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Read the rules in the OP before posting, please.In order to ensure that this thread continues to meet TL standards and follows the proper guidelines, we will be enforcing the rules in the OP more strictly. Be sure to give them a re-read to refresh your memory! The vast majority of you are contributing in a healthy way, keep it up! NOTE: When providing a source, explain why you feel it is relevant and what purpose it adds to the discussion if it's not obvious. Also take note that unsubstantiated tweets/posts meant only to rekindle old arguments can result in a mod action. |
MIRA LOMA, Calif. — Week after week, Guadalupe Rangel worked seven days straight, sometimes 11 hours a day, unloading dining room sets, trampolines, television stands and other imports from Asia that would soon be shipped to Walmart stores.
Even though he often clocked 70 hours a week at the Schneider warehouse here, he was never paid time-and-a-half overtime, he said. And now, having joined a lawsuit involving hundreds of warehouse workers, Mr. Rangel stands to receive more than $20,000 in back pay as part of a recent $21 million legal settlement with Schneider, a national trucking company.
“Sometimes I’d work 60, even 90 days in a row,” said Mr. Rangel, a soft-spoken immigrant from Mexico. “They never paid overtime.”
The lawsuit is part of a flood of recent cases — brought in California and across the nation — that accuse employers of violating minimum wage and overtime laws, erasing work hours and wrongfully taking employees’ tips. Worker advocates call these practices “wage theft,” insisting it has become far too prevalent.
Some federal and state officials agree. They assert that more companies are violating wage laws than ever before, pointing to the record number of enforcement actions they have pursued. They complain that more employers — perhaps motivated by fierce competition or a desire for higher profits — are flouting wage laws.
Many business groups counter that government officials have drummed up a flurry of wage enforcement actions, largely to score points with union allies. If anything, employers have become more scrupulous in complying with wage laws, the groups say, in response to the much publicized lawsuits about so-called off-the-clock work that were filed against Walmart and other large companies a decade ago.
Source
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On September 01 2014 04:31 JonnyBNoHo wrote:Show nested quote +On September 01 2014 04:29 aksfjh wrote:On September 01 2014 04:14 Introvert wrote:On September 01 2014 03:42 Nyxisto wrote:On September 01 2014 03:35 Introvert wrote:
Perhaps, but it doesn't imply "America, always right!" either. It implies that you hold America to a different standard than other countries, or that America is inherently superior than everybody else. You can obviously play the good old "I'll just redefine the word so you can't possibly criticize it" game, hence the Scotsman reference. I would hope we all hold our own countries to a better standard so we are more motivated to act and make our countries do the right thing. It's easier to act in your own nation then it is to act in another. I'm not redefining words. Your definition was incorrect. Moreover, your implication that even a feeling of "superiority" implies a sense of infallibility is wrong anyway. Your own logic doesn't even follow. Edit: Also I disagree that exceptionalism necessarily implies superiority. But yes, I would hope we all hold our respective countries to high standards, which is one reason what is going on today annoys me so much. We're going in the wrong direction. The US doesn't even hold ourselves up to a standard. We set and standard and "exceptional" our way into the lead. We fall behind in so many ways to so many countries when you take actual measurements on various factors, like healthcare, education, and inequality. We can't be no. 1 in every metric all the time. Yes sometimes we fall behind, other times we catch up and take the lead. That's how life goes.
You're actually number last (or 2nd last if you switch now) in metric anything. Kilograms, kilometers, kiloliters... 
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ATLANTA (AP) — The U.S. government is looking for trains to haul radioactive waste from nuclear power plants to disposal sites. Too bad those trains have nowhere to go.
Putting the cart before the horse, the U.S. Department of Energy recently asked companies for ideas on how the government should get the rail cars needed to haul 150-ton casks filled with used, radioactive nuclear fuel.
They won't be moving anytime soon. The latest government plans call for having an interim test storage site in 2021 and a long-term geologic depository in 2048.
No one knows where those sites will be, but the Obama administration is already thinking about contracts to develop, test and certify the necessary rail equipment.
U.S. Energy Department officials did not return messages seeking detailed comment. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Department of Transportation share responsibility for regulating shipments.
"We know we're going to have to do it, so you might as well do it," said James Conca, senior scientist at the geoscience and environmental consulting firm UFA Ventures Inc. He has monitored a nuclear waste disposal site, helped design another and worked on cleanup efforts.
