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In Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana, where public sector unions may no longer use government force to coerce workers to join, the workers are fleeing in droves.  They recognize that unions, a product of the early 20th century are as useful and necessary as telegraph keys, vacuum tubes and buggy whips.

 

"Union members in Wisconsin are voting with their feet, abandoning the organizations that promised to best represent their interests. Scott Walker, the brave Republican governor, took on the public-employee unions in a noisy high-stakes struggle, with sit-ins and noisy rallies in an attempt to recall him, and won. He thumped his Democratic opponent and settled the issue by six points, and in a deep-blue state. Common sense is a nonpartisan virtue. With the courts having liberated them, many thousands of public employees are enjoying the freedom of choice.

 

Teachers, firefighters and police officers can continue paying union dues and have union representation, if that’s what they want, or they can tear up their union membership cards without losing their jobs. The rejection of union membership in similar struggles against force is mirrored in cities and states across the country.

 

An analysis by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found that unions have lost between 30 percent and 60 percent of their members. Membership in District Council 48 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, for example, declined from 9,000 members to fewer than 3,500. The trimmed membership rolls mean less money for the union bosses. Local 48’s budget once reflected a $7 million surplus, and now the union is $650,000 in the red. The national union was required to bail out the local, and it’s not even a stimulus.

 

Wisconsin does not yet offer workers in the private economy the freedom to reject forced union membership, but other states are moving to do so. A right-to-work law took effect last year in Indiana, and a similar law became effective in March in Michigan. That’s good news for employees who want to keep all of their paycheck, not so good for the unions and their officers.

 

 

Michigan, once one of the most unionized of all the states, saw union membership decline from 671,000 to 629,000, and in Indiana, union membership dipped from 302,000 to 246,000. This pattern will likely continue. The National Education Association, the largest teachers union and one of the most partisan of all unions, lost nearly 7 percent of its members between 2008 and 2009. To avoid taking a hit in the union treasury, the union bosses raised the dues of the remaining members. According to numbers compiled by the Education Intelligence Agency, 44 state NEA affiliates have reported losing thousands of members."

http://www.washingtontimes.com...the-right-to-flight/

Illustration Defeating Unions by John Camejo for The Washington Times

 

 
 
 
 

TRUTH -- THE NEW HATE SPEECH!

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That is the CEO's and Wall Street's dream.  If we can eliminate unions and having to pay worker benefits, we can raise our bonus and stock options.  There won't be anyone or anything to stop us.

 

If the average worker will ever open their eyes, they will see that I'm telling the truth.  When unions were the strongest, the CEO pay was about 50 times the worker pay.  Now the average CEO pay is about 500 times what the worker pay is.  

I don't have a problem with a successful CEO being well paid, but, tens of millions while they outsource production to third world nations.  That's just not right.

The telegraph key will get communications through when the tower your smartphone uses takes a dump 'cause the power company can't keep linemen.  The vacuum tube will continue to function quite nicely after they drop the 'big one.'

The buggy whip will come in handy when working folks can't afford gasoline anymore.

 

Outlived their usefulness? I think not. 

 

*Teamsters Local 402*

The last telegraph message was sent in India about a month ago. How many people know code or how to use a J-38 correctly.  Vacuum tubes are hard to find and harder to use without electricity -- big one affects that too.  Not unless you're Amish -- horses have to fed daily, whether you use them, or not. 

 

Union leadership -- deniers of fact and reasons for shrinking membership.  Democrats - deniers of reality, in general.

 

Didn't know the Teamsters were a public sector union.  Have you informed Hoffa!

Originally Posted by jtdavis:

That is the CEO's and Wall Street's dream.  If we can eliminate unions and having to pay worker benefits, we can raise our bonus and stock options.  There won't be anyone or anything to stop us.

 

If the average worker will ever open their eyes, they will see that I'm telling the truth.  When unions were the strongest, the CEO pay was about 50 times the worker pay.  Now the average CEO pay is about 500 times what the worker pay is.  

I don't have a problem with a successful CEO being well paid, but, tens of millions while they outsource production to third world nations.  That's just not right.

jtd,

Public sector union employees work for mayors, governors and presidents, not CEOs. Ultimately, they work for the public.

Originally Posted by direstraits:

The last telegraph message was sent in India about a month ago. How many people know code or how to use a J-38 correctly.  Vacuum tubes are hard to find and harder to use without electricity -- big one affects that too.  Not unless you're Amish -- horses have to fed daily, whether you use them, or not. 

