EV vehicles

[Oz22]

Well that's how the world works isn't it Claude, it's so bloated now with extraneous services, everyone wanting their share of an ever decreasing pie. We're used to being shafted by mechanics and plumbers and can see it with insurance companies and doctors etc, but I think the average person doesn't realize that this greed and corruption is endemic to the entire 'system'. It's built in to every product and service nearly as everyone tries to "level-up" and get richer.

But in the end this wont matter to the younger generations. They are content spending their lives in a small screen, learning the latest meme, learning everything from their ticktock peers and their mainstream news feeds. They are already at the stage of "owning nothing and being happy" so what does it matter if they can never afford a house? That was our generation, the peaceful years, the boom years of the late 20th century. 100 years ago they were living in a very similar world as today, lots of new technology, lots of credit lines, booming stock market, everyone mortgaged to the eyeballs, new cars everywhere all bought on debt. They were on the cusp of the Great Depression, a decade of misery for many, then 5 years of total war. Cycles, economic cycles, war cycles, interest rate cycles. We're just on the Ferris wheel going around and around. I'm Happy

Beautiful car BTW

 

[Bumblebee]

Well that's how the world works isn't it Claude, it's so bloated now with extraneous services, everyone wanting their share of an ever decreasing pie. We're used to being shafted by mechanics and plumbers and can see it with insurance companies and doctors etc, but I think the average person doesn't realize that this greed and corruption is endemic to the entire 'system'. It's built in to every product and service nearly as everyone tries to "level-up" and get richer.

Don't forget the real estate people driving the price of houses through the roof....

10 yrs ago houses on my street which could be had for high $200K are now demanding over $600K nearer to $700K

Greed has more people homeless or not able to buy houses and having to rent.

 

[TallTom]

Don't forget the real estate people driving the price of houses through the roof....

10 yrs ago houses on my street which could be had for high $200K are now demanding over $600K nearer to $700K

Greed has more people homeless or not able to buy houses and having to rent.

So here's the thing on housing. If people didn't buy at those prices. We wouldn't have those prices.

My first house I bought in So Cal in the 80s. 84 to be exact. I was 23 years old. And watched prices go up every month by like $1000. I used my VA benefits. Interest rates were double digits. I want to remember it to be like 12%.

It was terrifying to see what the all in payment was going to be every month. I took on side jobs. Worked any bonuses at work I could. Found a way. It's just what you did I couldn't splurge on cars, vacations, high end food etc. Thankfully I owned a Toyota clear and it never broke down.

It was lean for about 2 years. But by year 3 I had room to breath a little. I held that property for 4 years. Sold it for 3 times I paid for it. It sold in about 6 hours when I sold it.

So it's not really any different now than it was then. Sacrifice doesn't seem to be in the youths vocabulary these days. Or rather it's defined differently.

We have a former president who got properties appraised, got loans, paid them off and not one bank complained or found fault in it.

At the same time we have youth signing contracts of debt for school loans, don't like having to repay it, so the current prez wants to forgive that debt. So we can thank politics for redefining the word sacrifice too.

 

[jellyrug]

10 yrs ago houses on my street which could be had for high $200K are now demanding over $600K nearer to $700K

I did not know you can still buy a house in Canada for under a million.

I use to travel to one of our factories in Toronto often and a one bedroom apartment was over a million.

 

[Bumblebee]

I did not know you can still buy a house in Canada for under a million.

I use to travel to one of our factories in Toronto often and a one bedroom apartment was over a million.

Toronto prices are outlandish....

Same as most of our large cities...

Even this hick town I live in has many homes over a $million and not much below $400K

I don't know how they sell as there seems to be help wanted signs on each and every store I go into.

 

[Bumblebee]

So here's the thing on housing. If people didn't buy at those prices. We wouldn't have those prices.

My first house I bought in So Cal in the 80s. 84 to be exact. I was 23 years old. And watched prices go up every month by like $1000. I used my VA benefits. Interest rates were double digits. I want to remember it to be like 12%.

