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cr0y posted:It really feels like these past couple years that the guy running the simulator is just mashing all the disaster buttons to see how well we hold it all together. it mean its a shield volcano, those just ooze lava, like cool, but if you want a test you go to be one of those boomy boomy types.
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Nov 29, 2022 06:32
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PhazonLink posted:it mean its a shield volcano, those just ooze lava, like cool, but if you want a test you go to be one of those boomy boomy types. At least a really big boomy boomy one might buy us a couple years of stalling on global temperature increases.
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Nov 29, 2022 06:48
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My friend went on vacation to Florida a couple months back and it was cut short because of a hurricane. So he decided right after that to book another vacation and he's heading to Hawaii next week.
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Nov 29, 2022 07:48
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Automata 10 Pack posted:Any instability the left can act on the Democrats right now will only help the fascists come into power. and, historically speaking, the first thing the fascists will do is kill all the leftists. Well true, I agree with this, but we're rapidly approaching an event horizon of stupid in this country. We are consistently voting to keep the fascists out, not vote the good people in, and whether by chance or evolution or conspiracy, it's resulted in a party of fascist-adjacent enablers who only reject the absolute worst parts of the fascist ideology and never do anything to protect us from the fascists in the future. So we're stuck in a holding pattern of desperately trying to keep the worst of the worst out while doing nothing to protect ourselves in the future, while things continue to actively creep towards fascism anyway. I'm not advocating for accelerationism but at a certain point we have to admit to ourselves we're just hoping better politicians will arrive or we're holding the line until the revolution comes because the Democrats aren't going to reform themselves. "Focus on local politics" is good advice at any time but I don't think it's fundamentally going to fix the problem with the larger party. It's a political problem in need of a political solution.
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Nov 29, 2022 08:38
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the_steve posted:It won't matter, they'll be told that it's still better than what Republicans would do, Sadly, that's still true. Shooting Blanks posted:This. It's also not like the railroads can't afford it - they make money hand over fist. They're shooting themselves in the foot here, because eventually people will just quit. People need to be clear about this. The 4 major rail lines all are basically regional monopolies/duopolies and spend absolutely zero money on upkeep, improvements, or anything. They're already causing huge supply chain problems by how unbelievably lazy they've been on doing anything at all for decades.
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Nov 29, 2022 08:48
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Shooting Blanks posted:This. It's also not like the railroads can't afford it - they make money hand over fist. They're shooting themselves in the foot here, because eventually people will just quit. Yeah, but they've got the unions bent over by the original Congressional fuckery that Reagan based the ATC strikebusting on. Workers 'too important' to let strike, but not important enough to force the companies to pay decent wages and give reasonable benefits.
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Nov 29, 2022 10:15
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If workers quit I assume they'll just bring in prison labor
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Nov 29, 2022 13:17
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The Hawaii stuff lead to the best no-context headline I've seen in some time:
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Nov 29, 2022 13:49
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Crain posted:If the rail workers all decide that they'd rather do literally anything else and quit Biden will have to. Probably temporarily with some capacity from the military, no idea what it would be long term. Yeah this is my wondering on exactly how loving out of touch DC is on what's going on. The situation is: you let the workers strike and have a quick, clean bit of pain that can be quickly ended OR you let the entire industry atrophy and die away in a way that will cripple it for years if not decades. Those workers are just going to walk away. Congress might be able to force them not to quit but you can't force them to keep the job. A lot are going to walk if Congress does this, either eventually or just waiting for the back-pay to whatever deal Congress forces through is paid, and they're not likely to come back when the executives realize they need more than the three drunks that are left to run an entire railyard.
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Nov 29, 2022 14:10
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I really don't understand what Biden is doing at all. I could sort of understand if we had an election in 2 months or something, but he's not facing the voters for another 2 years so its not like he even has any political pressure right now. A temporary transportation disruption this winter is not going to send us off into a multi-year recession tailspin. There's no reason at all to do this, unless you don't think labor unions should ever strike if it inconveniences the public.
