I think the heterodox media is barely scratching the surface of the corruption that is actually present in “ScAmerica” today. To steal a term from Medicare, the “fraud, waste, and abuse” has become built into the system, and expands geometrically.
Let’s look at just one area of expanding costs in all government contracting since approximately 2008: affirmative action/DEI. When we hire government contractors not on the basis of merit and price, but on the basis of identity, we narrow the field of possible contractors — Supply has been constrained, while demand has been expanded…hmmmm what could that mean? Any economics majors here?
Another problem is the gross expansion of the administrative state, both inside the government and with the government’s funding of Activism, Inc™️ (aka non-profits and NGOs). This is billions (maybe even trillions) of dollars per year, much of it going to highly duplicative organizations with highly speculative “benefits”.
My spouses parents lived on the Gulf coast, and actually lost their home in Katrina (but that’s another story).
After one of the smaller hurricanes passed through, once the roads were passable, FEMA came around by truck to distribute food parcels. What did my in-laws get? A loaf of white bread, a jar of mayonnaise, a bag of potato chips, and two 2-liter bottles of soda pop. Sure, laugh all you want about it being “a perfect redneck picnic basket“, but seriously? This is what the government gives out in an emergency? It’s almost like they didn’t care…
I have been hearing today that the Biden admin (such as it is) has cancelled a grant to get Starlink up in NC. We can’t have Elon Musk on that ‘preferred vendors list’.
Because politicians are the government's lawmakers, and via NGOs and other lobbyist groups, the government can do things otherwise not allowed and can also respond to "grassroots movements" led by "community organisers" and thus appear to be a democracy (or a Republic with democratically elected officials I guess is more correct for the USA?).
Can we please fire 80% of federal employees like Elon did at Twitter? Most of these clowns are still “working” from home playing video games and walking their dogs.
Example: “In the first months of the coronavirus pandemic, a quarter of employees at the federal government's top health agency failed to even check their emails as they worked remotely, according to internal documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
An estimated 25 percent of Department of Health and Human Services employees neglected to log on to the agency's software suite, which includes their email, work files, video conference calls, and other applications needed to perform remote work, according to the internal documents.”
That was one of the first things Javier Milei did in Argentina, too. Government (and most corporations, too) these days is so bloated that they can barely function.
During the pandemic, our district administrator for the Social Security Administration had a 44 foot commute from his bed to his home office. That situation still largely exists. He doesn’t even have to walk his dog because he doesn’t have one.
Exactly. The Rainbow Hair People get groovy jobs at FEMA, etc, by reciting The Party Gospel and with zero qualifications. “It’s a big fkn club and you ain’t in it.” GC
"It's almost like it's all going to corruption and grift."
"corruption and grift" are how the government and politicians RECEIVE money, not how they spend it.
And yes, absolutely. The majority of the upper middle class yuppies who are the woke and the Dems who support calls for more government are not productive. They consume but do not produce anything real.
I worked with two gov't secretaries on an AFB. They were absolutely useless. Being a contractor, I did most of their work. Their boss, a truly awesome Colonel, loved it when his secretary called in sick. He got me instead and I worked my a$$ off - unlike his regular secretary.
I have a good friend who is a government employee. She has a strong work ethic and does her job very well. But she tells me all the time of how so many others around her are very non-productive and don't even seem
to grasp what it is they should know or how be able to figure out. And there are layers of redundancies that are just mind-boggling. Inertia reigns supreme.
I worked in 2 different county governments in AZ & I can vouch that everything said about lazy or unintelligent government employees is true. Everyone knows, if you’ve ever had to go to DMV or any other state or federal department.
Worst of all, it is damn near impossible to FIRE them even for legit reasons.
I guess when you say "handouts you're criticizing the $200 + billion to Ukraine and $541billion to our newcomers? This is all money well-spent, as Zelensky is fighting for freedom and the American way and the newcomers are bringing rich cultural enhancements to our society, which is much needed. You must be............ a Putin racist! I guess you want to take money from these necessary investments and give it to the people of NC, GA, SC, TN, and FL just because they got some wind and rain recently!
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation….
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness… it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
Our founding fathers laid it out simple and detailed. Many have written books that describe exactly what is happening but where is the game plan for us to alter or abolish it to institute new?