It was terrifying to see what the all in payment was going to be every month. I took on side jobs. Worked any bonuses at work I could. Found a way. It's just what you did I couldn't splurge on cars, vacations, high end food etc. Thankfully I owned a Toyota clear and it never broke down.

It was lean for about 2 years. But by year 3 I had room to breath a little. I held that property for 4 years. Sold it for 3 times I paid for it. It sold in about 6 hours when I sold it.

So it's not really any different now than it was then. Sacrifice doesn't seem to be in the youths vocabulary these days. Or rather it's defined differently.

We have a former president who got properties appraised, got loans, paid them off and not one bank complained or found fault in it.

At the same time we have youth signing contracts of debt for school loans, don't like having to repay it, so the current prez wants to forgive that debt. So we can thank politics for redefining the word sacrifice too.

Agreed, people are buying but it's the real estate people who set the prices they are paying...all out of greed.....

Pretty much all the real estate people here are millionaires.....

Also agreed that this generation seem to be the "I want it all now" generation.....lots of big pickups, SUVs, boats, ATVs and all the other toys sitting in their driveways and as soon as anything goes asunder.....the for sale signs come out quickly....

When I joined the military in the early '80s we didn't get paid much but I was single living in the barracks and didn't have a car but did have a motorcycle....I walked in the winter but thankfully in those days we were always deployed so I never spent any money on anything.

Even after I got married in the early '90s we only had one car, I bicycled or motorcycled leaving the car for the wife who worked off base.

We were married almost 10 yrs before we got a second car.

When I retired, our house and vehicles were all paid off so we have no payments on anything and my wife is still working so that helps and my pension is higher than the average salary around here.

 

[TallTom]

Agreed, people are buying but it's the real estate people who set the prices they are paying...all out of greed.....

Pretty much all the real estate people here are millionaires.....

Also agreed that this generation seem to be the "I want it all now" generation.....lots of big pickups, SUVs, boats, ATVs and all the other toys sitting in their driveways and as soon as anything goes asunder.....the for sale signs come out quickly....

When I joined the military in the early '80s we didn't get paid much but I was single living in the barracks and didn't have a car but did have a motorcycle....I walked in the winter but thankfully in those days we were always deployed so I never spent any money on anything.

Even after I got married in the early '90s we only had one car, I bicycled or motorcycled leaving the car for the wife who worked off base.

We were married almost 10 yrs before we got a second car.

When I retired, our house and vehicles were all paid off so we have no payments on anything and my wife is still working so that helps and my pension is higher than the average salary around here.

The military offers so much for your people. But Dear Lord that means a commitment. I've recently been in convos with 3 different branches young officers. One Coast Guard. One Navy. One Air Force.

I'll start with Navy. My niece in law. Wanted to be a doctor. More specifically a spinal surgeon. From high school she did a deal with the Navy. If they paid her school she owed them enlistment. She did her University and Med School in civilian schools. Her residency and enlistment started upon that graduation. She's in her 3rd year of surgical residency at Walter Reed. When complete she goes straight to Naval bases for 6 more years of enlistment

They just closed on a 900K house in Wash D.C. Not bad for their first house. My neighbor retired Army has his own airplane. One weekend he has a young fellow over for a BBQ. I got talking to him. In his 2nd year of flight school as a 2nd Lt. Single. Lives on base. Has no bills. Free housing. Free medical. Free clothing. Free pilot training. With flight pay he clears 50K/yr.

Find that in a civilian job!

Last one Coast Guard. 31 year old female. Joined at 24. She is the site Commander for their fast response boat (ship/craft whatever you call an 8 man crew and one captain solid hull fast craft that responds to distress and search and rescue. She also is in charge of their little station. I got a tour. It's like living in a college dorm. Except you are literally right on the water.

In a year she gets promoted to 1st officer on a Cutter. 2 years of that and he get her captain position on her own Cutter.

She loves the CG and clearly states nowhere else could she ever hope to do this well as a female.

None of these kids are exceptional. They just aren't afraid to make a commitment/investment in the military. They will all have a pretty decent life because of it.

So we do have some good future generation young folks. I wish more would get over this whole "Oh gosh I have to commit to the military" mentality. 10 years goes by before you know it.

