Politics

RobertDyck · 2018-06-07 06:51:33

Today the Canadian province of Ontario is holding a general election. It's unlike any that anyone can remember. Provincial Liberals have been in power for 15 years; they changed party leader, so changed Premier, but same party. Now voters want a change. Many voters say like diapers, government has to be changed every so often, and for the same reason. Ontario Liberals have not governed like federal Liberals, they were very left-wing. Ontario now has the largest debt of any sub-sovereign entity in the world. "Sub-sovereign" means a level of government below federal, such as a state. Yes, Ontario has 14.3 million people (estimate as of January 1), while California has 39.54 million people (as of 2017), yet Ontario has a larger debt than California. Ontario increased electric rates so they're the highest on the continent, while Manitoba (neighbouring province) has the lowest on the continent. A couple small towns in Ontario close to the Manitoba border wanted to buy electricity from Manitoba, but the Ontario government denied that. Ontario increased minimum wage to $14/hour with a promise to increase it to $15/hour next year (Canadian dollars). Although the Federal government is demanding provinces create a carbon tax, Ontario imposed one before the current Federal government was elected.

Provincial Liberals currently have a majority in the Provincial Parliament (that's what they call it in that province), but polls indicate they most probably won't have enough members elected to retain official party status. Polls show a close race between the Progressive Conservative party (PC, very conservative) and New Democratic Party (NDP, very socialist). So now it's a race between Conservatives and an even more left-wing party.

Just before the election was called, Conservatives back-stabbed their own leader, forced him to resign. Excuses don't matter, the real reason is he wanted to keep the carbon tax. Conservatives hate carbon tax with a passion. They had a rushed leadership race (Americans would call it "primary"). One candidate was Caroline Mulroney, daughter of a former PC federal Prime Minister. In the 1980s, Brian Mulroney was elected on a mandate to eliminate the deficit, reduce the debt, and reduce taxes. This would be accomplished by reducing spending, and reducing the number of federal civil servants. What he did was the exact opposite: increased the deficit, tripled the debt, and drastically increased taxes. In 1993 his party was voted out dramatically: from majority in the house to so few they were no longer a party. Now his daughter wanted to get elected? Really? And she spent her entire adult life in the US, outside our country. In 2011, Conservatives criticized Liberals for a leader who did that. Conservatives characterized the Liberal leader as "Just Visiting". So this time Ontario Liberals didn't waste any time using the same slogan on them: they called Caroline Mulroney "Just Visiting". Luckily she lost. Have to admit she was a beautiful woman, impeccably dressed, poised, very well spoken. But a Mulroney!?!?!?! Again, she lost.

However, PCs chose Doug Ford, brother of former Toronto mayor Rob Ford. You guys probably heard of Rob Ford, he made an ass of himself. Many today are comparing Doug Ford to Donald Trump.

Election today. We'll see the result this evening.

Last edited by RobertDyck (2018-06-07 14:16:12)

SpaceNut · 2018-06-07 20:20:04

I new Pizzagate has been used to in Pizza deliveryman turned over to immigration authorities after stop at NYC Army base, Pablo Villavicencio, an Ecuadorean father of two, had delivered pizza to the base before with no problem, his wife says. But this time, he was detained.

A place that he had delivered pizza to in the past without any issues....

180607-pable-villavicencio-942a-rs_80d354eee9c8cf62b1eccefb8cee5a2c.fit-360w.JPG

Destroying families....

Arizona veterans group finds homeless camp — and fuels a new 'pizzagate'-style conspiracy The speed at which the accusations have spread is yet another example of how fringe beliefs blossom in a deeply polarized era.

with No evidence prosecutions deter illegal border crossings, report says Prosecuting migrants for crossing the border illegally led to clogged courts but not less immigration, an analysis finds

kbd512 · 2018-06-07 20:26:49

SpaceNut,

In point of fact, the data Bradley Manning transmitted was classified at the time he disclosed it to unauthorized parties. Information derived from classified sources is itself classified at the level of the source information. This is taught to you in school before you're allowed to handle classified information and incompetence is not a defense to an unauthorized disclosure of classified information. That's why he was convicted and sentenced to prison. The defense can argue that pigs fly, but military juries tend to frown on such behavior. Bradley Manning was not authorized by his commanding officer to release the information he released and that's why he went to prison. Arguing that the information he released wasn't supposed to be classified is not a valid defense to such a crime.

