Portland Tries a New Way

For John, BLUF:  Last Summer showed us that lack of policing just encouraged "mostly peaceful" demonstrations.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Portland Can Relax.  The 'Enhanced Community Safety Team' Is On The Job

From PJ Media, by Reporter Rick Moran, 7 March 2021, 10:23 AM ET.

Here is the lede plus two:

Portland Oregon politicians decided to drastically cut the budget for the police department at the end of last year, hoping to make their city streets safer — at least for Antifa and Black Lives Matter.

For the rest of the citizens?  Not so much.  Shootings have skyrocketed — nearly 2 1/2 times higher than the year before.  Authorities blame the pandemic.  And unemployment.  And “systemic racism.”  And everything but the 7 percent reduction in the police budget.

The cuts with the biggest impact on gun violence included the disbanding of the highly effective Gun Violence Reduction Team.  The unit was charged with getting guns and violent criminals off the streets.

The numbers tell the story.  However, there are assumptions that need to be examined.  For example, does everyone unemployed and in trouble with the law has the same work ethic and attitude as those who are employed.  I believe that is an untested assumption.  Do they vote and look for work or are they a part of the some 30% who are not in the labor force, who are not counted in the Labor Participation Rate?  We need to examine our assumptions, which is whar Democracy is about.

I worry that we will implement too many "defund the police" efforts and end up with a backlash that hurts solid efforts to improve policing around the nation.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Happy Pharmacist Day

For John, BLUF:  I focus on this because my Father-iin-Law and Brother=in-Law were Pharmacists.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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National Pharmacist Day:  January 12, 2021

Here is the quick rundown on being a pharmacist:

• How to Become a Pharmacist—Pharmacists must have a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.), a 4-year professional degree.  They must also be licensed, which requires passing two exams.
• Pay—The median annual wage for pharmacists was $128,090 in May 2019.
• Job Outlook—Employment of pharmacists is projected to decline 3 percent from 2019 to 2029.  Many pharmacists work in in retail pharmacies and drug stores, which are expected to lose jobs as more people fill their prescriptions via mail order and online.

So, the total number will decline some 3% over the decade.  That does not mean there will not be job openings.  For the cited median income it is something worth exploring a little.

Hat tip to the Census Bureau.

Regards  —  Cliff

Providing Opportunities

For John, BLUF:  The thing that caught my eye is "California is driving on fumes—living off the residual investments and innovations of past generations."  While any of the 50 States could fall into that trap, I think it is especially true of California.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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To Continue Thriving, California Needs New Politicians

Here is the sub-headline:

California is driving on fumes and living off the residual investments and innovations of past generations.  Is it any wonder so many Californians are heading to Texas or Arizona?

From Reason, by Mr Steven Greenhut, 1 January 2021.

Here is the key paragraph:

California officials love to boast that the state is the world's fifth-largest economy—and point to Silicon Valley as evidence that we're still on the cutting edge of entrepreneurial activity.  But California is driving on fumes—living off the residual investments and innovations of past generations.  These lawmakers take credit for something they seem intent on destroying.

The idea of living off the past applies to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as well as to California.  I wonder about the impact of the major Pandemic Driven Economic Disruption of 2020.  How many businesses will move themselves out of state or encourage their workers to work from home, in out of state locations.  It would seem that if the work force is mostly working at home, they could be almost anywhere, although close enough to drop by the office once in a while.

The past Route 128 Miracle was a major boost to Massachusetts.  However, that was then (1980s) and this is now,  We need not just jobs, but we need a better housing situation, where people are not crowded into ethnic neighborhoods that results in the residents not being able to build their personal wealth. We need land where homes can be built and the residents of crowded neighborhoods can move.  That means we need to improve the transportation infrastructure, although, with telecommuting, perhaps not on a one-for-one basis.  To reduce the population density in Boston and its environs we need to change zoning laws and provide capital for developers.

