Posts by hollowmason64

Alex Roberts4 said:Honestly, the department heads aren't even the real issue here. From what I can see, they’ve all been swapped out for "acting" directors anyway. They aren't even opening up real job postings because, let’s be real, Eric Adams clearly doesn't have anyone left to install as his "loyalists." You guys actually believe these city job openings are transparent? Like anyone can just apply and get it? Just look at that new guy running Education. Whose crony is he? He barely knows the first thing about managing a massive municipal department...

And even if he does appoint permanent heads, so what? Half the old guard is still sitting pretty in high-level positions across every single agency. They basically rigged the whole restructuring just to keep their seats. It's absolute bottom-of-the-barrel stuff. And he just let it happen... all while the actual day-to-day operations are falling apart at the seams. Don't worry, though—I'm sure the dead weight in those offices isn't going anywhere. Why would they? There's zero work left to do. Who's to blame? He watched this happening for years; he knows exactly what's going on, yet here we are...

Are you actually suggesting that Adams doesn't have his own people from the party to appoint? Seriously?
And regarding the whole transparency issue—do you actually have any proof that people can't just step up and apply if they meet the requirements? I mean, how many of those job openings have you actually put your hat in the ring for?

Gary Cox2 said:But honestly, being "honest" doesn't change the reality that the clock is ticking. By the time he's halfway through his term, all the high-quality talent actually worth having will have moved on. They might have stepped up if he’d just made the call at the start.

Whether it’s ethical or not is irrelevant when you look at it from the perspective of the candidates. It’s basic logic. Nobody is going to jump into a job opening when they see they've only got two years left on the clock versus four.

The longer this drags on, the more it scares off anyone actually qualified enough to take the reins.

They've got a point there. Honestly, if I had my way, I’d want things moving faster too—even if we had to go all in with John and deal with whatever fallout comes our way down the road.

Quincy:

I’ve been thinking about how much things change over time, you know? It’s funny how we look back at certain eras and realize how different everything felt then compared to now. I was sitting on my porch the other day, just watching the neighborhood go by, and it hit me—life moves so fast, but sometimes it feels like we're just standing still in the middle of all that motion. It’s a weird balance to strike, trying to stay grounded while the world keeps spinning faster and faster. Anyway, just some random thoughts crossing my mind this afternoon. Hope everyone is having a decent one. kaže: Honestly, I think I actually teared up a little bit while I was typing that all out. 😁

I’m pretty sure anyone with even a shred of literacy would have been moved to tears by what you wrote.

jadetinker85 said:That doctor had her contract extended several times before this. In April, she filed for another extension, but they only gave her 70 days. Why would a woman work only during the summer months? So, she just took retirement. Now the clinic is effectively dissolved, and instead of patients being transferred to a new physician, people are left hanging in limbo with their medical records locked away in the Community Health Center administration office.🤷 If you start having coronary symptoms now, you can't get testing or even sick leave. It’s absurd.
We should follow the lead of places like Norway and let employees take three days off once a year to just vent to their boss, no doctors' notes or paperwork required.

Once again—what does any of this have to do with Adams?

Jose Campbell2 said:Why say he "pulled through"? He’s still barking way above his weight class 😁

Man, you really sound like you're looking for a fight. ☕

Sam Wright21 said:It’s not as if you have any real clue what’s going on anyway 🤷

None at all, because he hasn't the slightest inkling of what his various municipal departments are actually doing. It’s perfectly standard for a mayor to be completely out of the loop.

If we were to tally up the number of cards played here, you would undoubtedly come out on top.

Look, we can't all be walking encyclopedias like you.

Because he clearly hasn't a clue what the various city departments are actually doing. It's totally standard for a mayor to be out of the loop on those details.

Do you honestly believe it's the Mayor's job to be auditing which doctors are due for retirement?

Gary Cox2 said:Mil Milkovich had competitions out for department heads and deputies just "a month" after the election. Look, I'm not defending him, but Mil Milkovich needs to get those department head openings filled ASAP.

As for deputies? They clearly aren't planning on hiring them. My guess is they won't even have them—just department heads and sector managers running around in these newly reorganized offices.

