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Thread: Stupid World

  1. #11356
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    Quote Originally Posted by mashman View Post
    I agree... and they're still fighting for equal pay.
    No, they are fighting a misunderstanding of basic Stats.

    When you factor in things like:

    Hours worked
    Experience
    Position
    Education
    Qualification
    etc.

    Basically all the factors that can affect what you earn - the 'Paygap' virtually disappears (less than 3% of a gap). But there are some interesting things to note - if you compare industries where Salary negotiation is far more common - you find that there's a slightly larger gap compared to those where there is either no salary negotiation (such as Public Sector jobs or large corporates with static Pay Scales) or very little negotiation - it's even smaller.

    Furthermore, If you look at the stats for people under 30 - you actually find that the 'paygap' (using the same calculation as the other 'paygap') is the other way - Women are out-earning men. Not surprising when you consider that Women makeup the majority of University Graduates.

    Then, it's almost like, The majority of Women decide to do *something* at around age 30, that on average takes them out of the Workforce for several years.

    Oh and why is it the Majority of Women? One look at Tinder's data sets will tell you about Female Dating preferences (In short - Women look for someone who is earning similar to them or more) and so when one of you has to take time-off work - it's not the primary Bread Winner...
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  2. #11357
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheDemonLord View Post
    No, they are fighting a misunderstanding of basic Stats.

    When you factor in things like:

    Hours worked
    Experience
    Position
    Education
    Qualification
    etc.
    A woman of my acquaintance, an IT professional, was recently thinking of changing jobs. She was somewhat dismayed at the chauvanism she encountered in her job search. She's happy now, got a good job with a company that's exciting to be with.

    Funny thing, off hand I know maybe half a dozen women in Auckland, and two of them work for that company and it's not *that* big.

    Yet.
    There is a grey blur, and a green blur. I try to stay on the grey one. - Joey Dunlop

  3. #11358
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    So the way the story goes, the jockey that rode the Kentucky Derby winner was invited to Mar a Largo to meet Trump. He replied that if he really wanted to see a horse's arse all he had to do was finish second.

    I suspect that's one off the way back stack.

    To bring it up to date. The Kentucky Derby winner has failed the dope test. If the B smple is a fail the second place getter will be declared the winner. Although sadly punters who backed that will not get another pay out.

    The trainer of the horse has declared the whole situation to be an example of "cancel culture". Straight out of the RWNJ handbook. To give him credit though he has not so far accused anybody of being "woke". That'd be really silly.

    Perhaps not as silly as Trump referring to the horse as a junky (sic).
    There is a grey blur, and a green blur. I try to stay on the grey one. - Joey Dunlop

  4. #11359
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    More than 120 retired generals and admirals wrote to Biden suggesting he wasn't legitimately elected and questioning his mental health

    "Our Nation is in deep peril," the signatories wrote in the introduction to the letter.

    "We are in a fight for our survival as a Constitutional Republic like no other time since our founding in 1776. The conflict is between supporters of Socialism and Marxism vs. supporters of Constitutional freedom and liberty."

    ... coz reds under the bed ...

    "One serving Navy officer told Politico the letter was "disturbing and reckless" while Jim Golby, an expert in civil-military relations, told the outlet it was a "shameful effort to use their rank and the military's reputation for such a gross and blatant partisan attack.""

    ... dismissed as a partisan attack ...

    Whilst reds under the bed is a threat, the economics that were spoken of over 20 years ago predicted exactly how the West would face an economic decline in the face of a rising East. That's economics only, not economics plus geo-politics. Park yer geo-politics for a second.

    WE have been watching this happen for a very long time and you cool guys run businesses that run on exactly he same principle. So there is no conspiracy needed to see what is taking place. We are seeing normal business behaviour. The Country that generates most of the worlds production tends to become the worlds biggest economy. No conspiracy required, just more and more people producing more and more stuff, with more and more of them emerging in countries with cheap labour. Couple that with the offshoring of production for profit craze, seriously, no conspiracy is required to prove inevitable economic decline in the West. Those who offshored production did so for the $ and to stay in business in many cases... but

    NOW you can add your geo-politics back into it...

    but, they did a massive geo-political favour for 'Them' to speed up the current natural economic decline of the West that was clearly in the mail.

