Automation and the Worker

SAFFIR the U.S. Navy's firefighting robot:
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I think the future of firefighting IS going to be robotic and that era may be approaching faster than many might think.

Perhaps that's why we've seen the dilution of standards in many Fire Departments over the years, accelerating over the last decade. Maybe it's being done to hasten the end of the human firefighter.

I hate to say it, as it sounds calloused, by I don't care very much about "future would-be firefighters" any more than I do, "future would-be ditch diggers," replaced by heavy equipment.

Old jobs (stage coach drivers, wagon wheel makers, buggy whip makers, etc.) are lost, but new ones (auto makers, electricians, train personnel, truck drivers, mechanics, etc.) are created.

I don't know what the workplace will look like in 20 years, but I think it'll be unrecognizable compared to today's.

New jobs will emerge and old ones will be eliminated.

The FDNY was dealt a massive blow on 9/11 and the city has seen the opportunity to transform the job...that is, the way the job is actually done.

The hero of the Notre Dame fire was a robot. Robots don't get hurt, they don't get sick, they don't need pensions and health insurance.

As the city's finances and those of most Municipalities become stressed, those massive savings will be impossible to pass up.

The workplace changes and workers MUST adapt. Those who made wagon wheels had to get into tire making, or auto assembly line work. As workers, we sell a commodity (labor), but we must tailor our skills to the job market, not the reverse.

Better to invest in robotic stocks; like COGNEX, NICE Ltd., Rockwell Automation and ROBO Global, rather than complain about the changing job market.

The LABORER/WORKER is an individual, a human being, but his/her LABOR is a commodity that we, as individuals sell on the job market.
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Hitler's Incompetence...

Hitler

The history here (https://www.newsweek.com/hitler-incompetent-lazy-nazi-gover…) is dubious, at best.

Hitler, "Alienating his allies?"

Italy WAS hopelessly incompetent Militarily and Japan was as aligned with Hitler about as closely as Stalin was with the West...which is to say, not all that much.

Hitler's economic plan was Socialist. Economist George Reisman is right that "Nazism IS Socialism" (https://mises.org/…/why-nazism-was-socialism-and-why-social…). Hitler did try to make Socialism's Command (government-run) Economy work, first via slave labor, then by fusing elements of Corporatism, allowing a few favored conglomerates virtual monopoly status via government protections.

Adolph Hitler was increasingly drug addled and his health (both mental and physical) declined precipitously during the 40s.

That said, BOTH Stalin and Mao were both even more homicidal, with both killing far more civilians (with estimates as high as 50 & 100 million innocents killed respectively) and both were incompetent disasters both socially and economically, as well.

Mao murdered China's entire merchant class, right down to the small shop owners and Stalin fulfilled every D student's dream, by canning all the College professors and moving them into menial jobs, and replacing them with peasants.

Indeed, Hitler, Stalin and Mao were all grossly incompetent, but Socialism's Command Economy is so utterly unworkable as to make ANYONE look incompetent.

It's been reported that Paul Krugman, Robert Reich and a few other American "economists" advised Hugo Chavez....and look at how that's turned out.

Compare that to Milton Friedman's advising Augusto Pinochet in the 70s and resurrecting Chile's economy from Allende's ash heap, to "The Jewel of South America almost overnight.
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This António Moreira Antunes Cartoon Appeared in the NY Times
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According to the article, "The cartoon was labeled as being created by a Portuguese cartoonist, António Moreira Antunes, who works under the mononym 'Antonio' and has worked for the weekly newspaper Expresso for several decades, according to The Jerusalem Post. It was published originally in Expresso."

So, apparently some editor at the NY Times saw these cartoons and decided it'd be a good idea to re-publish them in the NY Times.

Very bad judgment.

The cartoons speak for themselves (https://www-jta-org.cdn.ampproject.org/…/nyt-acknowled…/amp…)

U.S. Navy Seal Vet Denied FDNY...Due to Age Discrimination...

Shaun Donovan

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There are many who've argued that the FDNY, or the City of New York should've given Navy Seals Special Operations Chief Shaun Donovan an exception around the age rule, which bars civilians over the age of 29 and Military Veterans over the age of 35 from taking the FDNY's Entrance Exam. (https://nypost.com/…/decorated-navy-seal-rejected-by-the-f…/)

I DO NOT.

In 2011, Congressional Medal of Honor winner, Dakota Meyer of the U.S. Marine Corps, declined an extension for his application, if others weren't afforded the same opportunity. (https://abcnews.go.com/…/medal-of-honor-winner-declines-fd…/)

In Shaun Donovan's case, he was born on September 11th, 1981 and was inspired to join the U.S. war against terrorism after the 9/11 attacks. He enlisted after graduating from college in 2005, and has since served four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, earning medals for valor.