You might enjoy my satirical Neo-Loyalist version of the Declaration of DEPENDENCE. (Yes, there was such a thing -- signed about four months after the INdependence one.) Check it out here:
Given the legendary training efficiency of Federal agencies, I’m guessing there’ll be a significant rise in negligent discharges as more Armed Government Workers (H/T to Eric Peters) are carrying on a daily basis.
Remember the AGW who couldn’t re-holster her service weapon in Butler, PA? Coming soon to a FDA office near you…
My grandfather used to say that if there were no tax withholding and we were told to write a check to the government for taxes, there would be a revolt. I like the idea of getting back to our roots.
Wife and I are independent contractors so we get a tax bill at the end of the year. Every year it’s the same question: “What fucking services are we getting for all the taxes we pay?”
We are on the bottom side of upper-middle-class, so we qualify for zero federal programs.
Nice to know we’re subsidizing so many NGOs, bureaucrats, economic migrants, illiterate peasant migrants, and a huge number of Americans who just don’t want to work.
I just started school at a local community/tech college. It is surprisingly inexpensive, less than $6K a year. I don't know the exact cost. The Post 911 GI Bill covers it completely.
Couple of thoughts about this.
1. Because tuition is covered 100%, I didn't even check what it cost. Who cares? I don't. The only reason I really know is I am also applying for scholarships (Why not? I'm a student right?) and one of them required the annual tuition. I do not know the exact number, but it was under $6K.
2. Even at this very inexpensive school, the unnecessary staffing is INSANE! We had a student orientation last week, and I have never felt so coddled in my entire life. There are more 'services' than academics/trades--or so it seemed at orientation. Food pantry, mental health services, pronoun-friendly staff (everyone introduced themselves with their pronouns of course), a gym (no one uses) and meals and, and, and...
I could make the claim that 'I damn well earned' my GI Bill--but the truth is I am uncomfortable with its largesse. On top of paying all tuition and $1000 a year for books/supplies, I am paid BAH (basic allowance for housing) with is $2500/month while in class. Gulp. 😳 It is almost too much. Almost. (I haven't sent any of the money back...)
Interesting note I learned yesterday. We were discussing lumber/wood it all of its variations for carpentry. I had no idea 'engineered wood' like plywood, OSB, etc is actually stronger than genuine lumber. But, what was truly fascinating is (according to my instructor) the lumber we harvest is actually weaker than it was 100 years ago. When we clearcut an area, then re-seed it, the trees that grow do not need to 'fight for their existance' like previous trees/forests--all the trees are the same height--no real struggle--and the lumber is literally softer and weaker.
Couldn't help it, I said, "Chris (my instructor, not Mr Bray) it appears that our trees are exact mirrors of our culture. We are all skinny-fat and weak..."
Chris, "Yep."
We are so damn lazy and comfortable that we've influenced our lumber to mirror ourselves. INSANE.
$2 500/month for living expenses? You kidding? Our veterans don't get squat, not even if they come back as invalids from overseas duty (which is nowadays mandatory for all career military).
And they wonder why 85% of people summoned at conscription play "Get out of uniform"-cards. . .
By way of comparison, I get ca the eq. of $1 000 from the state as a "Fuck you, fuck you very much" for my 25+ years as teacher, and for all the other jobs I've had and paid 50% in total monthly income tax on.
About the wood: that's absolutely true and I can't understand why you still clear-cut over there. We stopped doing that in the 1960s for that very reason. Since then anything between 10%-30% of trees are left standing when cutting, and a certain percentage are left to die standing to provide for insects et cetera.
Am I happy we bought a house built in 1922, instead of a modern one! The wood it's made out of is from trees that started growing in the late 18th or early 19th century, so it's dense, hard and still flexible despite its age. The grain in the glazing spars (made from select bottom branches of old Norwegian spruce) is so dense you can barely see the year-rings.
Modern wood, I can almost toss away the powered screwdriver and use my fingers, I kid you not.
Why make one billion in profit by being responsible and care about Nature, when you can make a billion plus a hundred k by despoiling it, is the tune of capitalist forestry.
Only, Nature don't function according to models of economy.
US/Canadian forestry and logging ought to look at Albania, former Jugoslavia, Turkey and the eastern Mediterranean nations. In the days of Julius Cesar, there were still great forests there. They clear cut, again and again, ever since the days of Enkiddu, and look at the place now.
