Politics

[Hogpatrol]

I'm just worried about those sunspots interfering with my XM radio and cell phone coverage. The rest of the hoopla about the earth's climate is just manufactured drama, noise and money making schemes. Now, where can I buy some of those carbon credits? Haven't seen them at Walmart yet. Can I redeem them like Bitcoin?

 

[Altitude sickness]

If it were truly about carbon capture and not a scam. Can you imagine how many carbon credits of farmers should get per thousand acres of corn

 

[Altitude sickness]

 

[cash_tx]

Not a good look to be the leader of a major non-profit and claim to be unaware of "travel costs", much less the primary thief in the den of thieves.

Wayne LaPierre testifies: NRA corruption trial | CNN

Wayne LaPierre, who over the course of three decades became the face of the gun rights movement, took the stand Friday at a New York civil trial accusing top National Rifle Association officials of corruption, testifying that

amp.cnn.com

 

[fourfive8]

Yes, to me it seems this new label or approach called carbon capture, is nothing more than another “Al Gore carbon credit” scam repackaged. The voodoo science behind all of it is so flawed as to be embarrassing.

 

[Brent in Az]

The United Nations is funding much of the migrant surge to the U.S, using taxpayer dollars.

The U.N hands out cash, money cards, food, transportation, etc, to make the journey to the border.

 

[cash_tx]

"Tempering the language and response, while aimed at preventing a wider war, has had the opposite effect of further emboldening the Houthis."

Couldn't have said it better myself...

https://www.npr.org/2024/01/27/1227388081/yemen-houthi-rebels-fire-a-missile-at-a-u-s-warship-escalating-mideast-conflict

 

[BSO Dave]

It shouldn't be up to the union who gets promoted.

I completely disagree with you on this statement, and I'll tell you why...

If you had actually read and understood what I said in my last post rather than just assuming that you are going to disagree with me regardless of my arguments, you would have realized that I said the vast majority of labor unions bargain with management for promotional requirements and eligibility. That may not have been your personal experience with your union, but it is for most... If your Local didn't have multiple criteria for merit-based accomplishments established into your contract instead of, or in addition to seniority, shame on them... They did you all a disservice... Your Local should have elected better leadership...

Responsible union leadership bargains with the equal priorities of fairness and sustainability. Any reputable union shop that wishes to establish credibility and value for their members places an enormous priority on negotiating objective, measurable, merit-based terms for promotion. Seniority may be one of the included factors, but certainly should not be the only factor... Admittedly, there are some large national unions that seem to have their priorities screwed up in regard to what constitutes merit, and they are doing their members a great disservice. It will come back around to bite them in the ass if it already hasn't... Covid has exposed a few of them...

However, to say that unions should not have any say in who gets promoted is frankly silly. If that truly was the case, management would be promoting ever brown-noser in the house...

I can tell that you have never run a business or a large one. And how do individual workers that don't think seniority should be the biggest factor in promotions get that changed in a union's thinking? The union bosses just laugh. They have more control than the OWNERS often times.

LOL.! I love how strangers just assume things about others who they have never met based on different perspectives... Trust me when I tell you that you know nothing about me based on the few posts I make here for entertainment.

I can tell you have little knowledge or experience with organized labor/management relations and how most unions represent their memberships... I was on the executive board responsible for representing the financial and safety interests of about 2,800 uniformed deputies for over 20 years... Not a large business in the traditional sense, but I think it's fair to say that given my experience, my ability to speak with proficiency and expertise on this subject is undisputable...

Over the years as a member of my union's executive board, I have attended scores, if not hundreds of organized labor conventions, seminars, and councils. I have had the ability to both learn and teach representatives of organized labor of many trades and disciplines from all over North America. Given all that, I can confidently say that every generalized assertion you have made about unions for the most part is simply not accurate or universal...

I was told by the company that I would have gotten the job, but for the union's seniority stance. That's BS.

