Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Hannibal]

Ah yes. The poor persecuted white man.

Good Lord

This is a brilliantly intellectual take. I don't know how to refute these well thought out arguments.

[Hannibal]

I'll add that I'm not unsympathetic to the viewpoint that "don't take race into account" is convenient for those that have indirectly benefitted from actual systemic racism. I've thought about that a lot, but at the end of the day I don't think "reverse racism" policies are a tenable because they are permanent/indefinite. I could maybe swallow open racial preferences *if* the advocates said "we've done the research, we've come up with the solution, the solution will take 15 years." I would then hold them to that timeframe. But that is, of course, utter leprechauns and unicorns thinking. The indefinite and permanent nature of the "solution" is the major feature.

So, given that, I advocate for race-free decision-making by state actors and programs designed to assist economically (or otherwise) disadvantaged.

"Don't take race into account" is enshrined in the Constitution and in federal law. It's not just a convenient hand wave of racism. But we do take race into account. Systemically, and it is taken into account most often to discriminate against white people. To say nothing of the disproportionately large amount of interracial violence that is directed at white people. Violence which is openly called for in many cases. There is absolutely not one single example of the concept of "diversity" being anything but a concept that either has no teeth or is expressly weaponized against white people. When somebody says "needs more diversity", they mean "needs fewer white people" 100% of the time. It's that simple.

If you replaced the word "white" with "Jewish" in most anti-white rhetoric, you would have something that would be labeled as blood libel against a race of people. A perfect example is that white racism is blamed for violent attacks by black people against Asians. Modern day anti-white rhetoric is indistinguishable from 1930s rhetoric against Jews.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Who the F cares? Do DJT’s beliefs matter any more? I thought he lost.

I keep thinking that sooner or later Ds will have to defend Chairman Joe instead of blathering about DJT, but I may be wrong. There is, I think, no limit to the DJT obsession.

EFZ to the EFZ

[CGVT]

This is a brilliantly intellectual take. I don't know how to refute these well thought out arguments.

Because your take on this is such ridiculous bullshit that there is nothing more to say.

[Kapture1]

FFS You are going to trot out that bullshit. I expect if from a moron like Krapture, but Jesus liney.

Do you not know the history of the changes in ideologies? Have you never heard of the Dixiecrats? Jesus. Strom Thurmond was racist bastard when he was a Dem and he was a racist bastard when he switched to Republican. The same for Jesse Helms, just to name two. That "the Dems was the racists" bullshit although technically true don't hunt, because those same fucking racists switched to republican. The parties in no way resemble what they were even 60 year ago.
So trot out that tired trope if you must, but know it makes you look ignorant.

Read this so that you never embarrass yourself talking about this again.

How the ‘Party of Lincoln’ Won Over the Once Democratic South

Democratic defectors, known as the “Dixiecrats,” started a switch to the Republican party in a movement that was later fueled by a so-called "Southern strategy."BECKY LITTLE
The night that Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, his special assistant Bill Moyers was surprised to find the president looking melancholy in his bedroom. Moyers later wrote that when he asked what was wrong, Johnson replied, “I think we just delivered the South to the Republican party for a long time to come.”

It may seem a crude remark to make after such a momentous occasion, but it was also an accurate prediction.

To understand some of the reasons the South went from a largely Democratic region to a primarily Republican area today, just follow the decades of debate over racial issues in the United States.

On April 11, 1968 President Lyndon Johnson signs the Civil Rights bill while seated at a table surrounded by members of Congress, Washington DC. (Credit: Warren Leffler/Underwood Archives/Getty Images)

The Republican party was originally founded in the mid-1800s to oppose immigration and the spread of slavery, says David Goldfield, whose new book on American politics, The Gifted Generation: When Government Was Good, comes out in November.

“The Republican party was strictly a sectional party, meaning that it just did not exist in the South,” he says. “The South couldn’t care less about immigration.” But it did care about preserving slavery.

After the Civil War, the Democratic party’s opposition to Republican Reconstruction legislation solidified its hold on the South.

“The Democratic party came to be more than a political party in the South—it came to be a defender of a way of life,” Goldfield says. “And that way of life was the restoration as much as possible of white supremacy … The Confederate statues you see all around were primarily erected by Democrats.”

The Dixie Democrats seceding from the Democratic Party. The rump convention, called after the Democrats had attached President Truman’s civil rights program to the party platform, placed Governor Strom Thurmond of South Carolina and Governor Fielding L. Wright of Mississippi in nomination. (Credit: Bettmann/Getty Images)

Up until the post-World War II period, the party’s hold on the region was so entrenched that Southern politicians usually couldn’t get elected unless they were Democrats. But when President Harry S. Truman, a Democratic Southerner, introduced a pro-civil rights platform at the party’s 1948 convention, a faction walked out.

