the random musings not worthy of new thread thread

[Munson]

The fact is, there aren't enough jobs that pay a living wage.  Outsourcing, automation, etc. have been steadily eliminating jobs that pay a decent, family supporting wage. 

The society/country has a very serious problem with this.  What do you do with millions of potential workers if you just don't have jobs for them that offer a dignified living. 

Toll booth operators, for example, fit this description perfectly.  Exceedingly simple, very low skill job that once upon a time hundreds of thousands of Americans held.  Unions kept the wages high enough so if you were a reliable person who didn't steal, showed up every day, etc., you could make a modest but respectable living.  With another full time worker in the house, you could afford to own your home.

Yeeah...those days are gone.  My children will wonder one day, did people really sit in booths all day long taking money from people by hand? 

Progress, I get it...but where do those people go now?  They can't all go get bachelor's degrees in computer science.  They can't all push on from that to get masters degrees. 

Where do all these people like toll booth collectors go when there literally aren't enough jobs for everyone to make an honest living?

We need to let supply and demand actually start to work.  Construction jobs should not be allowed to use illegal immigrants and every one of the employers that skirt the law, needs to be shut down or fined heavily.  People complain about jobs that americans won't do.  I disagree.  Americans would do it if the wages rose to a level that made it attractive.  My great grandfather was a bricklayer and made enough to support a family.  He actually built the house they lived in while they all lived in a garage....that he built.

This has actually already been proven true pretty recently. One of the bible belt states (I think Georgia) passed a pretty strict immigration law, and the farmers couldn't get anyone (ie white people) to come work their farms because all the immigrants fled the states.

[Sgt PSN]

Bad things are going to happen from time to time. This is inevitable.  Even though banks have fraud alerts, there are just too many customers out there for them all to be monitored equally.  There have been times that I used my cc for at a drive thru for lunch because I left my debit card at home and didn't have any cash on me and the bank immediately locked my acct. But I might use that same card 6 mo later on a high dollar purchase and the banks don't give it a 2nd look.

This goes back to what Eagaholic was saying about thieves making small purchases to test the card before using it on something big.  A $10 purchase gets more attention than, say a $300 purchase. This is why it's ultimately up to the individual to monitor their accounts and report anything they didn't purchase.

It's nice that banks offer fraud alerts, but they simply can't catch everything immediately unless you want them calling/texting you everytime you swipe your card.  My money, my responsibility.

[hbionic]

We need to let supply and demand actually start to work.  Construction jobs should not be allowed to use illegal immigrants and every one of the employers that skirt the law, needs to be shut down or fined heavily.  People complain about jobs that americans won't do.  I disagree.  Americans would do it if the wages rose to a level that made it attractive.  My great grandfather was a bricklayer and made enough to support a family.  He actually built the house they lived in while they all lived in a garage....that he built.

Yeah, because it is the millions and millions of construction jobs, restaurant positions, and cleaning positions that college graduates so eagerly yearn for. It's the immigrants stealing all of these jobs that they are much more qualified for than the American worker that is ruining this economy. Off with the heads of these companies who hire cheaper labor. Wait...don't multi-national corporations ship jobs overseas for the same reasons? That's not important.

farging illegal immigrants and their American Dreams...DAMN THEM ALL TO HELL!

[Eagaholic]

So after reading yous guys previous posts here I just called my cc banks to see if I can sign up to receive texts for any suspect activity. Both companies said they would get in touch per standard procedure if anything seems unusual but neither could say for sure how they would do that (text, call) or for what criteria. I think I want to buy and train a monitor monkey to check my transactions throughout the day, which would probably be more consistent than the banks. 

[Rome]

i got a call from my cc company last week because i went xmas shopping and made numerous transactions within an afternoon...and none of them was over a hundred dollars

What did you buy me?

Say an Eagles Pom Pom hat.  Say it!

[Seabiscuit36]

So after reading yous guys previous posts here I just called my cc banks to see if I can sign up to receive texts for any suspect activity. Both companies said they would get in touch per standard procedure if anything seems unusual but neither could say for sure how they would do that (text, call) or for what criteria. I think I want to buy and train a monitor monkey to check my transactions throughout the day, which would probably be more consistent than the banks. 

I can just say it all depends on the bank, but Texts are becoming more common.  Smaller banks have lesser abilities to adjust their authorization process.  Long story short, if its a visa or mastercard, you have fraud protection.  Obviously with debit cards, it sucks because its your funds, but they will be credited back, and if your bank is worth a damn, this would be spotted well before you notice a charge on your bill. 

[phillycrew]

I don't blame the immigrant.  I understand their desire for the american dream.  The companies are just using them to keep wages suppressed.  There is no reason why construction jobs shouldn't be blue collar good paying jobs.

[hbionic]

I don't think the answer simple.

First, I think we all need to let go of the idea that jobs should equal security. That's a luxury previous generations had. The problem starts with education. The system is set up to breed zombies that have little to no skills. The problem now is that the jobs for zombies are drying up and now we have millions of zombies that have no skills and no jobs. The only way to solve this problem is to innovate and create some kind of industry that will create jobs on the scale of millions. Space would be a nice industry...but we're talking about the middle/lower/uneducated/skill-less class. So...the only other answer is some kind of 'catastrophe' that will kill millions of these zombies off and then problem solved. From this catastrophe, the survivors will have employment rebuilding society, the economy will be preserved, and the wealthy stay at the controls.

Boom goes the dynamite.

[ice grillin you]

i got a call from my cc company last week because i went xmas shopping and made numerous transactions within an afternoon...and none of them was over a hundred dollars

What did you buy me?

Say an Eagles Pom Pom hat.  Say it!

[Rome]

Ha!

[Sgt PSN]

lol

[Eagaholic]

The company that manages a fleet of airplanes owned and leased by Google executives Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt improperly bought fuel from the government at below-market rates, for a savings of up to $5.3 million according to a report released by the NASA Inspector General on Wednesday.

The 10-page report said the discounted fuel purchases were the result of a "misunderstanding" between a Defense Department fuel provider and the NASA Ames Research Center, which manages the California airfield where a Boeing 767, a military-type Alpha Jet and several other aircraft are stored.

Boeing 767 and a military type Alpha jet sure, but notice how they didn't mention the Google AWACS, Drones and B-2 Stealth bombers?

[PhillyPhreak54]

Wanna be creeped out? Read and watch this. This chick is possessed.

http://vigilantcitizen.com/vigilantreport/mysterious-case-elisa-lam/

[hbionic]

At 2:20 you see her begging, and then she gives up and walks away.

Read the comments...but the ritualistic murder sounds more of a viable explanation.

[PhillyPhreak54]

That's a legit creepy video knowing what happened to her after the fact.

I don't get bothered by stuff normally but that one gave me the goosebumps.