There is just one question to answer: Did you or did you not disclose classified information to unauthorized parties?

Yes - then you're guilty and will be sentenced by the judge
No - then you're exonerated and free to return to your normal duties

It's that simple. Nobody cares about what you're intent was, unless you're also suspected of espionage. If you are suspected of espionage, then that's a separate charge that has no bearing on whether or not you did or did not disclose classified information without authorization to do so. Once again, there was a time when this was not political in nature. If you know something that you're supposed to keep to yourself, then you do that or face the consequences of your actions.

SpaceNut · 2018-06-07 21:01:47

Senator demands answers to 19 questions about more than 11,000 migrant kids under the care of the federal agency.

"According to press reports, more than 600 children have already been separated from their families since the implementation of this policy at the beginning of May, bringing the total under your care to a staggering 11,200." Merkley drew headlines Sunday when he posted a Facebook live video of his attempt to access a migrant children's shelter in Brownsville, Texas. He was first denied entry, and then ultimately confronted by police. Federal officials said Merkley hadn't given enough notice. Merkley's letter comes two days after similar demands were made by Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, whose staff were barred from reviewing immigrant processing facilities near San Diego.

So what are the GOP going to do about the illegals oh just the same thing as in the past Commentary: Is the GOP about to pass an immigration amnesty?
We have been there and done that and still they are considered to be still criminals...

RobertDyck · 2018-06-07 21:33:54

Progressive Conservative party wins a majority in Ontario! Woo hoo! Green party wins one seat, their leader's seat. So they get all of one member in the provincial parliament. Through the evening Liberals have oscillated between leading in 6 to 9 districts (constituencies, ridings). Currently they have 5 elected, leading in 2. They need 8 to retain official party status; I'm hoping they get exactly 8. Provincial Liberal leader Kathleen Wynne (openly lesbian, married to a woman) has resigned her position as party leader. I don't care about her personal life, but she was far too left-wing for me. She established a cap-and-trade carbon system, the only thing worse than a carbon tax. Conservatives promised to abolish it, and abolish any form of carbon tax. Woo hoo!

The Premier of Saskatchewan has said he will challenge in court the federal government's attempt to force provinces to impose a carbon tax. This means the largest, most populous province with 40% of our country's GDP will join the fight against carbon tax. Woo hoo!

Void · 2018-06-08 07:59:06

RobertDyke,

Interesting. I personally believe that this Carbon stuff is all about social engineering. Engineering money from productive human activity to parasitic social entity memberships.

Through my life I have seen issue after issue like this. I think in the 70's they wanted to put contraceptives into the drinking water of the public, because they projected that humans were going to have to turn to Cannibalism by the year 2000, if the population were allowed to rise.

So, this is a persisting sub-population which hopes to use verbage to procure money and power from the greater public, while promising that they have the solution to a problem that they can see is apparent.

Otherwise known as Socialists (Left and Right wing), really a problem of a subset of population where verbal skills are excessive relative to productive physical skills. Probably this sub population can be traced through the Middle East, coming from elsewhere, being farming oriented and with that farming productivity being able to build cities, and so to establish hierarchies of power.

We all likely have some of that in us. The farmers who moved into Europe and encountered the hunter-gatherers, and the Eurasians, forming the Europeans and their offspring. When forming cities, in order to have power in hierarchies, verbal skills become dominant, to the detriment of materially productive skills.

Just a theory

......

Anyway just throw that in the trash if it bothers you.

I really intended to post this:

Getting Carbon From the Air:
https://phys.org/news/2018-06-carbon-di … fuels.html

Financial Carbon Crisis!
https://www.theguardian.com/environment … tudy-warns
http://www.digitaljournal.com/business/ … cle/523952
Stranded:

https://www.energydigital.com/utilities … ce-produce

......

So, how humorous, would it be, if cultures like India, Europe, and China, promoted all the above, and so developed alternative energy sources, and so Carbon in the air became a benefit for them, something to mine from the atmosphere?

