Government

Employee trouble

My post of this afternoon centered around employees feeling like they are owed something, simply because they had been employees for a long time, even if those employees hadn’t done anything to improve themselves for (in some cases) decades. There is a reason for that post.

I was hired into a management position at a hospital. When I was hired, I got a lot of pushback. It seems that the employees of the department who had been there for a long time were upset that someone was brought in from the outside, and felt that the position should have gone to them, because they had been there for a long time. One employee told me that she felt like her 17 years there meant nothing and that I got that promotion simply because “I rode around in a truck for a few years.” I told her that it wasn’t just my time on an ambulance that mattered. It was my certifications, my four college degrees, my years of experience as a supervisor that landed me that position. I advised her that she should take advantage of our employer’s tuition reimbursement program, so she could be more qualified the next time a promotion became available. She quit a week later.

Other employees told me that they felt like our employer should pay more. I listened and went to management, who told me that they won’t pay more unless the employees gain a skill. I went back to my employees with a deal: I would help them learn the material to take an exam to earn a certification pertinent to our job, and if they passed the exam, our employer would give them a 20% raise. The cost of the exam is $200. I was willing to teach them on my own time.

The employees refused, saying that they would only take the class if they were on the clock, and refused to pay for the exam fees out of their own pocket. So to sum it up, they want a raise, more training, more certifications, and they want their employer to pay for it all. Why would any employer do all of that? It makes no economic sense. It would be cheaper to let you quit and hire more qualified employees.

If employees refuse to make themselves more valuable, how can they expect to make more money?

By Divemedic, ago

Everywhere

The Norwegian Defense force has established an all female special forces unit. Here are the physical requirements for entry: (translated- sorry if wrong)

Minimum physical requirements
2 body lifts (pull ups?)
20 push-ups
35 situps in 2 min
20 back lift
Swim 200 meters (10 meters under water)

Test on course beginning:

  • 7 km pack run with own bag of 22 kg
  • Outfit: sportswear and sneakers
  • Time requirements: 54 minutes

Before graduation:

  • 7 km pack run with handed out bag of 22 kg
  • Outfit: uniform, marching boots and weapons
  • Time requirements: 54 minutes

What requirements are there for male special forces?

So the female special forces candidates wouldn’t come close to qualifying for the male version. Even the weighted march is easier, because the women the men must travel 30km to the women’s 7km. Well, what are the requirements for basic troops, men and women?

Note that women who qualify for special forces in Norway would have to complete 2 pull ups, 20 push ups, and 35 sit ups, which would barely be a “passing” grade for men who AREN’T special forces. Compare it to the entry test for the US Army Ranger school:

Every country that permits women lowers the requirements. They have to. This is unfair to the women who go into combat and must face the reality of combat that they are simply not physically prepared for.

By Divemedic, ago

Some people are just evil

Here is a case of a 14 year old evil person, who killed his 13 year old classmate. Some want to make sense of it, and I just don’t even try. To try and understand some things is to invite yourself to become like them.

Whenever someone asks me why people can do things to others, that is what I tell them: “Some people are just evil. The things that they do to other people don’t make sense to you, because you aren’t evil. Those people are broken, and that is why they do the things they do. “

I may not want to understand them, but I *do* know how to keep them from doing it again. It seems odd for me to say, because- I am opposed to the death penalty. Why? Because I don’t trust our court system not to do underhanded things like hide exculpatory evidence or manufacture evidence, not because I oppose the concept.

By Divemedic, ago

Power is Abused

Way back in 2008, I wrote on my blog about the threat that the Patriot act posed to this country. Less than a year later, I warned people that President Obama was expanding the definition of ‘terrorist’ so he could use his powers under the Patriot Act against the right.

As far back as 2009, then President Obama went so far as to say that veterans of the US military were a potential terrorist threat. Some Veterans’ groups even defended the President’s statements.

Glen M. Gardner Jr., national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, disputed claims that Homeland Security analysts were describing veterans as terror threats.

“The report should have been worded differently, but it made no blanket accusation that every soldier was capable of being a traitor like Benedict Arnold, or every veteran could be a lone wolf, homegrown terrorist like Timothy McVeigh,” said Gardner, a Marine veteran from Round Rock, Texas. “It was just an assessment about possibilities that could take place.”

It wasn’t long after that when President Obama declared that American citizens could be targeted for assassination without trial, as long as he declared them to be terrorists. Here is what was said at the time:

The director of national intelligence affirmed rather bluntly today that the U.S. intelligence community has authority to target American citizens for assassination if they present a direct terrorist threat to the United States. According to U.S. officials, only a handful of Americans would be eligible for targeting by U.S. intelligence or military operations. The legal guidance is determined by the National Security Council and the Justice Department.

It wasn’t just veterans- Christians were also targeted with the terrorist label. Those warnings went unheeded.

We didn’t have to wait long to see things escalate. Here we are, under the very next Democratic President, and veterans are again the enemy. The press is touting the danger. The President is claiming that police and veterans are white supremacists who pose a terror threat to the country.

So what is he going to do about it? A hint lies across the Pacific, in China. The Chinese government has been training its computer hackers to develop exploits that it can use against its citizens and other nations. It has done so by prohibiting its hackers from international competition. This tactic was used to great effect in tracking down Uyghur Muslims, sending them to camps, and generally being the asshoe that it is.

Back in January, Biden hired a former GWOT spook to head up his use of government power in the planned war on the right. The idea is Orwellian. Picture this: The government is prohibited from searching your home without a warrant. It says so, right there in the Bill of Rights. The brilliant idea they come up with is to hire a burglar to break into your house, steal your papers, and then give them to the police. That is part of the brilliant plan.

The government’s position is that they are free to hire people under contract to circumvent the protections of the Constitution, and as long as those people are not actually on the government payroll, this is completely constitutional. No sane court would uphold that idea. So of course, they need to pack the court.

They are using private companies as well as government agencies- the post office and Internet providers, for example, to spy on Americans. Just like the Chinese are doing.

Once that is done, well ANYTHING is permissible. After all, those evil veterans are all white supremacists, they are demented, and they deserve whatever happens to them, according to the President’s own comments in February. Read it for yourself, here is a link to the transcript:

And you see what’s happening, the studies that are beginning to be done, maybe at your university as well, about the impact of former military, former police officers, on — on the growth of white supremacy in some of these groups.

You may remember, in one of my debates with the former president, I asked him to condemn the Proud Boys and he wouldn’t do it. He said “Stand by,” stand ready, or whatever the phrase exactly was.

It is a bane on our existence. It has always been. As Lincoln said, we have to appeal to our better angels, and these guys are not — and women — are, in fact, demented. They are dangerous people.

When I said 12 years ago that the powers from the war on terror would be used against American citizens, I was told it couldn’t happen. Now I am warning you that drone strikes, summary executions, and concentration camps are coming. Please listen this time, before it is too late.

By Divemedic, ago