 

Union leadership -- deniers of fact and reasons for shrinking membership.  Democrats - deniers of reality, in general.

 

Didn't know the Teamsters were a public sector union.  Have you informed Hoffa!

-------------------------

*I* know code-as do many others like me. 

I can run vacuum tubes off a 6-volt battery (remember the old car radios with that humming/buzzing chopper?) that I can recharge by any number of electro-mechanical or photovoltiac ways.  You don't need mains to run stuff.

  Vacuum tubes are for the most part not susceptible to the inductive effects of EMP as they run at fairly high heat and voltages anyway-unlike the super-sensitive junctions of semiconductors which require massive Faraday cage-type shielding to protect. Most of the support components tube equipment requires are built into and shielded by massive metal frames and cabinets which provide just such shielding.

I can lay my hands on vast quantities of vacuum tubes of any type should the need arise.

So ya gotta feed horses.  Ya gotta feed yourself, too whether you go to work or just sit around the house drinking vodka or smoking dope all day.

Your point there?

 

Teamsters are all over the public sector. Google "Teamsters public sector" and count all the locals.  

 

Consider yourself informed.

 

 

   

Originally Posted by Road Puppy:
Originally Posted by direstraits:

The last telegraph message was sent in India about a month ago. How many people know code or how to use a J-38 correctly.  Vacuum tubes are hard to find and harder to use without electricity -- big one affects that too.  Not unless you're Amish -- horses have to fed daily, whether you use them, or not. 

 

Union leadership -- deniers of fact and reasons for shrinking membership.  Democrats - deniers of reality, in general.

 

Didn't know the Teamsters were a public sector union.  Have you informed Hoffa!

-------------------------

*I* know code-as do many others like me. 

I can run vacuum tubes off a 6-volt battery (remember the old car radios with that humming/buzzing chopper?) that I can recharge by any number of electro-mechanical or photovoltiac ways.  You don't need mains to run stuff.

  Vacuum tubes are for the most part not susceptible to the inductive effects of EMP as they run at fairly high heat and voltages anyway-unlike the super-sensitive junctions of semiconductors which require massive Faraday cage-type shielding to protect. Most of the support components tube equipment requires are built into and shielded by massive metal frames and cabinets which provide just such shielding.

I can lay my hands on vast quantities of vacuum tubes of any type should the need arise.

So ya gotta feed horses.  Ya gotta feed yourself, too whether you go to work or just sit around the house drinking vodka or smoking dope all day.

Your point there?

 

Teamsters are all over the public sector. Google "Teamsters public sector" and count all the locals.  

 

Consider yourself informed.

 _____________________________________________________

 Yes, you know codes, and so do a few old guys.  Its not even a requirement for a ham radio license, any more.

   

The supply of vacuum tubes is rather limited.  A couple of years before the Soviet Union fell apart, in desperation, they ordered vacuum tubes from IBM for their computers,  IBM informed them that IBM no longer had any in stock -- they donated all of their stock to the Smithsonian Museum.

Faraday cages aren't as hard to obtain, as you describe.  Your car is a Faraday cage, impervious to an EMP burst if its off, at the time.

 

My point is that time and money spent supporting a horse equals cost to fuel your car.

 

While the Teamsters may work for the public sector, I don't believe they are part of public sector unions.

 

Originally Posted by direstraits:
Originally Posted by Road Puppy:
Originally Posted by direstraits:

The last telegraph message was sent in India about a month ago. How many people know code or how to use a J-38 correctly.  Vacuum tubes are hard to find and harder to use without electricity -- big one affects that too.  Not unless you're Amish -- horses have to fed daily, whether you use them, or not. 

 

Union leadership -- deniers of fact and reasons for shrinking membership.  Democrats - deniers of reality, in general.

 

Didn't know the Teamsters were a public sector union.  Have you informed Hoffa!

-------------------------

*I* know code-as do many others like me. 

I can run vacuum tubes off a 6-volt battery (remember the old car radios with that humming/buzzing chopper?) that I can recharge by any number of electro-mechanical or photovoltiac ways.  You don't need mains to run stuff.

  Vacuum tubes are for the most part not susceptible to the inductive effects of EMP as they run at fairly high heat and voltages anyway-unlike the super-sensitive junctions of semiconductors which require massive Faraday cage-type shielding to protect. Most of the support components tube equipment requires are built into and shielded by massive metal frames and cabinets which provide just such shielding.