    So, Reds under the bed v's Partisan attack is the narrative, not the economic decline that is more than inevitable? Want to win a game? Own both teams and just let the natural game play out the way it is written in our collective business reports. But hey, there are great business opportunities in there right guys, right, right lol...........
    I didn't think!!! I experimented!!!

  5. #11360
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    Quote Originally Posted by mashman View Post
    More than 120 retired generals and admirals wrote to Biden suggesting he wasn't legitimately elected and questioning his mental health

    "Our Nation is in deep peril," the signatories wrote in the introduction to the letter.

    "We are in a fight for our survival as a Constitutional Republic like no other time since our founding in 1776. The conflict is between supporters of Socialism and Marxism vs. supporters of Constitutional freedom and liberty."
    Seems the US is taking a page from the French.

    Music to my ears.
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  6. #11361
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    So the way the story goes, the jockey that rode the Kentucky Derby winner was invited to Washington to meet Biden. He replied that if he really wanted to see a dementia patient all he had to do was community service at local resthome.

    I suspect that's one off the recent stack.
    Govt gives you nothing because it creates nothing - Javier Milei

  7. #11362
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    Quote Originally Posted by R650R View Post
    So the way the story goes, the jockey that rode the Kentucky Derby winner was invited to Washington to meet Biden. He replied that if he really wanted to see a dementia patient all he had to do was community service at local resthome.

    I suspect that's one off the recent stack.

    Speaking of dementia patients, TDL's retired generals and admirals would all appear to fit that description.

    Letter writing seems big in the US, 100 Republicans have written a letter to the party leadership threatening to start a new party if the party doesn't abandon Trump's election lies.

    With the demoting of Ms Cheney things may be about to warm up. Her credentials as a Republican are impeccable, it'll be interesting to see how much of the Republican establishment sides with her against the Trump party as the Congressional Republicans have now allowed themselves to become.

    US politics certainy aren't boring.
    There is a grey blur, and a green blur. I try to stay on the grey one. - Joey Dunlop

  8. #11363
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    Quote Originally Posted by pritch View Post
    Speaking of dementia patients, TDL's retired generals and admirals would all appear to fit that description
    Is that what we are reducing it to?

    Anyone who happens to be Retired or of Retirement age and holds an opinion we disagree with automatically gets diagnosed with Dementia?
    Physics; Thou art a cruel, heartless Bitch-of-a-Mistress

  9. #11364
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheDemonLord View Post
    Is that what we are reducing it to?

    Anyone who happens to be Retired or of Retirement age and holds an opinion we disagree with automatically gets diagnosed with Dementia?
    No, but anybody who thinks the election was stolen has clearly lost contact with reality.
    There is a grey blur, and a green blur. I try to stay on the grey one. - Joey Dunlop

  10. #11365
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    From Mashman:

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/more-120-...100024106.html

    "We are in a fight for our survival as a Constitutional Republic like no other time since our founding in 1776. The conflict is between supporters of Socialism and Marxism vs. supporters of Constitutional freedom and liberty."

    Wow ! That was a zinger ! Guaranteed to get some attention.

    And I'm pleased that they told us what the specific threats were , and who should feel threatened (i.e. important to frame up any future discussion). Saves us thinking too much about it (and possibly coming to a wrong conclusion).

    Though their list of major threats facing the US seems like a real mixed bag.

    "...the rise of China, the rejoining of the Iran nuclear deal, immigration, and the ending of the Keystone Pipeline project. The signatories also called for the removal of Section 230, a part of US law that shields tech companies from legal liability".

    1. China - Socialism Yes, I can see a possible linkage there. Though the Chinese are only practising that political business at home.
    I haven't seen them make any effort to export that model to the US. Other goods and services, yes, but not socialism.

    I suppose with the recovery of the Chinese economy post Covid, perhaps the generals and admirals (or their sponsors) are afraid that such ideas might catch on at home in the US. But with all the recent demonisation of China being conducted in the western media, that should surely have reduced the risk. US citizens will not even be interested in Chinese takeaways, let alone Chinese politics.

