Randomness

[kunk75]

the clamoring for this guy to run for higher office is impossible for me to understand. he loves the outer boroughs like gerald ford loved nyc

On another note, this great city called NY, seems to be getting progressively worse and rather quickly,

Tomorrow there is an increase in all the tolls along with an increase in the cost of public transportation.

this delusional Jackass we have disguised as a mayor has laid off firefighters, closed fire stations, is cutting public service left and right but has hired a ton of ticket officers to write bogus tickets for driving new yorkers................

and to think this idiot has his sights set on running for president...........

[cjbreed]

faust vs. kunk
ussr vs. usa
welcome to the cold war


i'm just making light of a highly complex issue but in my mind the wal-marts of the world are not the problem. the problem is politics. and our inability to address health care and education.

large employers that can employ straight part timers to avoid paying benefits will always do this. because they are faceless corporations that answer only to profits. providing healthcare is bad for business because it is crazy expensive. why? because we have made healthcare a "for profit" industry. why? because we embraced a free for all free market economy. why? because the people with the most power in washington are the people with the largest wallets. seems simple minded but it is so so true. the problem with no holds barred milton friedman economics is its failure to take into account the terrible consequences of human greed.

on the flip side of the coin, our education system is in the toilet. why? its the unions. what was once a good idea is now an impediment to reform.

hard work/labor/manufacturing is good but it is not necessary to have a powerful economy. what is more valuable? putting together an ipod or inventing an ipod. the planet is screaming for innovation in alternative energies and technologies that help people and the earth rather than destroy it. but america is falling behind. why? because we are stupid. our education is weak. if we were truly educated would we be arguing over climate change? fuck no. we would be riding our bikes to work at a firm that provides superb benefits and healthcare where we are developing new technologies to save a planet whose entire global economy runs on fossil fuels. (how stupid is that? fossil fuels! they will run out for fucks sake.) then our firm would hire another firm to implement our designs and that firm will sub out the actual construction to china. no problem.

nevermind. i'm ranting on this when i should be working

[kunk75]

also the sad truth is that while any tom dick and harry can start their own business, every tom dick and harry can start their own business. not everyone is equipped and you have to hand it to big corporations in that whatever the means, they know how to run a business. I frequent the locak ice cream shop instead of haagen daaz because it has character but if i can get a snow blower for $400 at home depot and $600 at the local joint, guess where I am going.

[cjbreed]

^this is 100% true.

i don't think there is anything inherently wrong with corporations (my business is a corporation). the problems arise when they get big, go public, answer only to shareholders, and are run by a board. and the problem is not necessarily the design. it is the weakness of people. and in this scenario, no one has to accept any sort of personal responsibility. only the ceo. and his enormous salary compensates for this. when things get ugly, he bails with his golden parachute.

i'm just advocating regulation.

[sam_tem]

thanks Lane, although i'll admit i'm just trying to throw everything in my head against the wall to try and address the varying concerns and complaints as it is a complex issue.

not that it needs to be addressed, but i also started watching that frontiline video posted in recent purchases and of course they start with the hollowing out of american manufacturing because of large stores looking for the cheapest goods. i have sympathy for these folks as it really sucks when an industry starts dying and you're left scrambling to build new skills without going broke at the same time, but when you look at what globalization has done for people in emerging markets and americans 401K's and pensions i don't see how you can possibly argue against it. yes all those fnew actory workers are probably still poor, but it's raising revenue for their countries and getting them on the path towards a middle class which is necessary to bring about real change. there's always 2 sides to every coin and considering it's a hell of a lot better to be poor in america than it is in china i think globalization has a higher moral standing than protectionism.

forget who that famous quote was from, but when you look at history i do believe it. it went something like "better to be taken advantage of by capitalism than to never have the opportunity to be taken advantage of in the first place"

[Shucks]

Sorry to derail the Walmart discussion, but just wondering if I could get some advice, got an email that scared me a little

you are perfectly entitled (under UK / EU law) to voice your opinions on what is a copy and what is not. no need to worry.

(but IF you believe the person then perhaps you should be courteous and remove it....)

[kunk75]

anxiously awaiting the wednesday arrival of our puppy

[CUTUP]

If it wasn't for the unions, the workers in this country would NEVER have the benefits they have now.

The main problem here is that many of them have outlived their usefullness. IMO

Back then they were sorely needed, I am in complete agreement on that fact. But now they are nothing but a hassle for the most part. ( in the G8, not enlcuding 3rd world countries obviously)

Here, they are almost entirely based on greed IMO

How much fucking money does a person deserve for putting rivets in car doors for example? Those people are lucky they arent serving drive through at McDonalds for minimum wage, instead of being greatfull for making $20 an hour ( as they were at the Ford plant 20 plus years ago)they all strike and shut down plants to get what they want if their requests arent followed to the letter

The majority are a bunch of whining little babies, when they dont get exactly what they ask for, they throw tantrums. They sabatoge product lines, and use intimidation and threats to make any in the group who doesnt fully agree follow suit.