Then North America, perhaps Shale Gas, and Persian Gulf Natural Gas, maybe Russian Natural Gas might be the last hydrocarbons mined from the ground say by perhaps ~2035, for fuel? (Likely some hydrocarbons would still be extracted for the chemical industry.

......

Then later say 2075, would the atmosphere run low on CO2? Ice ages? Well maybe not. Still, it implies planetary climate control can and will happen. Not a bad future after all.

......

And all of this, the alternative energy, the CO2 conversion to fuels, will be very suitable to human activities on other planets as well.

A very good continuation of the human story I think.

The energy companies will have to convert to alternative energy, and CO2 capture however down the road, possibly.

Done.

Last edited by Void (2018-06-08 08:08:59)

Terraformer · 2018-06-08 10:07:35

Otherwise known as Socialists (Left and Right wing), really a problem of a subset of population where verbal skills are excessive relative to productive physical skills.

Careful now, Void. Someone might think you're talking about a certain ethno-religious group noted for their significantly above average verbal IQs. They're the same sort of people who thought Elon Musk was referring to said group when he said that powerful people own the media, of course.

Void · 2018-06-08 11:32:02

Oh! You must mean these people. Apparently I got my white skin from them.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ … laims.html

But I got my sort of dark blue eyes from these people:

Dark skin blue eyes.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29213892

http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-evo … ate-009562

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ … k-Sea.html

......

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ … laims.html

.....

And then there is the Eurasian element which I also draw on, which apparently is related both to many Europeans and also Native Americans.

.....

As for that "Be careful" people you referenced, they were/are said by literature to be from 2 tribes of 12. Apparently all from the farmer lineages, but who knows.

What I said stands with or without including them. There were/are lots of genetics from the farmer group, both in the Middle East, and Europe and elsewhere.

Done.

Last edited by Void (2018-06-08 11:43:42)

kbd512 · 2018-06-08 15:47:50

I want people in charge who have enough human compassion, reasoning, and basic logic to understand that their own countrymen come first and any policy prejudicial to their interests is something that should be vigorously opposed whenever the opportunity presents itself, rather than embraced as being "progressive". There's nothing progressive about screwing over your own people while pretending that your values and interests represent their values and interests. That's simultaneously arrogant, ignorant, and prejudicial to your own people and therefore evil. I would appreciate it if progressives or liberals at least pretended as if they understood that other people who do not possess their specific ideology are still valuable to society. If they accepted the wisdom of limiting any acting out on their ideology when such actions have been thoroughly demonstrated to be destructive to society or prejudicial to any subset of the populace, that would be grand.

Ignoring people breaking the law is not an American value.

Looking the other way while foreigners invade our country, irrespective of their intentions, is not an American value.

Rioting after one party loses a political election is not an American value.

Compelling speech is not an American value.

Compelling the purchase of a product or service is not an American value.

Discriminating against people you have ideological disagreements with is not an American value.

Lying about what other people have or haven't done to you is not an American value.

Pretending to be outraged over events or ideas that have never affected you, except in your mind, is not an American value.

Killing your own child after irresponsible sexual conduct and forcing everyone else to pay for your actions is not an American value.

According to our liberals and progressives, their values represent American values. I can't seem to find any document written by the men who founded this country that supports their assertions and neither can they. Their version of argumentation (slurs, insults, and lies) has run its course and we're at where we are as a direct result of all the failed socialist governance policies that were supposed to deliver prosperity or at least alleviate poverty, but in practice have done no such thing and never will. Only socialists would cook a goose laying golden eggs.

GW Johnson · 2018-06-08 16:27:48

Kbd512:

There is no such thing as "liberals" and "conservatives". Your arguments presume that such exist. They do not.

These labels as understood today are an invention of the last 30 years or so. Since about the time Newt Gingrich was Speaker of the House. But we had indications of a serious problem half a century before (McCarthy witch hunt era).

Go back to the dictionary. A "conservative" is someone who says "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". A "liberal" is someone who says "if it is broke, then do fix it". Our problem is recognizing whether something is broke or not should NEVER be a political decision, only an objective "does it work or not" decision. On pain of death.