It is why I put in the embarrassed emoji. Pretty sure Congress & GWB Administration passed this legislation as blood money, to try and assuage their guilt for starting an unnecessary war. It is over the top, but I don't give it back so just as much of the problem as anyone else in our gloated, entitlement culture of Post-American Century.
I am unsure if clear cutting remains a practice, but it probably had some almost irreversible impacts to the health of our forests for sure.
Loosening the soil so it washes away, which necessitates dusting with fertilisers and pesticides since the clear-cut areas become breeding grounds for insects of all kinds, especially the ones who feed on trees.
And the fertiliser and pesticides wind up in the water table/aquifer/ground water, where it builds up year over year, being the "gift that keeps on giving" in all kinds of nasty ways.
That's one of the major reasons its banned over here - irreversible environmental destruction.
I know the feeling re: the embarrassed emoji. Felt that way when I was still working and was off on seminars and "skill enhancement courses" (read: publishing companies trying to sell their stuff to the school you represent) and such, sleeping in hotels, eating and drinking for free and earning full pay at the same time.
Did your instructor also tell you how highly flammable engineered wood is (because all of its strength is due to the chemical adhesives)?
Part of the reason “modern” wood is weaker is because it is cut when the wood is younger. And this is due to the fact that they expect most of it to be used in engineered wood. The drying techniques of today are also very different from 60 years ago which will have an effect.
I always wondered how much the increased use of engineered wood and the associated adhesives have contributed to increased cancer rates. But I don’t expect any honest scientific research to be done to find out.
Not a peep, but also probably outside of his lane as well. It's a trade class and that would probably not 'landed' with many of my classmates with the same degree of alarm it does with me. Been seeking out podcasts with Calley and Casey Means and their book "Good Energy". Both are in communication with RFK Jr about MAHA--in fact I think I heard RFK Jr say Casey Means MD might be head of FDA or NIH or some major government agency. All about the shit that is killing us in our food, our environment etc. They focus on food, but you're likely onto something with increased cancer from all those toxic glues/adhesives.
If I'm not mistaken, the government is building a new FBI headquarters in Greenbelt, MD at a price tag of $3.4 billion, paid over the next 10 years.
All of those school shooters and assassins that were "on their radar" weeks, months and even years before they committed their crimes weren't stopped because of the crumbling old J. Edgar Hoover building, you see. Can't concentrate on capturing homicidal maniacs when you're being hit in the head with falling plaster, I'm guessing.
You might find it interesting that the Bureau does not want that location but is being forced to accept it by GSA. They wanted space closer to their training academy but it appears the Green Belt area is in need of some urban renewal as the area is a shit hole.
The cynic in me says there were some influential people in Georgetown with inside info who bought up the Greenbelt land before the GSA "forced" the issue.
"We are very happy with the priorities and actions of the US government"
Globalists that own it and are directing all of its actions.
I am 1000X the examples needed to prove it is not of the people by the people for the people.
The explanation for the forest service: Why will you need wide open spaces after you have been herded into 15 minute cites?
There isn't any other explanation. The major barrier is to get over the unpleasant realization that such evil exist in the world and is powerful and are actively attacking you.
"Look around you. If you spend a lot of time on federal lands, camping or hunting or making meth — but don’t really do that last one — do you see more rangers, more visitor centers, more campgrounds, and more fire stations? What federal service is growing? What do you see more of? Spending rising from $2 trillion to $7 trillion now, with $8 trillion projected for the very near future — where do you see the growth?"
Maybe you should go to a park in Ukraine. I suspect it will be quite obvious.
I see the growth like a cancerous tumor at the border. That’s where our tax dollars are being stolen, by fucking NGO’s with names like “ heavenly savior of all”, which has nothing to do with the savior, and every thing to do with graft, and stealing of our hard earned money. Revolution. It’s past time. I will gladly shed my life, for the security and freedom of this nation.
Same in Canada, albeit on a smaller scale. Under Trudeau federal spending and the growth of the civil service has been, to quote Mel Brooks, accelerated into Ludicrous Speed. Canada's public sector is now outpacing that of the non-public sector economy. As someone of Argentinian background I've been calling it Canuck Peronism. I can *definitely* tell you how it ends: not. fucking. well.
I just recently read “The Big Burn” about the firestorm in the Pacific Northwest in 1910, where woefully underpaid and overworked forest rangers had to deal with horrific fires. You’d think our government would have learned something since then. Maybe if we weren’t sending billions to Ukraine?
