short and I respect that. And we'll definitely be mindful of your sofa. We're too busy biting each other to shred it.
AIDS? Anyhoo, I suggest something other than dealing with real live people, he seems a bit less than compassionate. How about welding? He could burn things, make a big flame!
I really wish I could get Fiona's address, I love her.
As someone who has had dozen of jobs and created thousands, my advice is to get work - any kind of work. Walk into offices, call people, tell them you will do whatever they need. Every successful person needs help. They usually just give up trying to find people to do it. It's the hardest thing to do in business - find people who will do their best, just because that's what they do. Don't ask for things - offer them. You are seducing your employer like a woman. Offer her things she wants and has always wanted, but never really got. Then give her what she wants. I mean do a great job - really enjoy the challenge of impressing her, I mean him. This can be great fun, and you should see it that way - as a game, an important game that you will either win, or at worst get good at for the next round. What else you got to do today?
Ritmo, when you go to buy something, is it the same price everywhere you go? Don't any of those books have a definition of "market"?
And the President and his minions, from Jay Carney down to the Ritnmos of the world, don't even want to acknowledge we exist.
I'd say stop with the self-martyrdom and invective, but that won't work.
So instead I'll just say, do you ever think the over-politicized grudge you nurse becomes apparent to others? I'd understand picking whatever object at whom to direct such inchoate frustration one can. But do you give any thought to the idea that your ideological narrow-mindedness and grudge-holding might show through when trying to convince others of the can-do attitude that even Bag advises you to acquire and demonstrate?
Don't any of those books have a definition of "market"?
Sure, but this is a phony over-simplification. Prices vary and some seem like a good deal to me and some seem over-priced for me, even in consideration of the quality of the product I want. But that doesn't stop me from picking up on the level of desperation of the merchant. Some might be going out of business. On the street (sidewalk), some people just give away books or sell them for a dollar, usually when it seems like they're cleaning things out or moving away. But I don't delude myself into saying the transaction is only utilitarian and that the desperation of the merchant is beyond consideration. If they do a good job despite that, I might offer more, extend a tip. It's what I do to encourage good business, neighborliness, etc. A whole lot of things. I don't think making your financial and consumer transactions as soul-less as possible benefits anyone. It's worth it to encourage not only good service and good businesses, but good morale. That's how you keep everything from turning into a sucky-ass Walmart, which should serve some purpose here and there, but not to the extent that it does and with the external costs that it carries.
Better businesses than theirs deserve to be encouraged and to know that they have value to me. I believe in showing that.
As someone who has had dozen of jobs and created thousands, my advice is to get work - any kind of work. Walk into offices, call people, tell them you will do whatever they need.
Bagoh, people don't even want to talk to LTUEs. Get a job at McDonald's? No chance. WalMart? Won't talk to you, trash your application before anyone looks at it.
Seriously there are about 18,000,000 that would love to have jobs. There are millions more who would love something better than what they've got. You really think the problem is that they're just not trying?
The truth is that there simply isn't enough economic activity anymore to sustain the workforce. But pretty much everyone, in both parties wants to say that the problem is with the workers. Romney had his great crack about the 47% last year. Piss on you too, Mitt! We were fine a few years ago, and then we just all went bad overnight, so fuck us, toss us out like milk that's curdled.
And that holds true with the value I place also on how they run their business, as well - including ethical concerns, how they treat their employees, etc., etc., etc. A whole bunch of things that mean more to me as a consumer than just their own bottom line.
"But he is deluding himself on one thing, though. Doing this will increase the strength of the unions"
I never said it wouldn't, but I do think it doesn't have to. Unions are what killed it in the first place. Most heavily unionized industries have been killed, unless they have a domestic advantage like service industries. It is a global "market". There's that damned word again.
Progressive delude themselves repeatedly by thinking they can control markets. They can only corrupt them. It's like having a rulebook to follow for sex. The competition will just "drink your milkshake".
Ha, I always find a way to throw that in with Ritmo.
Or even mine.
Progressive delude themselves repeatedly by thinking they can control markets.
I don't believe in "controlling" markets. I just think that markets have other inputs and considerations than price alone.
They can only corrupt them. It's like having a rulebook to follow for sex.
Um, most people actually think there *are* rules for sex, like no coercion, which quickly allows us to look down on lesser forms of coercion, like exploitation. The fact that you don't consider this might say something about your views about running a business, and why I would, knowing that, prefer to do business with someone else.
So instead I'll just say, do you ever think the over-politicized grudge you nurse becomes apparent to others?
How would it become apparent to them, Ritmo? LTUEs don't get to talk to people, our resumes and applications get trashed unread, save to verify we've been out of work too long.
Also, do you think your absolute contempt for everyone that doesn't believe in everything you do doesn't shine through? Or are you just in a nice environment where everyone believes the same thing?