All of us need to be both "liberal" and "conservative" at need. It really is that simple. George Washington was right to tell us not to follow the political party path in his farewell address. The confounding effect of bribery money (both lobby and private campaign contributions) has completely screwed up our government. Not making such bribery a capital crime was critically-serious mistake.

So eliminate them both. If that takes armed revolution, then so be it (as described in the Declaration of Independence). But I'd rather do it at the ballot box per the Constitution, as there is far less mess to clean up afterwards.

GW

Last edited by GW Johnson (2018-06-08 16:38:47)

kbd512 · 2018-06-08 17:02:27

GW,

I'm calling people what they choose to call themselves. Whether I agree with their own label or not is irrelevant. Some sort of ideological distinction has to be made. I agree that solving problems shouldn't be a point of political contention. A certain group of people have made a point of politicizing every possible thing they can and the other side has followed suit, much to my chagrin. I can't even watch TV anymore because everyone on every damn news channel gives their opinion of what they think happened when all I need them to tell me is what was said (nothing they made up to support anyone's ideology left / right / or sideways, just a verbatim transcription) and what was done (we have video cameras for that sort of thing).

Following laws that have the effect of protecting everyone involved isn't a broke concept.

Example:
Agree or disagree with immigration laws, you're not supposed to wander over the border of a country because you can't be bothered to check in with the government of that country. Don't like it? Tough. It's the law pretty much everywhere.

Telling the truth is not a broke concept.

Example:
Lying about what the President actually said or the context it was said in is just silly. MS-13 are a "bunch of animals" was translated to "immigrants are a bunch of animals" because some of the MS-13 gang members are immigrants. Somehow, that's being "progressive" to a certain group of people. I call that being "regressive".

Refraining from perpetually being offended is not a broke concept.

Example:
The world is coming to an end because someone we have political disagreements with was elected President. He says mean things. Ahhh! Ahhh! Ahhh! Yeah, and the sky is falling, too. Meanwhile, people are holding up effigies of our President's severed head on national tv and saying he's "literally Hitler" along with loads of other nasty things that only have any validity in their twisted ideology. I got news for those clowns, if he was anything like Hitler the people who did that would find themselves in front of a firing squad of government goons the very same day.

These Hollyweird clowns think they're being brave? They'd piss themselves and run off screaming if they dealt with some of the charming people I've had the displeasure of meeting.

The kids running around in the street and chanting things they can't even articulate are in more danger from their own stupid decision making than they'll ever be from someone who thinks the way I do and just sees their behavior as childish.

Here's what I think is "broke" and needs to be fixed. People who fancy themselves adults getting more worked up over issues that only exist in their mind, like who the President is, while all the other very real problems that are so plain to see are totally ignored.

If you don't have a job because you think you're entitled to things other people actually worked for, do you really need to be out rioting when someone you voted for lost an election or do you need to stop pouting over who's sports team won the federal series and find an effing job so you can eat and live indoors?

Is there a practical side to all of the out-of-control shenanigans or is it just acting out from fear / anger / sadness / something else? I just don't get it. I didn't behave the way I've seen people older than I am now behave when I was just a teenager.

SpaceNut · 2018-06-08 18:09:10

So continuing to ignore the economy is doing good when its a lie as pointed out, McDonald's plans fresh round of layoffs to flatten out its management structure further.

False claims is Lying not a "liberal" or "conservative" view point and is not an American value.

kbd512 · 2018-06-08 20:06:30

I never stated that all was well with our economy. We're just getting a little taste of the results of the two previous administrations' egregious spending. The Iraq War under Bush was absurdly expensive. The new social spending programs implemented under Obama somehow managed to top that. Between the two, we may never dig our way out of this hole.

I'm not in favor of giving our government more money or power to do anything until it demonstrates basic fiscal responsibility with the money it is given. Both the military and social spending programs need to be drastically curtailed. The overseas military bases cost the American tax payer $150B+ per year. If a country wants our forces present, for whatever reasons, then they can pay for it or our military can come home. It's time to restructure our military to survive a confrontation with Russia or China, should that occur.

