Photos, vids, etc ....

[sear]

I've begun in the labor force at entry level several times. I prefer working for a paternalistic Fortune 500.

And while there are many job slots going unfilled for lack of employment applicants ... necessity is the mother of invention.
Thus self-checkout at supermarkets, robot (motorized) shopping cart retrievers to help supermarkets to keep shopping carts available to shoppers.

That's two examples of automation intervening to satisfy a labor short-fall.

I believe a milestone in automation will be reached when fast food chains use robots instead of humans to prepare and wrap food. Progress is being made there, but humans have not yet been fully displaced, as they have at telephone switchboards for example.

We had an American friend living in Norway. He said minimum wage there was the equivalent of $22 / hour. His cost of living example was the cost of a beer at a cafe'. I've forgotten. $6.50? $9?

In any case Artificial Intelligence, and human speech recognition technology is progressing. It's anyone's guess what society will do when robots / automation can do so many other jobs as yet confined to human labor, better than humans. Medical doctoring for example.
Reportedly IBM's "Watson", the computer that beat Ken Jennings at Jeopardy has since been employed to assist MD's to make difficult cancer diagnoses. We're just getting started.

"270 prominent scientists say within 40 years robots will be doing most of the jobs we do not want to do. Especially illegal robots from Mexico." Jay Leno

 

[Shiftless2]

Millions of Americans Have Lost Jobs in the Pandemic—And Robots and AI Are Replacing Them Faster Than Ever​

Millions of Americans Have Lost Jobs in the Pandemic — And Robots and AI Are Replacing Them Faster Than Ever

The drive to replace humans with machinery is accelerating as companies struggle to avoid workplace infections of COVID-19

time.com

=======================================================

It's been going on since long before the pandemic hit. This from 2017

Those jobs are gone forever. Let’s gear up for what’s next.​

Those jobs are gone forever. Let’s gear up for what’s next.

> “Generals always fight the last war.” — an old World War II saying Manufacturing jobs were a huge part of America’s post-World War II economic miracle. In the early 1980’s, 20 million Americans worked in factories, assembling consumer products like cars and appliances. Well, what happened...

www.freecodecamp.org

Manufacturing jobs were a huge part of America’s post-World War II economic miracle.

In the early 1980’s, 20 million Americans worked in factories, assembling consumer products like cars and appliances.

Well, what happened after that?

There are two narratives here. The shorter story arc is about globalization. American corporations moved all the old manufacturing jobs off-shore to relatively poor countries that still had OK education systems (like China).

This is the story that most people think of when they realize that, as of 2017, your average high school graduate can no longer own a home and raise a family on a single income.

But there’s a second narrative — one that arcs back centuries, to 1794 when Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin. This story’s plot is more complicated, and has quite a few twists that have yet to unfold. It goes something like this: technology keeps making individual workers much, much more productive than they ever were before.

And when one worker — with the help of a robot army — can do what used to require 100 workers… well, you don’t need 100 workers anymore. You just need one....

Those jobs are gone forever. Let’s gear up for what’s next.

> “Generals always fight the last war.” — an old World War II saying Manufacturing jobs were a huge part of America’s post-World War II economic miracle. In the early 1980’s, 20 million Americans worked in factories, assembling consumer products like cars and appliances. Well, what happened...

www.freecodecamp.org

The article goes on to point out that American manufacturing hasn't necessarily declined, In fact it has increased. What has declined is the number of workers required to produce those goods. And that's summed up in this graph

==============================================================================

And it's not just manufacturing and other jobs we think of as "labor". Thinking back to when my daughter was doing university tours to decide where she wanted to go, one of the schools we visited was the university I had attended as a Masters student. The main library is immense - it's four stories above ground and I honestly don't know how many below ground (I never had a need to go that deep into the place because the math department had it's own library so). In the day you had to find the a book you wanted and then go get it or you could place an order with a librarian and they'd get it for you - pick it up at the front desk the next morning. Now, you go on line, find the book you want, and then you can go immediately to the library and your book will be waiting (even if a student is living in the graduate residences which are less than a five minute walk away). The reason you can do this is simple - there are now robots in the library and those robots will retrieve the requested book from the stacks and deliver it to the front desk. You merely have to sign it out (and you do that by scanning your student card and the bar code inside the book). When you return the book it's scanned back in and replaced on the shelves by a robot. [I'm sure the rare book section doesn't work like this but I doubt you can remove anything from there in any case.]

The library still employs librarians but their role is primarily to answer questions, help students with research, and the like.

=================================================================

And it's not just happening in America (or the western world in general). This from the above article

Dongguan — a city near Hong Kong that’s basically the manufacturing capital of the world — recently launched their first automated factory.

