First it is wrong. Second even if it was true how does it make it any better?
![Doh! :doh:](./images/smilies/eusa/doh.gif)
Moderators: LawBeefaroni, $iljanus
Yeah, the figure of the crazy older relative buying conspiracy theories is older than social media. (Remember chain emails?)El Guapo wrote: ↑Wed Jan 09, 2019 6:06 pmYeah, I had the same reaction. Now I would think that the userbase of Facebook would skew slightly young, but other than that, who doesn't think that old people believe some crazy shit when they see it online?LordMortis wrote: ↑Wed Jan 09, 2019 6:04 pm Who were under the impression young people were the great disseminators of non sourced material and propaganda? Maybe youth not sourcing information is a myth held by old people? Young people will stop everything to look shit up on their phone. That would have been my mom's dream when I was a child when her answer to everything was "look it up".
[FDA] has suspended all routine inspections of domestic food-processing facilities, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in an interview. He is working on a plan to bring inspectors back as early as next week to inspect facilities considered high-risk because they handle sensitive items such as seafood, soft cheese and vegetables, or have a history of problems.
The nine House members representing border districts from California to Texas voted in favor of reopening the government without additional money for the wall.
Uhhhh, what?LordMortis wrote: ↑Wed Jan 09, 2019 7:30 pm I would think the FDA not working just because they aren't being funded is an prime example of the left scoring political points at the expense of the people and example of how if we just let the free market work we wouldn't have all of these problems with the governments refusal to do their jobs.
Yup. As a former Federal employee who has been through a couple of shutdowns, if you weren't on the "essential" list then you were barred from coming into work and there were penalties which could be imposed if you came in. Many people in the labs would rather have come in to work so it isn't a "left vs right" thing, at least in my neck of the woods which was the NIH.pr0ner wrote:Uhhhh, what?LordMortis wrote: ↑Wed Jan 09, 2019 7:30 pm I would think the FDA not working just because they aren't being funded is an prime example of the left scoring political points at the expense of the people and example of how if we just let the free market work we wouldn't have all of these problems with the governments refusal to do their jobs.
FYI, for a lot of federal employees, they couldn't do their jobs if they're furloughed due to lack of appropriations even if they wanted to, because such activities are illegal.
What about steel slats (aka moving goalposts)?YellowKing wrote: ↑Wed Jan 09, 2019 8:22 pm
As you might expect, this is blatantly false. The Democrats authorized fencing (not a wall) under the Obama administration. And they STILL support that same fencing - in fact, they openly support money for maintenance of the ~700 miles of fencing that exists. What they don't support is a stupid fucking concrete wall.
Exactly this.$iljanus wrote: ↑Wed Jan 09, 2019 8:32 pmYup. As a former Federal employee who has been through a couple of shutdowns, if you weren't on the "essential" list then you were barred from coming into work and there were penalties which could be imposed if you came in. Many people in the labs would rather have come in to work so it isn't a "left vs right" thing, at least in my neck of the woods which was the NIH.pr0ner wrote:Uhhhh, what?LordMortis wrote: ↑Wed Jan 09, 2019 7:30 pm I would think the FDA not working just because they aren't being funded is an prime example of the left scoring political points at the expense of the people and example of how if we just let the free market work we wouldn't have all of these problems with the governments refusal to do their jobs.
FYI, for a lot of federal employees, they couldn't do their jobs if they're furloughed due to lack of appropriations even if they wanted to, because such activities are illegal.
You think it's just the Dems? When Trump castigated them for going home for the holidays, the elephants could have stayed, had a quorum, and pass whatever the hell they wanted. As mentioned in Ann internet meme, "they could have approved $100 trillion for a plutonium wall and nothing could have stopped them." More then you think consider this a folly and are content to let it founder.
Employees of the U.S. Coast Guard who are facing a long U.S. government shutdown just received a suggestion: To get by without pay, consider holding a garage sale, babysitting, dog-walking or serving as a “mystery shopper.”
The suggestions were part of a five-page tip sheet published by the Coast Guard Support Program, an employee-assistance arm of the service often known as CG SUPRT. It is designated to offer Coast Guard members help with mental-health issues or other concerns about their lives, including financial wellness.