The US Navy asked to leave Japan, but the politicians in both countries brought their efforts to a screeching halt. The generals haven't given up on Afghanistan, but it's a lost cause. Their people haven't decided, as a nation, that they want a better life than the lives they lead under the thumb of the Taliban. None of them have the slightest understanding or desire to live under anything other than a dictatorship they agree with and we won't accomplish anything there until attitudes change. They had their chance at a better life under a western style democracy and for the most part, they weren't interested. Time to give them what they say they want. There are lots of good and decent people who live there, but... In this case, it actually does take a village.

SpaceNut · 2018-06-08 20:39:23

Short of a large wall around them all filled with sea water after wards to permanently remove them, we will need to stay and prop up what ever government wants to follow our lead for what is a civil nation.
I thought some more Taliban were either capture or killed but I could be wrong during this last few months....

The Japanese, Tiawan and china things is about showing whom is superior to which the US seems to have treaties of protection much like what lead to the world wars of the past. So have them pay for the service to be the police to stop any possible conflict.

Iraq was more about finishing the first Bush's call for intervention rather than about Weapons of Mass Destruction...

Obama bail out of banks bad lending plus housing foreclosure crash, auto industry that did not want to make what people wanted with quality, cash for clunkers and other bad ideas when auto industry had nothing that fit the criteria for purchase and all of it was corrected by cash infusion of which some was completely paid back.....

kbd512 · 2018-06-09 12:03:45

SpaceNut,

The military is upset about all the people they've lost in Afghanistan and Iraq. Believe it or not, you start to develop relationships with the people you work with in a country. It's a personal matter to them (our military). Would you ever abandon someone who was closer to you than your own family members? If not, then maybe you understand how they feel about abandoning their fellow soldiers.

The problems in Asia are once again about their culture. It's about "face" and "appearances". They don't need to kill each other. They're not lacking for resources or intelligence that comes from education, just an inability to let perceived affronts to their honor pass them by. They have a history with each other and they have "long memories", which is another way of saying they suffer from the same problem Balian of Ibelin had with the muslims in Kingdom of Heaven:

"None of us took this city from Muslims. No Muslim of the great army now coming against us was born when this city was lost. We fight over an offence we did not give, against those who were not alive to be offended."

That's the basic problem everywhere, as it relates to wars and their after-effects.

SpaceNut · 2018-06-09 15:49:40

I understand that we have done nothing against the muslim's but yet we were attack by them in 2001 and since that we are in cleanup mode which will still cost american lives. I do get the that there are bonds made in this and its those that are over there which are trying very hard to change the image and minds of the people in those countries as to the values of americans.

With all the talk of steel and aluminum you might have forgotten that tariffs were already placed on foreign-made solar panels.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/23/us/p … riffs.html

Trump administration announced that it would impose steep tariffs on imported solar panels, which could raise the cost of solar power in the years ahead, slowing adoption of the technology and costing jobs. Mr. Trump has long championed trade barriers as a way to protect United States manufacturers from foreign competitors.

All grand, to buy american when there is a product of value with quality but that was and is the problem for why we were buying oversea products.

Energy experts say it is unlikely that the tariffs will create more than a small number of American solar manufacturing jobs, since low-wage countries will continue to have a competitive edge. Solar manufacturing now represents just a fraction of the overall jobs that have developed around the solar industry. More than 260,000 Americans are employed in the sector, but fewer than 2,000 of those employed in the United States are manufacturing solar cells and modules, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. The president’s action would result in the loss of roughly 23,000 jobs in the solar industry this year, as well as the delay or cancellation of billions of dollars of investments.

All this was fore told would happen but 5 months later its worse than what we would have expected in Billions in U.S. solar projects shelved after Trump panel tariff

President Donald Trump’s tariff on imported solar panels has led U.S. renewable energy companies to cancel or freeze investments of more than $2.5 billion in large installation projects, along with thousands of jobs. The tariff’s bifurcated impact on the solar industry underscores how protectionist trade measures almost invariably hurt one or more domestic industries for every one they shield from foreign competition. Those investments were driven by U.S. tax incentives and the falling costs of imported panels, mostly from China, which together made solar power competitive with natural gas and coal. The 30 percent tariff is scheduled to last four years, decreasing by 5 percent per year during that time. Solar developers say the levy will initially raise the cost of major installations by 10 percent.