Not everyone will wish to make the transition to the hinterlands.  For some it will be too foreign.  For others it will be a long wished for opportunity.  For both groups of Massachusetts residents it will mean an improvement in quality of life—a Win-Win.

The result will be changed demographics, but not necessarily by moving the values of Boston out to Middlesex, Worcester and Franklin Counties.  It might mean that certain political and social values in Boston will become denser, while other values will move and be more compatible with the areas to which they move.  In any event, a larger number of people should prosper.  That is to the benefit of us all.

Let us not be like California!

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

"No good deed goes unpunished"

For John, BLUF:  Sometimes, in our compassion, we make matters worse, by giving too much help and taking away a person's dignity.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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When Government Programs Do More Harm Than Good

Here is the sub-headline:

Shame on the U.S. government for making unemployment pay better than work.

JOHN STOSSEL | 5.13.2020 12:30 AM.

Here is the meat of it:

I’m a stutterer. Stuttering is now among disabilities covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

I wonder, had the ADA been law when I started in TV news, would I have struggled as hard to overcome my stutter?  Would I have had the career I’ve had? Probably not.

The TV station wouldn’t have hired me.  Once the ADA passed, my stutter makes me a member of a “protected class.”  The station, reasonably, would have viewed me as potential poison.

That’s because if they fired me because I didn’t work out, I might sue.  I could have accused them of failing to “accommodate the disabled,” as the law requires.  Even if I didn’t win, the lawsuit would be expensive.  It’s safer for employers to avoid members of “protected classes.”

Far-fetched? Look at the stats:

Before the ADA passed, 59 percent of disabled men had jobs.  After it passed, the number fell to 48 percent.  Today, fewer than 30 percent have jobs.

Once again, a law that was supposed to help people did the opposite of what politicians intended.

We, as a people, need to be compassionate.  But compassionate does not mean we don't expect people to work, and work hard.  It means giving them a hand up to do better.  We don't know, the next Jonas Salk may be the person next to you, with a disability.

And, we have to be careful to not create perverse incentives in the way we provide money to the unemployed.  They need help, a hand up, but we should not be encouraging them to stay home.

Thanks to my wife for forwarding this.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Work is Hard to Find

For John, BLUF:  When we go for social distancing and isolation we wipe out vast swaths of sellers, and buyers and the folks who make the things being sold.  That is why key and essential are important designations.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Less than half of L.A. County residents still have jobs amid coronavirus crisis

From The LA Times, by Staff Writer Jaclyn Cosgrove, 17 April 2020.

Here is the lede plus three:

Because of the colossal impact that the coronavirus outbreak has had on the U.S. economy, less than half of Los Angeles County residents — 45% compared with 61% in mid-March — still hold a job, a decline of 16 percentage points, or an estimated 1.3 million jobs, according to findings from a national survey released Friday.

The survey also suggests that 25.5 million jobs have been potentially lost across the U.S. since mid-March, and that people of color, especially black Americans, are more likely to have lost their jobs since mid-March.

Nationally, 15% of white people said they had lost their jobs, while 18% of Latinos and 21% of black people reported job losses.

But a significant majority of job losses, 67% nationally, were reported as temporary layoffs. Angelenos reported similar experiences.

And new jobs are near non-existent, for the same reason people lost their existing jobs in the first place.  At some point there is a crossover between Coronavirus death and deaths from causes related to an economic recession or depression.♠

Unfortunately, much as people may wish it, there is no expert to make this decision.  It is up to the politicians elected by us.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  I am not suggesting that certain House leaders have blood on their hands, because we just don't know where that crossover point is.  A little humility all round would be useful.

Very Important People

For John, BLUF:  Poet Rudyard Kipling understood, as he wrote "You will do your work on water, An' you'll lick the bloomin' boots of 'im that's got it."  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The People Our Loser Elite Look Down Upon Are Saving Our Bacon

From Town Hall, by Writer Kurt Schlichter, 23 March 2020.

