Politics

[PARA45]

And FEMA is out of money because they stole it from the disaster fund to give to illegal immigrants.

"Here's your goodies, a place to live and your monthly stipend. Vote Democrat!!!"

When will Congress or the Courts stand up and hold these crooks accountable? Never in my life did I expect to live in such a Banana Republic.

I do not understand how a rational person can do anything other than vote for Trump at this point!

This is criminal, and those responsible should be held liable for this. Illegals get $1500 a month, while tax paying citizens receive a onetime payment of $750. It's insane.

 

[Hunt anything]

Automation doesn't go on strike either

Or call in sick, take vacations, get paid overtime. etc.

Automation has come into the sod business as well, but while it doesn’t go on strike or any of the other things mentioned it does break down. We have 2 automatic stackers and they are both down for a couple of hours at least per week. While my H2A workers and their harvesters keep on cutting. We still need a driver and a lift driver for each machine it does eliminate 2 jobs as a hand harvester need a driver, 2 stackers and a lift driver.

If everything is perfect I would prefer the automated harvester as opposed to the hand stackers but on the farm rarely is anything perfect.

The automated machines also present the problems of finding a qualified mechanic to work on them and most importantly a qualified operator.

Last word on the man power vs automated, the H2A boys can do just about anything on the farm and the automated machine can do one thing and one thing only. So basically we can’t do without either to function efficiently.

 

[Wheels]

The Biden Administration phone app showing how easy it is for illegals to get into the country without documentation.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1841667821153001887

 

[Hunt anything]

That dude will probably get a visit from the Feds and be arrested for fraud!

 

[Neophyte]

And FEMA is out of money because they stole it from the disaster fund to give to illegal immigrants.

"Here's your goodies, a place to live and your monthly stipend. Vote Democrat!!!"

When will Congress or the Courts stand up and hold these crooks accountable? Never in my life did I expect to live in such a Banana Republic.

I do not understand how a rational person can do anything other than vote for Trump at this point!

Never.
It’s part of the swamp.
Until we the people get tired of the chicanery and overthrow the system by either the ballot box or the cartridge box. The jury box has proven itself to be part of the chicanery.

 

[John Wasmuth]

That dude will probably get a visit from the Feds and be arrested for fraud!

No good deed goes unpunished…..

 

[Brent in Az]

For those promoting automation, just wait and see what happens when unemployment reaches staggering numbers.
Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should

 

[Brent in Az]

Never.
It’s part of the swamp.
Until we the people get tired of the chicanery and overthrow the system by either the ballot box or the cartridge box. The jury box has proven itself to be part of the chicanery.

The ballot box doesnt work. One cockroach always ends up being replaced by another

 

[Wheels]

Evidently graft is much easier for the decision makers and powers that be after the money goes off shore.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1841670489141346404

 

[Tanks]

For those promoting automation, just wait and see what happens when unemployment reaches staggering numbers.
Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should

That has been the argument of every Luddite since the 1800s. What really happens is that along with new technology comes new jobs and opportunities.

Heck, even in entertainment. A good friend of mine worked his way up from a tester to a VP position at Blizzard entertainment, making video games. It used to take a few guys in a garage to make a video games back in the day. Now, you have hundreds of people and tens of millions of dollars being spent on developing games. All due to technology and automation.

What happens is the the bar gets raised at each iteration and along with that more jobs are created.

 

[Red Leg]

I know everyone believes they fully understand that foreign aid is a free grab bag for graft, but at least for the portion that is military aid (a very large slice), that is simply not true. I also do not believe it is true of State Department managed funds, but of that I do not have personal experience. I'll again point out that I was, as a Major General, the Chief of US Army Security Assistance (I am sorry if noting my experience again triggers the easily offended). In other words, I oversaw negotiation, award, and management of all US Army international security assistance programs. As I have pointed out repeatedly, a large measure of US military assistance is in kind. Combat platforms that we are no longer using. Two exceptions are Egypt and Israel which benefit from appropriations resulting from the peace accords following the Yom Kippur War.

In those cases and others, I also managed new military assistance programs where an authorization and appropriation was then competed for a procurement for the assisted nation. No money changes hands. The appropriation was handled just like any other procurement by the Army except the end item and accompanying maintenance and training packages went to the foreign source. There is no pile of lose cash to access.

I obviously worked very closely with my two counterparts in the Air Force and Navy. Each service has very strict auditing procedures, and then each service is further audited by DOD.

The strictness of US program management has historically meant that allies would buy or participate in the most critical programs with the US - for instance M1 Abrams, Bradley, and Paladin for Saudi Arabia - and less critical materiel from other countries with less strict accounting - Saudi Arabia's European truck fleet. The shared development and procurement of the F-16 and now F-35 are Air Force examples.

It is curious to me that so many feel compelled to believe there is some kickback scheme involved in international assistance.

What one does find internationally are bribery schemes where a foreign company bribes a foreign procurement decision maker to win a contract. Large American defense corporations watch for that very carefully, and any individual caught doing so is personally criminally liable. But that is rather different than the nonsense that American officials are somehow skimming millions from foreign aid.

 

[Rocked and Loaded]

Automation doesn't go on strike either

Or call in sick, take vacations, get paid overtime. etc.

I was hearing on NPR earlier this week that due to the relative lack of automation, ports in the US are among the least efficient in the world.

 

[Red Leg]

That has been the argument of every Luddite since the 1800s. What really happens is that along with new technology comes new jobs and opportunities.

Heck, even in entertainment. A good friend of mine worked his way up from a tester to a VP position at Blizzard entertainment, making video games. It used to take a few guys in a garage to make a video games back in the day. Now, you have hundreds of people and tens of millions of dollars being spent on developing games. All due to technology and automation.

What happens is the the bar gets raised at each iteration and along with that more jobs are created.

Yep, those locomotives and automobiles consigned all those teamsters to the dustbin of history.

 

[Rocked and Loaded]

Less people then,
What’s your solution to keep people in a job in a world that’s focussed on making there be less jobs to improve a bottom line?

It’s more complicated than that. Companies also have to stay competitive.

Using the backhoe example. Say you take the high road and decide to keep your ditch diggers and your competition decides to buy backhoes and employ fewer but more skilled, equipment operators. He can now dig faster and cheaper than you can with your ditch diggers. Now expand that to the dozens of competitors who have decided to adopt technology that increases efficiency. You may keep your ditch diggers employed for a while but their jobs are on borrowed time since they will disappear when your company inevitably goes under.

It’s not just about evil 80s ceo caricatures cutting jobs for a small profit increase (though that does happen). There are big market forces that make some kinds of progress inevitable.

 

[Tanks]

It is curious to me that so many feel compelled to believe there is some kickback scheme involved in international assistance.

Right wing echo chamber talking point.

 

[wesheltonj]

Right wing echo chamber talking point.

No Switzerland & Cyprus would be broke without skim.