'We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases."
"A video recorded by Google shortly after the 2016 presidential election reveals an atmosphere of panic and dismay amongst the tech giant’s leadership, coupled with a determination to thwart both the Trump agenda and the broader populist movement emerging around the globe."
"An email chain among senior Google executives from the day after the 2016 presidential election reveals the company tried to influence the 2016 United States presidential election on behalf of one candidate, Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton."
And there is a good way to end this trap. As the economy does better and employers get more desperate for workers they will lower their standards and raise their wages. There are good reasons to do a credit or other checks. Banning them is not a good solution.
Ben
at September 13, 2018 12:26 PM
It's thanks to this crap attitude that Puerto Rico isn't the 51st state.
There are good reasons to do a credit or other checks. Banning them is not a good solution. ~ Ben at September 13, 2018 12:26 PM
When I worked in mortgage banking, I had to undergo a credit check, and a criminal background check.
I'm not in favor of governments banning pre-employment tests - background, credit, or literacy/numeracy. As you pointed out, when the economy is good and the best employees can go anywhere, the lower-rated ones will benefit too, as job open up and standards are lowered to attract available employees at the wages the company wants to pay.
If we want to avoid poverty traps, banning credit checks is not the way to do it. Teach high school age students what a credit score is and how to maintain a good one. I'm counseling a twenty-something client now who doesn't understand why an eviction for failure to pay rent is keeping him from getting a new apartment. He thinks the derog can just be wiped out with the wave of a hand.
If you ever doubted that Google hated you ~ Snoopy at September 13, 2018 3:37 AM
Ever since Yahoo Maps tried to kill me by sending me through the ghetto on a consulting job, I've never doubted that Silicon Valley hates me.
Conan the Grammarian
at September 13, 2018 2:51 PM
I wonder hoe much better the aid effort would have gone had the Trump admin told PR officials to fuck off trying to micro manage everything and let the federal aid workers alone to do their jobs
About the same Lujlp. Or at least that is my take on things. People really don't understand who does what in these situations. The US military is good for delivering supplies. Not necessarily for sourcing them but if you give them a pallet and say put it there they can do it. FEMA provides cash. They like to talk about all kinds of things they could be doing. But that isn't what they do and when they try they do it poorly. But after the disaster is done they provide cash for rebuilding. And that is it. People who expect more are nuts. Your local government takes care of local distribution as well as infrastructure repair.
Given how corrupt the PR government is there isn't much hope. After all there are still areas of the island that don't have power or roads. But in the end this is the government the people of PR chose. After all, free everything (assuming there is anything left after it's all been stolen or wasted).
Ben
at September 13, 2018 4:45 PM
The entities that do well with disaster recovery and aid are the ones with a financial incentive to do it well - Waffle House, Home Depot, Walmart, Tide, etc.
Waffle House prides itself on having it stores open 24/7/365. To do that, they need to know how to handle disasters. And they do. FEMA uses Waffle House as an index to determine where aid is needed most.
Once the roads are open, Walmart, Lowe's, and Home Depot have shown they can get supplies to hard hit areas quickly and efficiently. And people remember that, so the companies have an incentive to do it right time and time again.
Managers in those chains are authorized to start moving supplies to the warehouse closest to the area about to be hit long before FEMA has even started the coffee maker.
So, why doesn't FEMA simply do what those companies do?
"FEMA has to prioritize search and rescue, and moving equipment, moving people, moving medical supplies," said Jerry Hauer, a homeland security expert and ABC News consultant. "Wal-Mart just has to deliver supplies."
But there are lessons to be learned. Wal-Mart, for instance, requires its top managers to sit together while coordinating its disaster response.
"It's the person from operations sitting next to the person handling logistics," said Jason Jackson, the retailer's director of business continuity. "So when the first person says, 'I need ten trailers of water,' the next person says, 'I have it available,' and the third person says, 'I can get it there.'"
Still, there are lessons FEMA can learn from those private organizations with financial incentives to provide an actual service and not simply a bureaucratic mandate to look busy moving stuff around.
Conan the Grammarian
at September 13, 2018 6:36 PM
Another private entity helping with disaster relief and reaping a PR bonus for doing so, Anheuser-Busch is canning water.
I'm betting they won't leave it to rot on an airport runway.
Conan the Grammarian
at September 14, 2018 7:39 AM
"An email chain among senior Google executives from the day after the 2016 presidential election reveals the company tried to influence the 2016 United States presidential election on behalf of one candidate, Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton."
Please read that aloud, such that you recognize that every person or entity that makes a campaign contribution OR encourages someone to vote for their favorite does that.