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Nov 29, 2022 14:18
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Mendrian posted:Honestly tearing the party apart with a strong third party that can steal votes is the only hope of dragging this party an inch to the left. It's not though. You could actually start playing as dirty as the establishment Democrats and Republicans and attempt to drag the party left more than an inch. Union and railway stuff has provided the left(or equivalents) opportunities in the past to do just that. A third party founded by the same people who fail to understand the rules of the game or refuse to engage in it because of morality would just get turbo-hosed by both of the existing parties even worse and end up a Green Party level joke at best. If saying nice things and begging people to vote for you doesn't work inside the Democratic Party it is unlikely to work outside of it - at least being part of their primaries gets you some sort of an soap box for your pitch. The problem is the pitch itself. DarkCrawler fucked around with this message at 14:38 on Nov 29, 2022 |
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Nov 29, 2022 14:35
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Not a Children posted:If workers quit I assume they'll just bring in prison labor From what I understand this is an option incompatible with not having lethal catastrophes like train derailments and collisions. They're not simple tasks you can throw people at without training.
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Nov 29, 2022 14:36
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Rigel posted:I really don't understand what Biden is doing at all. I could sort of understand if we had an election in 2 months or something, but he's not facing the voters for another 2 years so its not like he even has any political pressure right now. A temporary transportation disruption this winter is not going to send us off into a multi-year recession tailspin. There's no reason at all to do this, unless you don't think labor unions should ever strike if it inconveniences the public.
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Nov 29, 2022 14:40
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Rigel posted:I really don't understand what Biden is doing at all. I could sort of understand if we had an election in 2 months or something, but he's not facing the voters for another 2 years so its not like he even has any political pressure right now. A temporary transportation disruption this winter is not going to send us off into a multi-year recession tailspin. There's no reason at all to do this, unless you don't think labor unions should ever strike if it inconveniences the public. That last bit is really the crux of it except it's not really the public, it's Capital. Democrats might be willing to tinker around the edges of the system as technocrats are wont to do but they absolutely will not make a decision that explicitly places the needs of workers over owners. Like the seriously, the whole "I have pressed for legislation to give all workers guaranteed time off" bit is literally the labor version "All Lives Matter". How can any union member trust what Democrats say after this?
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Nov 29, 2022 14:47
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Rigel posted:I really don't understand what Biden is doing at all. I could sort of understand if we had an election in 2 months or something, but he's not facing the voters for another 2 years so its not like he even has any political pressure right now. A temporary transportation disruption this winter is not going to send us off into a multi-year recession tailspin. There's no reason at all to do this, unless you don't think labor unions should ever strike if it inconveniences the public. Fundraising is the political pressure, I assume. The rail companies have deeper pockets than the rail unions.
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Nov 29, 2022 14:49
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rscott posted:That last bit is really the crux of it except it's not really the public, it's Capital. Democrats might be willing to tinker around the edges of the system as technocrats are wont to do but they absolutely will not make a decision that explicitly places the needs of workers over owners. Unions should have stopped trusting democrats decades ago. That being said, not voting for democrats in general elections is still, by and large, voting against their and the country's interests. One of the many things they need to do is drive up engagement in local elections and democratic party primaries. Primaries and related intra-party politics are the only electoral opportunites to pull the party leftwards.
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Nov 29, 2022 14:52
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Jaxyon posted:Sadly, that's still true. That's becoming a thinner and thinner hair to split though. It's rapidly approaching the point where the difference is going to be negligible at best. Democrats are long overdue to actually DO things, instead of just tut-tutting about how the Red team is technically worse. Like Mendrian said, it's a holding pattern. Trying to hold back the tide and wishing someone would unfuck themselves and actually help instead of hanging up another "Heroes work here" poster. Rigel posted:I really don't understand what Biden is doing at all. I could sort of understand if we had an election in 2 months or something, but he's not facing the voters for another 2 years so its not like he even has any political pressure right now. A temporary transportation disruption this winter is not going to send us off into a multi-year recession tailspin. There's no reason at all to do this, unless you don't think labor unions should ever strike if it inconveniences the public. 1. Because Biden likes when the choo-choo makes choo-choo noises. and 2. Because Biden wants the Republicans to think he's cool and let him sit with them at the lunch table, and he figures if he does enough things they like, they'll finally stop calling him a filthy commiesocialist. Bel Shazar posted:Unions should have stopped trusting democrats decades ago. It's a catch-22. You can't trust the Democrats to do anything because they have absolutely zero incentive to do so, because you HAVE to vote for them anyways, so they will continue not to do anything because they're "owed" your vote by default.