    2. Rejoining the JCPOA - Well, the US can do that any time they want - provided they first remove US-imposed sanctions and honour the terms of the original agreement (and then Iran will revert to its original position in turn).

    Or is there some small roadblock stopping them doing so ?

    3. Immigration - I thought that many US businesses were clamouring for more cheap labour in the US. How could they possibly object to increased immigration? Or is it that the cheap labour is going to Democrat states instead (like California) ?

    I realise that Don wanted to build a wall to keep many of them out, but I think that was simply a ploy to get the vote of some of the Southern states at the last election (and after he realised his chances of getting a Presidential Library built and named after him was not going to happen).

    I have to admit that the Chinese Great Wall is an impressive sight. And that Don might have felt a certain degree of envy.

    4. Keystone XL Pipeline - This seems like "small change" to me. Something added in at the last minute. Very much like some of those earmarks that appear in the annual budget sent to the US Senate.

    I'm just struggling with the "freedom and liberty" part re this item. Maybe they meant "freedom and liberty to pollute", and just accidentally omitted the last two words when they were writing up their letter.

    5. Section 230 - "A part of US law that shields tech companies from legal liability". Hang on. I haven't seen legal liability mentioned in any of the Amendments making up the US Constitution.

    But seriously, if that's the best they've got ..... I'm unimpressed.

    Thinking back, as I was growing up, at least we had some serious threats. And wars.

    Like the War on Drugs (which started in the 1970's). Some of you might have missed it, because it was going on at the same time as the war in Vietnam.

    I have to admit that I paid little attention to the War on Drugs at the time. The only thing I do recall is being strongly advised not to smoke - and certainly none of that plant with curiously shaped leaves (as it was supposedly harmful). As if tobacco was not.

    We also had the Cold War which continued on through the 1980's. Though why they called it the "Cold War" - when the risk of a "hot" (thermonuclear) war was so high - seemed a contradiction of terms.

    This continued up until 1989, the point at which the USSR waved the economic "white flag". It allowed the Germans to re-unite, but then promptly disintegrated itself within a year. One could be forgiven for thinking that was surely the end of the Red Threat. No more need to check under your bed for political activists.

    There was a minor financial episode in 1987 where the Dow Jones had a minor downturn, but that was soon forgotten. Especially as the 1990's soon arrived and roared into economic action.

    In the 1990's, the US (and NATO) had to make do with the First Gulf War (1991) and the disassembly of Yugoslavia. Though they didn't call the latter a "war". And if someone did, then it was all blamed on the Serbs.

    Then in 2001, we had 911 and the start of the Global War on Terror (GWOT).

    911 was (and still remains) a horrifying spectacle; no argument from me.

    Though it has always puzzled me how the US then managed to (i) mobilise forces and start bombing operations in Afghanistan within four weeks, and (ii) draft, review and pass the Patriot Act through both houses within six weeks - of the 911 event having just occurred.

    https://www.freedomforuminstitute.or...w/patriot-act/

    But as the first post-2000 era progressed, people's perceptions seemed to change. I can recall reading the following article in 2011, summarising some of the US legislative changes that followed 911:

    https://ccrjustice.org/home/blog/201...e-us-democracy

    And I can't help feeling how many of those constitutional challenges are still as relevant today, a further ten years later.

    Given the number of countries that were subsequently "terrorised" post 911 (Afghanistan starting in 2001, Iraq in 2003, Libya in 2011, Syria in 2011, to name a few), I wonder if the authors of the term GWOT meant "Global War of Terror", but then chose to go with the first version instead.

    I see that after 20 years, the US has seemingly decided to remove the last of its troops from Afghanistan sometime soon (though not its contractors). Has to look after its contractors - how would the MIC survive? And who would look after the poppy fields (a nice little earner)? And help feed militant fighters into the Stans (to destabilise the Chinese OBOR) ? Someone has to do the job.

    There was another (admittedly slightly larger) financial episode during 2008-2009, so we called this one a GFC (global financial crisis). Like the 1987 episode, it too started in the US. However, it too was soon forgotten (once major US bank balance sheets had been repaired, and the US media had relapsed into forgetfulness).