Source
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On September 01 2014 07:51 JonnyBNoHo wrote:Show nested quote +For Their Own Good? New Curfew Sends Baltimore Kids Home Early
Young people in Baltimore are adjusting to life under a tougher curfew law. For 20 years, the city has required kids to be inside at night during the summer — but now, children younger than 14 must be in by 9 p.m. every night of the year. ... LinkSeems excessive, but the nanny state knows best... Those poor high school kids and parents trying to do sports teams and extracurriculars. Nanny state does know best, and don't you dare question it. What an excellent use of police time as well.
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Cayman Islands24199 Posts
it's probably a community power kind of thing, not some tyrant bureaucrat or government agency.
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On September 02 2014 05:21 Danglars wrote:Show nested quote +On September 01 2014 07:51 JonnyBNoHo wrote:For Their Own Good? New Curfew Sends Baltimore Kids Home Early
Young people in Baltimore are adjusting to life under a tougher curfew law. For 20 years, the city has required kids to be inside at night during the summer — but now, children younger than 14 must be in by 9 p.m. every night of the year. ... LinkSeems excessive, but the nanny state knows best... Those poor high school kids and parents trying to do sports teams and extracurriculars. Nanny state does know best, and don't you dare question it. What an excellent use of police time as well.
Because you know so many 14 year old Baltimore High School kids that normally walk home after extra-curricular activities that last until around 9? Even at worst, my extracurricular activities were over by 7:30. There are very few (if any) reasons for an unaccompanied child under the age of 15 to be out after 9 pm.
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On September 02 2014 05:55 aksfjh wrote:Show nested quote +On September 02 2014 05:21 Danglars wrote:On September 01 2014 07:51 JonnyBNoHo wrote:For Their Own Good? New Curfew Sends Baltimore Kids Home Early
Young people in Baltimore are adjusting to life under a tougher curfew law. For 20 years, the city has required kids to be inside at night during the summer — but now, children younger than 14 must be in by 9 p.m. every night of the year. ... LinkSeems excessive, but the nanny state knows best... Those poor high school kids and parents trying to do sports teams and extracurriculars. Nanny state does know best, and don't you dare question it. What an excellent use of police time as well. Because you know so many 14 year old Baltimore High School kids that normally walk home after extra-curricular activities that last until around 9? Even at worst, my extracurricular activities were over by 7:30. There are very few (if any) reasons for an unaccompanied child under the age of 15 to be out after 9 pm.
I grew up in the Netherlands, not Baltimore. But it was entirely normal for me to go home alone or with friends in the evening; sometimes really late at night.
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Cayman Islands24199 Posts
isn't parts of baltimore more like a war zone
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On September 02 2014 05:21 Danglars wrote:Show nested quote +On September 01 2014 07:51 JonnyBNoHo wrote:For Their Own Good? New Curfew Sends Baltimore Kids Home Early
Young people in Baltimore are adjusting to life under a tougher curfew law. For 20 years, the city has required kids to be inside at night during the summer — but now, children younger than 14 must be in by 9 p.m. every night of the year. ... LinkSeems excessive, but the nanny state knows best... Those poor high school kids and parents trying to do sports teams and extracurriculars. Nanny state does know best, and don't you dare question it. What an excellent use of police time as well.
It's funny to me that you associate this conservative effort at population control (let's try and keep young black and impoverished kids off the streets so they don't associate with gangs and ruffians) with the monolithic mythical leftist project of the Nanny State. Sounds more like echoes of Ferguson than some socialist Nanny State plot. A curfew in place also prevents parents who are protesting from being out late since they can't bring their kids with them and probably can't afford a sitter to protest.
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Looking up the stats online it says homicide rate of 35 per 100,000 for Baltimore;
the nations where all those children are fleeing to the US from (el Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras) have homicide rates per 100k of 41, 40, and 90.
So that does sound pretty bad.
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On September 02 2014 05:08 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:Show nested quote +ATLANTA (AP) — The U.S. government is looking for trains to haul radioactive waste from nuclear power plants to disposal sites. Too bad those trains have nowhere to go.
Putting the cart before the horse, the U.S. Department of Energy recently asked companies for ideas on how the government should get the rail cars needed to haul 150-ton casks filled with used, radioactive nuclear fuel.
