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Bojack

Certifiably Surly
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Everything posted by Bojack

  1. Aside from the long hours, hard work, and low pay being reasons why American citizens won't be rushing to fill those vacated construction jobs, there's also the fact that construction is skilled labor. I spent about 10 years working for a plumbing contractor as a supervisor. We did nothing but new apartments. We'd have subcontractor piece work crews of maybe 4 guys that would do all the top-out and water pipe on a job. They could do an entire 8 unit floor of top-out (the drainage system) with 2 or 3 bathrooms per unit in a day. That's all the time they got between the framers standing up walls and another crew of framers returning to lay out floor trusses for the floor above. This work included drilling all the holes for drains and vents, putting all the materials in the building, installation itself, plus things like nail plates and strapping. The same top-out crew would later fall back to the more finished units and do the water pipe as well. They were also required to test everything for us to get our city inspections. The crew you had made all the difference in the world. They were elite, highly skilled workers that would require years of training to even begin to replace. Almost none of them were here legally. We also had specialized tub setters, gas pipers, ground rough crews, fixture setters. My job was pretty much to make sure the sub crews that did the actual work had materials and everything else they needed and weren't burdened by distractions like repairs or dumbass jobsite politics. Other trades like framing, electrical, HVAC, roofing work the same way and all have their sub specialties. You will never replace people like this. To me, the idea that you can take someone with no previous training, bring them to a jobsite, point to a pipe-threader and a pile of materials and have them install a bunch of gas pipe is the most absurd, disconnected notion in all of this bullshit. I'm sure it's much the same in all sorts of work that often gets labeled as unskilled. These work forces are built over time and new people are integrated into them as necessary. You can't have abrupt absolute turnover without a complete halt to production even if you had legions of willing workers.
  2. This is true of Dotard and many other powerful people these days. To a great extent, they're just credulous dumbshit consumers of right wing media. For instance, when someone finally sat Trump down for a few minutes to go over healthcare policy, he comes away saying "nobody knew healthcare could be so complicated." He really had just bought into the talk radio mantra that everything that's wrong in this country is because the libruls and gubment are actively fucking things up and are all that stand in the way of a perfect plan that covers everybody and costs nothing. He found out that any reform is going to involve tradeoffs and won't be perfect for everybody. He hasn't thought about it since.
  3. I legitimately worry that we're soon going to have para-military death squads running around. For instance, I've dreaded the possibility that we'll have ethnic cleansing somewhere like Springfield, Ohio. Local law enforcement looks the other way. Springfield sheriff on social media: "If you support the Democrat Party I will not help you." I wonder if he'll support those Haitian immigrants or if Trump's new FBI will do anything to hinder right wing domestic terror. No bottom and remember that your worst expectations aren't anywhere near bad enough. We'll still be shocked.
  4. I probably wouldn't even know about the nazi salute if not for Surly. Mainstream media is barely covering it if at all that I've seen. When they do, it's like this from NY Times: "Elon Musk Ignites Online Speculation Over the Meaning of a Hand Gesture." CNN.com doesn't have a story about it on their front page. My phone's news feed has nothing of Elon nazi salute. I clicked on a Buzzfeed article: "14 Awkward Moments From Donald Trump's Inauguration." None of the 14 are the nazi salute. Several people in the comments wonder why it's not included. Everything points to more fucked than even the most cynical of us realized. Our press is either non-existent or complicit. Why the fuck does no one cover this shit? https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/20/us/politics/elon-musk-hand-gesture-speech.html
  5. I know there's no rock bottom. I know. I accepted that a while back. Still, I find myself surprised at just how fucked things have already gotten. None of you ledge dwellers can tell me you thought we'd ever have the richest person ever throwing up nazi salutes at a fucking presidential inauguration. Anybody even remember what used to be a scandal in this shithole country? Adjust your expectations downward further still because we are truly fucked. This unelected lunatic child is going to be in charge of slashing the social safety net as he gorges on public money to add to his hundred of billions fortune and he just twice threw up a nazi salute at the inauguration of the president of the fucking United States. Remember this shit? This idiot soccer player that got banned for life for throwing up a nazi salute? https://www.cnn.com/2013/03/18/sport/football/football-greece-katidis-nazi-salute/index.html
  6. You like jokes do ya? I got a joke for ya. Bunch of Surly posters all sittin' around in a labor camp, all wondering "how did we get here?"