“Bankruptcy is a last option,” the document said.
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The tip sheet, titled “Managing your finances during a furlough,” applies to the Coast Guard’s 8,500-person civilian workforce. About 6,400 of them are on indefinite furlough, while 2,100 are working without pay after being identified as essential workers, said Lt. Cmdr. Scott McBride, a service spokesman. They were last paid for the two-week period ended Dec. 22.
“While it may be uncomfortable to deal with the hard facts, it’s best to avoid the 'hide your head in the sand’ reaction,” the tip sheet said. “Stay in charge of the situation by getting a clear understanding of what’s happening.”
The Coast Guard removed the tip sheet from the support program’s website late Wednesday morning after The Washington Post inquired about it.
The suggestions do not “reflect the Coast Guard’s current efforts to support our workforce during this lapse in appropriations,” McBride said. “As such, this guidance has been removed.”
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Late last month, the Coast Guard announced it had found enough money to pay its service members one last time through the end of the year. The Trump administration took credit afterward, releasing a statement that said the president and some of his staff members had worked “round the clock” to address the issue.
As with your FDA comment:LordMortis wrote: ↑Thu Jan 10, 2019 11:34 am We should do something to increase border security if we aren't going to pay our Coast Guard.
We are so broken.
The partial government shutdown affects one branch of the United States military. It's the Coast Guard, which normally operates under the Department of Homeland Security. Forty-two thousand members of the Coast Guard are considered essential personnel so they must work.
They got a pay check December 31, but it's not clear when they can be paid again. They once answered to Admiral Thad Allen, who is a former commandant of the Coast Guard. He directed the response to Hurricane Katrina years ago, and he's in our studios. Admiral, welcome to the program.
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INSKEEP: Would you describe what duties they are fulfilling without pay right now? What are the ordinary daily operations of the Coast Guard?
ALLEN: Well, the Coast Guard is essentially the emergency services in the maritime environment for the country. There are people standing search-and-rescue watch over every inch of coastline in the United States right now. They are cutters patrolling off shore. There's drug interdiction operations going on. We have an icebreaker en route to Antarctica to break up McMurdo so they can resupply the South Pole. All that's continuing.
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INSKEEP: So let me understand this. If you're concerned about the flow of illegal drugs from Latin America into the United States, what you want to worry about is the Coast Guard?
ALLEN: It's quizzical, isn't it?
INSKEEP: (Laughter). What do you mean by quizzical?
ALLEN: It doesn't make sense.
INSKEEP: That they would not be paid in this situation?
ALLEN: Well, there are other government agencies. We have the Department of Agriculture, the Forest Service, National Park Service. Everybody's in the same condition right now, and we ought to be concerned about it.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly advocated for a steel slat design for his border wall, which he described as "absolutely critical to border security" in his Oval Office address to the nation Tuesday. But Department of Homeland Security testing of a steel slat prototype proved it could be cut through with a saw, according to a report by DHS.
A photo exclusively obtained by NBC News shows the results of the test after military and Border Patrol personnel were instructed to attempt to destroy the barriers with common tools.
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However, testing by DHS in late 2017 showed all eight prototypes, including the steel slats, were vulnerable to breaching, according to an internal February 2018 U.S. Customs and Border Protection report.
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Responding to the picture from the South Lawn of the White House on Thursday morning, Trump claimed "that’s a wall designed by previous administrations."
While it is true that previous administrations used this design, the prototype was built during his administration.
Also, is C4 a common tool? When I was in the Army I saw it all the time, but I have seen it less in recent years.A photo exclusively obtained by NBC News shows the results of the test after military and Border Patrol personnel were instructed to attempt to destroy the barriers with common tools.
Implying even higher maintenance costs.LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Thu Jan 10, 2019 12:23 pm What's sad is that he actually thinks an impenetrable wall is realistically possible.
Of course steel and concrete can be cut. So easy to get him off balance.
Feature, not a bug.The FBI Agents Association claims that the shutdown could impact agents' ability to pay their debts, and that could jeopardize their security clearances.
Yes, that is what we are doing.
Brilliant.