The Changying Precision Technology Company manufactures parts for mobile phones. It has 60 robot arms that work on 10 production lines that run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Each production line has 3 human workers who monitor the robots.

Before these new robots arrived, the factory needed 650 human workers to be able to operate. Now it just needs 30.

Since this factory laid off 95% of its workers, and handed over the task of manufacturing to the machines, its defect rate has dropped by 400%, and its overall output has nearly tripled.

More production, fewer people.

BTW, those people moaning about wanting more manufacturing to return to America haven't thought it thru. If it does come back those jobs won't be the equivalent of the 650 jobs in that mobile phone company. They'll be equivalent of the 30 that are currently employed. And those jobs won't be accessible to someone whose education stops with high school.

You mention fast food - don't know about wrapping them yet but there are "burger machines" that can produce several hundred gourmet quality burgers in an hour. Far faster (and cheaper) than hiring even part time high school students to do the work. And again, the average high school graduate is not going to be employed servicing those machines.

One of the airports I regularly fly thru has replaced its old style restaurant with counters and the menus are now iPads - you simply enter your order and it's relayed to the cooks (yes there are two people running the grill, one person delivering the food and clearing the counter when you leave, and one other who roams around and helps anyone having difficulty ordering)

 

[Shiftless2]

Source: https://www.epi.org/publication/wag...cent-workers-benefit/?utm_source=sillychillly

 

[Shiftless2]

Things you should know ....

 

[sear]

S2 #282
I first encountered this issue as a child, the buggy whip. The automobile, aka "horseless carriage" was opposed for reasons including that it would put buggy whip manufacturing workers out of business.
The predictions were correct. BUT !!
The former buggy whip workers may have increased their income by switching to automobile repair.

Source: https://www.epi.org/publication/wag...cent-workers-benefit/?utm_source=sillychillly

I oppose salary inequity. I believe the salary should reflect the effort, the risk of the one that earns it.
Context, the labor market defines what is equitable. Thruppence haypenny might have been appropriate pay for a job done long before the Founding.
Adjust for inflation and that same job today might earn orders of magnitude larger $sum.
Both time and geography affect salary equity. The cost of living in mid-town Manhattan is quite high. In comparison the cost of living in rural Mississippi is a fraction of that, perhaps one tenth the cost. But a U.S. federal minimum wage would result in entry-level workers residing in mid-town Manhattan, and rural Mississippi being $paid the same.
Either a U.S. federal minimum wage would be inadequate for the worker residing in mid-town Manhattan, or it would be lavishly excessive in rural Mississippi. I oppose the federal standard for that reason.

We can agree on the equity objective. We may disagree on how best to implement it.

"crap ton" #284

Sierra Lima

"Horse girls win battles." mbm #284

Horse girls earn $80% of what their outnumbered male counterparts earn. And horse girls portray this as a victory. Is it any wonder I'm not gay?!

 

[Shiftless2]

 

[Shiftless2]

That[s consistent with what has been reported previously

'Trump Often Soiled His Pants on The Apprentice Show, Wore Diapers', Claims Comedian Noel Casler

#DiaperDon, #DiaperDonald are the top trending topics on Twitter.

www.ibtimes.sg

https://imgur.com/PPfyiM6

and Part 2

https://imgur.com/M5yZTkV

 

[sear]

Bob #287
That's fine Bob.
I don't mind that he's incontinent. My objection is that he's on OUR continent.

 

[Shiftless2]

She's a poet ....

Scots poem calling Trump a “tangerine gabshite walloper” wins an award​

Poke Staff. Updated February 2nd, 2017

A poetry competition in New Zealand has been won by a Scottish woman, with a magnificent set of verses about Donald Trump with lines like “tangerine gabshite walloper” and “his mooth wis pursed up like an arse, His Tangoed coupon glowin’ like a skelped backside.”

Here’s Lorna Wallace of Kilmarnock reading the award-winning poem.

Here’s the text, courtesy of the transcription by Stuff.

A Scot’s Lament fur her American Fellows (Oan their election of a tangerine gabshite walloper

America, aw whit ye dain?!
How could ye choose a clueless wain
Ti lead yir country? Who wid trust
A man sae vile?!
A racist, sexist eedjit
Wi a shite hairstyle?

Yet lo, ye votit (michty me!)
Ti hawn’ this walloper the key
Ti pow’r supreme, ti stert his hateful,
Cruel regime.
A cling ti hope that this is aw
Jist wan bad dream.

But naw, the nightmare has come true,
A curse upon rid, white an’ blue,
An’ those who cast oot Bernie
Must feel sitch regret
Fur thinkin’ Mrs. Clinton
Was a safer bet.