Here is the lede plus two:

Here are some people who are useless, especially now:  Performance artists, diversity consultants, magic crystal healers, sociology TAs, members of the mainstream media, and gender-unspecified entities who brew kale kombucha.

Here are some people who matter, especially now:  Soldiers, nurses, truckers, cops, the guy who stocks the shelves at Ralphs, farmers, and that dude rebuilding your roof.

The Chinese Bat Soup Flu has certainly clarified some of the blurred lines between what is important and what is frivolous garbage.  Yet, in a time when millions of Americans are at risk of dying as a direct result of ChiCom conspiracies and the bizarre need of its serfs to eat any weird thing that crawls or slithers within reach of their chopsticks, our useless elite is fixated on making sure we don’t hurt the feelz of the very people who stuck us in this predicament.

I do think Mr Schlichter is a little hard on the Elite in American society.  Don't you think that it is a very decent way to distance oneself from those kind of people, by categorizing them as elite and letting them self-isolate?

To the more important point, yes, the important folks in society, the "essential" workers, are those who keep things running.  Yes, the truck driver and the shelf stocker are key to our continued functioning.  Even the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania recognized it when it reopened Service Plazas on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, for truckers.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Occupational Outlook Handbook

For John, BLUF:  Often young people don't know what to do with their lives.  The Federal Government has some tools to help illuminate the path.  This is one of them.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Occupational Outlook Handbook

This Federal Government website has a list of occupations, with information of interest for people considering entering the occupational field.

• How much does the job pay?
• Needed Education.
• Work experience needed.
• On the Job Training (OJT).
• Number of jobs out there.
• Job prospects in the future.

These are all important questions for young people, in high school and college, looking for their future career.

Here is a typical table:

Quick Facts:	Accountants and Auditors
2018 Median Pay	$70,500 per year $33.89 per hour
Typical Entry-Level Education	Bachelor's degree
Work Experience in a Related Occupation	None
On-the-job Training	None
Number of Jobs, 2018	1,424,000
Job Outlook, 2018-28	6% (As fast as average)
Employment Change, 2018-28	90,700

The web page has a search feature in the upper right hand corner to allow for looking at various careers.

Parents and Grandparents, talk to the students in your lives.

Regards  —  Cliff

Women in the Workplace

For John, BLUF:  The history of the relations of the sexes has been fraught and has includes solutions that have included separations and restrictions.  We need better ways forward or we will end up with very rigid rules for interactions.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Women facing ‘massive increase in hostility’ in workplace, #MeToo-era study says

From The Boston Globe, by Ms Katie Johnston, 3 September 2019,.

Here is the lede plus one:

In the two years since the #MeToo movement took off, igniting a firestorm over sexual harassment in the workplace, another form of less incendiary but more insidious gender-based harassment has been building quietly.

Women say they are being subjected to sexism far more than they used to be, according to a new study out of the University of Colorado Boulder Leeds School of Business — even as they report less overt harassment, such as sexual coercion (“sleep with me and you’ll get a promotion”) and unwanted sexual attention (ogling or fondling).

Women are facing a “massive increase in hostility,” said Stefanie K. Johnson, the business professor who coauthored the study.&nsp; Research shows that people in power feel threatened when other groups rise up, as women have during the #MeToo era, and that men believe their status declines when women’s rises, which could cause some men to lash out.

“It’s not that the need to subjugate women goes away, I just think it takes a different form,” Johnson said.  “Rather than make sexual comments about women, men who are prone to sexually harass will just accuse women of being incompetent.”

The key is understanding what is happening.  Are men, on average, just hostile to women in the workplace, do they perceive that women are inferior or are mores just different, misunderstood or incompatible?  For sure, our current laws and culture call for men to give women an even break, and visa-versa.  At the same time, concern about women using the tools for fighting sexual harassment to achieve other ends causes men to act defensively.  We know, from history and our own experience, that change engenders hostility.  Mutual respect and trust should mitigate the hostility.

We need a truce, but that requires good faith on all sides.