SpaceNut · 2018-06-09 16:46:55

What are they using for law to do this, Aiding and abetting is a criminal...US immigration officials can now deport hosts of migrant children the very children that they have ripped from the parents or people with them when caught?

Miss leading title as "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will now screen families seeking to host children" should have been done all along.

More families are needed to host the children, because more migrant families are crossing the border and because the Trump administration has elected to separate children from parents to deter unauthorized immigration. "To arrest and deport capable caregivers increases the vulnerability of children to trafficking and other harm,"

dah

Last year more than 40,000 children were sent from the border; they stayed in shelters on average 41 days before being placed with a host family. This year about 20,000 children have been placed with host families, with California, Florida and Texas getting the most. The administration is "treating kids at the border as contraband to be confiscated and then turning right around and using them as bait to terrorize the community,

Its not going to get any better for a very long time..

Instead of asking for a blank check why not broker for repair of the worst sections or the least effective of them.

The sections that are least traveled or to dangerous to go through can wait....

kbd512 · 2018-06-09 17:57:15

SpaceNut,

You're still not accepting this whole concept of separating children from adults who have just committed a felony by crossing our border illegally. It doesn't matter what you wish to believe to the contrary, our laws haven't change to suit your / mine / any other belief system. Perhaps our laws were more selectively enforced under former President Obama, but now they're being more consistently enforced under President Trump. The law doesn't mandate that you get to see your children while charges are pending, even if you're a US citizen who has lived here your entire life. Further, foreigners who are not legal immigrants or resident aliens have no rights here. We show basic human decency, which means treating the sick or injured, providing food and water, providing legal representation, and conditional visitation access to family and friends. Allowing a suspected felon access to a minor child is dependent upon a decision from a judge.

In Mexico, you go straight to a Mexican jail if they catch you crossing their border illegally and you stay there while you wait to stand trial. The children aren't placed in the same facilities there, either. In the US, you're first detained for questioning to determine who you are, where you came from, and what relationship(s) you have to other people you were with when you were detained for crossing the border illegally. If law enforcement is unable to determine that, then the children are placed in foster care while the government proceeds with the court case against the parents or adults, if they're not the parents, to either deport them both or clear them of charges pending against them.

We have no way of knowing if the people crossing our border illegally are trafficking children as sex slaves, a growing problem that is particularly disturbing, or if the people who brought the children here illegally were in fact the legal guardians of the children in question and simply entered into the US illegally. That's a major problem with entering into a foreign country illegally and not carrying any government issued identification from the host country you came from. We don't know who you are or where you came from. Taking a child someone was trafficking as a sex slave is not "ripping children from anyone" because the children involved never had any relationship to the person they were traveling with to begin with.

SpaceNut · 2018-06-09 18:09:41

The article was about verification of placement such that we are sure that just what you talked about was not happening still by what we did in seperation.

SpaceNut · 2018-06-10 18:54:35

This is what Americans are really about as Hawaiians have been in the path of the eruptions of the volcanoe on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Lava flows from the volcano have swallowed some 600 homes on the Big Island of Hawaii in the past month in the island's most destructive eruption in modern times.

The Hawaii National Guard, the Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters and various businesses and non-profit organizations gathered in a field behind the Sacred Heart Church in Pahoa to start construction on the first hard-sided, insulated, wired, private structures to be built for evacuees.

Hundreds of construction workers hammered together 20 temporary housing units expected to be completed this weekend, will house one family each, offering more privacy than the emergency shelters. The homes, are 10 feet by 12 feet (3 by 4 meters), intended as transitional, weatherproof housing where families may stay for two or three months.

Not so good is how well the response and the status of the little island of Puerto Rico has been since being blasted by Hurricane Maria as there are still many without power and homeless. Puerto Rico has a long way to go in its recovery from Hurricane Maria. And yet, the 2018 hurricane season is already here. It is estimated the death toll from Hurricane Maria is more than 4,600. The 2018 hurricane season, began on June 1.

As small as the Hawaiian shelters are they would be happy for them...

