All purpose news and politics thread part VII: News & Politics Total Landscaping

[shooshoomanjoe]

The last contract at my work was in 2019 and expires this year. Negotiations are under way. Anecdotal evidence, though, is generally not a good barometer to accurately measure, well.......anything, really!

Yes I know. Just want to meet one of these unicorns that received such a high raise.

[CaptainEurope]

In the middle of widely publicized college protests, President Biden continues to hide in his basement.

Just kidding. He went to one of those colleges today and delivered the commencement address at Morehouse.



He touched on the protests, as well as the situation in Gaza.

CNN was REALLY hoping for major protests during the speech. You could feel their disappointment when their on-the-ground reporter told them that all that happened as about half a dozen students sitting with their backs turned to Biden, out of about 500 in the audience.

[Catlady in training]

A LOOMING DISASTER AT THE ZAPORIZHZHIA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

"Ukrainians who stayed on to work at the plant say they did so under duress. Employees report that Russian occupiers coerced them into adopting Russian citizenship and signing contracts with Rosatom. According to a recent IAEA report, the plant has announced that workers still officially employed by Energoatom, Ukraine’s state nuclear company, are barred from the site. The workforce “now consists of former Energoatom employees who have adopted Russian citizenship and signed employment contracts with the Russian operating entity, as well as staff who have been sent to the ZNPP from the Russian Federation.”

On top of that, current and former employees of the ZNPP, some of whom escaped past enemy lines, have said that Russia brutalized the plant’s dwindling workforce, resorting to torture to keep workers in line.They also report that Russia is violating international law by using the plant as a military staging ground, further increasing the risks to the facility. This claim has been supported by satellite evidence.

From the start of the war, Energoatom has objected to the occupation of the ZNPP, and raised alarms about the dangers the plant faces. Recently, the IAEA has also issued warnings about the degrading state of the ZNPP and the continued potential for a meltdown. In February, it issued a bulletin warning that the plant’s last backup external power line had been disrupted, creating a “precarious” situation. Today, the IAEA’s director general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, met with President Vladimir Putin and Alexei Likhachev, the head of Rosatom, in a closed-door session to discuss his concerns about the plant. But the agency has thus far been ineffectual in compelling Russia to cooperate, and its authority does not extend to claims of human-rights abuses away from the plant, even when they involve employees.

The result is a crisis unprecedented in the history of nuclear power. A disaster at the facility would be most immediately harmful to the people living near it. But the ZNPP is located in the watershed of the Dnipro River, which flows through southern Ukraine and into the Black Sea. If a meltdown occurs at the ZNPP and affects the waterways, experts indicate that all of southern Ukraine might be at risk for contamination.

...

In their stories of working at the ZNPP after the Russian occupation began, several sources describe incidents of detentions, interrogations, and torture. Kostiantyn Chebaievskyi worked at the ZNPP until August 2022, when he says he was arrested at the end of his shift and imprisoned by Russians. Chebaievskyi says that he was accused of communicating with Ukrainian authorities and that interrogators beat him and tried to force him to make a false confession. Other people employed at the ZNPP at the time say that cells intended to hold four to six people were used to detain up to 20 prisoners without any food, save what their relatives were able to bring on visits.

Chebaievskyi says that one form of torture involved what his captors called “a phone call to Lenin.” According to Chebaievskyi, the men would clip one cable to his earlobe and another to his finger, and then interrogate him while they turned the crank on a modified field telephone that would deliver a shock. “Everything goes dark,” he said. “All that you see is white lighting.” Chebaievskyi said that the interrogators repeated the procedure over and over, demanding to know his supposed contact in Ukraine. He also reported that some prisoners were forced to give interviews for Russian television crews, reciting prewritten scripts that were complimentary toward Russia. Chebaievskyi was released after 18 days, and then managed to escape from the city.

Other ZNPP employees corroborate allegations of abuse and torture. Volodymyr Zhaivoronok is a 50-year-old former equipment operator who says he was imprisoned for 53 days, many of them in the same cell where Chebaievskyi ended up. Zhaivoronok says Russian personnel beat the prisoners, targeting their backs, necks, and shoulders. “One is bringing you into the room, and another six people come there,” Zhaivoronok told me and my colleagues at the Reckoning Project. “They come in with batons, pistols.” He recalled that the torture room was covered in blood, and prisoners were forced to clean it. Zhaivoronok said that during one of the sessions, his torturers shot him in the side with a rubber bullet.

...

ZNPP employees claimed in 2022 that their plant also became a shield [like Chernobyl]. They reported that they heard what they believed to be Russian mortar shells launched from within or near ZNPP territory, and also saw Russian military equipment in crucial locations of the plant, including turbine halls near reactors. This equipment included armored personnel carriers and trucks, tanks, anti-aircraft systems, and rocket launchers. These sources also stated that Russian soldiers—possibly hundreds of them—have been deployed to the plant, and have complete access to spaces designated for evacuation and sheltering. These claims were supported in a September 2023 report, commissioned by Greenpeace, that used satellite imagery to identify signs of military activity in the vicinity of the plant. An accident involving military equipment and ordnance could damage the systems needed to cool the reactors, and could lead to a leak of radioactive material.

The operation of Zaporizhzhia, like that of all nuclear-power plants, is subject to international law, and to regular inspections by the IAEA, a treaty organization that reports to the United Nations. Since the beginning of the occupation, the IAEA and its director general, Grossi, have made several visits to Ukraine and to the ZNPP in particular, and have offered ongoing assistance to the plant’s administrators. In May, Grossi told the UN Security Council that the situation at the ZNPP “continues to be extremely fragile and dangerous,” and noted that the plant did not have enough staff to maintain safety measures, even with the reactors shut down. Grossi added that there had been seven occasions since the occupation began when the plant lost off-site power and had to rely on diesel generators, “the last line of defence against a nuclear accident.” (The plant has since suffered another external power loss.) In that address, Grossi asked that Russia abide by certain principles in its operation of the plant, including refraining from using it for military weapon storage."