Should we all be frank about our concerns or should we just muddle through, showing our distrust in other ways?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Sharing Dangerous Jobs

For John, BLUF:  Balancing equities between (among?) the sexes is important, but needs to be done with a certain humility on all parts.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Men die on the job more often than women, but no one cares

From The Washington Examiner, by Ms Nicole Russell, 11 December 2018.

Here is the lede plus one:

Monday was Human Rights Day.  While the definition of that seems to be ever-broadening, from contraception to healthcare, recent statistics cycling through the news again seem to provide a salient point about gender differences, the so-called “wage gap” and even human rights.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that, in 2015, men dominated the 20 most dangerous occupations in the United States.  Logging is the most dangerous job in the U.S., followed by fishing.  Mining is the 20th most dangerous profession.  More men than women occupied these jobs by anywhere from 85.4 to 99.9 percent.

I am not sure how we balance out the numbers in such career fields.  I am not sure we even want to.  I don't see how that makes us a better society.  And the numbers don't balance in the pain, cost and danger of childbirth, which, up to this point, is an exclusive female activity.

Yes, equal pay for equal work, but let us be fair in how we define the parts.  Should women be incorporated within the Dick Act?  Shouls women have to register for the draft?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Apparently You CAN Get Fired From A Federal Job

For John, BLUF:  A sort of underground journalism, doing the jobs credentialed journalists won't.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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DSA Resistance Leader Allison Hrabar 'No Longer an Employee' at DOJ

DSA Is Democratic Socialists of America.

From PJ Media, by Ms Debra Heine, 24 September 2018.

Here is the lede plus one:

The far-left Department of Justice employee who was caught on video saying that she couldn't get fired, apparently got fired.

In an undercover Project Veritas video, resistance leader Allison Hrabar admitted that she does research on the home addresses and license plates of private individuals so she and her socialist comrades can harass the individuals at their homes.

I hate to see someone fired.  On the other hand, I dislike people taking taxpayers' money under false pretenses.  And especially annoying is having folks occupying a desk, subverting the office mission, while denying a possible serious worker a job they would be happy to do, and do well.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Keep On Truckin'

For John, BLUF:  If we want to boost the economy some more we need more vocational education.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Where Have America’s Truck Drivers Gone?

Here is the sub-headline:

People want more stuff.  Regulations, retirements and a lack of parking spaces aren’t helping long-haul truckers get it to them.

From Bloomberg, by Ms Virginia Postrel, 24 June 2018.

Here is the punch line:

The U.S. trucking industry is short about 50,000 drivers, estimates Bob Costello, chief economist for the American Trucking Associations.  The driver shortage ranked first among industry concerns in the American Transportation Research Institute’s annual survey, released last October.

There are jobs out there, like for welders, and HVAC technicians, and truckers.  We just have to recruit and train up workers, men and women.

In our Commonwealth of Massachusetts we have about 5,400 students looking to get into technical high schools, who can't.  We need to spend the money to make this happen.  According to a Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center report it was cost $27 million.  I bet it will cost closer to $100 million, and be cheap at twice the price.  We just need the General Court to act.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Work From Home

For John, BLUF:  I don't think this applies to your line of work.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Working at Home

While I searched the Search Function of The [Lowell] Sun I can not find the URL (the Internet LINK) for graphic presentation on Monday's Page 10 (back of Section 1), "Working at Home.

The sub-headline says:

Most workers would like to telecommute, but few employers are in favor of it.

As a former manager, now retired, I don't think it is a great idea.  Workers rubbing up against each other is a good way of generating ideas and efficiencies.  That said, time lost in commuting isn't helping either the employee or the employer.

That said, I currently have a (volunteer) position, three or more hours a day, seven days a week and it is all on the internet.  I get together with my boss a couple of times a year and the "audience" (some of them) once a year.  It works very well.

Since our legislators are not likely to spend money on new highways, maybe it is time to ask them about improving the information highway in our Commonwealth, as a way of encouraging telecommuting and thus reducing road congestion.