To illustrate the difference, if any, you need to show what was clandestine or unique to the company; skewing search results would qualify.
Radwaste
at September 14, 2018 8:19 AM
"Still, there are lessons FEMA can learn from those private organizations ..."
I'm gonna just say no Conan. The real lesson is FEMA should be clear about what they do and just do that. There are a lot of very nice people at FEMA. They aren't necessarily the most skilled or capable. They are just nice. And they will promise to do all kinds of things that they don't know how to do and aren't capable of doing.
Examples? One FEMA representative promised millions of tarps during the recovery. Problem, FEMA doesn't have millions of tarps. So they tried to go buy some. Problem, no one else has millions of tarps lying around in a warehouse. By the time FEMA could get enough tarps manufactured it was already too late. Another representative promised to get power restored. But FEMA doesn't have linemen or power plant engineers. They flat don't do that. There are lots of other examples as well.
The problem isn't with what FEMA actually does, and does passably well. The problem is all the other things they promise to do and fail spectacularly at.
Ben
at September 14, 2018 9:26 AM
Ben, the lessons don't have to be how FEMA can do what private entities can do better. Sometimes the lesson is that private entities can and will do it better and should be incorporated into any relief planning of simply left alone to do it better.
Conan the Grammarian
at September 14, 2018 3:35 PM
I can accept that Conan. My experiences with FEMA people is like dealing with new social workers or evangelicals off on their first mission trip. They are awful nice. And they will promise you anything and everything. But they don't have the skills to deliver (not that anyone else does either). And the major complaints I hear about FEMA are complaints about things they promised to do that they never should have promised in the first place.
Essentially they don't have a failure of capability but a failure of public relations. A failure of communication, especially with their own people.
If you ever doubted that Google hated you -
"A video recorded by Google shortly after the 2016 presidential election reveals an atmosphere of panic and dismay amongst the tech giant’s leadership, coupled with a determination to thwart both the Trump agenda and the broader populist movement emerging around the globe."
https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2018/09/12/leaked-video-google-leaderships-dismayed-reaction-to-trump-election/
Snoopy at September 13, 2018 3:37 AM
Google may have broken the law -
"An email chain among senior Google executives from the day after the 2016 presidential election reveals the company tried to influence the 2016 United States presidential election on behalf of one candidate, Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton."
https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/09/10/silent-donation-corporate-emails-reveal-google-executives-efforts-to-swing-election-to-hillary-clinton-with-latino-outreach-campaign/
Snoopy at September 13, 2018 3:39 AM
Five women in hijabs brawl by the side of the road - with one even dropping a TODDLER - in footage filmed by shocked driver in Saudi Arabia
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6159911/Five-women-hijabs-brawl-road-Saudi-Arabia.html
Snoopy at September 13, 2018 4:35 AM
Nice work, if you can get it. Nor is it made by Nike. I wonder how much is actually going to the charity?
https://www.bizpacreview.com/2018/09/11/kaepernick-launches-his-own-shirts-without-nike-with-a-seriously-hefty-price-tag-673004
I R A Darth Aggie at September 13, 2018 6:35 AM
Are employers creating a poverty trap by doing pre-employment credit checks?
Conan the Grammarian at September 13, 2018 8:14 AM
I see you!
https://twitter.com/RobertMaguire_/status/1039540861875499008
Sixclaws at September 13, 2018 9:29 AM
"Are employers creating a poverty trap?"
Not for the employer.
And there is a good way to end this trap. As the economy does better and employers get more desperate for workers they will lower their standards and raise their wages. There are good reasons to do a credit or other checks. Banning them is not a good solution.
Ben at September 13, 2018 12:26 PM
It's thanks to this crap attitude that Puerto Rico isn't the 51st state.
https://twitter.com/DavidBegnaud/status/1039712520024588290
Sixclaws at September 13, 2018 12:35 PM
When I worked in mortgage banking, I had to undergo a credit check, and a criminal background check.
I'm not in favor of governments banning pre-employment tests - background, credit, or literacy/numeracy. As you pointed out, when the economy is good and the best employees can go anywhere, the lower-rated ones will benefit too, as job open up and standards are lowered to attract available employees at the wages the company wants to pay.
If we want to avoid poverty traps, banning credit checks is not the way to do it. Teach high school age students what a credit score is and how to maintain a good one. I'm counseling a twenty-something client now who doesn't understand why an eviction for failure to pay rent is keeping him from getting a new apartment. He thinks the derog can just be wiped out with the wave of a hand.