If an employer tried to use the same tactics they would be arrested for christs sake. But of course that never happens to union members, as the cops have their own unions and refuse to arrest their "brothers and sisters" unless the situation is extreme

The amount of money is never enough. When the collective bargaining agreement expires, union reps wont get re-elected if they dont complain and ask for something

Greed at the top, sure, the execs were raking in the dough and refusing to face reality. But anyone stating all of these failing companies problems was solely the employer, and that the worker/union greed constantly demanding more had nothing to do with it, is full of shit

All union members I have ever worked with are the most lazy bunch of complainers I have ever dealt with. I am not calling out anyone here who is unionized or pro union, as outside of my job I have met many hard working union members, but when trades are involved, its disgusting how bad it is in my job.

I fully admit there is the odd time when the workers are being thrown under a bus by their employers, and strike action ect is needed. But I believe the times it is truly warrented are few and far between

[whitney]

i think unions could potentially be a beautiful thing (because corporations, if it was up to them, would pay workers bare minimum, and at the same time charge premium for their goods, not for everything, but in general when you work for a company and you can't even afford the goods they're making its kind of fucked up..or if you can't save for retirement while making a decent living) when its not full of corruption but everything eventually spoils when money and power comes into play.

i have always ranted about how the bus drivers in san francisco..and how they are the second highest paid (forget whose first) and they start at close to thirty dollars an hour..starting.

they're very lenient with their workers too.. you can be late or not show up up to six times without getting into deep shit and after a few months those lateness or no show gets rolled off so your record gets a fresh start..

thats why the bus doesn't run on time, because those workers get lazy or whatever and decide not to go in..they don't have to work everyday..at their hourly wage they get paid more then people who do housekeeping or secretarial work..which is more labor like then sitting on your bum all day driving (admittedly i can't sit still for more then a hour or two and some streets in sf can induce road rage from a sweet old lady)

so someone doesn't show up for work, the bus doesn't run on schedule, someone has to cover the shift and do overtime (more money wasted) and the buses come in twos because of that.

my friend who is a small business owner learned the hard way, money cannot buy people's commitment into doing a good job.

[marco-von]

How do we judge what occupation is worth higher salaries and stamped with a hard work ethic over other occupations?

I've always been deeply confused by how society holds people with degree's higher than people with trade skills/can't find the word(s)

[kunk75]

Perception is perception but the reality is in nyc, union carpenters electricians and plumbers make well into the low 6 figures

[CUTUP]

How do we judge what occupation is worth higher salaries and stamped with a hard work ethic over other occupations?

I've always been deeply confused by how society holds people with degree's higher than people with trade skills/can't find the word(s)

Quite easily, through the level of skill and work ethic

Skilled trades are just that, skilled trades. I value them just as much as somone with a degree working a desk job. Skilled trades still go through school , as well as a rigorous onsite program. An apprenticeship takes many years to properly complete. And they make 6 figures if they have been working for years and drop some overtime

What I dont agree with is a job that a monkey could do ( ie slapping rivets in car doors, pressing a button all day on a single machine), and the employees dont seem greatfull to be paid what they are when they are paid well.

I am by no means knocking people who work doing factory jobs, nor am I discounting their intelligence. I know of manymart people I working jobs such as this.

If you work hard and are greatfull for your job ( especially if you are paid well) then thats all that matters to me

[Servo2000]

I'm using Flickr for something but I'm realizing that it's probably not the best way but it has the best (free) functionality in terms of tagging / batch editing it seems. Does anyone know if there's a way on it to add a second tier of 'association' i.e. having a 'set' called, say, rick owens and then having a second 'tier' in the set called like f/w07 or something. Even a third would be great so rick owens / fw07 / geo laeter for instance. I've got a server that I could host this on myself if theres a better way using a third-party thing (dont think indexhibit would work well for this either since i think it's just one-tier deep as well).

[Lane]

How do we judge what occupation is worth higher salaries and stamped with a hard work ethic over other occupations?

I've always been deeply confused by how society holds people with degree's higher than people with trade skills/can't find the word(s)

the value they produce to society is reflected in how much they are paid. Unfortunately because of other factors though this is quite distorted in some..maybe even most cases. A degree shows your level of competence, and it allows you to distinguish yourself from others in such a large workforce. I am not really fond of degrees, and in its extreme, occupational licensing. However, they are somewhat of a good indicator of your skill set.


I'm not too sure I'd say all degrees guarantee a higher wage than for people who learn a specific trade. It really depends on an individual basis.

[Faust]

Thoughtful posts, cjbreed and sam_tem.

One thing I have to disagree with, cjbreed - the blame of our failing education system on the teachers unions. Maybe it has a small part in that, but no more than that. There are two serious problems with education in the US - first of all, the methods of teaching are incredibly flawed. I came to the US when I was 15, and I can speak from personal experience (but also from reading numerous articles as the problems of the education system are very close to my heart). These two major flaws are - lack of memory training and multiple-choice tests. These must go. The other problem is the problem of discipline. Teachers are not respected here. And when you have discipline problems, forget about teaching. Where I come from, teachers were treated as demi-gods. That gave them the ability to concentrate on teaching.

Last problem is the pop-culture problem. Everyone wants to be cool, and the pop-culture tells that what's cool is being a gangster, a rapper, a baller, a rock star, lady Kaka, and so on. These are the people kids want to emulate.

To answer marco-von's questions, which is of utmost importance - professions should be respected for their contribution to society, and not by market forces, like they are in the U.S. In other countries there is such a thing as a noble profession, members of which get the respect of society that is not based solely on how much money they make.