The Current Events, News, and Politics Thread
Boost Pope
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It's possible that the last frame in the above comic represents a film-negative, which is really the only place in which Marsellus and Neo truly exist.
Retired Mech Design Engr
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Every time I see or hear someone talking about differently-colored pills in the context of political thought, it reminds me of that scene in The Matrix where Marsellus Wallace offers Neo a red pill and blue pill, and depending upon which one he took, his perception of reality would change in different ways.
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NOT SHOCKED:
imagine that: when youre paid to stay at home, you dont go out and get a job...
BREAKING NEWS: UNEMPLOYMENT “BONUSES” BACKFIRE? UNEMPLOYMENT RATE INCREASES FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 12 MONTHS DESPITE HUGE NUMBER OF JOB OPENINGS
by Kevin Ryan
The economy suffered a big letdown in April, as the unemployment rate increased unexpectedly to 6.1%, and jobs increased by just 266,000, far worse than the 1,000,000 new jobs economists had forecast. It’s the first time the unemployment rate has increased in a year.
Analysts say it’s yet another indication that the government’s overly-rich jobless benefits passed in March backfired, leading people to stay out of work and collect unemployment despite a record number of job openings and companies desperate to hire.
President Biden signed the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion “relief package” into law in March 11th. It included a $300 per week unemployment “bonus” on top of the states’ normal unemployment benefit. The bill will continue shelling out the bonuses all the way until September 6th.
Not a single Republican in the House or Senate voted for the package, saying it was too expensive and that the massive benefits would undermine an economy that had already been rapidly recovering under President Trump.
That appears to be exactly what has now happened. Many businesses say that they cannot hire enough workers to fill positions because of the government’s enhanced unemployment benefits program.
“Millions Are Unemployed. Why Can’t Companies Find Workers?” the Wall Street Journal asked in an article this week.
“There are more job openings in the U.S. this spring than before the pandemic hit in March 2020, and fewer people in the labor force, according to the Labor Department,” The Wall Street Journal said this week. The article points out that fewer unemployed people say they feel “financial pressure” to go back to work—35% compared with 51% when the same question was asked three years ago.
It has gotten so bad that two states, South Carolina and Montana, have canceled their participation in the federal government’s unemployment bonus program entirely.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) said the supplemental federal payments, combined with state benefits, were larger than many workers' previous paychecks.
“What was intended to be a short-term financial assistance for the vulnerable and displaced during the height of the pandemic has turned into a dangerous federal entitlement, incentivizing and paying workers to stay at home rather than encouraging them to return to the workplace,” Gov. McMaster said.
Montana even began offering workers a $1,200 “return-to-work” bonus.
“Incentives matter, and the vast expansion of federal unemployment benefits is now doing more harm than good. We need to incentivize Montanans to reenter the workforce,” Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) said in announcing an end to unemployment bonuses and replacement with a $1,200 bonus for unemployed people who return to work.
by Kevin Ryan
The economy suffered a big letdown in April, as the unemployment rate increased unexpectedly to 6.1%, and jobs increased by just 266,000, far worse than the 1,000,000 new jobs economists had forecast. It’s the first time the unemployment rate has increased in a year.
Analysts say it’s yet another indication that the government’s overly-rich jobless benefits passed in March backfired, leading people to stay out of work and collect unemployment despite a record number of job openings and companies desperate to hire.
President Biden signed the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion “relief package” into law in March 11th. It included a $300 per week unemployment “bonus” on top of the states’ normal unemployment benefit. The bill will continue shelling out the bonuses all the way until September 6th.
Not a single Republican in the House or Senate voted for the package, saying it was too expensive and that the massive benefits would undermine an economy that had already been rapidly recovering under President Trump.
That appears to be exactly what has now happened. Many businesses say that they cannot hire enough workers to fill positions because of the government’s enhanced unemployment benefits program.
“Millions Are Unemployed. Why Can’t Companies Find Workers?” the Wall Street Journal asked in an article this week.
“There are more job openings in the U.S. this spring than before the pandemic hit in March 2020, and fewer people in the labor force, according to the Labor Department,” The Wall Street Journal said this week. The article points out that fewer unemployed people say they feel “financial pressure” to go back to work—35% compared with 51% when the same question was asked three years ago.
It has gotten so bad that two states, South Carolina and Montana, have canceled their participation in the federal government’s unemployment bonus program entirely.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) said the supplemental federal payments, combined with state benefits, were larger than many workers' previous paychecks.
“What was intended to be a short-term financial assistance for the vulnerable and displaced during the height of the pandemic has turned into a dangerous federal entitlement, incentivizing and paying workers to stay at home rather than encouraging them to return to the workplace,” Gov. McMaster said.
Montana even began offering workers a $1,200 “return-to-work” bonus.
“Incentives matter, and the vast expansion of federal unemployment benefits is now doing more harm than good. We need to incentivize Montanans to reenter the workforce,” Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) said in announcing an end to unemployment bonuses and replacement with a $1,200 bonus for unemployed people who return to work.
Boost Pope
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What makes you think I was being sarcastic?
The parable of the two children and the ice cream cone is essentially factual. Performing this experiment in the real world will produce the results described.
And this same phenomenon is also at work, at a much larger scale, in a socio-economic sense. It accurately describes the mechanism by which some people consider it "bad" or "unfair" for other people to have more money than they do, despite the fact that the existence of rich people does not adversely affect the lives or well being of the non-rich.
The parable of the two children and the ice cream cone is essentially factual. Performing this experiment in the real world will produce the results described.
And this same phenomenon is also at work, at a much larger scale, in a socio-economic sense. It accurately describes the mechanism by which some people consider it "bad" or "unfair" for other people to have more money than they do, despite the fact that the existence of rich people does not adversely affect the lives or well being of the non-rich.
Boost Pope
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If anything, I think you just summarized the limitations of the #interwebz. We can either say everything SUPER clearly with all the stated assumptions clarified and make all responses an 8 paragraph minimum, or... we just do what we've been doing, and respond, and though we make assumptions, the ones we don't make is that people on this board are either evil or IQ <40 or both . But at the same time...where's the fun in that.
Boost Pope
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If anything, I think you just summarized the limitations of the #interwebz. We can either say everything SUPER clearly with all the stated assumptions clarified and make all responses an 8 paragraph minimum, or... we just do what we've been doing, and respond, and though we make assumptions, the ones we don't make is that people on this board are either evil or IQ <40 or both . But at the same time...where's the fun in that.
Boost Pope
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The Republican party seems to be voluntarily self-destructing, by continuing to ally itself with a former president who, fairly or unfairly, is one of the most reviled figures in the whole history of American politics.
"I lack the imagination and the willpower to break away. It's just easier to fall into lockstep with the group." - Graham, essentially
I'm starting to actually kind of semi-believe* some of the conspiracy theories which posit that Trump deliberately planted himself into the GOP, with the assistance of far-left supporters, in order to erode the party from within.
* = not really, but also not entirely not really.
"I lack the imagination and the willpower to break away. It's just easier to fall into lockstep with the group." - Graham, essentially
I'm starting to actually kind of semi-believe* some of the conspiracy theories which posit that Trump deliberately planted himself into the GOP, with the assistance of far-left supporters, in order to erode the party from within.
* = not really, but also not entirely not really.
Boost Pope
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There was a lot of data in that article. Any specific part of you you believe to be bullshit?
The part where people with the most extreme loyalty to a certain party also tend to have the most distorted perspective about the beliefs of those who they consider to be "the opposing party?"
The part where people with the most extreme loyalty to a certain party also tend to have the most distorted perspective about the beliefs of those who they consider to be "the opposing party?"