World is Falling Apart Thread (Locked forever)

[CRTGAMER]

Any discussion on the Mike Rowe interview? "Politics in this country divided by class"; towards the end of the interview, Mike Rowe's responses concerning job perception enlightening and so true.

Those "savings" haven't happened, yet, so they're theoretical only, much like Trump's tax plan which will likely incur massive debt.

Both Lockheed and Boeing have already committed to reducing the costs so obviously there already will be savings. Really, give Trump a chance. He is the next president and the entire nation should be pulling for good results while keeping the watchdog eye out.

You do realize that taxpayer money is then going to Boeing to pay their employees to design and build the plane, right? That's how government contracts work, and its one of the ways for the government to inject money into the economy (which they take out through taxes). So cutting the contract would have put a lot of jobs at risk.

Everyone knows if the Government is involved the price of the product is ALWAYS way over budget and way more costly then the consumer market. It is why I raise the flag on the free phones and Viagra (both already wrong) which thru Government Contracts costs Taxpayers so much more. Trump as a businessman thru simple Tweets is exposing the waste with solutions on the spot that the Government for many decades has ignored. Trump's tweet stating we do not need the new President planes at 4 billion caused a stir; look at how much Iran paid Boeing for a whole fleet of planes! Boeing stated they will reduce the cost; agree the money chop does affect the company. However, a workforce will still be needed to complete the design and build the plane; now the top end and whatever kickbacks to the swamp will be reduced. As to the Lockheed F-35, just the simple Tweet mention of switching the contract over to Boeing (creating jobs there) upgrading the Super Hornet caused an instant reaction to lower the cost. Competition always a good thing.

Trump should look into the link below, so much waste!

I found a website from one Congressman exposing some of the waste.

Wasteful Spending List - http://posey.house.gov/wasteful-spending/

[marurun]

That's not necessarily true. Not everything the government does is more expensive. There are some areas in which government can achieve efficiencies that private businesses cannot. Keep in mind that all these military projects are picked up by private contractors. They may be government contracts, but the work is being done by private companies so if there is any wasted money it's the private company doing the wasting.

And no, I don't give 3 shits about Mike Rowe. He's no social or political expert, so why should I? The whole class war thing is just an effort to turn those without education against those with. By doing that we ignore the horrible inequity of the top 1%

[MrPopo]

STOP QUOTING YOURSELF!

However, a workforce will still be needed to complete the design and build the plane; now the top end and whatever kickbacks to the swamp will be reduced.

I don't think you realize where reducing costs comes from. I'll give you a hint; it's not from the salaries of the people deciding costs need to be reduced. It's why I think the $15 minimum wage is a flawed solution to the problem of people not being able to live on their paychecks.

[jp1]

And no, I don't give 3 shits about Mike Rowe. He's no social or political expert, so why should I? The whole class war thing is just an effort to turn those without education against those with. By doing that we ignore the horrible inequity of the top 1%

I don't want to get into the political debate here again. I just want to say that I wouldn't dismiss Mike Rowe so quickly. While he may not be an "expert", I think his experiences and work with his foundation along with the contrast of all the undoubtedly white collar folks he deals with regularly give him a prospective the rest of us might benefit from listening to. Not to mention he has a degree and still promotes and even helps people attend trade schools, which is helping those who wouldn't otherwise prosper to get somewhere in life. It's hard to fault that.

Those skilled trade jobs are sitting there waiting for people and it would put a real dent in unemployment if more people were willing to consider them. Sure, that is a personal choice and it has little to do with the discussion at hand, but I believe he has peoples best interests at heart. I've never seen him try to pretend to be anything more than he is. The interview being led by Tucker Carlson is the only negative in my opinion.

[marurun]

That doesn't change that if there is a class war, it has been instigated at the very top to keep the other 99% busy with each other.

[Sarge]

Mike Rowe has some very good thoughts about the sorts of jobs he covers on his show. In many ways, we've set up college as the end-all, be-all, when there are people that aren't really suited for that environment. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that! Yet we as a society have taken to stigmatizing quite a few of those jobs. Hence we have "jobs Americans won't do" or "jobs that are beneath me". I would love to see trade schools make a comeback, in fields that we will need.

As regarding political or social "experts", who really is that? I'd argue that most of the talking heads we see in various media aren't much experts at all. Still, real-world experiences can certainly inform us; who among us hasn't gleaned some political or social insight from our own lives? So if a person is able to put forth a well-reasoned, well-formed argument for their view, I'm inclined to give them a listen.

