The Cellar  

Go Back   The Cellar > Main > Current Events
FAQ Community Calendar Today's Posts Search

Current Events Help understand the world by talking about things happening in it

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 01-16-2010, 10:38 AM   #46
Shawnee123
Why, you're a regular Alfred E Einstein, ain't ya?
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 21,206
LMAO!

You're particularly funny today, you fellow human-mocker.
__________________
A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones who need the advice.
--Bill Cosby
Shawnee123 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-18-2010, 04:46 PM   #47
sugarpop
Professor
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: the edge of the abyss
Posts: 1,947
I bet they all watch FOX news and vote republican too.

It's our own damn fault. As a society, we want things as cheap as possible, and empolyers get away with paying people the least amount possible, and we don't care. We should stand up, as a nation, and DEMAND MORE from corporations and politicians alike. But we don't. *sigh*
sugarpop is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-18-2010, 04:54 PM   #48
xoxoxoBruce
The future is unwritten
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 71,105
Psssst...union.
__________________
The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.
xoxoxoBruce is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-18-2010, 05:05 PM   #49
classicman
barely disguised asshole, keeper of all that is holy.
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 23,401
shhh - its a secret, xob
__________________
"like strapping a pillow on a bull in a china shop" Bullitt
classicman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-18-2010, 05:32 PM   #50
Pico and ME
Are you knock-kneed?
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Middle Hoosierland
Posts: 3,549
Quote:
Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce View Post
Psssst...unions.
..are almost extinct.
Pico and ME is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-18-2010, 05:34 PM   #51
xoxoxoBruce
The future is unwritten
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 71,105
Which is why so many are getting screwed.
__________________
The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.
xoxoxoBruce is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-19-2010, 10:58 AM   #52
TheMercenary
“Hypocrisy: prejudice with a halo”
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Savannah, Georgia
Posts: 21,393
And now we are getting screwed as the unions get a gift, if it passes in the final Bill.
__________________
Anyone but the this most fuked up President in History in 2012!
TheMercenary is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-19-2010, 11:19 AM   #53
BrianR
Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Dallas, TX
Posts: 3,338
A union is a self-defeating organization.

It starts out great, helping it's members get better working conditions etc etc etc.

Then it starts out small, dues go up with no corresponding increase in service to it's members. Then contract renegotiation comes around and they have to produce something of value to the hoi polloi. So wages go up and up every year. Seniority begins kicking in. Favoritism begins at the same time. Nepotism shows up too.

Eventually, wages are as high as they can get without bankrupting the company. So in order to satisfy the unsatisfiable, they begin adding time off in the form of every imaginable holiday. More breaks. More vacation. More work rules which appear to discourage anything getting done.

Eventually, the members reach the top, where they are being paid top dollar for the least amount of work, they have effectively priced themselves out of any industry in which they are not unavoidable. Their bids are much too high, even though they are skilled workers (mostly) and they give good value. It's just that they're almost too good and builders and manufacturers are willing to sacrifice some of that quality for lower prices that the consumer demands.

This is why every industry that has unions in it sucks. The steel industry has lost it all, automotive manufacturing is losing out to nonunion Japanese, the electronics industry is gone to China, textiles are in south america with it's abundant cheap labor and no unions and Americans are unemployed, our industrial base is gone overseas, we're overdependent on imports, the deficit goes to stratospheric levels, tax bases drop and taxes go up with the tax and spend government running wild.

In my opinion, unions started out a great idea but got greedy and killed the jobs they were trying to save and protect.

There is no easy way out of this hole. There may not BE a way out of this hole. I can't even suggest a hard fix. Perhaps outlawing unions and instead passing worker protection laws with some teeth as well as product safety and mandatory quality standards coupled with tariffs on imports to encourage buying domestic products. But the consumer would still pay more out of pocket for everything for a long time before things finally get better.

And no one is willing to pay that price.
__________________
Never be afraid to tell the world who you are. -- Anonymous
BrianR is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-19-2010, 12:51 PM   #54
lumberjim
I can hear my ears
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 25,571


This is what happens when Twisted Sister literally will not take it any more.
Kansas
__________________
This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality
Embrace this moment, remember
We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion ~MJKeenan
lumberjim is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-24-2010, 04:26 PM   #55
xoxoxoBruce
The future is unwritten
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 71,105
Back up...
Attached Images
 
__________________
The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.
xoxoxoBruce is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-25-2010, 09:03 AM   #56
SamIam
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Not here
Posts: 2,655
More toxic products

China hates children:

Quote:
BEIJING – Melamine-tainted dairy products were pulled from convenience store shelves in southern China more than a year after hundreds of thousands of children had been sickened in a massive milk safety scandal, a government spokeswoman said Monday.

The announcement calls into question the effectiveness of a crackdown launched by Chinese officials to improve product safety after a number of scandals, including the contamination of baby formula in 2008 and the recent discovery of the toxic metal cadmium in cheap jewelry.
SamIam is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-25-2010, 12:46 PM   #57
skysidhe
~~Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.~~
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 6,828
Somehow toxic cheap jewelry is easier to believe than that T Shirt.

oh tell me it aint so!
skysidhe is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-25-2010, 07:54 PM   #58
lumberjim
I can hear my ears
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 25,571
Quote:
Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce View Post
Back up...

her thinner, poorer sister:

__________________
This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality
Embrace this moment, remember
We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion ~MJKeenan
lumberjim is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-02-2010, 09:03 PM   #59
lumberjim
I can hear my ears
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 25,571


Hey! Hey! Hey man, hold up. There’s a f***in’ Jellyfish on your head! Stay still, I’ll pee on it.
Ohio
__________________
This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality
Embrace this moment, remember
We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion ~MJKeenan
lumberjim is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-02-2010, 09:39 PM   #60
lumberjim
I can hear my ears
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 25,571


Someone go get this guy a giant lollipop because other than that I’m not sure he could possibly get any more adorable!
North Carolina
__________________
This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality
Embrace this moment, remember
We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion ~MJKeenan
lumberjim is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:45 PM.


Powered by: vBulletin Version 3.8.1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.