These defectors, known as the “Dixiecrats,” held a separate convention in Birmingham, Alabama. There, they nominated South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond, a staunch opposer of civil rights, to run for president on their “States’ Rights” ticket. Although Thurmond lost the election to Truman, he still won over a million popular votes.

It “was the first time since before the Civil War that the South was not solidly Democratic,” Goldfield says. “And that began the erosion of the southern influence in the Democratic party.”

After that, the majority of the South still continued to vote Democratic because it thought of the Republican party as the party of Abraham Lincoln and Reconstruction. The big break didn’t come until President Johnson, another Southern Democrat, signed the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act in 1965.

Govenor Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, was nominated as States’ Right candidate at the rump convention held in Birmingham on by southern recalcitrants. The Southerners took this drastic action after the Democratic convention added President Truman’s civil rights program of its party platform. (Credit: Bettmann/Getty Images)

Though some Democrats had switched to the Republican party prior to this, “the defections became a flood” after Johnson signed these acts, Goldfield says. “And so the political parties began to reconstitute themselves.”

The change wasn’t total or immediate. During the late 1960s and early ‘70s, white Southerners were still transitioning away from the Democratic party (newly enfranchised black Southerners voted and continue to vote Democratic). And even as Republican Richard Nixon employed a “Southern strategy” that appealed to the racism of Southern white voters, former Alabama Governor George Wallace (who’d wanted “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever”) ran as a Democrat in the 1972 presidential primaries.

By the time Ronald Reagan became president in 1980, the Republican party’s hold on white Southerners was firm. Today, the Republican party remains the party of the South. It’s an ironic outcome considering that a century ago, white Southerners would’ve never considered voting for the party of Lincoln.

Let's see what changed in the south

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so much for the "big flip"

[CGVT]

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[Mike]

One more piece of anecdotal evidence that inflation is coming fast and hard: We're doing some home improvement projects this summer and our contractor just called and said we need to get an order in today because the price of material is going up 20% TOMORROW due to dwindling supplies and supply chain disruptions. Speaking of inflation, has anyone bought some fast food lately? I went on a little road trip a couple weeks ago, stopped for gas and a bite to eat. There was a McD's next to the gas station so we went there. Two quarter-pounder combo meals (with an upgrade to a large fry, don't judge me!) came to just under $21. LOL. I think we're officially getting into "hold on to your ass" territory.

[Hannibal]

Because your take on this is such ridiculous bullshit that there is nothing more to say.

I know that facts and logic are ridiculous to you. That is why I cannot compete with your brilliant takes.

[Mike]

JFC!

https://www.abc12.com/2021/06/03/sta...plex-in-flint/

Statewide labor shortage extends to GM manufacturing complex in Flint

"UAW Local 598 Chairman Eric Welter, who represents workers at Flint Assembly, said the plant needs 400 to 500 more workers right now.

He’s never seen the worker shortage this bad at Flint Assembly.

“Never. I was absolutely surprised about six weeks ago when we found out we didn't have any applicants,” Welter said.

Unlike some industries, he said low pay for temporary GM workers is not an issue. Starting pay at Flint Assembly is $16.67 an hour. Many temporary jobs could lead to permanent positions at GM."

I remember when people used to line up around the block for a gig like this in Flint. And it wasn't that long ago. Hell, there used to be a lottery system for full time permanent jobs in the shop. But here we are in the democratic utopia of "everyone gets free money!". We're a little over 4 months into this administration and we have mountains of data that suggest, perhaps, this is not the way to run the United States economy.

EDIT: Just noticed in the video the UAW rep says they didn't receive ANY applications 6 weeks ago. For anyone didn't grow up in or around Flint or Detroit or has not spent any significant time in the area, I cannot even begin to describe how unfathomable this is. If anyone doesn't understand that all this extra government money being pushed down people's throats isn't a detriment, then they are either lying are simply stupid as fuck.

[Dr. Strangelove]

One more piece of anecdotal evidence that inflation is coming fast and hard: We're doing some home improvement projects this summer and our contractor just called and said we need to get an order in today because the price of material is going up 20% TOMORROW due to dwindling supplies and supply chain disruptions. Speaking of inflation, has anyone bought some fast food lately? I went on a little road trip a couple weeks ago, stopped for gas and a bite to eat. There was a McD's next to the gas station so we went there. Two quarter-pounder combo meals (with an upgrade to a large fry, don't judge me!) came to just under $21. LOL. I think we're officially getting into "hold on to your ass" territory.

