I honestly questioned the legality of indirectly taking the stimulus money we got while laying other people off, but then I realized any bill fast tracked through Congress by a bunch of wealthy politicians who hate each other would have to be something that they all agree on, and the only thing they can agree on is lining their pockets by picking ours - they just have different ideas of how to do it.
TL;DR we all bent over and took it, though the CEO left the door open to extend the pay decrease, and there’s talk of a strike if it comes to that.
That is an excellent and I would say appropriate option to exercise.
I’ve always been a bit ambivalent toward unions, but if they’re willing to do that now, with one representing you, what would they do if you were without?
We’re in a pretty old trade, unions were dissolved, but there aren’t enough people still doing what we do to pick up the work if our plant all walked out. 100%, they’d be fucked without us. But again, this is all just musing. We’ll see what happens.
[quote=“mr.v3lv3t, post:585, topic:265682, full:true”]
The senior leadership group have all taken pretty substantial pay cuts, while leaving the salaries of the grunts untouched which is cool. [/quote]
That’s good leadership. Just had first quarter call of a public company where I am on the board and chair the compensation committee.
The board is way underpaid when looking at our peer group (like 50% too low), but we’re looking at austerity moves in the company – hiring freeze, across-the-board pay cuts, that kind of thing – due to macro market forces that have absolutely nothing to do with how the company performed on a micro level – which is fucking awesome. We’re making money (not a lot, but making money) when everyone else has losses in this particular industry.
So we just took the same pay cut that the rank-and-file get and are now really underpaid. It’s peanuts to the Company budget – like $2,000,000 in an annual budget of several billion in CapEx. – but would be just piss poor example, below market pay or no, to not take a cut.
Wall street* completely ignores this kind of thing (as it is meaningless to the budget), but the guys turning the wrenches sure get it.
excepting one major, long term, stockholding fund that sent me a handwritten letter. Its founder was a Marine grunt.
A fairly prominent local business is blaming COVID-19 for their pre-pandemic failures in a public social media post announcing their closure. I’m not going to name names because it is all hearsay, but I have a good source that their closure was happening before the pandemic. Only because of the pandemic did it turn into a “shut down”, presumably to take advantage of whatever they could.
I’m not sure if it is to try and get some tax money somehow or just stir up public sympathy, but this pisses me off if it’s true.
This, from a close friend, is freaking me right out.
I just couldn’t (can’t) concentrate on anything. I’m so worried about [her friend’s] son. It doesn’t look good. And they think they’re going to be able to go see him tomorrow, which makes me really worry that they (medical people) feel like he’s not going to make it. He’s on kidney dialysis as well as the ECMO and the vent. I just can’t imagine. I’ve been shaking all day. [Husband] and I can’t even talk about it without choking up. [Kid’s father] and [mother] are SO SO dear to us. She is frightened out of her mind, naturally. [Kid] is a beautiful strapping 16 year old…the picture of health until he got the virus.
I just can’t even imagine. This kid isn’t someone I know, but the impact on my friend has had a strong impact on me. It’s terrifying!
I’m tired of spending my days telling people everything will be fine when I’m not at all sure it will. For most of us, sure. But if you’re the parent who loses a beautiful, strapping 16-year old, nothing will ever be fine again. If you’re the close-to-retirement-aged person who loses his job and sees his savings disappear, you’re not going to be fine.
If it happens to you, the odds of these terrible, unbearable things happening is 100%. I don’t like those odds.
One of my most liberal friends low-key messaged me last night to ask my opinion on an AR-15 vs AK-47 for a practical carbine for a new shooter. This is a close friend who knew I was into guns and previously expressed profound shock at my modest firearm collection.
I was happy to do so. Maybe a little too happy. I gave the best guidance I could for the situation described to me.
It seems a pandemic and looming uncertainty can dramatically change someone’s opinion on an inanimate object. I’m not sure why my advice was sought instead of just following Joe Biden’s advice to get a double-barrel shotgun and blast a round off into the distance when you feel scared, but I’m flattered to have my opinion valued.
I have freinds who are stocking up on ammo - I mean, like pallets of ammo for thier rifles, ARs, and pistols.
Their logic is that if the government comes for their rights, they are going to shoo their way out.
but my question to them is how many magazines do they have, because in all the movies I’ve seen, if you are in a shootout with the authorities, you probably wont have time to re-fill your mags.
To such people I recommend: (1) a pump shot gun of their choosing (20 gauge for women); (2) a .357 revolver (loaded with .38 for women); and (3) a Ruger 10/22 .22 caliber rifle, with about 10 banana mags.
These are all very easy to learn to use. Work for decades with minimal maintenance. Have cheap and plentiful ammo. And are suitable (if not ideal) for hunting. Certainly great for small game.
Having carried many a rifle and lugged a belt fed .308 across the mountains of Afghanistan, if I was in an end-of-the-world situation, I would probably pick the lowly Ruger 10/22 as my survival rifle, simply based on flexibility and the fact you can carry 2000 rounds of ammunition with ease in a backpack.
I suppose that depends on your perspective. On one level it is hoarding and guys like that are the reason I couldn’t shoot any .22 for a few years.
For practical purposes they’ve acquired a non-perishable asset that is unlikely to decrease in value. I can’t speak to the amount of rounds typically fired in a last-stand shootout of noble patriots vs government thugs (or worse, UN Troops). I’d say that depends on the size of your fortified compound and how many fellow freedom-fighters you are resisting with.
That’s always a go-to IMO. I’ve got the takedown model and it’s a great little gun.
As a matter of fact, said bleeding heart might be trying out a few semi-automatics later this afternoon with me. Discretion is a must, but not for the reasons I’m discrete about my firearms.
The Soviets haven’t used the AK-47 for decades. They currently use the AK-74 (or, rather, updated versions). (For trivia the “47” refers to 1947, the year of invention. The AK-74 was the Soviet response to the M-16 and uses a similar round and is from 1974.) I have about 100 tuna cans of their 5.45 tungsten core ammo that rips through a NATO vest.) The 74 is a vastly improved weapon over the 47.
For the record, if I we are talking Waco-style “last stand” and not “survival”, I’d go with an AR-10 with a long barrel.