They won't be moving anytime soon. The latest government plans call for having an interim test storage site in 2021 and a long-term geologic depository in 2048.
No one knows where those sites will be, but the Obama administration is already thinking about contracts to develop, test and certify the necessary rail equipment.
U.S. Energy Department officials did not return messages seeking detailed comment. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Department of Transportation share responsibility for regulating shipments.
"We know we're going to have to do it, so you might as well do it," said James Conca, senior scientist at the geoscience and environmental consulting firm UFA Ventures Inc. He has monitored a nuclear waste disposal site, helped design another and worked on cleanup efforts. Source
Dont trains of the stuff already run in France, Britain, Netherlands and prob more? Why is the US trying to invent the wheel yet again?
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Also, i love how people have no problem with nuclear power when noone in the world has any idea where to store the waste yet "Yeah, we'll just put it into these boxes in a warehouse, someone else in 20 years is gonna have to solve the problem, but it's not me, so who cares."
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On September 02 2014 07:13 Simberto wrote:
Also, i love how people have no problem with nuclear power when noone in the world has any idea where to store the waste yet "Yeah, we'll just put it into these boxes in a warehouse, someone else in 20 years is gonna have to solve the problem, but it's not me, so who cares."
if launches were not a gigantic disaster waiting to happen I would say just shoot it into the sun.
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On September 02 2014 02:04 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:Show nested quote +MIRA LOMA, Calif. — Week after week, Guadalupe Rangel worked seven days straight, sometimes 11 hours a day, unloading dining room sets, trampolines, television stands and other imports from Asia that would soon be shipped to Walmart stores.
Even though he often clocked 70 hours a week at the Schneider warehouse here, he was never paid time-and-a-half overtime, he said. And now, having joined a lawsuit involving hundreds of warehouse workers, Mr. Rangel stands to receive more than $20,000 in back pay as part of a recent $21 million legal settlement with Schneider, a national trucking company.
“Sometimes I’d work 60, even 90 days in a row,” said Mr. Rangel, a soft-spoken immigrant from Mexico. “They never paid overtime.”
The lawsuit is part of a flood of recent cases — brought in California and across the nation — that accuse employers of violating minimum wage and overtime laws, erasing work hours and wrongfully taking employees’ tips. Worker advocates call these practices “wage theft,” insisting it has become far too prevalent.
Some federal and state officials agree. They assert that more companies are violating wage laws than ever before, pointing to the record number of enforcement actions they have pursued. They complain that more employers — perhaps motivated by fierce competition or a desire for higher profits — are flouting wage laws.
Many business groups counter that government officials have drummed up a flurry of wage enforcement actions, largely to score points with union allies. If anything, employers have become more scrupulous in complying with wage laws, the groups say, in response to the much publicized lawsuits about so-called off-the-clock work that were filed against Walmart and other large companies a decade ago. Source
I'm shocked... shocked... to find out large corporations were breaking wage laws on massive scales and no one will be going to jail...
God forbid that guy would of stole something from Walmart they would want to throw the book at him, but they steal $20,000 from him and they will fight tooth and nail to avoid having to give him what he earned.
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On September 02 2014 07:22 Gorsameth wrote:Show nested quote +On September 02 2014 07:13 Simberto wrote:
Also, i love how people have no problem with nuclear power when noone in the world has any idea where to store the waste yet "Yeah, we'll just put it into these boxes in a warehouse, someone else in 20 years is gonna have to solve the problem, but it's not me, so who cares." if launches were not a gigantic disaster waiting to happen I would say just shoot it into the sun.
Yeah, don't think treating space like a new ocean is the best plan either...
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On September 02 2014 07:25 GreenHorizons wrote:Show nested quote +On September 02 2014 07:22 Gorsameth wrote:On September 02 2014 07:13 Simberto wrote:
Also, i love how people have no problem with nuclear power when noone in the world has any idea where to store the waste yet "Yeah, we'll just put it into these boxes in a warehouse, someone else in 20 years is gonna have to solve the problem, but it's not me, so who cares." if launches were not a gigantic disaster waiting to happen I would say just shoot it into the sun. Yeah, don't think treating space like a new ocean is the best plan either...
There is a big difference between space and the sun. I agree space in general is a terrible idea.