 

[Bumblebee]

The military offers so much for your people. But Dear Lord that means a commitment. I've recently been in convos with 3 different branches young officers. One Coast Guard. One Navy. One Air Force.

I'll start with Navy. My niece in law. Wanted to be a doctor. More specifically a spinal surgeon. From high school she did a deal with the Navy. If they paid her school she owed them enlistment. She did her University and Med School in civilian schools. Her residency and enlistment started upon that graduation. She's in her 3rd year of surgical residency at Walter Reed. When complete she goes straight to Naval bases for 6 more years of enlistment

They just closed on a 900K house in Wash D.C. Not bad for their first house. My neighbor retired Army has his own airplane. One weekend he has a young fellow over for a BBQ. I got talking to him. In his 2nd year of flight school as a 2nd Lt. Single. Lives on base. Has no bills. Free housing. Free medical. Free clothing. Free pilot training. With flight pay he clears 50K/yr.

Find that in a civilian job!

Last one Coast Guard. 31 year old female. Joined at 24. She is the site Commander for their fast response boat (ship/craft whatever you call an 8 man crew and one captain solid hull fast craft that responds to distress and search and rescue. She also is in charge of their little station. I got a tour. It's like living in a college dorm. Except you are literally right on the water.

In a year she gets promoted to 1st officer on a Cutter. 2 years of that and he get her captain position on her own Cutter.

She loves the CG and clearly states nowhere else could she ever hope to do this well as a female.

None of these kids are exceptional. They just aren't afraid to make a commitment/investment in the military. They will all have a pretty decent life because of it.

So we do have some good future generation young folks. I wish more would get over this whole "Oh gosh I have to commit to the military" mentality. 10 years goes by before you know it.

I was surprised that both my sons joined as they saw the life I lived always deploying and most times at a moment's notice and could be gone for months...I figured they would shy away from that.

But one joined the air force fixing naval helicopters and the other guy joined the artillery...both are excelling and say it's pretty easy considering how lazy their peers are......it was all good until they got into leadership positions and have to now motivate these people.....one boy said it's like herding cats.....

 

[Claude J. Greengrass]

So here's the thing on housing. If people didn't buy at those prices. We wouldn't have those prices.

My first house I bought in So Cal in the 80s. 84 to be exact. I was 23 years old. And watched prices go up every month by like $1000. I used my VA benefits. Interest rates were double digits. I want to remember it to be like 12%.

It was terrifying to see what the all in payment was going to be every month. I took on side jobs. Worked any bonuses at work I could. Found a way. It's just what you did I couldn't splurge on cars, vacations, high end food etc. Thankfully I owned a Toyota clear and it never broke down.

It was lean for about 2 years. But by year 3 I had room to breath a little. I held that property for 4 years. Sold it for 3 times I paid for it. It sold in about 6 hours when I sold it.

So it's not really any different now than it was then. Sacrifice doesn't seem to be in the youths vocabulary these days. Or rather it's defined differently.

We have a former president who got properties appraised, got loans, paid them off and not one bank complained or found fault in it.

At the same time we have youth signing contracts of debt for school loans, don't like having to repay it, so the current prez wants to forgive that debt. So we can thank politics for redefining the word sacrifice too.

From another angle about sacrifice, both my children, now students at their masters degrees, were brought at the edge of burnout in secondary school (~ college for north Americans), in university too, and now they are only interested in finding a satisfactory job to have free time! Me, in my youth, I sought (and found) a fab job, with professional prestige and excitement, money was scarce but I went along and I felt accomplished.
The key difference is that in my youth I had plenty of time to dedicate to anything. For my kids, mobile phones, internet and digital bureaucracies were compulsory duties since the very early primary school times, so they forcibly sacrificed their own childhood and time already, without consent or alternative. It is only natural to now only seek a humble lifestyle, hoping to get some life only! Just another angle...

 

[Claude J. Greengrass]

I was surprised that both my sons joined as they saw the life I lived always deploying and most times at a moment's notice and could be gone for months...I figured they would shy away from that.