It's almost like it's all going to corruption and grift.
It *does* make a little more sense of the fact that so many upper middle class yuppies have jobs where they don't actually seem to do anything.
I think the heterodox media is barely scratching the surface of the corruption that is actually present in “ScAmerica” today. To steal a term from Medicare, the “fraud, waste, and abuse” has become built into the system, and expands geometrically.
Let’s look at just one area of expanding costs in all government contracting since approximately 2008: affirmative action/DEI. When we hire government contractors not on the basis of merit and price, but on the basis of identity, we narrow the field of possible contractors — Supply has been constrained, while demand has been expanded…hmmmm what could that mean? Any economics majors here?
Another problem is the gross expansion of the administrative state, both inside the government and with the government’s funding of Activism, Inc™️ (aka non-profits and NGOs). This is billions (maybe even trillions) of dollars per year, much of it going to highly duplicative organizations with highly speculative “benefits”.
https://x.com/ryantyre/status/1841583311782568064
"Preferred vendors."
My spouses parents lived on the Gulf coast, and actually lost their home in Katrina (but that’s another story).
After one of the smaller hurricanes passed through, once the roads were passable, FEMA came around by truck to distribute food parcels. What did my in-laws get? A loaf of white bread, a jar of mayonnaise, a bag of potato chips, and two 2-liter bottles of soda pop. Sure, laugh all you want about it being “a perfect redneck picnic basket“, but seriously? This is what the government gives out in an emergency? It’s almost like they didn’t care…
No almost about it.
The bureaucratic mindset is poisonous to a well-functioning society. Especially when high caliber responses are needed.
I have been hearing today that the Biden admin (such as it is) has cancelled a grant to get Starlink up in NC. We can’t have Elon Musk on that ‘preferred vendors list’.
This is my thing. Why aren’t we lighting a fire under lawmakers to ban government funding of intel front groups (“NGOs”)?
Because politicians are the government's lawmakers, and via NGOs and other lobbyist groups, the government can do things otherwise not allowed and can also respond to "grassroots movements" led by "community organisers" and thus appear to be a democracy (or a Republic with democratically elected officials I guess is more correct for the USA?).
Hey, the reds can’t do things illegally, so they use ngo’s. Any questions?
Can we please fire 80% of federal employees like Elon did at Twitter? Most of these clowns are still “working” from home playing video games and walking their dogs.
Example: “In the first months of the coronavirus pandemic, a quarter of employees at the federal government's top health agency failed to even check their emails as they worked remotely, according to internal documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
An estimated 25 percent of Department of Health and Human Services employees neglected to log on to the agency's software suite, which includes their email, work files, video conference calls, and other applications needed to perform remote work, according to the internal documents.”
https://freebeacon.com/latest-news/quarter-of-federal-health-workers-failed-to-check-email-amid-pandemic-report-reveals/
That was one of the first things Javier Milei did in Argentina, too. Government (and most corporations, too) these days is so bloated that they can barely function.
Like!
During the pandemic, our district administrator for the Social Security Administration had a 44 foot commute from his bed to his home office. That situation still largely exists. He doesn’t even have to walk his dog because he doesn’t have one.
Exactly. The Rainbow Hair People get groovy jobs at FEMA, etc, by reciting The Party Gospel and with zero qualifications. “It’s a big fkn club and you ain’t in it.” GC
Sure … 🤣🤣🤣
"It's almost like it's all going to corruption and grift."
"corruption and grift" are how the government and politicians RECEIVE money, not how they spend it.
And yes, absolutely. The majority of the upper middle class yuppies who are the woke and the Dems who support calls for more government are not productive. They consume but do not produce anything real.
I worked with two gov't secretaries on an AFB. They were absolutely useless. Being a contractor, I did most of their work. Their boss, a truly awesome Colonel, loved it when his secretary called in sick. He got me instead and I worked my a$$ off - unlike his regular secretary.
I have a good friend who is a government employee. She has a strong work ethic and does her job very well. But she tells me all the time of how so many others around her are very non-productive and don't even seem
to grasp what it is they should know or how be able to figure out. And there are layers of redundancies that are just mind-boggling. Inertia reigns supreme.