I can lay my hands on vast quantities of vacuum tubes of any type should the need arise.

So ya gotta feed horses.  Ya gotta feed yourself, too whether you go to work or just sit around the house drinking vodka or smoking dope all day.

Your point there?

 

Teamsters are all over the public sector. Google "Teamsters public sector" and count all the locals.  

 

Consider yourself informed.

 _____________________________________________________

 Yes, you know codes, and so do a few old guys.  Its not even a requirement for a ham radio license, any more.

   

The supply of vacuum tubes is rather limited.  A couple of years before the Soviet Union fell apart, in desperation, they ordered vacuum tubes from IBM for their computers,  IBM informed them that IBM no longer had any in stock -- they donated all of their stock to the Smithsonian Museum.

Faraday cages aren't as hard to obtain, as you describe.  Your car is a Faraday cage, impervious to an EMP burst if its off, at the time.

 

My point is that time and money spent supporting a horse equals cost to fuel your car.

 

While the Teamsters may work for the public sector, I don't believe they are part of public sector unions.

 

----------------------------------

Well just because code is no longer required to earn a license doesn't mean it's no longer useful.   CW will get through when nothing else works.

Your car is not an earth-grounded cage. If it is unshielded by earth or ungrounded metal at the time of an EMP burst, the effects will be the same as if it was out in the open no matter if it is 'on' or not. Just the semiconductors required to read the signal from your car's oxygen sensor-which your computer controlled car *will not run without* (yes, the basic fuel map data is also stored on that semiconductor in the event of an O2 sensor *malfunction*-not *complete failure*, mind you) operate on mere millivolts, much less than the voltages and currents produced by EMP induction. The equipment doesn't have to be 'on' as the EMP creates the damaging voltage. For a Faraday cage to work effectively, any holes in it have to be of a certain size so as not to allow a given RF wavelength to pass through it. EMP is 'wideband.' The screen in the door of your microwave oven has just such 'calibrated' holes to keep the RF inside the box. *No* holes is ideal, but as we can see-there are many *large* holes in the average car.

  Analog electrics, being built much sturdier and simpler than digital electronics are less susceptible to EMP. 

 

There is an enormous amount of vacuum tubes of all types available in the used/surplus market.

The Soviets just didn't ask the right people.

 

With a little modification, I can run my car on grain alcohol. With a little more effort, I could run it on wood gas. (The Soviets had this down pat when gasoline was scarce.) 'Course I'd lose some trunk space.

 

Anyway, These things all still have their usefulness, just like labor unions do.

I know that without union representation, I'd still be providing a public service (albeit through a private contractor) for basically slave wages and working with unsafe, unreliable equipment putting the safety of myself and the people I work with in jeopardy. I could also be fired without cause or reason without union representation.

 

There's a good reason why unions are still around. Just like there's a good reason why the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.

 

It ain't always about moochin'.

 

 

 

  

 

RP,

 

The computer chips in cars are insulated, obviously, to keep the internal electrical system from burning them out.  The basics for a Faraday cage are external metal frame, insulated from the ground and items to be protected insulated from the frame.  The car frame performs the same function and four rubber tires insulate the car from the ground. 

 

Most tactical military vehicles, aircraft, tactical generators, missiles, ICBMs, tactical computers and commo gear was shielded from EMP years ago.

 

Grain alcohol and wood gas will work on the older low compression engines,  US resistance forces used grain alcohol from coconuts in the Philippines during Japanese occupation.  French and others used wood gas during the same period.

 

Unions have and are losing membership steadily.  A few will survive if they insist on educating members to new, and higher level skills.  Otherwise, they go the way of medieval guilds.

 

As to the Teamsters Union pension fund, their assets book value are about 60 percent of needed revenue.  And, the book value is overstated.  There is a separate pension fund for leadership.

 

Originally Posted by direstraits:

RP,

 

From your comments, you seem to be familiar with prepper type info,  That may come in handy for you in he future -- not because someone will drop the Big One.  However, if your retirement funds are in the Teamsters Union pension fund, you're going to need to learn how to live with a lot less. 

----------------

LOL!

 

"Learn" to live with a lot less??!

 

*excuse me fr a minute...* 

 

"BWAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"

 

OK, seriously...I apologize for that because I realize that you're probably not atall familiar with my background. (I'm not all that familiar with this thing called 'family' that everybody around here is so concerned with as I never really had one.) I've pretty much had to carry my own ass since I was about 14 years old. I didn't get *any* of the *breaks* that 'connected' people usually get.