Short version: I agree with jp1's post.

[jp1]

That doesn't change that if there is a class war, it has been instigated at the very top to keep the other 99% busy with each other.

I'm not arguing that point. Just pointing out that Mike Rowe might be a little more qualified to speak about the topic at hand in the interview than you believe.

[marurun]

I think he's fine to talk about skilled professions and hard work, but not to the social and political implications of class conflict. Class conflict is how CRT framed it. So if I am to watch it for Mike's insights into class conflict, I don't care about that. That's not Mike Rowe's area of expertise.

[CRTGAMER]

I think he's fine to talk about skilled professions and hard work, but not to the social and political implications of class conflict. Class conflict is how CRT framed it. So if I am to watch it for Mike's insights into class conflict, I don't care about that. That's not Mike Rowe's area of expertise.

Sorry about the mislead, it was how the interview started. Mike Rowe offered up a very sensible retort well worth watching all the way thru before judging. Carlson as much as some despise him, has great interviews concerning the wrongs in society with different points of view. There are other interviews in that YouTube link worth a look too; pick a side and ponder on the deliberation.

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Foreign Policy
Trump was accused of jeopardizing China relations with the congratulatory phone Call from Taiwan. Now the U.S. is accused of orchestrating the UN resolution on Israel and then abstaining from voting putting Israel to the fire. So which move was more dangerous escalating tensions!? Both countries are tiny democracies compared to the surrounding countries of Communist and Moslem in each territory, yet the U.S. is turning the tide against Israel and Taiwan.

President Elect Trump - Supports Taiwan and Israel

President Obama - Ignores Taiwan and Israel

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/

The big loss for Israel in the United Nations will make it much harder to negotiate peace. Too bad, but we will get it done anyway! The United Nations has such great potential but right now it is just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time. So sad! We cannot continue to let Israel be treated with such total disdain and disrespect. They used to have a great friend in the U.S., but not anymore. The beginning of the end was the horrible Iran deal, and now this (U.N.)! Stay strong Israel, January 20th is fast approaching!

UN no longer useful?
Has the United Nations ended its usefulness? After pushing the vote on the Israel settlements and protest challenges of looking into the genocide in Syria, only then did the UN call for investigation of Syria. The UN priorities as a peacekeeper are screwed up; escalating tensions between Israel and Palestine while ignoring disastrous wars with thousands dying.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340 ... 58,00.html

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed Israel’s delegation to the UN to skip a UN General Assembly vote last Wednesday on a resolution draft calling to form a body that would investigate the Syrian civil war, apparently due to pressure from Russia.

After the UN Security Council passed a resolution condemning Israel's settlements, Netanyahu bemoaned that “half a million human beings are being slaughtered in Syria. Tens of thousands are being butchered in Sudan. The entire Middle East is going up in flames and the Obama administration and the Security Council choose to gang up on the only democracy in the Middle East – the State of Israel.”

http://www.businessinsider.com/krautham ... os-2016-12

KRAUTHAMMER: Trump should 'put his name on' UN headquarters and 'turn it into condos'



Conservative pundit Charles Krauthammer railed against the United Nations on Tuesday, saying President-elect Donald Trump should put his name on the organization's Manhattan headquarters and "turn it into condos." Krauthammer told Fox News host Bret Baier that the UN has "turned out to be a disaster," criticizing the recent Security Council resolution urging Israel to stop building settlements on occupied Palestinian land.

"This is very serious damage that cannot be undone because you can't change a Security Council resolution without the acquiescence of the Russians and the Chinese, and you're not gonna get it," Krauthammer said.

The nationally syndicated columnist then joined other conservatives in calling for the abolishment of the UN's Manhattan headquarters. "It is an organization that exacerbates tensions; it does not assuage them," Krauthammer said of the UN. "Any move to minimize our support for it, any move to get it out of the US — imagine if headquarters were in Zimbabwe, the amount of weight and coverage it would get would be zero." He continued: "I think it's good real estate in downtown New York City, and Trump ought to find a way to put his name on it and turn it into condos."

[marurun]

We aren't ignoring Israel at all. They had a former ambassador to Israel on NPR the other day and his assessment was that that vote (orchestrated by Egypt, actually) abstention was consistent with US Israel policy going back decades. The shift has been in Israel's politics and policies, not ours.