He filed for and was allowed to take the October 5th, 2018 written Exam, but it turns out he missed the filing deadline by just under 7 months.

That age restriction should NOT exist.

The FDNY & NYPD age restrictions are antiquated policies that go back to a time when women and males under 5'6" weren't allowed to take the FDNY Exam.

ALL such restrictions violate the intent, if not the letter, of our existing non discrimination laws.

Age is no more a barrier than sexual orientation, or gender. People are individuals and as individuals, some age well and remain fit throughout most of their lives and some become unfit at an early age.

These age limits are arbitrary, capricious and discriminatory. They shouldn't exist, despite the fact that on November 10th, 1986, the 99th Congress gave Police and Fire Departments an exception to the age discrimination bill.

Neither Dakota Meyer, nor Shaun Donovan, nor anyone else over these arbitrary age limits should need an extension - just leave basic cognitive (written) and physical standards in place, provide outreach/recruitment and remedial training for all who'd want it, in order to help applicants meet those standards, male, female, every ethnicity, any age...let the best qualified candidates score the highest and have the city hire by rank order.

If a 45 year old is able to outperform most 25 year old's and is willing to take a position with a mandatory retirement age of 65 (which should also be challenged, as people are living longer, healthier lives), that should be left up to that individual, whether, or not to take that position.

There's no reason to turn down high quality applicants due to age.

Just as basic standards are vital and, in of themselves, discriminate against NO ONE, these exams should be open competitive - open to ALL regardless of age, gender, race, religion, etc.
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Chris Hasson's Ordeal

Chris Hasson

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Chris Hasson certainly seems to be a troubled man...drug abuse, some apparent mental/emotional health issues, but he (1) never joined any radical/hate groups, (2) never attacked, nor planned any attack that any investigators could prove.

Having guns IS NOT, in and of itself, a crime. He was never convicted of a violent crime, nor even treated, let alone institutionalized for any mental/emotional problems.

Hasson SHOULD'VE BEEN interdicted at work over his mental health issues and gotten the help he seems to need. Instead, the FBI sought to catch Hasson in a terror sting...then failed to make a case.

There seems to be something wrong with Chris Hasson (mentally/emotionally), but there also seems to be a LOT wrong with this rogue FBI - Strzok, Ohr, McCabe, Page, etc., seem to be just the tip of the Iceberg there.

While it's sad that Chris Hasson wasn't flagged at work, as it seems inconceivable that there weren't a lot of red flags there, given some of his apparent obsessions.

That said, the FBI has a very sordid history with such stings. "Comey expanded the practice instituted by his predecessor, Robert Mueller, to use undercover agents and informants to catch would-be attackers in sting operations. These stings never caught terrorists on the eve of their attack. Notably, the FBI twice investigated Omar Mateen, the Orlando nightclub shooter who killed 49 people and wounded 53 others while claiming allegiance to ISIS in a 911 call, but did not seem him a threat.

"At the same time, Comey’s FBI agents aided in the prosecution of Sami Osmakac, a Florida man caught in a sting operation, despite having called him in private conversations a “retarded fool." They also busted penniless, mentally ill homeless men who claimed to be associating with ISIS. In one of those cases, an informant even gave a homeless man $40 so he could purchase the machete and knives he needed for his supposed plot.

"To catch a lonely Michigan man, the FBI used two female informants to set up a honeypot, in which the FBI informants claimed to be in love with the target so as to manipulate him. The target, in turn, claimed to have an AK-47 and to have attempted to travel to Syria. But it turned out he was just saying all that "to impress the ladies." (https://static.theintercept.com/…/dont-lionize-james-comey-…)

Seriously, as much that is wrong with Chris Hasson, there seems to be even more wrong with that agency.
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Business Taxes Are Just Hidden Sales Taxes

Hong Kong Harbor

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ALL of the costs of doing business are passed on to us, as consumers, as prices. Those costs, as well as the cost of commodities, including labor, help set market prices.

That's true in banking, industry, small stores/businesses...even rental/residential real estate/properties.

The costs of housing (utilities, maintenance, property taxes, etc) ALL have to be paid by the consumer/renter...and they SHOULD BE.

THAT'S who rightfully pays those costs. There's no other way. The building is purchased and the cost or rent is computed above all the costs of owning and maintaining that building owner bought that property to make money (which is a noble goal), not as a charity. Who could afford that?