But one joined the air force fixing naval helicopters and the other guy joined the artillery...both are excelling and say it's pretty easy considering how lazy their peers are......it was all good until they got into leadership positions and have to now motivate these people.....one boy said it's like herding cats.....

Management (when it is for real) is tough, as, according to the best management book The Mafia Manager : A Guide to the Corporate Machiavelli , 99% of the workforce is useless! The real manager, is working twice as much, and bears the responsibility for own staff...

 

[Claude J. Greengrass]

The military offers so much for your people. But Dear Lord that means a commitment. I've recently been in convos with 3 different branches young officers. One Coast Guard. One Navy. One Air Force.

I'll start with Navy. My niece in law. Wanted to be a doctor. More specifically a spinal surgeon. From high school she did a deal with the Navy. If they paid her school she owed them enlistment. She did her University and Med School in civilian schools. Her residency and enlistment started upon that graduation. She's in her 3rd year of surgical residency at Walter Reed. When complete she goes straight to Naval bases for 6 more years of enlistment

They just closed on a 900K house in Wash D.C. Not bad for their first house. My neighbor retired Army has his own airplane. One weekend he has a young fellow over for a BBQ. I got talking to him. In his 2nd year of flight school as a 2nd Lt. Single. Lives on base. Has no bills. Free housing. Free medical. Free clothing. Free pilot training. With flight pay he clears 50K/yr.

Find that in a civilian job!

Last one Coast Guard. 31 year old female. Joined at 24. She is the site Commander for their fast response boat (ship/craft whatever you call an 8 man crew and one captain solid hull fast craft that responds to distress and search and rescue. She also is in charge of their little station. I got a tour. It's like living in a college dorm. Except you are literally right on the water.

In a year she gets promoted to 1st officer on a Cutter. 2 years of that and he get her captain position on her own Cutter.

She loves the CG and clearly states nowhere else could she ever hope to do this well as a female.

None of these kids are exceptional. They just aren't afraid to make a commitment/investment in the military. They will all have a pretty decent life because of it.

So we do have some good future generation young folks. I wish more would get over this whole "Oh gosh I have to commit to the military" mentality. 10 years goes by before you know it.

Military is interesting, but me I was never too keen... you see, when I pull the trigger it is my decision, but in the military it is the decision of my CO! Besides, I had seen that much corruption in the Navy (procurement) and was warned too by an admiral to watch out, not try to grass anybody without backup, or face... unpleasant developments, that it did not stay long that dream in my mind!

 

[Claude J. Greengrass]

Don't forget the real estate people driving the price of houses through the roof....

10 yrs ago houses on my street which could be had for high $200K are now demanding over $600K nearer to $700K

Greed has more people homeless or not able to buy houses and having to rent.

Real estate is orchestrated by the lobby of banks-insurances-funds, I suspect.

 

[Bumblebee]

Military is interesting, but me I was never too keen... you see, when I pull the trigger it is my decision, but in the military it is the decision of my CO! Besides, I had seen that much corruption in the Navy (procurement) and was warned too by an admiral to watch out, not try to grass anybody without backup, or face... unpleasant developments, that it did not stay long that dream in my mind!

Whenever I squeezed the trigger, it was my decision....our commanders gave us the tools to make these decisions through rules of engagement, the laws of armed conflict, and mission perimeters, we didn't just go "willie, nillie" out there shooting everything in sight.

The concept of the military is for a layer of leadership with oversight to keep things on the up and up, corruption in a modern, western military is impossible. In our military subordinates are encouraged to speak out against abuse of power and questionable leaders and leadership. This will avoid a "Colonel Kurtz" (Apocalypse Now) building an empire within the military.

 

[Bumblebee]

Real estate is orchestrated by the lobby of banks-insurances-funds, I suspect.

......and regulated for maximum profit......it's shocking at how fast home/land prices have climbed over the past few years......

 

[jellyrug]

From another angle about sacrifice, both my children, now students at their masters degrees, were brought at the edge of burnout in secondary school (~ college for north Americans), in university too, and now they are only interested in finding a satisfactory job to have free time!