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One main difference is the price. There is a lot of nuclear waste. It is really expensive and not exactly carbon neutral to launch stuff into orbit, not even talking about into the sun. I doubt nuclear power would be in any way competetive with...anything if you would factor in the cost of shooting shit into the sun. The data i could find with a few minutes of google shows me that you can get a kilogram of mass into LEO for ~4k$. You probably don't want your nuclear waste in LEO. It becomes far more expensive really quickly the further away you want to go. Apparently the US currently has ~70000 tons of used nuclear fuel lying about, and produce about 2-3000 a year (once again first numbers from google.) Shooting that shit into LEO would cost you only ~8billion $ a year at current rates. And as i said, you probably don't want it in LEO, so i doubt you could get it into the sun for cheaper than that. Probably you should rather add a few additional zeroes. Even just dumping it onto the moon would probably add a few zeroes (Source: My experience in KSP)
And all of that is ignoring the chance of launch failure spreading nuclear waste everywhere.
Nuclear power might even not really be competetive if people wouldn't ignore the cost of dealing with the waste for the next few thousand years.
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On September 02 2014 06:22 IgnE wrote:Show nested quote +On September 02 2014 05:21 Danglars wrote:On September 01 2014 07:51 JonnyBNoHo wrote:For Their Own Good? New Curfew Sends Baltimore Kids Home Early
Young people in Baltimore are adjusting to life under a tougher curfew law. For 20 years, the city has required kids to be inside at night during the summer — but now, children younger than 14 must be in by 9 p.m. every night of the year. ... LinkSeems excessive, but the nanny state knows best... Those poor high school kids and parents trying to do sports teams and extracurriculars. Nanny state does know best, and don't you dare question it. What an excellent use of police time as well. It's funny to me that you associate this conservative effort at population control (let's try and keep young black and impoverished kids off the streets so they don't associate with gangs and ruffians) with the monolithic mythical leftist project of the Nanny State. Sounds more like echoes of Ferguson than some socialist Nanny State plot. A curfew in place also prevents parents who are protesting from being out late since they can't bring their kids with them and probably can't afford a sitter to protest.
How do you figure conservatives are involved? Baltimore, along with St. Louis (and Ferguson) are all liberal cities. Most cities in the US are liberal really...
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On September 02 2014 07:25 GreenHorizons wrote:Show nested quote +On September 02 2014 07:22 Gorsameth wrote:On September 02 2014 07:13 Simberto wrote:
Also, i love how people have no problem with nuclear power when noone in the world has any idea where to store the waste yet "Yeah, we'll just put it into these boxes in a warehouse, someone else in 20 years is gonna have to solve the problem, but it's not me, so who cares." if launches were not a gigantic disaster waiting to happen I would say just shoot it into the sun. Yeah, don't think treating space like a new ocean is the best plan either...
As long as its in a high enough orbit, or on an escape trajectory, it'll never come back. They already do that with satellites that have toxic or radioactive substances on board. Shortly before they cease working, they have them move to what's called a Graveyard Orbit. It's high enough that the orbit doesn't decay at an appreciable rate, i.e. it'll still be up there a million years from now. Plenty of time for radioactive waste to decay. Space is actually the perfect dump, assuming you can get your garbage their cheaply and safely (which isn't likely).
But there are better things to do with nuclear waste. There are plans for reactors that can burn the nuclear waste from older reactors as fuel. For instance, Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors.
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On September 02 2014 01:18 Nyxisto wrote:Show nested quote +On September 01 2014 15:57 coverpunch wrote:
The war in Iraq was not illegal. It's very gray in places and of course many things were wrong with the premise and conduct of the war, but it never broke international or US laws.
1)The old resolution 1441 which stated that measures can be taken against Iraq if it fails do disarm, but it was repeatedly stated that this resolution does not contain a "hidden trigger" meaning that Iraq's failure to comply would not automatically grant countries the right to go to war. ... So the US argued that going to war is legitimate because the threat of WMD's is imminent and that based on resolution 1441 they could attack Iraq. Not only did they make that shit up, but as stated above a declaration of war would have needed an approval by the security council.
This is the heart of the debate, because if the US sincerely believed it, it would be legal. The decision took months of debate and 1441 was clearly not used on a "trigger". Unfortunately nobody has been able to prove that the Bush administration presented information that it knew to be false, which is what you would need to call something illegal in court. At this point, nobody is even bothering to try, so the issue is closed as a matter of law. It was legal.
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EPT