Now, governments CAN tax things so high that commerce all such ceases, BUT under no circumstances has government ever been able to run a business effectively, nor even provide adequate housing. NYC tried that, under the guise of "making slumlords pay." The result is today, the government of NYC is that city's biggest slumlord. NYCHA (the NYC Housing Authority) doesn't maintain its buildings, provide enough heat (https://nypost-com.cdn.ampproject.org/…/feds-city-cov…/amp/…) and NYCHA is the worst slumlord that city has ever seen.

NOTHING is ever "free." NOT food, housing, clothing, nor healthcare. We either pay for all those things via free enterprise, at market prices, or we pay even more when governments attempt to provide them through layers of bureaucracy and waste.

The United States hasn't had a free/open market since 1914. What we have today is a "rigged," or heavily regulated market.

Hong Kong, also has a highly regulated market, despite being the freest market in the world today

Hong Kong's Income (in Hong Kong Dollars/HKD) Tax rate:

1 to 40,000 HKD = 2%
40,001 – 80,000 HKD = 7%
80,001 – 120,000 HKD =12%
Above 120,000 HKD = 17%

Tax rate on capital gains = 0%
Tax rate on income earned overseas = 0%
Tax rate on dividends from a Hong Kong company = 0%

On businesses Hong Kong follows a single-tier tax system. That is, there is no dividend tax, nor any capital gains tax in Hong Kong, just a flare rate of 16.5% on all assessed profits.

Hong Kong has an attractive corporate tax climate highlighted by low tax rates. As a result, Hong Kong has one of the highest standards of living in the world.

The reason we have the economic issues we do is primarily due to the size, scope and ponderous cost of our government.
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Are Private Conversations Private?...NOT Always

Tyreek Hill
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Turns out the NFL has a new player scandal, this one involving Tyreek Hill, a receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Earlier Thursday evening, KCTV in Kansas City aired part of an 11-minute audio file in which Crystal Espinal (Hill's fiancee) tells Hill that when asked about an injury to the child's arm, the boy replied: "Daddy did it.''

"Hill denies any role in what happened to the child's arm, adding: "He says Daddy does a lot of things."

"Espinal then says, "A 3-year-old is not going to lie about what happened to his arm.''

"Daddy did it," Espinal says, paraphrasing the boy. "He is terrified of you."

"Hill responds, according to the recording: "You need to be terrified of me, too, b----."

"Later in the recording, Espinal says, "He kept saying 'Daddy punches me,' which you do when he starts crying. What do you do? You make him open up his arms, and you punch him in the chest. Then if he gets in trouble, you get the belt out.''

"The conversation was recorded as the couple walked through Dubai International Airport, according to KCTV. No date for the conversation was given.

"The portion of the recording played on KCTV on Thursday starts with Espinal saying, "We were getting into it, and he said, 'Daddy, you're mean.' So we walked up the stairs. You said, 'Come back down here,' and he didn't want to go down there. But I was like, 'Go down there because it will end up worse for you.' So he walked down there and then you were getting on his [deleted]. ... Then he started crying, and you were like, 'Shut up, shut up, stop crying. Shut up, shut up, stop crying.'"

"Hill replies, "Right.'' (http://www.espn.com/…/hill-barred-chiefs-activities-wake-au…)

My wife made an interesting point, "Who hasn't uttered angry, off color, regrettable things in private, especially at home." She considers recording such private statements for public consumption and personal gain, "the greatest violation of trust."

That was her response to the recent Tyreek Hill comments, as it was to when V. Stiviano surreptitiously recorded Donald Sterling.

The fact is that such private utterances aren't really protected.

Often such publicized private utterances hurt people, as with Alex Baldwin's released answering machine message to his daughter (used against him in divorce proceedings) and sometimes they don't, as in the case of former Clippers owner, Donald Sterling.

Except for the public embarrassment, Donald Sterling wasn't harmed at all by his regrettable comments to V. Stiviano, as Sterling had bought the then (1981) struggling San Diego Clippers for $12.5 million and when pressured to sell, the Sterling's sold the Clippers to Steve Balmer for $2 BILLION!

Good for the Sterling's. They did good business. Live and be well.

On top of all that, Donald Sterling's family sued his mistress, V. Stiviano and courts ruled that V. Stiviano had to return $2.6 million in gifts (a Condo, cars, etc) to the Sterling's.

As of now, Tyreek Hill has been suspended from all football activities with the Chiefs. It remains to be seen whether this ends his NFL career, or not. He seems to be a potentially dangerously unstable man.

While I agree with my wife about the recording and publicizing such utterances as a violation of trust, the law doesn't really protect such utterances as "privileged."
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