I agree it is BS.. However, I will repeat for the 3rd time... If that was the case, it was the result of poorly negotiated policy on behalf of your Local... I can only assume that your contracts are voted on by the membership, and that's what the majority wanted?

Regardless, strong, reputable unions who represent their members in good faith do not base promotion solely on seniority. I'm sure there are some out there, and that's too bad... I doubt I know any because these are not the types of union leaders who spend their careers educating themselves to provide the fairest representation possible for their members like I did...

 

[Doubleplay]

Take out the humans out of the planet and everything would be in total harmony.
Climate change or not we're destroying our environment and there's no denying that.

 

[Hogpatrol]

In addition to the ten thousand other things plaguing humans, I just found something new to worry about, microplastics. Seems we've been eating them for some time. Hmm, don't really want to go there but I wonder if they're recyclable.

 

[BSO Dave]

Climate change or not we're destroying our environment and there's no denying that.

Could not agree more, and that's the first argument I make to these global warming fanatics...

I tell them the very best way to take personal and immediate accountability for their own impact to the environment is to voluntarily remove themselves from the planet... Then I suggest the next best option is to at least get sterilized, so their offspring doesn't create a carbon footprint.... The conversation usually ends at that point...

 

[Tundra Tiger]

Take out the humans out of the planet and everything would be in total harmony.
Climate change or not we're destroying our environment and there's no denying that.

My own opinion? 'Tis a huge snowball rolling downhill, and it left the hilltop loooooong ago. There is no possible way to arrest the momentum. If we can't agree that a penis means your a male, then agreeing on ways to attempt to manage our world is indeed the world's biggest pipedream, especially when many of those who see the need to do so are some of our planet's biggest hypocrites.

 

[USN]

My own opinion? 'Tis a huge snowball rolling downhill, and it left the hilltop loooooong ago. There is no possible way to arrest the momentum. If we can't agree that a penis means your a male, then agreeing on ways to attempt to manage our world is indeed the world's biggest pipedream, especially when many of those who see the need to do so are some of our planet's biggest hypocrites.

Well said, articulate and succinct. Men penis, women vagina since time immemorial, well maybe not today if you talk to ignorant folks.

 

[Scott CWO]

I completely disagree with you on this statement, and I'll tell you why...

If you had actually read and understood what I said in my last post rather than just assuming that you are going to disagree with me regardless of my arguments, you would have realized that I said the vast majority of labor unions bargain with management for promotional requirements and eligibility. That may not have been your personal experience with your union, but it is for most... If your Local didn't have multiple criteria for merit-based accomplishments established into your contract instead of, or in addition to seniority, shame on them... They did you all a disservice... Your Local should have elected better leadership...

Responsible union leadership bargains with the equal priorities of fairness and sustainability. Any reputable union shop that wishes to establish credibility and value for their members places an enormous priority on negotiating objective, measurable, merit-based terms for promotion. Seniority may be one of the included factors, but certainly should not be the only factor... Admittedly, there are some large national unions that seem to have their priorities screwed up in regard to what constitutes merit, and they are doing their members a great disservice. It will come back around to bite them in the ass if it already hasn't... Covid has exposed a few of them...

However, to say that unions should not have any say in who gets promoted is frankly silly. If that truly was the case, management would be promoting ever brown-noser in the house...



LOL.! I love how strangers just assume things about others who they have never met based on different perspectives... Trust me when I tell you that you know nothing about me based on the few posts I make here for entertainment.

I can tell you have little knowledge or experience with organized labor/management relations and how most unions represent their memberships... I was on the executive board responsible for representing the financial and safety interests of about 2,800 uniformed deputies for over 20 years... Not a large business in the traditional sense, but I think it's fair to say that given my experience, my ability to speak with proficiency and expertise on this subject is undisputable...

Over the years as a member of my union's executive board, I have attended scores, if not hundreds of organized labor conventions, seminars, and councils. I have had the ability to both learn and teach representatives of organized labor of many trades and disciplines from all over North America. Given all that, I can confidently say that every generalized assertion you have made about unions for the most part is simply not accurate or universal...