I worked in 2 different county governments in AZ & I can vouch that everything said about lazy or unintelligent government employees is true. Everyone knows, if you’ve ever had to go to DMV or any other state or federal department.
Worst of all, it is damn near impossible to FIRE them even for legit reasons.
And from home, as well. 🤮
No almost about it.
We must do less with more, comrade.
Quiet, kulak. 😬
Yes, this is so like the Muscovite communists taking the crops from Ukrainian farmers. It doesn’t end well for the farmers.
I guess when you say "handouts you're criticizing the $200 + billion to Ukraine and $541billion to our newcomers? This is all money well-spent, as Zelensky is fighting for freedom and the American way and the newcomers are bringing rich cultural enhancements to our society, which is much needed. You must be............ a Putin racist! I guess you want to take money from these necessary investments and give it to the people of NC, GA, SC, TN, and FL just because they got some wind and rain recently!
Danny Huckabee
I just came up with this myself, yup:
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation….
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness… it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
"He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance."
And shortly thereafter: "When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the Republic."
Indeed, we've seen this play before, just new actors, or rather villains.
And what was the solution?
Our founding fathers laid it out simple and detailed. Many have written books that describe exactly what is happening but where is the game plan for us to alter or abolish it to institute new?
You might enjoy my satirical Neo-Loyalist version of the Declaration of DEPENDENCE. (Yes, there was such a thing -- signed about four months after the INdependence one.) Check it out here:
https://marypoindextermclaughlin.substack.com/p/the-declaration-of-dependence-20-35a
What would happen if we all stopped paying ?
What an interesting que--FBI SEARCH WARRANT GET ON THE GROUND
🎯
That’s why they just hired 87,000 more IRS agents.
Who promptly endorsed Queen Cackles.
*Armed* IRS agents:
https://nypost.com/2023/05/02/irs-has-spent-10m-on-weapons-ammo-and-combat-gear-since-2020-watchdog/
Remember in The Untouchables, when Ness' crew takes on the geeky accountant and hands him a shotgun? Regular taxpayers are *all* Al Capone now.
“When they send one of yours to the hospital, you send one of theirs to the morgue!”
Dey gotta get paid
Given the legendary training efficiency of Federal agencies, I’m guessing there’ll be a significant rise in negligent discharges as more Armed Government Workers (H/T to Eric Peters) are carrying on a daily basis.
Remember the AGW who couldn’t re-holster her service weapon in Butler, PA? Coming soon to a FDA office near you…
Government is always a step ahead of their blind citizens.
With guns, no less
I’m sure the thought police are rounding the corner now
How many people would we need to shut them down ?
About 330 million
Ugh. Almost everyone ? We could probably get 1/2 of everyone
I bet we couldn’t get close to half. I may be wrong but I think ~75% of the populace took the jab.
i heard of many who got fake cards. i wish they'd come forward so we'd have real numbers. but you're correct; it was disappointing how many went along
Ten thousand armed patriots in dc, end of this regime
Wait - they have to Do it… not show up. That’s the FAIL.
It’s BLUFF
Almost like the film Civil War.
They arrest us and keep printing anyway. At this point, they don't even need the taxes they just want them.
My grandfather used to say that if there were no tax withholding and we were told to write a check to the government for taxes, there would be a revolt. I like the idea of getting back to our roots.
We would be picked off one by one and face tremendous family and social pressure.
Wife and I are independent contractors so we get a tax bill at the end of the year. Every year it’s the same question: “What fucking services are we getting for all the taxes we pay?”
We are on the bottom side of upper-middle-class, so we qualify for zero federal programs.
Nice to know we’re subsidizing so many NGOs, bureaucrats, economic migrants, illiterate peasant migrants, and a huge number of Americans who just don’t want to work.
I am receiving some of this welfare.
I just started school at a local community/tech college. It is surprisingly inexpensive, less than $6K a year. I don't know the exact cost. The Post 911 GI Bill covers it completely.
Couple of thoughts about this.
1. Because tuition is covered 100%, I didn't even check what it cost. Who cares? I don't. The only reason I really know is I am also applying for scholarships (Why not? I'm a student right?) and one of them required the annual tuition. I do not know the exact number, but it was under $6K.
2. Even at this very inexpensive school, the unnecessary staffing is INSANE! We had a student orientation last week, and I have never felt so coddled in my entire life. There are more 'services' than academics/trades--or so it seemed at orientation. Food pantry, mental health services, pronoun-friendly staff (everyone introduced themselves with their pronouns of course), a gym (no one uses) and meals and, and, and...