Thanks to Reporter Kurt Snibbe, of Southern California News Group.

Regards  —  Cliff

Happy Labor Day

For John, BLUF:  Each of us benefits from a good work ethic.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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I hope we each focus, for a moment today, on the importance of work, of labor, for our nation, and for our own well being.

Regards  —  Cliff

Minimum Wage in Canada

For John, BLUF:  Doing bad while doing good.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Metro Looks to Automation to Offset Higher Ontario Minimum Wage

From The Canadian Press, 16 August 2017.

Metro being a food chain up in Canada.

Here is the first part of the article:

MONTREAL—Ontario’s third-largest grocery chain will accelerate its study of automation as it looks to cut costs to offset the provincial government’s plan to raise the minimum wage next year, the CEO of Metro Inc. said on Aug. 15.

Eric La Fleche said the industry is under the gun because there is little time to adjust to cost increases, especially when intensifying competition is straining margins.

Metro estimates an increase in the Ontario minimum wage to $14 per hour from the current rate of $11.40 will cost it about $45 million to $50 million on an annualized basis in 2018.&nbSp; The impact excludes any pressure to subsequently increase other salaries.

“It’s the pace that makes it a pretty big challenge, but we’re confident that we’ll find some offsets on our own,” La Fleche said during a conference call about its third-quarter results.

The chain said it hasn’t calculated the full impact when the minimum wage rises to $15 an hour in January 2019.

“As a team we will strive to mitigate this impact as much as we possibly can through productivity and cost reduction initiatives, but the size and pace of these increases pose a significant challenge,” La Fleche told analysts.

Does a minimum wage help or hurt workers as a whole?  I think it helps those who have jobs, but to the degree it encourages automation it leads to a lower Labor Participation Rate.

Regards  —  Cliff

Amazon and the Reduced Work Week

For John, BLUF:  While I have laughed at the French and their 35 hour work week in the past, I do think there is a place for this.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Amazon is piloting teams with a 30-hour workweek

Granted, for 75% of the pay of 40 hour workers.

So reports Karen Turner of The Washington Post.

The program will have a few technical teams made up entirely of part-time workers.  These 30-hour employees will be salaried and receive the same benefits as traditional 40-hour workers, but they will receive only 75 percent of the pay full-time workers earn.  Currently, the company employs part-time workers that share the same benefits as full-time workers.  However, the pilot program would differ in that an entire team, including managers, would work reduced hours.

…

"We want to create a work environment that is tailored to a reduced schedule and still fosters success and career growth," states a posting by the company on Eventbrite.com for an informational seminar.  "This initiative was created with Amazon's diverse workforce in mind and the realization that the traditional full-time schedule may not be a 'one size fits all' model."

I like it.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Economic Decisions Have Consequences

For John, BLUF:  Wasn't this supposed to go the other way?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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I just quote a post from Law Professor Gleenn Harlan Reynolds:

UNEXPECTEDLY!  CBO projects 2 million fewer jobs under ObamaCare.  Remember, if you predicted this back when the bill was under debate, media “fact checkers” would ask the White House if that was going to happen, then give you four Pinocchios when the White House said no.  And then call you racist.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Immigration vs US Employment

For John, BLUF:  The Republican Candidates are not all wrong here.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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From Buzz Feed we have "'All You Americans Are Fired'".  The investigative journalists for this longish piece are Ms Jessica Garrison, BuzzFeed News Reporter, Mr Ken Bensinger, BuzzFeed News Reporter, and Mr Jeremy Singer-Vine, BuzzFeed News Data Editor.

The lede:

The H-2 guest worker program, which brought in 150,000 legal foreign workers last year, isn’t supposed to deprive any American of a job.  But many businesses go to extraordinary lengths to deny jobs to U.S. workers so they can hire foreigners instead. A BuzzFeed News investigation.