    Then in 2016, the US had another war erupt. Certainly an event which took most by surprise. This time, it was the War on Populism.

    Unlike the first internal US War (called the Civil War), this war was most uncivil (though the death toll was very much lower). But it too lasted four years. And resulted in severe social and political division within the US.

    And during that time, we also had (i) the China Trade War - perhaps strangely named as it was the US that was declaring trade war on China, and (ii) the War on Covid. Both still ongoing, as I write. Just like the wars mentioned above.

    And Yes, there was another financial crisis in the US during that time (2019-2020). While the same repair of major US bank balance sheets was required, you might not have read about it. This is because the Fed, the banking regulators, the politicians and the media had gotten their collective act together much better this time.

    Yes, a few of the locals may have lost their houses and their jobs (just like in 2008-2009), but at least this time, the authorities had a better cover story (it was possible to blame the majority of the economic cost on the Covid pandemic).

    https://wallstreetonparade.com/2021/...ed-money-went/

    But sadly, though, during those four years of the War on Populism, Climate Change never even got a word in edgeways.

    I think that it had a lot to do with branding. If they had branded it "War on Climate Change", then it would have gotten much more interest and attention (and some decent budget appropriations).

    In summary, I have serious doubt about these "120 generals and admirals" and their choice of supposed threats to the US Constitution. Personally, I doubt that the letter was even written by (or on behalf of) some group of 120 retired generals and admirals. I mean, the 2021 US budget appropriation for the US military (includes pensions) has been more than generous. You don't bite the hand that feeds you.

    https://www.thebalance.com/u-s-milit...growth-3306320

    I think that with the continuing US Covid lockdown, some of the fellows at the Pentagon golf club (or one of those conservative think tanks) were suffering from Covid "cabin fever", and they just decided to rark up the Biden administration for some light entertainment.

    Just paid too much, and have far too much time on their hands. You know what they say about idle hands ?

    What ? Me ? Hypocritical ?

    Now that I'm retired (and dependent upon an allowance from SWMBO), there is no way you can say that I am paid too much. Those talking about a wage freeze this last week ? I know just how they feel. There is no COLA in my allowance, despite bilateral negotiation.

    Too much time on my hands ? Well, maybe. It's not that I'm short of things to do. I was only writing up this post as something to do while the grass was drying. But since it was still soft and damp underfoot at 2pm, it will just have to wait until tomorrow.

  11. #11366
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    Quote Originally Posted by pritch View Post
    Speaking of dementia patients, TDL's retired generals and admirals would all appear to fit that description.

    Letter writing seems big in the US, 100 Republicans have written a letter to the party leadership threatening to start a new party if the party doesn't abandon Trump's election lies.

    With the demoting of Ms Cheney things may be about to warm up. Her credentials as a Republican are impeccable, it'll be interesting to see how much of the Republican establishment sides with her against the Trump party as the Congressional Republicans have now allowed themselves to become.

    US politics certainy aren't boring.
    There’s a big market in USA media for fear-porn and hopium.

    Anything written by anyone ‘retired’ is only ever an opinion piece for the consumption of a Hopium Addict. The ‘retired’ of any profession hold zero power of influence except to the odd protege who might have the personal fortitude to respect and be loyal to their mentor.

    Buckle up and strap on (sic) cause for 2024 Bruce Jenner is going to be elected the first trans presedint of USA, already gunning for California governor roll. Going to seriously mess with peoples heads and test political loyalties lol

    If only HST was still alive to write about all this craziness
    Govt gives you nothing because it creates nothing - Javier Milei

  12. #11367
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    Quote Originally Posted by R650R View Post
    Buckle up and strap on (sic) cause for 2024 Bruce Jenner is going to be elected the first trans presedint of USA, already gunning for California governor roll. Going to seriously mess with peoples heads and test political loyalties lol
    You are probably correct in so far as a trans 'presedint' is without precedent. The phrase "snowball's chance in Hell" comes to mind. Jenner is standing as a Republican and the Republicans are obsessed with which toilets people use.