The lumber/construction stuff has been an issue. The fast food prices aren't out of the norm, IMO. Most combo meals at any of the low end joints (save Taco Bell which is bottom of the barrel) are going to be near $10 if you order a large size. And most places significantly scaled back their dollar menus years ago.

[Mike]

One more bit of anecdotal evidence since these stories seem to grow on trees and it is happening in very blue collar Genesee County, MI.

https://www.abc12.com/2021/06/04/swa...ker-shortages/

Swartz Creek business says proposed $15 an hour incentive isn’t helping

Gov. Whitmer announced a $300 million plan Thursday to offer grants for employers to boost their workers’ pay

“I had about three interviews scheduled for last week, and of the three no one showed up. No call, no shows,” said Gina Richards, the office manager for Agroscaping.

On Thursday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced the billion-dollar Michigan Economic Jumpstart Plan, using federal COVID-19 funding to support small businesses, like hiring workers at $15 per hour for three months, as long as the business commits to continuing to pay that $15 for at least three more months.

Richards said she’s been there and done that.

“One hundred dollars here. Gas cards for a sign on bonus as well. We’ve increased our pay from -- usually laborers make from $13 and $14 (per hour). We’ve bumped it up to $15 and $16 (per hour),” Richards said.

“Eventually that’s going down the line and we have to charge our customers more, which we don’t like doing, but it’s got to come from somewhere,” Richards said."

You read that correctly. Whitmer proposes to combat the incentives to not work provided by the federal government by using money from... the federal government to boost pay of Michigan workers. IF employers want to get in bed with the state and all the incumbent red tape that entails. OR we could just go back to PRE-COVID UE benefits since we are living in a POST-COVID country.

Remember all the way back in the old days of 2020 when service sector workers were striking for $15/hour pay? Living wage!! the Democrats cried. Nobody should work for poverty wages! Maybe they just meant, nobody should have to work??

[Mike]

Also, LOL @ Michigan Economic Jumpstart Plan. The economy is like a bull in the stall at the rodeo and the government is keeping it caged. Let the fucker out and run wild.

[Mike]

The lumber/construction stuff has been an issue. The fast food prices aren't out of the norm, IMO. Most combo meals at any of the low end joints (save Taco Bell which is bottom of the barrel) are going to be near $10 if you order a large size. And most places significantly scaled back their dollar menus years ago.

I know building materials have had issues and then there's the trucker shortage as well. But man, it's getting hard not to notice rising prices everywhere I turn. For now, I'll believe my lying eyes.

[Jeff Buchanan]

It's pretty clear that in the financial crisis of 2008 the fed didn't do enough money dumping to the folks to stimulate the economy choosing instead to dump it on banks and corporations and over-did the money dump during the pandemic...... and yes, our grocery bill is up bigly, a sheet of 3/4" plywood costs upwards of $90 instead of the around $30 per before all this shit happened. Dining out is preposterously expensive along with the costs of travel and lodging, rental cars and a whole bunch of other stuff that is a need and not a want. So, yeah, it's "hold on to your asses time."

An article in the Economist - Why the World is Running Out of Everything - did a pretty good job of explaining the complexity of global supply chains and why they've been disrupted. They did too good of a job assigning shortages and high prices for materials almost singly to the management approach that keeps company inventories lean and overly sensitive to shocks. IMO, that's one reason but not enough workers to load the ships, drive the trucks, manufacture widgets because global governments are padding pay-checks to the extent workers can make as much if not more by sitting at home, is major player in the calculus.

Progressive liberals don't want to talk about this because it's inconsistent with what Talent correctly calls Biden's progressive agenda to address problems that don't exist, spend trillions on infrastructure that's not that at all and create a government that will grow out of proportion to the need but does so to further what is becoming obvious is a leftist effort turn the US into a massive social welfare state.

[Dr. Strangelove]

I know building materials have had issues and then there's the trucker shortage as well. But man, it's getting hard not to notice rising prices everywhere I turn. For now, I'll believe my lying eyes.

As long as you're comparing prices with this point in 2019, those comparisons are fair. I just see a lot of people squawking about how gas was a lot cheaper last May and duh, those were record low prices way out of the natural order of things. I was paying under $1.50 for gas for most of April and May last year I think. Gas hadn't been that cheap since before the Iraq War.