So noo we wait ti see unfold
Division an’ intolerance, cold;
A pois’nous bigotry untold
Since Hitler’s rule
As the free world’s hopes an’ dreams
Lie with this fool.

Alas, complainin’ wullnae change
The fact this diddy has free range
Ti ride roughshod ow’r human beings
That fall outside
The cretinous ideals borne of
His ugly pride.

Awch USA, we feel yir woes
An’ pour oor wee herts oot ti those
Who ken this oarange gabshite isnae
Who they chose,
But jist sit tight;
Trump’s cluelessness
Will time expose.

Fur sittin’ there beside Obama
Efter the election drama,
Trump looked like reality
Had finally hit:
Aboot the role of president
He knew Jack shit.

Poutin’, glaikit through this farce,
His mooth wis pursed up like an arse,
His Tangoed coupon glowin’ like
A skelped backside.
Despite all his bravado
Trump looked keen ti hide.

Let’s therefur no despair an’ greet,
Or see this outcome as defeat.
Let’s wait an’ watch this bampot
Flap his hawns an’ squirm
When presidential pressures
Crush him like a worm.

Hawd oan ti values you hold dear,
Don’t let this numpty bring yi fear,
His chants of hatred don’t speak fur
The human race.
Love will endure despite this
Oarange-faced disgrace.

So USA, in ma conclusion,
Know we Scots feel your confusion:
We are also chained ti those
Not of oor choosin’ .
Stand firm fur unity will break
Through Trump’s delusion.

Scots poem calling Trump a “tangerine gabshite walloper” wins an award

A poetry competition in New Zealand has been won by a Scottish woman, with a magnificent set of verses about Donald Trump with lines like “tangerine gabshite walloper” and “his mooth wis pursed up like an arse, His Tangoed coupon glowin’ like a skelped backside.” Here’s Lorna Wallace of...

www.thepoke.co.uk

 

[Shiftless2]

 

[Shiftless2]

Why read "The Handmaiden's Tale" when you could soon have the full user experience in Florida.

 

[sear]

- snicker -
If book banning was to be based on a books content, such as sex, perversion, murder, etc. shouldn't the Holy Bible be at the top of the list of books to be banned?

PS
Moses ! Bud - A !!
What ever happened to those other two tablets?

 

[Shiftless2]

If book banning was to be based on a books content, such as sex, perversion, murder, etc. shouldn't the Holy Bible be at the top of the list of books to be banned?

You can actually buy warning labels like this on Amazon

If you haven't seen it, someone has proposed banning the bible because of its content

Florida activist seeks to ban Bible from schools for being too ‘woke’

Activist argues the Bible covers topics such as slavery, abuse and racism, qualifying it to be banned

www.independent.co.uk

​

​

 

[Shiftless2]

And the difference is ....

 

[Shiftless2]

And the Nazi's are winning

 

[Shiftless2]

The IRS in action ....

 

[sear]

"Our Constitution is in actual operation; everything appears to promise that it will last; but in this world nothing is certain but death and taxes." Benjamin Franklin

The only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn't get worse every time Congress meets. - Will Rogers

"Everybody wants to go to Heaven, but nobody wants to die. ... People want the public services. We can't have the public services without some level of taxation." United States House of Representatives Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank

 

[sear]

China says balloon over US airspace is civilian airship​

Foreign ministry says alleged surveillance balloon is used mainly for weather monitoring and deviated from its planned course.

Handout photo from Chase Doak taken on February 1, 2023 and released on February 2 shows a suspected Chinese spy balloon in the sky over Billings, Montana [Chase Doak/AFP]
Published On 3 Feb 20233 Feb 2023

China’s foreign ministry has expressed regret over what it called a civilian balloon straying into United States airspace.
In a statement on Friday, the ministry said the balloon suspected by the US of conducting surveillance was a civilian “airship” used for research, mainly for meteorological purposes.

China says balloon over US airspace is civilian airship

Foreign ministry says alleged surveillance balloon is used mainly for weather monitoring, deviated from planned course.

www.aljazeera.com

"a civilian balloon straying into United States airspace"
Perhaps. But the instruments onboard would verify or refute that. Thus the puzzle about why the U.S. / Biden didn't shoot it down, not to destroy it, but to capture and examine it.

 

[Shiftless2]

Thus the puzzle about why the U.S. / Biden didn't shoot it down, not to destroy it, but to capture and examine it.

Apparently there are concerns re possible injury from falling debris

Chinese spy balloon could 'cause civilian injuries or deaths' or 'significant' damage if shot down, Pentagon says

The balloon is flying 60,000 feet above U.S. airspace. The Chinese government called it a “civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes.”

www.nbcnews.com

 

[Shiftless2]

True or not gotta love stories like this