I could make the claim that 'I damn well earned' my GI Bill--but the truth is I am uncomfortable with its largesse. On top of paying all tuition and $1000 a year for books/supplies, I am paid BAH (basic allowance for housing) with is $2500/month while in class. Gulp. 😳 It is almost too much. Almost. (I haven't sent any of the money back...)
Interesting note I learned yesterday. We were discussing lumber/wood it all of its variations for carpentry. I had no idea 'engineered wood' like plywood, OSB, etc is actually stronger than genuine lumber. But, what was truly fascinating is (according to my instructor) the lumber we harvest is actually weaker than it was 100 years ago. When we clearcut an area, then re-seed it, the trees that grow do not need to 'fight for their existance' like previous trees/forests--all the trees are the same height--no real struggle--and the lumber is literally softer and weaker.
Couldn't help it, I said, "Chris (my instructor, not Mr Bray) it appears that our trees are exact mirrors of our culture. We are all skinny-fat and weak..."
Chris, "Yep."
We are so damn lazy and comfortable that we've influenced our lumber to mirror ourselves. INSANE.
bsn
$2 500/month for living expenses? You kidding? Our veterans don't get squat, not even if they come back as invalids from overseas duty (which is nowadays mandatory for all career military).
And they wonder why 85% of people summoned at conscription play "Get out of uniform"-cards. . .
By way of comparison, I get ca the eq. of $1 000 from the state as a "Fuck you, fuck you very much" for my 25+ years as teacher, and for all the other jobs I've had and paid 50% in total monthly income tax on.
About the wood: that's absolutely true and I can't understand why you still clear-cut over there. We stopped doing that in the 1960s for that very reason. Since then anything between 10%-30% of trees are left standing when cutting, and a certain percentage are left to die standing to provide for insects et cetera.
Am I happy we bought a house built in 1922, instead of a modern one! The wood it's made out of is from trees that started growing in the late 18th or early 19th century, so it's dense, hard and still flexible despite its age. The grain in the glazing spars (made from select bottom branches of old Norwegian spruce) is so dense you can barely see the year-rings.
Modern wood, I can almost toss away the powered screwdriver and use my fingers, I kid you not.
Clear cutting is probably easier and cheaper. Not that that lowers the price of the wood, of course.
I think it is greed, plain and simple.
Why make one billion in profit by being responsible and care about Nature, when you can make a billion plus a hundred k by despoiling it, is the tune of capitalist forestry.
Only, Nature don't function according to models of economy.
US/Canadian forestry and logging ought to look at Albania, former Jugoslavia, Turkey and the eastern Mediterranean nations. In the days of Julius Cesar, there were still great forests there. They clear cut, again and again, ever since the days of Enkiddu, and look at the place now.
Greed…duh
Rikard,
It is why I put in the embarrassed emoji. Pretty sure Congress & GWB Administration passed this legislation as blood money, to try and assuage their guilt for starting an unnecessary war. It is over the top, but I don't give it back so just as much of the problem as anyone else in our gloated, entitlement culture of Post-American Century.
I am unsure if clear cutting remains a practice, but it probably had some almost irreversible impacts to the health of our forests for sure.
Great post!
bsn
Clear cutting usually has two major impacts:
Loosening the soil so it washes away, which necessitates dusting with fertilisers and pesticides since the clear-cut areas become breeding grounds for insects of all kinds, especially the ones who feed on trees.
And the fertiliser and pesticides wind up in the water table/aquifer/ground water, where it builds up year over year, being the "gift that keeps on giving" in all kinds of nasty ways.
That's one of the major reasons its banned over here - irreversible environmental destruction.
I know the feeling re: the embarrassed emoji. Felt that way when I was still working and was off on seminars and "skill enhancement courses" (read: publishing companies trying to sell their stuff to the school you represent) and such, sleeping in hotels, eating and drinking for free and earning full pay at the same time.
Felt a bit skeezy.
Did your instructor also tell you how highly flammable engineered wood is (because all of its strength is due to the chemical adhesives)?
Part of the reason “modern” wood is weaker is because it is cut when the wood is younger. And this is due to the fact that they expect most of it to be used in engineered wood. The drying techniques of today are also very different from 60 years ago which will have an effect.