 

I'm by no means a 'doomsday prepper' but I have spent a lotta time living on the fringe.

I've just survived most of my life so far by my wits and skills I've learned out of sheer necessity.

  I've been nowhere with nobody and nothing and done relatively all right for myself by scavenging, hunting, repairing and restoring the things our lazy, soft, 'gotta have the next new version' society throws away, either for my own use or for profit.

  I fabricate perfectly serviceable things from scrap.  I have things I've 're-purposed' that I've used for years that honestly-I can't remember what the hell they originally were anymore.

 I've built my own housing out of scrap lumber and tin that would just about rival a professionally built cottage.  I've kept vehicles running using only the bits I find along the side of the road.

  I've eaten stuff that would make a billy goat puke just to survive another day.

 

It's amazing what a lil' motivation like survival can cause a person to learn and become.

 

One of the things I've learned-especially in today's economy is that there's two kinds of people for the most part. The kind that has plenty of money and the kind that doesn't have any.

I fall into the latter group these days. Just the way it worked out and I have to try to claw my way back up to some reasonable means again.

 Limited as I am by my chosen occupation, I need all the help I can get. Without my union-I wouldn't stand a chance getting anywhere.

 

LOL. What retirement funds? With the contract I'm working under right now, I'm just glad I get paid on time. Before our terminal organized-I worked for two months before I ever saw a paycheck because the boss never came into work to enter my info in the company payroll database. Re-negotiations are coming up, though. Maybe we can conjure a better deal this time.

 

Yup. Far as I'm concerned, unions still have their place.

 

  

 

 

  

Originally Posted by direstraits:

RP,

 

The computer chips in cars are insulated, obviously, to keep the internal electrical system from burning them out.  The basics for a Faraday cage are external metal frame, insulated from the ground and items to be protected insulated from the frame.  The car frame performs the same function and four rubber tires insulate the car from the ground. 

 

Most tactical military vehicles, aircraft, tactical generators, missiles, ICBMs, tactical computers and commo gear was shielded from EMP years ago.

 

 

-------------------------------------

Insulation means absolutely nothing to the currents/voltages induced by sufficient EMP.

 

That's what is known as a 'floating cage.'  I have been inside flotaing- Faraday caged rooms where there were minute tears in the mesh. My radio and my cellphone both worked just fine until I located the breaks and repaired them.

 It's the holes. The size of the holes that matters.

A car on a road in a lightning storm is most definitely *not* "insulated" from the ground.

That is pure myth. The only margin of safety a car body provides is that it *may* route the electrical current *around* you-through the steel body, suspension and eventually the wet tires to-Yup! Earth ground. Lightning has been known to strike car occupants through closed windows. Glass is a pretty good insulator-unless the potential difference is high enough for it not to matter.

The thing with cars and the like-remember the holes now...is that cars have some really *big* holes in them, you know, so you can see where you're going? It's why your cellphone works in the car. Now..while the actual semiconductor components (ECM circuitry) and the external sensors/solenoids are grounded and shielded by the fact that they are connected physically to the negative terminal of the battery through the car's frame and bodywork (which isn't always completely electrically bonded), the wires connecting these components arenot. They're hanging out in the open.

And what are inductors usually made from?

 

*Wires* 

 

Wires that will carry an induced current to any and all of those highly sensitive microscopic semiconductor junctions-burning holes in them and destroying them instantly and permanently whether they're actually in a powered state or not. The EMP generates the 'power' that destroys them. Many semiconductors can be destroyed by the static electrical charge accumulated by your body under certain conditions.

 Hence the ground straps that workers assembling/ testing components must wear to dissipate any stray static accumulations to protect the devices.

  Mil spec vehicles designed to withstand EMP use completely shielded wiring harnesses and external components. Vehicles intended for civilian use usually do not.

 

The heavier and simpler the components-the more likely they are to survive EMP.

 

My old '66 VW bug would survive after maybe replacing a coil or condenser. It's also run on just about anything from vodka to cow whizz.

 

 

 

It's real easy to tell who was not privileged to have a good union represent them.  I was represented by a good union.  I assume that there are some bad unions.  Normally, unions are as good as the people in them.  Don't take the same paint brush and use it on all unions.  They are not all the same. I know this goes against Fox and the right wing blogs.

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