And here's the big thing: Has it ever occurred to you, just once, perhaps when you were in the twilight between dreamland and wakefulness, that maybe, just maybe, I'm not like this all the time? That maybe I laugh when I play with my daughter? That I feel happy sometimes just looking at my wife when she doesn't know I'm looking? That maybe I cheer on my football teams? That maybe, just maybe, dealing with your stupid ass online isn't the only thing in my life? No? Didn't think so.
You wouldn't know me in real life if you met me. I've been around a long enough time to learn to mask my feelings and be civil. Perhaps this is an alien concept to you.
Why, just tonight, while doing all this crap with you, I was doing some volunteer work for an organization I help out. While doing that, as the first point of contact for the organization with new members, I got praise from my "boss" for what a thoughtful and considerate job I had done. Yeah, I was doing that while in the middle of arguing with your stupid, dishonest ass. My "boss" had no idea what else I was doing. He's got no idea about my political leanings, and I don't really have any idea about his.
But you know, just go on believing that the only reason I'm out of work is because I'm such a mean, hateful person, and stupid to boot because I don't vote the way you do.
Now explain all the other people out of work. Did they suddenly just become bad people like me?
Shorter: I can give really good ... email.
Excuse me, I didn't mean to be so "ME" specific. I doubt Ritmo thinks of me at all except when he comes here to mock and laugh. What I should have said is that perhaps, just maybe, the people you deal with in the magic box aren't like this, or only like this, or even primarily life this in their real lives.
Ah, I'm tired. Fuck it.
Yet Icepick doesn't hesitate to say others are evil, same as Bin Laden and the Taliban even! Yes, he is a great guy in real life, I can buy that, because he gets to be such an asshole here.
I don't blame high unemployment or the plight of the LTUE on the unemployed generally, but not all of it is luck. I'm not Mitt Romney or Herman Cain, I don't say it's your fault or you earn too low an otherwise taxable wage for politicians who can address the situation to care about. I don't do that. But yes, there is some small degree of personal approach that we can always address, no matter how unfair a situation we've been dealt.
And, as importantly, I think civility shouldn't always require a "mask". That's the part that sounds unhealthy. Yes, in most workplaces you shouldn't and shouldn't want to talk about politics or other potentially contentious issues all that much. But being emotionally mute is less and less of an important skill in today's workplaces. The opposite generally matters more... being able to relate to people and to seem personable regardless of what topics or issues come up. Employers increasingly want employees who have the skill of being able to relate to a number of diverse kinds of situations and people.
I think it's good that you enjoy and try to live a full life outside of that, though, and that's all I'll say. You definitely come across as human to me, and I shouldn't give you too much crap about the fact that you said something that sounded unconscionably horrible, earlier - esp. considering as how it's an understandable reaction someone might have if they were walking in those shoes.
I hope you have good luck in your search.
"Um, most people actually think there *are* rules for sex, like no coercion"
Exactly! Now your getting it.
"which quickly allows us to look down on lesser forms of coercion, like exploitation.".
Dammit! I thought you escaped the worn out text, but nope, you had to recite some bullshit from junior year. So limited, such a waste of all that education.
"Some people have weak minds and fixate too much on biker bar behavior."
You've never been in a biker bar without a dress on, so that clouds your perception.
I'm not Mitt Romney or Herman Cain, I don't say it's your fault ....
Earlier, from the same guy:
So instead I'll just say, do you ever think the over-politicized grudge you nurse becomes apparent to others?
In other words, it's my fault.
Christ Almighty, can you hold the same position together for whole minutes at a time, please?
And then, we get:
And, as importantly, I think civility shouldn't always require a "mask". That's the part that sounds unhealthy.
followed immediately by:
Yes, in most workplaces you shouldn't and shouldn't want to talk about politics or other potentially contentious issues all that much. But being emotionally mute is less and less of an important skill in today's workplaces. The opposite generally matters more... being able to relate to people and to seem personable regardless of what topics or issues come up.
So, do I need to drop the masks and instead just SEEM to be personable regardless. You gotta be sincere!
And that director had a real easy call to make with that scene. "Okay, Ann, I need you to stand here and be Ann Margaret for a couple of minutes. Yeah, that'll be fine!"
Since we clearly need all threads to resemble this one I'm starting to understand the concern about the Althouse lefties not posting.
Quick, Chickie! What compount is that? And for bonus points, what's the word play it gives you when combined with "Bag"?
Such acerbic wit, R&B. Sorry I missed that. I was sawing Z's.
Hey Icepick,
Sorry I missed your question last night.: "Hey, Bagoh, I'm a little curious. Exactly what kind of machines does your company run? I have an idea that it's high end industrial tools."
My favorite is my 4,000 watt laser sheet metal cutter that can cut any shape you can draw and cut it out of nearly an inch thick of steel like it's butter. We also have a lot of CNC milling machines and welders, injection molding, presses and brakes. Big heavy stuff, mostly for cutting and forming metal. Lots of CNC controls. If you want me to look at your idea, send it to me. I won't steal it, but maybe I can help you make it happen.
"So instead I'll just say, do you ever think the over-politicized grudge you nurse becomes apparent to others?"
In other words, it's my fault.
A question is not the same thing as a declaration.
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