[Kirby101]

Yes I know. Just want to meet one of these unicorns that received such a high raise.

So you don't believe the Government statistics? Do you also think they are lying about the Unemployment rate and the decrease in inflation.
How about the DOW doubling under Biden? Is that a hoax as well.

I think we should just see what the 8 people who post on this thread get and consider that the answer to wages in America. Right?

[CaptainEurope]

Yes I know. Just want to meet one of these unicorns that received such a high raise.

Maybe on your next visit to the US, go to Detroit. I hear the Motown museum is fun. Plus, you could ask autoworkers about their raises.

Car companies with production facilities in the United States are bumping up pay for their non-union workers after the United Auto Workers (UAW) secured record wage hikes and benefits for union workers at the Detroit Three automakers.
The UAW labor deals with General Motors (GM.N) Ford Motor (F.N), and Stellantis (STLAM.MI), through 2028, include a 25% increase in base wages, including an immediate 11% hike, and will cumulatively raise the top wage by 33%, compounded with estimated cost-of-living adjustments to over $42 an hour.
The deal also eliminated wage tiers in factories and reduced the time it takes to reach top wage from eight years to three years.
After the win, the union released a video on social media, touting the "UAW Bump," urging non-union workers to join the UAW. It has shifted its focus towards foreign-owned and Tesla (TSLA.O)
auto plants.
President Joe Biden has backed the UAW in its quest to unionize other carmakers.

Reminder: Joe Biden actually joined the picket line. I could not see my supposed "Social Democrat" chancellor do that.

[Catlady in training]

First result on Google, take that as you will:

Difference between the inflation rate and growth of wages in the United States from March 2020 to March 2024

screenshot.jpg

[shooshoomanjoe]

So you don't believe the Government statistics? Do you also think they are lying about the Unemployment rate and the decrease in inflation.
How about the DOW doubling under Biden? Is that a hoax as well.

I think we should just see what the 8 people who post on this thread get and consider that the answer to wages in America. Right?

No I didn't. I see a lot of folks on social media stating their paycheck doesn't stretch as far as it used to. Outside of the great recession, I've never seen that before.

[skyvolt2000]

Corporate greed chiefly driving US inflation is a progressive myth that's not really backed up by economic figures. For example:

Most prices do go up yearly.
Generally around September.

In my case-my insurance goes up at the start of September.
Some like to jack up prices around February like Direct Tv.

Generally it's a SMALL amount. However we have seen case where it has gone up way too much and the shield being used is inflation.

The new HV/AC Unit system I just got would have cost me about $7K before Inflation. I lucked out and got it for 11K.


Stuff like AC units & cars have tripled the price since Covid. That is where folks are pointing out about companies being greedy.

Why do you think McDonalds is trying a $5 meal?
Because like others their prices have gotten to be the same as Chili's.

Oldtimer with cheese and fries and a drink is the same as a Whataburger or Quarterpounder with Cheese meal.
Heck it's CHEAPER in my city to go to Chili's and wait and get a bigger burger and fries.

Yet it's Biden's fault???

NO that is companies being greedy and its a matter of time before they have to lower prices because folks will stop paying them.

[skyvolt2000]

No I didn't. I see a lot of folks on social media stating their paycheck doesn't stretch as far as it used to. Outside of the great recession, I've never seen that before.

You must not talk to a lot of folks.

Folks have been saying that for years under various presidents.

Yet because so many HATE Biden and ESPECIALLY Harris and the entire Democrat party-they want to vent now.

Let Trump get back into office-he'll give them something to cry about. Louisiana folks are already learning that lesson now for "voting on the couch" and it hasn't been 6 months yet.

[CaptainEurope]

No I didn't. I see a lot of folks on social media stating their paycheck doesn't stretch as far as it used to. Outside of the great recession, I've never seen that before.

Oh god.

Social media is FULL of actors whose sole goal is to destabilize the west. Of course social media is full of people saying their wages did not go up BECAUSE THEY ARE IN EFFING RUSSIA AREN'T THEY SHOOSHOO

[WestPhillyPunisher]

No I didn't. I see a lot of folks on social media stating their paycheck doesn't stretch as far as it used to. Outside of the great recession, I've never seen that before.

You believe what people say on social media? ON SOCIAL MEDIA? Seriously?

[Deathstroke]

In my best (or worst) Casey Kasem impersonation: "And now, here's a song that's rocketing up the Top 40 charts:

https://x.com/i/status/1791982077489156322

My new leader for "Song of the Year".

[Tami]

Rescuers struggle to find helicopter carrying Iranian president

A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi crashed in foggy weather Sunday, according to state-run media, which said Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other officials were also on board. Their condition is not yet known, and the helicopter has not been found.

The helicopter was one of three traveling in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province as the president returned from a visit to Azerbaijan. At least 40 rescue teams were heading to the area, but crews struggled because of the mountainous terrain and poor visibility, according to state media. Video broadcast on state television showed rescue teams in vehicles and on foot in dense fog.

Raisi was elected president in 2021, widely seen as the choice of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, after a career in Iran’s judiciary. While in office he has overseen a tightening of morality laws, violent crackdowns on anti-government protests and Iran’s first direct attack on Israel.

[Mister Mets]

[CaptainEurope]

Rescuers struggle to find helicopter carrying Iranian president

Apparently they now know the exact location, but it is both night now and still extremely foggy.