Interesting to hear, I thought maybe things have changed. Took me 7 years of sacrifice, one of those in your country and I had to work my butt of just to get passing grades. Many 11 o’clock nights of study. There was not a lot of time left to attend protests or college parties. The job which followed demanded even more study and training and sacrifice.

In contrast, I put my son through university here in the good o’l US. He had a blast. First two years even got college credits for guitar lessons.

 

[Claude J. Greengrass]

Whenever I squeezed the trigger, it was my decision....our commanders gave us the tools to make these decisions through rules of engagement, the laws of armed conflict, and mission perimeters, we didn't just go "willie, nillie" out there shooting everything in sight.

The concept of the military is for a layer of leadership with oversight to keep things on the up and up, corruption in a modern, western military is impossible. In our military subordinates are encouraged to speak out against abuse of power and questionable leaders and leadership. This will avoid a "Colonel Kurtz" (Apocalypse Now) building an empire within the military.

History demonstrates that armed forces are always available and deployed thousand of miles away from home territory to fulfil strategic and financial interests not defense. A soldier, cannot reject the orders of the hierarchy without facing court martial. Didn't happen to me, fortunately, but it could. About the western military's impossibility of corruption... again, I know differently but I cannot share my own experiences. It wouldn't however take long to discover cases, and there are too many stories of the current head of an international body having excelled in financial fraud as a defense secretary in the previous - national - position. But I prefer keeping my mind to the new tires, I expect mounting in two weeks ;-)

 

[Claude J. Greengrass]

......and regulated for maximum profit......it's shocking at how fast home/land prices have climbed over the past few years......

Correct, because career politicians have since a long substituted their conscience with discipline! No independent humans to check legislation and rules.

 

[Bumblebee]

History demonstrates that armed forces are always available and deployed thousand of miles away from home territory to fulfil strategic and financial interests not defense. A soldier, cannot reject the orders of the hierarchy without facing court martial. Didn't happen to me, fortunately, but it could. About the western military's impossibility of corruption... again, I know differently but I cannot share my own experiences. It wouldn't however take long to discover cases, and there are too many stories of the current head of an international body having excelled in financial fraud as a defense secretary in the previous - national - position. But I prefer keeping my mind to the new tires, I expect mounting in two weeks ;-)

Militaries have the ability to project force and defend the sovereignty of nations whether at home or abroad.....many times the armies of the west are used to defend the rights of others against oppression or fight against global terrorism. In most often times other than extreme circumstances, militaries are voluntary and of course they need to follow orders...that's a given.....how those orders are executed is up to the commander on the ground (unless we are under UN control).

Western militaries fight a 3 block war which consists of warfighting, providing humanitarian aid and peacekeeping which could all be used during one engagement. The unit I was in had a very specific function but even we followed this doctrine when needed.

As a unit leader, I had the ability execute the orders I received in such a manner as to reflect the changes in my mission perimeters....we weren't robots and were expected to think on the fly.

There were and are many layers and oversights in place to avoid corruption. The Canadian military conducts many inspections of financial, material and personnel to ensure compliance and regulations/directions are being followed....there leaves zero room for someone to say siphon off the books for economic gain.

Even our governing body has an oversight watch dog ensuring they are compliant....the penalties are harsh if any corruption is discovered. We may have jack-asses in charge but they aren't corrupt jack-asses....not here anyway....

 

[Claude J. Greengrass]

Militaries have the ability to project force and defend the sovereignty of nations whether at home or abroad.....many times the armies of the west are used to defend the rights of others against oppression or fight against global terrorism. In most often times other than extreme circumstances, militaries are voluntary and of course they need to follow orders...that's a given.....how those orders are executed is up to the commander on the ground (unless we are under UN control).

Western militaries fight a 3 block war which consists of warfighting, providing humanitarian aid and peacekeeping which could all be used during one engagement. The unit I was in had a very specific function but even we followed this doctrine when needed.

As a unit leader, I had the ability execute the orders I received in such a manner as to reflect the changes in my mission perimeters....we weren't robots and were expected to think on the fly.