Ever since Yahoo Maps tried to kill me by sending me through the ghetto on a consulting job, I've never doubted that Silicon Valley hates me.
Conan the Grammarian at September 13, 2018 2:51 PM
I wonder hoe much better the aid effort would have gone had the Trump admin told PR officials to fuck off trying to micro manage everything and let the federal aid workers alone to do their jobs
lujlp at September 13, 2018 3:50 PM
About the same Lujlp. Or at least that is my take on things. People really don't understand who does what in these situations. The US military is good for delivering supplies. Not necessarily for sourcing them but if you give them a pallet and say put it there they can do it. FEMA provides cash. They like to talk about all kinds of things they could be doing. But that isn't what they do and when they try they do it poorly. But after the disaster is done they provide cash for rebuilding. And that is it. People who expect more are nuts. Your local government takes care of local distribution as well as infrastructure repair.
Given how corrupt the PR government is there isn't much hope. After all there are still areas of the island that don't have power or roads. But in the end this is the government the people of PR chose. After all, free everything (assuming there is anything left after it's all been stolen or wasted).
Ben at September 13, 2018 4:45 PM
The entities that do well with disaster recovery and aid are the ones with a financial incentive to do it well - Waffle House, Home Depot, Walmart, Tide, etc.
Waffle House prides itself on having it stores open 24/7/365. To do that, they need to know how to handle disasters. And they do. FEMA uses Waffle House as an index to determine where aid is needed most.
Once the roads are open, Walmart, Lowe's, and Home Depot have shown they can get supplies to hard hit areas quickly and efficiently. And people remember that, so the companies have an incentive to do it right time and time again.
Managers in those chains are authorized to start moving supplies to the warehouse closest to the area about to be hit long before FEMA has even started the coffee maker.
So, why doesn't FEMA simply do what those companies do?
Still, there are lessons FEMA can learn from those private organizations with financial incentives to provide an actual service and not simply a bureaucratic mandate to look busy moving stuff around.
Conan the Grammarian at September 13, 2018 6:36 PM
Another private entity helping with disaster relief and reaping a PR bonus for doing so, Anheuser-Busch is canning water.
https://www.southernliving.com/syndication/anheuser-busch-donating-300000-cans-water-hurricane-florence-victims?utm_term=9D23EF4A-B772-11E8-A7BD-6E910F4A2151&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=southernliving_southernliving&utm_source=facebook.com
I'm betting they won't leave it to rot on an airport runway.
Conan the Grammarian at September 14, 2018 7:39 AM
"An email chain among senior Google executives from the day after the 2016 presidential election reveals the company tried to influence the 2016 United States presidential election on behalf of one candidate, Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton."
Please read that aloud, such that you recognize that every person or entity that makes a campaign contribution OR encourages someone to vote for their favorite does that.
To illustrate the difference, if any, you need to show what was clandestine or unique to the company; skewing search results would qualify.
Radwaste at September 14, 2018 8:19 AM
"Still, there are lessons FEMA can learn from those private organizations ..."
I'm gonna just say no Conan. The real lesson is FEMA should be clear about what they do and just do that. There are a lot of very nice people at FEMA. They aren't necessarily the most skilled or capable. They are just nice. And they will promise to do all kinds of things that they don't know how to do and aren't capable of doing.
Examples? One FEMA representative promised millions of tarps during the recovery. Problem, FEMA doesn't have millions of tarps. So they tried to go buy some. Problem, no one else has millions of tarps lying around in a warehouse. By the time FEMA could get enough tarps manufactured it was already too late. Another representative promised to get power restored. But FEMA doesn't have linemen or power plant engineers. They flat don't do that. There are lots of other examples as well.
The problem isn't with what FEMA actually does, and does passably well. The problem is all the other things they promise to do and fail spectacularly at.
Ben at September 14, 2018 9:26 AM
Ben, the lessons don't have to be how FEMA can do what private entities can do better. Sometimes the lesson is that private entities can and will do it better and should be incorporated into any relief planning of simply left alone to do it better.
Conan the Grammarian at September 14, 2018 3:35 PM
I can accept that Conan. My experiences with FEMA people is like dealing with new social workers or evangelicals off on their first mission trip. They are awful nice. And they will promise you anything and everything. But they don't have the skills to deliver (not that anyone else does either). And the major complaints I hear about FEMA are complaints about things they promised to do that they never should have promised in the first place.
Essentially they don't have a failure of capability but a failure of public relations. A failure of communication, especially with their own people.
Ben at September 14, 2018 7:04 PM
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