SpaceNut · 2018-06-11 20:12:20

It looks like we will have a partial wall test soon as Hurricane Bud grows to Category 3 in Pacific off Mexico

SpaceNut · 2018-06-12 20:30:24

Economic down turn and jobs lose or is it bad luck, nah right sizing Tesla layoffs: Elon Musk says job cuts required to fuel profits attempting to address it by cutting overhead.

jobs are now overhead, who knew?

Electric car maker Tesla is laying off about 3,600 white-collar workers as it slashes costs in an effort to become profitable.
CEO Elon Musk said in an e-mail to workers Tuesday that the cuts amount to about 9 percent of the company's workforce of 40,000.
"We made these decisions by evaluating the criticality of each position, whether certain jobs could be done more efficiently and productively, and by assessing the specific skills and abilities of each individual in the company,
The company has not posted an annual profit in its 15 years of business.

Terraformer · 2018-06-13 04:14:16

Has anyone actually been indicted over foreign meddling?

SpaceNut · 2018-06-16 23:40:01

Why the robust economy doesn't reflect the reality for many Americans

Steady hiring has shrunk unemployment to 3.8 percent -- the lowest since the 1960's. Consumers are spending. Taxes are down. Inflation is tame. Factories are busy. Demand for homes is strong. Household wealth is up.
Yet the numbers that collectively sketch a picture of a vibrant economy don't reflect reality for a range of Americans who still feel far from financially secure even nine years into an economic expansion. From drivers paying more for gas and families bearing heavier child care costs to workers still awaiting decent pay raises and couples struggling to afford a home, people throughout the economy are straining to succeed despite the economy's gains.

The numbers appear to be not adding up....

Void · 2018-06-17 12:29:59

I hesitate to respond, because being drawn into this then I become subject to accusatory responses. That is I am likely to be guilted.

But anyway, although politicians and the like prance about like witch doctors and pretend to be running things for the betterment, it is demographics that to a large degree are responsible for economic conditions. To be fair there is good and bad policy, relatively.

Most of what I will say is based on the analysis of Peter Zeihan on demographics.

The people before the baby boom are dying out.

Baby Boomers are even loosing significant members. Baby boomers are leaving the work force. Baby Boomers were 70 Million?

Generation X is small 11 million.

Millennials are another new big group, but not as big as the Baby Boomers.

The baby boomers are past their prime, and are saving money to retire, and their spending habits are throttling down.

Generation X is at it's prime, but is such a small group.

The Millennials are a larger group but not yet at their productive prime.

The best that can be done is to try to keep the machine running as well as can be done. We have less productive hands doing productive actions.

We have no shortage of lip service however.

......

By the way Peter Zeihan says that we are the only ones with a significant Millennial generation of the developed world. Everyone else is just screwed.

Many non developed countries are screwed as well such as China.

It actually makes sense to invite Russia to the G8 although they say they are not interested. The reason is that actually Russia is not that much of a threat anymore, and can be used to keep other competitors in check perhaps.

So, not that surprising that we are perhaps leaving free trade behind, because really the economy of the whole world is about to stink big time.

Some days are diamonds some days are stones.

Done.

As a side note, one interesting thing that appears to be happening with Millennials is that they are moving next door to their parents, so that the parents will help with raising their children. Funny that way. We used to have 3 generations perhaps living in the same house, then we got richer, and now things are partially reverting. Not necessarily bad. I do have relatives who are doing just that thing.

Done again!

Last edited by Void (2018-06-17 12:48:25)

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#1226 2018-06-07 06:51:33

Re: Politics

#1227 2018-06-07 20:20:04

Re: Politics

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#1231 2018-06-08 07:59:06

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#1232 2018-06-08 10:07:35

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#1234 2018-06-08 15:47:50

Re: Politics

#1235 2018-06-08 16:27:48

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#1237 2018-06-08 18:09:10

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#1240 2018-06-09 12:03:45

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#1241 2018-06-09 15:49:40

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#1242 2018-06-09 16:46:55

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#1246 2018-06-11 20:12:20

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#1247 2018-06-12 20:30:24

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#1248 2018-06-13 04:14:16

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#1249 2018-06-16 23:40:01

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