I agree it is BS.. However, I will repeat for the 3rd time... If that was the case, it was the result of poorly negotiated policy on behalf of your Local... I can only assume that your contracts are voted on by the membership, and that's what the majority wanted?

Regardless, strong, reputable unions who represent their members in good faith do not base promotion solely on seniority. I'm sure there are some out there, and that's too bad... I doubt I know any because these are not the types of union leaders who spend their careers educating themselves to provide the fairest representation possible for their members like I did...

Well, good for you. You’re a public employee and not in the private sector. Your county government didn’t have to make a PROFIT. The government just increases taxes and fees and we all pay for it. LE and firefighters are some of the people that were and might still be underpaid. I’m on your side.

However, what about the guy working at the public airport as a maintenance worker or mechanic on the airport equipment? Does he deserve a full retirement at a ridiculous lifetime wage? One of my guides did, I guess. He was a Maintenance Supervisor (supervising mechanics). There were three guys that had his exact same job plus his immediate boss. He could get unbelievable time off to guide for me as long as one of the other guys covered for him. The amount of vacation, personal days (what the heck is that anyway), sick days, etc… time off about whenever he wanted! He totally gamed the system. He recently retired in his late 50s, moved to Alaska and hunts/fishes full time while we all pay for it. The last couple years he worked, he did the night shift to increase his final wage. He also saved up his sick days for years (this was allowed??) and cashed them all in when he retired, which increased his last year’s pay even more. He then retired at a higher pay rate than he ever actually made! He’s making more now than when he actually worked! Some of the mechanics he supervised did all the exact same things before retiring. This is just one small department of government workers. Think about the thousands of other City of Denver workers who do the same things! Then multiply that thousands of times for all the cities and counties.

As for me, I was just a high school and college kid working my way through school at a unionized Safeway grocery store. I believe the union was the UFCWU (United Food and Commercial Workers Union). I started as a Courtesy Clerk bagging groceries, then a Stocker stocking shelves and then moved to a Produce Clerk. It was a seniority based system. Along the way, I met some great people and also some of the laziest people I’ve ever met. But hey, the union protected them and kept them from getting fired, unlike if they had worked somewhere without a union. That’s the problem with some modern day unions and we all pay more for goods and services because of it and to support unskilled labor at ridiculous wages.

 

[Tundra Tiger]

Maybe I just haven't had enough coffee yet this morning.

Climate change panic represented in a single image?

 

[Scott CWO]

Take out the humans out of the planet and everything would be in total harmony.
Climate change or not we're destroying our environment and there's no denying that.

That’s a bit over the top brother! What is total harmony? It doesn’t exist. You’ve been brainwashed with the guilt complex. Biological systems are in constant change, even without humans. Ever take any biology classes or wildlife biology in college? I have a Minor in that field.

Ever hear about the cycling of snowshoe hare populations and lynx? Just one small example and has nothing to do with humans. Biological systems change on their own and it’s not harmony with equilibrium all the time.

 

[rookhawk]

All this union talk skips right over the crux of the issue. Are unions ethical and are unions beneficial? That is the question.

Private sector unions? Any group of people can band together and strike an ethical, arms-length deal with one another. Corporate management and a group of laborers can shake hands and agree to anything they can mutually agree. So on the whole, private sector unions aren't inherently unethical. Are they beneficial on the whole? Rarely, but not impossible. For every example where management and unions worked well together and the consumer got a fair shake (e.g. Southwest airlines) there are a lot of private sector unions that destroyed enterprise, lulled their workers into believing they deserved more than the market could bare (e.g. Everything affiliated with Detroit). For the workers in most private sector unions, they make more than the non-union alternative, but it also is a drive towards average quality for average performance. The losers are impossible to fire, the winners are often impossible to properly reward. I can tell you from a business 101 pespective, keeping a 2 losers in a 100 employee department will destroy the productivity and quality of the other 98. The marginal when tolerated spread mediocrity like cancer. But above all, its a free country and any group can band together to negotiate in common and its none of my business what other people do, I just vote with my dollars to support good products made well.