This is not a good news story.  While I am a supporter of immigration and especially of the resettlement of refugees, the fact is that unless the US economy is growing (and it isn't♠), then this means Americans losing jobs.  Often minority Americans.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  By "it isn't" I mean that the U6 Unemployment numbers, while falling slowly month to month, are nearly double the number typically reported in news outlets, the U-3 unemployment rate. That is, more people dropping out of the work force (marginally attached).  They aren't all dropping out to go back to school or due to retirement.  Many of them are "discouraged workers".

Welfare and Personal Responsibility

For John, BLUF:  Daniel Patrick Moynihan was correct, back in the 1960s.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Captain Capitalism is a little cynical in his posting of this article from the Strib on the case of a missing two year old child.

Replacing Husbands With Government Checks

Actually, the father COULD be reached for comment, but he was in Chicago.

Regardless, this is what happens when the leftist dream is installed where women trade boring, reliable, employed husbands in for sexcapades with multiple losers and government checks.

I would be for legalization of drugs except for the fact that we have large parts of our population that lack self-discipline and the soft skills needed to gain and hold jobs.  If it is only a small percentage we can deal with it—after all, the poor will always be with us.  However, as the number of such people grows we eventually run out of other people's money.

The hard question is, how do you inspire the uninspired to do those kinds of things they have learned to avoid?  Can it be taught in a semester or is it a lifetime thing?  Is it reasonable to take away money when these people need that money to make it from week to week?  Is the answer to require them to show up some place five days a week, until they develop a pattern of showing up and it is second nature?  I have no answers, but neither, apparently, does the Federal Government.

Regards  —  Cliff

Which Employment Figures?

For John, BLUF:  Sometimes it is the numbers behind the numbers that count.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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From The International New York Times and reporters Nelson D Schwartz and Binyamin Appelbaum we have a generally positive view of the recently released US unemployment statistics, "Jobs Report Gives Ammunition to Both Sides of Fed Rate Debate".  Yes, the question is what is the Federal Reserve going to do, based on the employment rate.

Here is the lede:

Despite disappointing job growth last month, the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since early 2008, sharpening the debate within the Federal Reserve over whether to raise interest rates when policy makers meet in two weeks.

Friday’s report from the Labor Department — which found that employers added a weaker-than-expected 173,000 jobs in August while the official jobless rate dipped to 5.1 percent — provided fodder for both camps to make their cases.

Hello out there.  This should be about people being able to get jobs so they can afford shelter and food and clothing and health insurance and so on and so forth.

From CNS we have the rest of the story—"Record 94,031,000 Americans Not in Labor Force; Participation Rate Stuck at 38-Year Low for 3rd Straight Month".  The reporter is Ms Susan Jones.

Here is the CNS Lede:

A record 94,031,000 Americans were not in the American labor force last month — 261,000 more than July — and the labor force participation rate stayed stuck at 62.6 percent, a 38-year low, for a third straight month in August, the Labor Department reported on Friday, as the nation heads into the Labor Day weekend.

The number of Americans not in the labor force has continued to rise, partly because of retiring baby-boomers and fewer workers entering the workforce.

In August, according to BLS, the nation’s civilian noninstitutional population, consisting of all people 16 or older who were not in the military or an institution, reached 251,096,000. Of those, 157,065,000 participated in the labor force by either holding a job or actively seeking one.

So, of the 261,000 folks who were not in the labor force, a bunch were new retirees. But, some were folks who just dropped out.  In some cases those folks moved back in with their parents (or had never left).  But, they are not paying income taxes.  Which means the rest of us are helping to carry their share of the burden.  They need to be working, but that means we need to be creating more new jobs.

This is an important issue for the 2016 Presidential Election.

Hat tip to Memeorandum.

Regards  —  Cliff

Who Creates Jobs?

For John, BLUF:  Bob Dylan may think E Warren (and President Obama) is wrong.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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"Bob Dylan to AARP (!):  'The government's not going to create jobs.  It doesn't have to.'"

Hat tip to the Instapundit.

Regards  —  Cliff