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Nov 29, 2022 15:14
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the_steve posted:That's becoming a thinner and thinner hair to split though. It's rapidly approaching the point where the difference is going to be negligible at best. Nothing technical about it. People who vote Democrats are choosing the best of two options by any definition. That really is the greatest strength of the Democrats - "both sides "is bullshit. It doesn't make the other side cool and good but it is pointless to undervalue this motivation of the desperate by pretending that the differences are superficial. In the Culture War they are anything but. Establishment Democrats aren't above using the GOP threat in a way that appeals to their constituencies. Leftist Democrats should use it in a way that has historically appealed to the people who they need to get to the polls. DarkCrawler fucked around with this message at 15:24 on Nov 29, 2022 |
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Nov 29, 2022 15:21
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the_steve posted:It's a catch-22. I believe that is only the case because most people are disengaged from party politics. The path out of the dilemma is massive party engagement and community organization. I have very little faith that enough people are willing to follow that path, but it's how you break out of the catch-22.
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Nov 29, 2022 15:21
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ColdPie posted:The Hawaii stuff lead to the best no-context headline I've seen in some time: It's heading back below the Earth's crust? What a relief
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Nov 29, 2022 15:22
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Not a Children posted:If workers quit I assume they'll just bring in prison labor From several other people in r/railroading (a good sub!) This isn’t possible. Engineers are trained for very specific routes with specific loads for multiple weather conditions and weight. Bring in untrained prison labor and you are looking at a LOT of horrible accidents that would cause big time damage and death counts. It’s not possible and a wildcat strike should happen if congress tries to block the strike.
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Nov 29, 2022 15:26
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Bel Shazar posted:I believe that is only the case because most people are disengaged from party politics. The path out of the dilemma is massive party engagement and community organization. Has to be outside the party structure, and a large enough movement or group it can build parallel power. Organizing within the Democratic party is like showing up to the cop shop to plan a robbery. Only cops are allowed to do that. If you want to change the party you can’t put yourself at risk of being co-opted. Build power outside the party that is available for rent to them, in exchange for what you want. The party itself is where the change gets killed, so you have to exist outside of it and be large enough to sway it. Larger, more radical unions are necessary if you don’t want the party to be able to pull the brakes on any labor action they don’t like.
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Nov 29, 2022 15:33
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FlapYoJacks posted:From several other people in r/railroading (a good sub!) This isn’t possible. Engineers are trained for very specific routes with specific loads for multiple weather conditions and weight.
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Nov 29, 2022 15:33
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FlamingLiberal posted:I remember when John Deere tried to get their white collar office workers to work with large machinery during that strike last year and I think on day one there was already a major accident People were crashing so many trucks and forklifts it probably delayed more work that it fixed
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Nov 29, 2022 15:39
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Rigel posted:I really don't understand what Biden is doing at all. I could sort of understand if we had an election in 2 months or something, but he's not facing the voters for another 2 years so its not like he even has any political pressure right now. A temporary transportation disruption this winter is not going to send us off into a multi-year recession tailspin. There's no reason at all to do this, unless you don't think labor unions should ever strike if it inconveniences the public. Supply chains and industrial production still haven't completely recovered from the COVID disruptions from two and a half years ago, which is one of the big forces driving our current inflation issues. A transportation disruption in the weeks between Black Friday and Christmas would be a huge mess, especially when prices are already pretty bad and we're already teetering on the edge of a recession. A rail strike upending supply chains again would actually be pretty bad, and send prices soaring even further. Of course, ideally, the government would be putting pressure on the employers to make concessions rather than the workers. And it's kinda surprising that Biden isn't pushing for that, since he usually really is a big unions guy. But the decision is ultimately up to Congress, where the Dems have just 50 votes and probably can't use reconciliation for this. I kinda doubt all 50 senators would unanimously stand behind unions and tell industry to gently caress off in the first place, and there isn't really any time to play pressure games with them when the GOP takes the House in just over a month and may demand even more concessions from the workers.
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Nov 29, 2022 15:53
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If rail is a national security concern then perhaps the rail companies should be nationalized?
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Nov 29, 2022 15:58
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Failed Imagineer posted:It's heading back below the Earth's crust? What a relief It's heading towards Ohio. Bad for the lava, good for the rest of us.
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Nov 29, 2022 16:12
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FlapYoJacks posted:If rail is a national security concern then perhaps the rail companies should be nationalized? Of course! That would be the correct solution if they actually cared about human lives. Unfortunately, it's a whole lot easier to just force people to work under terrible conditions.