  7. Hopefully those procedural protections provided defendants hold up but the point of the coming circus isn't necessarily to secure convictions or other penalties. It's for the spectacle of the investigations and Gym Jordan's hearings, to further muddy the waters and enable low information dipshits to say "derrr, they all a bunch of crooks" as Trump and the oligarchs practice unprecedented corruption in the open.
  8. I've so wanted to see him on this tour. I was still in high school when the Pixies split up originally. I saw Frank Black solo probably 8 times from '93 to '01. For most of those shows, it was strictly solo stuff. He finally started to play some Pixies songs in some of those sets. At last saw Pixies at ACL in'03 or whenever and have seen them several times since. In recent years, I've missed seeing the Frank Black solo stuff. I may yet do what I gotta do and make a trip to catch one of these dates. Doesn't look like they're adding anything else and it's not coming anywhere near Texas.
  9. For a long time, you could've said this about Jeffrey Epstein. You can still say it for every male associate of Epstein.
  10. Alex Jones also made a pivot to the right at some point because that's where the rubes are.
  11. Not only that but oldest Boomers are now almost 80. They're dying off plus in 4 years wouldn't hesitate to vote for someone that promises to save their Social Security and Medicare by raising the age to 70 or 72. Gen X is a small generation and will be outvoted by Gen Z dumbshits that get their news from Rogan and might very well be persuaded to cut old people programs further just as Gen X gets old enough to collect. In the near future, slashing or even eliminating SS and Medicare may no longer be the political third rail it's been our entire lives. Oh, well. Whatever. Never mind
  12. Elon said somewhere that we can expect things to get worse for a while before they start to build it back better. If they go through with even a fraction of what they're promising, it'll be catastrophic. If the process is "incomplete" and voters are angry, the oligarchs are not just going to be ok with being voted out of office in the midterms or in 2028. They're planning to come through those bad times way ahead of where they are now. Much richer and with permanent power.
  13. I think the Elon, Trump alliance is going to last as long as Dotard is president, unfortunately. All Elon has to do is flatter him publicly and help him get paid to the point that he's one of the richest people in history. In return Elon gets power, all the government money he wants, and the ability to pursue his stupid projects like colonizing Mars. Meet the new oligarchs.
  14. When Elon and Dotard have their economic overhaul only halfway done in 2026 or 2028, do they just go ahead and let us vote them the fuck out or do they postpone elections? That economic pain that's on the way, do they come out of it better or worse? Dotard is poised to become one of the richest people that ever lived. There will be nothing to restrain his personal enrichment. I had hoped to hear about JD Vance about as much as I hear about Tim Kaine in a few years, but that weirdo is about to become a permanent fixture in all of our lives as he implements project 2025. Fuck anybody who wanted it his way. I will hold it against you for the rest of my fucking life.
  15. Great insight! '68 worked out great for the Dems!
  16. Ah yes the classic Big 10 matchup of Iowa v UCLA. Do y'all have a trophy for that game yet? What's it called?
  17. Good news for you. You can go pretty much anywhere else and not be as fucked. Maybe Venezuela, Gaza, Argentina, South Sudan.
  18. No idea the best reaction for this.
  19. I know we're full of sucky people. I know it wasn't the most realistic hope but god damn, I want some respite from this shit. You newly minted leftists need to understand that the respite is as good as it ever gets. Your priorities whether it's universal healthcare, climate change, gun control, electoral college reform, or whatever is never going to happen. We play defense against fascistic lunacy. That's what we do on the left. Throw your priorities and dreams over there in that closet, dig in and play defense. Hope that Kamala walks on water with a 49-51 Senate and that the economy is in good shape come 2028 when we do this bullshit again. Kind of drunk.
  20. I hear you but I wanted a fucking mandate and an early night and to feel ok about the Senate. I wanted 330ish electoral votes and a clear repudiation of the fascist fuckface.
  21. I'm off topic and kind of drunk but I laughed so hard at Cameron Frye choosing Famous Blue Raincoat for karaoke. One of the most beautiful songs ever but such a bad song for karaoke.
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