But they could recycle, they just don’t. But they could. They just don’t.

But they could.

Don’t forget the Ellisons.

Having people hear about big tech companies unionizing can only help. Unions keep pressure on the companies, and keep them from going too far. Other companies hear about it, and offer up their own reforms voluntarily, hoping it will keep the workers from unionizing. Either way, unions work for EVERYBODY.

Unionize Everything!

Years ago, my wife took a job as the lone secretary to a lawyer with a high volume of paperwork, permit applications, etc. The previous secretary, who had retired, didn’t like the computer, and just typed everything by hand.

My wife automated all the forms so she could jump from field to field, and get the paperwork done much faster. So fast in fact, that he decided not to hire the second secretary, and just dump it all on my wife. Then he turned out to be an absolute monster in so many ways that my wife just up and quit one day, which was fine with me.

But she had never told him about her automated forms that she created. He just thought her increased productivity was due to using the computer. So she told me that she made those forms to help herself, not him, and dumped all of them before she left, and he never knew.

Yeah, you’re right, they’d be better off without an extra $400k. Let the rich guys keep it. /S

It’s not fair! The poor get all the breaks!

It’s about time! I remember Ticketmaster going through the Congressional Dog & Pony show 20 years ago, or so, and as usual with those things, after all the bloviating is over, NOTHING changes. They figured they got through it, and now they can exploit to their greedy black heart’s content.

Then Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour happened, and every politician’s wife & daughter wanted tickets, and they found out first hand a) how hard it is to get tickets, and b) how ridiculously expensive they are. With their households in an uproar, they turned their anger and frustrations toward Ticketmaster, or Live Nation, or whatever alias they’re criming under these days, and now it has led to their demise.

This is the Free Market at work. They got so greedy, that eventually they pissed off the people they counted on to protect them. Good, they deserve it, they are one of the most ruthlessly exploitive companies in existence, along with tobacco and gambling companies.

So what’s up with the 17 states that didn’t get on board? They’re perfectly comfortable with Ticketmaster fucking over their citizens?

They even have a deal with scalpers, so they make a piece of that money, too. That gives them motivation to give access to scalpers so they make money off the initial sale, as well as the scalped sale.

A big part of that is because we blow the money on endless wars, which China doesn’t do.

Add that to their good-faith commitment to invest in, and substantially improve, their country, compared to our lack of investment in our own nation, which you mentioned.

I’m just saying, we shouldn’t be surprised. This is nothing new to anyone who’s been paying attention for a while.

There are two big industries that are going to be the canaries in the coal mine, and be the first to take serious hits - Driving, and Fast Food.

Both Uber and Lyft make it clear on their websites that their future is an autonomous fleet, and they’re testing heavily. Waymo has been testing for months, and is starting to roll out in many cities, including mine. Every one of those driverless cars is replacing a human job.

Further, many of the people driving rideshares, would be listed as unemployed, if they weren’t able to eke out a meager living driving. Take away this job, and it isn’t like they have a lot of options to pivot to. If they did, they wouldn’t be driving. Those lost jobs are going straight to the unemployment rolls.

And what about truck drivers? That is another serious driving industry that is going to be fully replaced before long. Again, those drivers don’t have a lot of other options.

Fast Food is the other one. Every fast food corp has been testing a robotic kitchen for years now, and I’d be surprised if even a single one isn’t ready to roll out tomorrow. They are already getting us ready by both phasing in app use, and kiosk use, but also masking the kitchen area. It used to be that you could see the kitchens in fast food places, but new ones are hiding the prep area behind walls, where they can’t be seen, because soon they’ll all be automated.

Fast food is a traditional first job, or a second job, or a second income, or a supplement to retirement, etc. A LOT of households rely on fast food jobs, but within a decade, most of them will be fully automated.

Further, what will happen is that a robotic warehouse will load an autonomous truck, which will go to fully automated fast food outlets, where it will be robotically unloaded, stored, and eventually prepared, and served to a customer, without a human touching it anywhere along the way.

The tech to do all of that exists right now. The only reason they haven’t done it is because they know the consumer backlash will be enormous, but they won’t be able to resist the lure of all those new profits for too long, and somebody will finally take the plunge and be the first. They’ll get savaged in the media, but then everyone will follow, and 10 years from now, every fast outlet will be automated, and millions of jobs will evaporate.

It’s inevitable.

It’s going fully replace a LOT of jobs, and as future iterations learn more and more, it will replace even more complex jobs. You are underestimating the Ferengi’s compulsion for more wealth. They will let quality slip significantly, if it means higher profits.

In a few years, they be gaslighting us that double digit unemployment is perfectly normal in a healthy, high-tech society.

It’s been coming for a long time. While the rest of us have been fighting among ourselves, China stayed out of it all, and improved their country. I’m not surprised that they’ve emerged as a powerhouse, while we volunteered to give a lunatic the nukes.

Good posts.

AOC is EVERYBODY’S Congressional Rep.

That congresswoman was AOC.

You said you had trouble in school, and your parents didn’t back you up. Don’t be mad at me because I did.

I didn’t say you had a bad relationship with your parents, I just said that my relationship with my son was strong because he had confidence in my support for him, who happens to be gay, as well. You made the leap that I also meant that your relationship was worse, which I certainly didn’t intend. Plenty of people have good relationships with parents who weren’t as supportive as I was, myself included.

My parents didn’t give a shit what happened to me at school. I just better bring home a good report card, with no excuses. Bullying by teachers or students was my problem to work out. I just decided that my son wasn’t going to get thrown to the wolves like that.

I’m sure you have a great relationship with your parents. There are other valid methods of dealing with public schools, but our situation meant that I had to monitor the situation closely, for good reasons.

My final point is: Don’t expect a good public school education to happen. You have to coach it along, not just with the student, but also the school, teachers, and administrators. You are the taxpayer, you are the boss, and you have every right as a citizen to expect a proper education for your kid. Demand it, and make it happen, and don’t worry about being POLITE

Defending your child, and insisting a government employee do their job isn’t a threat. Maybe this is why my second paragraph was your entire existence - because your parents didn’t stand up for you, or themselves.

My son grew up knowing his parents had his back, and would fight for his rights as a student, and he was never afraid to bring anything to us. To this day, we are best friends, so I’ll take my method over anyone else’s.

Interesting, that makes sense. I can see starting from one corner, or edge, or with your favorite element, or whatever. I’d probably start from one corner, get lost in drawing leaves or grass or something, and completely forget what my main thing was before I got there.

I’m a musician, so none of that is a mystery to me, but I find visual arts nearly miraculous.

Really nice work.