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Nov 29, 2022 16:15
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Yeah, this is where the forces of basic common sense run into capitalist ideology and don't stand a single chance. Crucial infrastructure is meaningless in the face of quarterly profits.
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Nov 29, 2022 16:37
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So here’s one thing that’ll happen if the rail strikes for any appreciable amount of time (let’s say two weeks): Basically every refrigerated container in transit in rail custody is going have a temperature excursion, probably a full thaw. Now this is already happening to some extent from the ongoing lack of labor and rail delays. It almost also certainly continues to get worse if they don’t strike.
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Nov 29, 2022 17:00
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the_steve posted:That's becoming a thinner and thinner hair to split though. It's rapidly approaching the point where the difference is going to be negligible at best. Not it's not a hair split yet, or even close, that's internet brain. Democrats are absolutely awful bought-and-sold pieces of poo poo, yet still significantly less awful than Republicans. It's a really lovely situation that ends up tailor made for apathy, but it's useless to exaggerate it.
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Nov 29, 2022 17:19
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Bar Ran Dun posted:So here’s one thing that’ll happen if the rail strikes for any appreciable amount of time (let’s say two weeks): CNN actually has an article talking about the implications of what will happen, where it touches on the food spoilage issue you’ve mentioned: https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/11/26/economy/railroad-strike-holidays-economic-impact/index.html The one thing this article reminded me of that I forgot about is that barge travel is still an issue due to low water levels
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Nov 29, 2022 17:20
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https://twitter.com/marcorubio/status/1597620780816531458 Biden getting outflanked by loving Rubio
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Nov 29, 2022 17:22
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achillesforever6 posted:https://twitter.com/marcorubio/status/1597620780816531458 He's playing rhetorical games here, on substance they are the same. He's trying to say that the union leaders are being unreasonable and forcing the poor uninformed workers into a strike thats not good for them, so congress needs to step in and let the workers have the reasonable (crappier) deal that they totally wanted, freeing them from their evil union overlords. How do we know that the workers approve the deal he votes to impose on them? Not with a union vote lol, he'll just bring up a few useful stooges on camera for their anecdotes and then just assert that this deal is totally what the workers want.
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Nov 29, 2022 17:28
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Rigel posted:He's playing rhetorical games here, on substance they are the same. He's trying to say that the union leaders are being unreasonable and forcing the poor uninformed workers into a strike thats not good for them, so congress needs to step in and let the workers have the reasonable (crappier) deal that they totally wanted, freeing them from their evil union overlords. If you gotta parse it this hard to a voter, you are losing the argument. Would be much simpler to support the workers IMO, and not leave a gap for this kind of rhetoric.
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Nov 29, 2022 17:30
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Biden is interested in looking like he's being tough on the workers while he screws them, while Rubio is interested in trying to look like he's compassionate while he screws them weird inversion of the typical arrangement, but the functional bits remain the same
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Nov 29, 2022 17:34
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I'm sure the guy who lies about everything, including the story of his parents fleeing from Castro, is totally going to support rail workers like he says.
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Nov 29, 2022 17:34
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Angry_Ed posted:I'm sure the guy who lies about everything, including the story of his parents fleeing from Castro, is totally going to support rail workers like he says. He’s definitely not, he always tweets this poo poo but won’t go on to actually make a bigger deal about it. That doesn’t change the fact that Biden is loving over workers and it creates this rhetorical gap that people can jump into. It’s a self-inflicted wound, and if you opened yourself up to attacks from clowns like Rubio like this you can’t really blame anyone but yourself. Biden hosed up here.
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Nov 29, 2022 17:40
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selec posted:He’s definitely not, he always tweets this poo poo but won’t go on to actually make a bigger deal about it.
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Nov 29, 2022 17:44
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achillesforever6 posted:He's also trying to break union solidarity by making workers think being in a union is useless if their union bosses are loving them over (granted union bosses do by and large suck and the rank & file should have more of a say) If the union is not allowed to strike to get paid sick days, when it has enough power and solidarity to actually maybe win the fight, do you have a union at all? If the union cannot be allowed to win, and the union leadership is seen as compromised to the point of being an obstacle to getting what the workers want by cooperating with corporate and government power to prevent a strike, what kind of union do you actually have? I trust the workers, and they’re getting screwed. Marco Rubio doesn’t have the power to break solidarity, but Joe Biden absolutely does and looks to intend to.
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Nov 29, 2022 17:52
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