    Jenner says trans athletes should not be allowed to compete against athletes born female, but Jenner plays women's golf tournaments and plays from the women's tee. She appears to have mastered hypocrisy.


    Quote Originally Posted by R650R View Post
    If only HST was still alive to write about all this craziness
    True. There does appear to be a gap in the market. Although some of the shit Trump was up to was beyond parody, even HST might have had touble with it.
    There is a grey blur, and a green blur. I try to stay on the grey one. - Joey Dunlop

  13. #11368
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    Quote Originally Posted by Viking01 View Post
    1. Economically inevitable, just add seasoning.
    2. Roadblock to what? Iran doing whatever it chooses to do no matter what deal is in place? How very dare the us force another country to do as they want and penalise that country financially, thus hurting the people more than anyone. How very dare they indeed.....
    3. Because of 1, 3 is economically inevitable.
    4. Likely a tit for tat addition given the partisan stance.
    5. The liability is to protect those who wish to curtail free speech simply because they don't like it... although law being law, I'm sure 'interactive computer service' has a very broad definition when required. Dangerous to say the least given the current times... and ya really gotta keep people away from noticing that the way we're setup is responsible for killing more people than war or a pandemic (both combined), as well as being just as responsible for war with resources always the spoils of raiding anyone else's country. It ain't like there's any secret that the war machine profited massively from war with Iraq. Turns out the WMD narrative was lies. But sure, wtf would those dithering old fools know about the history that has led us to today?

    Perhaps those who sent people to die in wars, justified or not, see some form of merit and potential redemption in defending against domestic enemies they could never get. Then again, they could simply be old cunts who just sucked the system dry and killed lots of people aye bro............
    I didn't think!!! I experimented!!!

  14. #11369
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    Using a VPN

    It has amused me for some time that Google (formerly of "Do No Evil" fame) was widely proclaimed as one's friend, but after Eric Schmidt took over chairmanship, the "Do No Evil" moniker was at some stage quietly dropped. Maybe evil is more profitable ? Who knows ?

    I had been intending to get a VPN subscription for some time, and having done a little investigation, I purchased a subscription from a provider this week, installed the software, and then kick-started the gerbil into action. All go.

    I was just getting my daily dose of Russian propaganda from Sputnik this morning:

    https://sputniknews.com/russia/20210...bureau-frozen/

    And while recalling that RFE / RL was established by the CIA at the time of the Berlin airlift (and wondering why it had taken the Russians so long to take some action), I couldn't quite remember whether 1948 was the year of the airlift.

    So I quickly Googled "Berlin airlift", and immediately received a Google message saying "that unusual activity had been detected at my IP address". What the ?

    Clicking on the helpful hyperlink within the same message suggested that I might be a robot, and would I please complete and send a CAPTCA response (in order to proceed with my query). The knees might be creaky and be in some future need of mechanical replacement, but a robot I am not. And what robot reads a news article, and then Googles some distant but related aspect of said article.

    So I declined their kind offer, shut down the VPN session, waited five minutes, and then repeated the same exercise (this time without VPN active). No Google challenge this time.

    [ Edit: Inbetween these two, I did another Google query - while the VPN session was still active - using some quite innocuous search terms ("Air New Zealand"). In this case, the same Google challenge and message was returned (this time with "Air New Zealand" in the search string returned). ]

    So I'm unsure whether Google has tagged me as a subversive (but ranked me as relatively benign), or whether it is monitoring IP addresses for various VPN providers having servers based here in New Zealand. Or inspecting web browser cache?

    Sensible replies welcomed.

    Cheers, Viking

  15. #11370
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    Quote Originally Posted by pritch View Post
    You are probably correct in so far as a trans 'presedint' is without precedent. The phrase "snowball's chance in Hell" comes to mind. Jenner is standing as a Republican and the Republicans are obsessed with which toilets people use.

    Jenner says trans athletes should not be allowed to compete against athletes born female, but Jenner plays women's golf tournaments and plays from the women's tee. She appears to have mastered hypocrisy.




    True. There does appear to be a gap in the market. Although some of the shit Trump was up to was beyond parody, even HST might have had touble with it.
    No one thought a Barry from Kenya or Trump was going to win either....
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