I always wondered how much the increased use of engineered wood and the associated adhesives have contributed to increased cancer rates. But I don’t expect any honest scientific research to be done to find out.
Since most of the glues used are based on or contain formaldehyde, it would probably depend on the ventilation of the specific building looked at.
Found this:
https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/substances/formaldehyde/formaldehyde-fact-sheet#what-have-scientists-learned-about-the-relationship-between-formaldehyde-and-cancer
Not a peep, but also probably outside of his lane as well. It's a trade class and that would probably not 'landed' with many of my classmates with the same degree of alarm it does with me. Been seeking out podcasts with Calley and Casey Means and their book "Good Energy". Both are in communication with RFK Jr about MAHA--in fact I think I heard RFK Jr say Casey Means MD might be head of FDA or NIH or some major government agency. All about the shit that is killing us in our food, our environment etc. They focus on food, but you're likely onto something with increased cancer from all those toxic glues/adhesives.
bsn
Chris you gentle soul …
Look they’re fucking criminals.
They’re not there to put out fires, they’re there to steal.
To set the fires
There, there; there is no there, there, Comrade.
One might almost become cynical.
Cyclically cynically certain of sarcasm said the sage.
Alluringly alliterative.
In a world full of coincidence it is not happenstance things happen.
One might. Indeed.
If I'm not mistaken, the government is building a new FBI headquarters in Greenbelt, MD at a price tag of $3.4 billion, paid over the next 10 years.
All of those school shooters and assassins that were "on their radar" weeks, months and even years before they committed their crimes weren't stopped because of the crumbling old J. Edgar Hoover building, you see. Can't concentrate on capturing homicidal maniacs when you're being hit in the head with falling plaster, I'm guessing.
You might find it interesting that the Bureau does not want that location but is being forced to accept it by GSA. They wanted space closer to their training academy but it appears the Green Belt area is in need of some urban renewal as the area is a shit hole.
The cynic in me says there were some influential people in Georgetown with inside info who bought up the Greenbelt land before the GSA "forced" the issue.
Shocked! I say. Shocked!
No mention of the billions and billions pissed away to manipulative and hostile foreign powers?
"Biden signs $95 billion military aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan"
"U.S. House resoundingly voted to provide Israel with $26 billion in emergency assistance"
We are being played for fools by foreigners who are buying our entire political ecosphere--federal, state, and local.
That's the biggest scandal of the exploding spending curve.
We must stop funding foreigners' wars, and we must stop funding American military/intel meddling in foreigners' squabbles.
"We are very happy with the priorities and actions of the US government"
Globalists that own it and are directing all of its actions.
I am 1000X the examples needed to prove it is not of the people by the people for the people.
The explanation for the forest service: Why will you need wide open spaces after you have been herded into 15 minute cites?
There isn't any other explanation. The major barrier is to get over the unpleasant realization that such evil exist in the world and is powerful and are actively attacking you.
"Look around you. If you spend a lot of time on federal lands, camping or hunting or making meth — but don’t really do that last one — do you see more rangers, more visitor centers, more campgrounds, and more fire stations? What federal service is growing? What do you see more of? Spending rising from $2 trillion to $7 trillion now, with $8 trillion projected for the very near future — where do you see the growth?"
Maybe you should go to a park in Ukraine. I suspect it will be quite obvious.
I see the growth like a cancerous tumor at the border. That’s where our tax dollars are being stolen, by fucking NGO’s with names like “ heavenly savior of all”, which has nothing to do with the savior, and every thing to do with graft, and stealing of our hard earned money. Revolution. It’s past time. I will gladly shed my life, for the security and freedom of this nation.
Same in Canada, albeit on a smaller scale. Under Trudeau federal spending and the growth of the civil service has been, to quote Mel Brooks, accelerated into Ludicrous Speed. Canada's public sector is now outpacing that of the non-public sector economy. As someone of Argentinian background I've been calling it Canuck Peronism. I can *definitely* tell you how it ends: not. fucking. well.
I just recently read “The Big Burn” about the firestorm in the Pacific Northwest in 1910, where woefully underpaid and overworked forest rangers had to deal with horrific fires. You’d think our government would have learned something since then. Maybe if we weren’t sending billions to Ukraine?
Or if, for example we were not funding MILLIONS of illegal immigrants!
We know how this ends.