There were and are many layers and oversights in place to avoid corruption. The Canadian military conducts many inspections of financial, material and personnel to ensure compliance and regulations/directions are being followed....there leaves zero room for someone to say siphon off the books for economic gain.

Even our governing body has an oversight watch dog ensuring they are compliant....the penalties are harsh if any corruption is discovered. We may have jack-asses in charge but they aren't corrupt jack-asses....not here anyway....

Good to have a say. NATO pilots unfortunately didn't have much chance when ordered to bomb civilians, and despite communicating back that the alleged military target was a passenger train, they received the instruction to execute nevertheless the order! But hierarchy is not everywhere, every time bad, as the Dutch boots on the ground (and their CO) refuted the accusations against the Serbian army and did not take part in any offensive action.
However, to date, peacekeeping troops there, are in reality illegal occupiers of a sovereign country and the intervention remains illegal under international law.
Another case of wearing the uniform is the liquidation of an innocent Brazilian: under the leadership of (Cressida bobo - Wikipedia), special branch shot to death in 2005 the target (eight times with frangible ammo, used also for the steel challenge discipline); allegedly (intelligence) he was a terrorist and bomber, no question asked (Stockwell shooting case).
This commanding officer subsequently won the following honors:

• Order of the British Empire (DBE)
• Queen's Police Medal (QPM)
• Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal
• Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
• Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal
• Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal

The family of the deceased obtained a "non-illegal manslaughter" verdict.

My conclusion is, no matter how many safeguards one can rely on, bad things happened and will happen.
Best, not being there (as many contractors kept saying while doing tactical training).


PS strange that the server insists of changing the surname of the British police officer

 

[Bumblebee]

Good to have a say. NATO pilots unfortunately didn't have much chance when ordered to bomb civilians, and despite communicating back that the alleged military target was a passenger train, they received the instruction to execute nevertheless the order! But hierarchy is not everywhere, every time bad, as the Dutch boots on the ground (and their CO) refuted the accusations against the Serbian army and did not take part in any offensive action.
However, to date, peacekeeping troops there, are in reality illegal occupiers of a sovereign country and the intervention remains illegal under international law.
Another case of wearing the uniform is the liquidation of an innocent Brazilian: under the leadership of (Cressida bobo - Wikipedia), special branch shot to death in 2005 the target (eight times with frangible ammo, used also for the steel challenge discipline); allegedly (intelligence) he was a terrorist and bomber, no question asked (Stockwell shooting case).
This commanding officer subsequently won the following honors:

• Order of the British Empire (DBE)
• Queen's Police Medal (QPM)
• Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal
• Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
• Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal
• Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal

The family of the deceased obtained a "non-illegal manslaughter" verdict.

My conclusion is, no matter how many safeguards one can rely on, bad things happened and will happen.
Best, not being there (as many contractors kept saying while doing tactical training).


PS strange that the server insists of changing the surname of the British police officer

Unless you were part of the mission brief, you don't know the entire story behind the order for the pilot's mission and that train.....it's not like the enemy hasn't used varying ruses before. Higher HQ most likely had intel on that train of which the pilots wouldn't be privy to.

Four of those medals described are "gimme" medals and not really earned in the same sense as the "Order of the British Empire" which an actual write up has to be filed with justification and sent to a review board to get that honor....

The police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal is given just for staying in the service of the country for so many years.

.....and when we gave the various "Jubilee" medals to Canadian troops, we almost just put their names in a hat and drew one out to give the medal....people who weren't even through basic training got one of those medals......in reality they mean nothing. I'd wager it's a similar process there.

War is not pretty nor is it something revered....somehow it has become an evil we live with due to the fact evil people and governments exist....

I'm not privy to what the Dutch military did while engaged in Serbia.....if the UN was involved, I highly doubt it was an illegal occupation as there is a charter which is signed and any UN mission is signed off by a league of nations.....for the most part they aren't welcomed by one of the forces they are patrolling on...that is to be expected..

I do know when I was involved in the war in the Balkans, it was a nasty, nasty conflict of which many atrocities were committed by all sides (Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian) alike.....many more citizens would have been, raped and butchered if it wasn't for the western forces intervening.