3/08/2015

Thoughts On A Sunday

The weather has been warming up a bit over the past few days, but we're still below the average temps we usually see this time of year. However warmer weather is on the way later in the week. We juust hope it isn't too warm because if the snow and ice melt too quickly we'll be dealing with flooding and “ponding on area roadways” (one of Deb's 'favorite' weather report phrases).

Of course there's also Daylight Savings Time we have to deal with this weekend. Frankly, I don't know why they even bother any more. The justification for it really doesn't do it for me and it causes problems twice a year when we have to make the change to and from DST. That 'Standard' time is in force for a little over four months and 'Daylight Savings' in force for eight months seems ludicrous on the face of it.

Maybe it's time to do away with it.

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From what I've observed, this is no surprise to me.

It seems that American Millennials are “too proud” to compete.

One hesitates to look at the results of a test where America’s millennials competed against millennials around the world. After all, America’s millennials take severe offense if you dare suggest that they are chronic underachievers, even slackers. They have high self-esteem and do not care about how they compare with other people.

Apparently, American millennials are now too proud to compete. They might console themselves with their false pride, but that’s the only consolation they can draw from these tests. Compared to their cohorts around the world, America’s millennials come is last or near-last by just about every metric.

I haven't noticed this much in rural millennials, but urban and many suburban millennials have it in spades. Call it one of the outcomes of self-esteem based educations which didn't infect the more rural areas.

(H/T Maggie's Farm)

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Could automation be the death knell for labor unions? From what I've been observing, I'd have to say the answer is yes.

The labor unions have been worried about automation for decades, but it hasn't been until recently the cost and sophistication of automation has reached the point where more and more jobs traditionally done by union members can be done through automation for a fraction of the cost.

Even traditionally non-union jobs are being replaced by automation, partly due to artificially increased labor costs caused by local minimum wage laws that raised the price of labor to the point where automation costs less. We've certainly seen that in the fast food industry. As benefits costs continue to rise, I expect we'll see even more of this occurring.

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Apparently one city in Florida has decided it doesn't need any laws or the Constitution any more and can rule by decree.

The City of Lake Worth, Florida decided to attack a church requiring it to have a business license despite local ordinances saying the church was not required to do so.

Apparently [City Commissioner Andy] Amoroso doesn’t understand the concept that people don’t need his permission or the City’s permission to meet and worship. It’s that whole pesky First Amendment thing, you know.

Yeah, that whole freedom of speech and religion can be quite confusing to those in office, so it doesn't surprise me that rather than following the law it's far easier to just make up new ones on the fly.

That always works well.

(H/T Pirate's Cove)

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And here's yet another example of how the whole “freedom of speech” thingy in the US Constitution confuses people, this time at UC Irvine.

In this case a student association wants all flags, particularly the American flag, banned form an “inclusive place” on campus because they are “symbols of patriotism or weapons for nationalism.”

Personally I think these kids are idiots. Darleen Click has no problem with them doing that “as long as the “students” forgo all American taxpayer money …” Yeah, that would work for me as well, but we know these same students would then scream about how we're “oppressing them” because we won't fund their anti-American indoctrination.

What a bunch of hypocrites.

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And that's the (abbreviated) news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where boats are still covered with snow, the ice on the lake is still three feet thick, and where spring is around 12 days away.