Public sector unions on the other hand? Inherently and at their core they are immoral. Why? Simple, there is no arms length negotiation. Politicians seek union money to run their campaigns and in exchange for negotiating against the interests of the taxpayer, they are rewarded with union money and the unrepresented taxpayer pays the bill. This unethical and immoral situation occurs at any time that a politician is pro-union for a particular public sector union, they have tipped their hands and opened their pocketbook to the influence of a minority group to be enriched at the expense of the majority of their constituency. Are they beneficial? Its never beneficial to have a group of people reserving the right to strike against the government or they will withhold critical services: air traffic, police, fire, EMS, building inspectors, FDA inspectors, USDA inspectors, etc. If public sector unions were such a good idea, they'd allow them in the armed forces so everyone could strike in the middle of a war.

Just how I see it. Public Sector Unions = Bad for America. Private Sector Unions - Not my business, even if I think they harm the best employees and the best companies equally.

 

[fourfive8]

Take out the humans out of the planet and everything would be in total harmony.
Climate change or not we're destroying our environment and there's no denying that.

If you buy into the crap science of the man-caused CO2 driven global warming/climate change hoax, please explain the history of the planet which clearly shows multiple planet wide ice ages that were followed by planet wide warmings. Of course the invconvenient truth (slogan borrowed from none other than Al Gore) is that all these cooling-warming cycles happened well before man was even a bipedal, extremely low population blip on the total faunal load on the earth. Inconvenient facts do get in the way when trying to scientifically explain away these ice age-warming cycles that predate by hundreds of thousands to millions of years of any possibility of man's global climate CO2 influence. The earliest possible date of man's influence would be no earlier than about the 1850 industrial awakening.

The only carbon I would be concerned about is none of the so called green house gas forms of carbon... compelelty different. Those carbon gas and mixed hydro carbon molecules continuously are in cyclic flux though out the planet's carbon cycle system. The type of carbon I would fear is not even on the radar of the so-called "enlightened greenies" who seem to be blind, deaf and both intellectually and scientifically challenged. Elemental carbon in the form of carbon fiber and carbon nanotube fiber is the form to be cautious about. But guess what? it is the form that is becoming pervasive in our modern world because of its strength to weight ratio and happens to be the primary structural component of all the giant windmills all "greenies" are so fond of. Carbon fiber has a half life that certainly exceeds millions if not billions of years, cannot re-recycled using any known current technology and no one knows what to do with it after the lifespan of a carbon fiber structure is reached. Think of that stuff as a form of 21st century asbestos. I think of it as a ticking time bomb no one is even aware of because they are so preoccupied with virtue signaling about their anti-fossil fuel environmental cause. If you carefully watch technicians and engineers working with raw carbon fiber and carbon nanotube research, ever wonder why they are all wearing hazmat suits!! I'm
sitting here inhaling and exhaling 24-7, 365 a normal atmospheric percentage of CO2- low percentage in, slightly higher percentage out after lung exchange. Can't believe I've still alive! Also have inhaled various amounts of methane all of my life and still kicking!

 

[WAB]

In addition to the ten thousand other things plaguing humans, I just found something new to worry about, microplastics. Seems we've been eating them for some time. Hmm, don't really want to go there but I wonder if they're recyclable.

By definition!

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

That’s a bit over the top brother! What is total harmony? It doesn’t exist. You’ve been brainwashed with the guilt complex. Biological systems are in constant change, even without humans. Ever take any biology classes or wildlife biology in college? I have a Minor in that field.

Agreed. The world is in constant flux, it isn’t perfect and sometimes it is downright nasty, but we call it life and it can be beautiful too. The human experience is not just about getting the best out of it, but giving the best too. I am no butterfly chaser, I’ve been defeated in war, but found that the new chapter has been pretty good too. Happy to be alive actually.