But it worries me. Time is slipping away, and honestly, it feels stupid to even hold these competitions a full year before a term ends. Time flies, and a whole year has already vanished. No one would bother doing this now. What can anyone actually accomplish in a single year? Nothing.

Sure, terms last four years, but once the administration shifts, you know you're basically out of luck and usually end up handing over the keys.

Frank Urban only ran those competitions for show. He already had his people picked out for those spots, regardless of whether they actually met the requirements or not.
That's exactly why Lovrić ended up in that role—even though he didn't meet the criteria. Frank Urban would just cancel the official search and appoint him as an acting director. That was his whole playbook throughout his term.
I guess Eric Adams' only real mistake is trying to do things the honest way.

Sam Wright21 said:It’s hardly some deep state conspiracy, really; it's only a secret if you happen to be living inside the heads of TT and his inner circle. 🤷

While it might be an easy target for the disillusioned Republican Party crowd and their endless chorus of pundits, the actual crisis lies elsewhere: in the growing number of voters who feel let down by TT.

Even if they haven't managed to commit any blatant theft just yet, being mediocre isn't enough to sustain a mandate. When you fail to produce anything of substance, entropy inevitably sets in, and things simply start to rot.

Out of everyone who cast a vote for them, you’re the one and only person I know for sure who’s feeling disillusioned.

cosmicskipper39 said:Look, New York City is the founder and owner of those health clinics.
The owner picks the Board of Directors, and then they're the ones who appoint the clinic director.

I get who the owner is, but I still haven't received an answer—what does Eric Adams have to do with a general practitioner's pension?

Jose Campbell2 said:Statistically, it's ten times less than Sam Wright21's!

That's 100% true.

What else would they be doing?
They want back in power—or at least to grab as much control as possible—and they have plenty of people lined up to help them do just that.

And we all know how much ethics weigh on them. 😁

You managed to wiggle 😁

Olivia Stewart2 said:This makes for excellent political marketing: branding a single party as inherently corrupt. In politics, anything goes, so I suppose this is no exception. However, if we look at the reality of the situation, this thesis would struggle under any serious scrutiny. How is it possible that the dregs of society, motivated purely by self-interest, all seem to gravitate toward the Republican Party, while other parties are left with nothing but honorable idealists and straight shooters? It is the same nation, the same history, the same institutions, and even the same foundational roots—they are all tied together by the FBI—yet some mysterious force compels these specific people toward the Republican Party. To my mind, there are two logical explanations. First, to steal, you must hold power. Once you are in power, even if you start with pure intentions, you are exposed to temptations, pressures, and the weight of old debts, which causes even the most upright individuals—like a former Democrat such as Ed Koch or the reformist Bernie Sanders—to eventually succumb. Furthermore, corruption scandals usually break through media investigations, and since the media tends to be activist and left-leaning, they choose their targets selectively. For instance, the Clinton-Lewinsky affair was notoriously difficult to push into the mainstream, and the Vrdoljak-Gazprom connections aren't discussed nearly enough either. If people actually started digging, quite a few individuals associated with the current administration would find themselves in hot water. Over time, there will likely be more...

The level of corruption in America is exactly what one would expect from a North American, post-communist state. A territory caught between empires, weakened institutions throughout its history, and a heavy legacy of Ottoman influence.....

It’s not marketing at all; it’s just a plain old fact. And honestly, the Republican Party basically branded themselves as corrupt. There isn't an agency in the world that could pull off that kind of branding—making the entire country believe they're just a massive nest of crooks and criminals.
And no, everything isn't allowed in politics. Nothing is ever truly "anything goes," and there have to be some boundaries somewhere.

And let's be clear, it's not like everyone in the other parties is a saint. You'll find shady characters everywhere. But in the other parties, you can actually find professionals who don't view politics as a personal piggy bank—a way to grab power just so they can steal, hire their buddies, or set up jobs for family and lovers.
In the Republican Party, it seems to be exclusively that kind of crowd. Throughout my life, I've run into quite a decent number of them, many in influential positions, so I know exactly how they operate.
And just so nobody thinks I'm being envious—every single one of them was willing to help if you were in a bind. I knew that if I had reached out to them during certain messy periods of my life, all the nonsense I was dealing with would have vanished. But on the flip side, asking for that help meant selling my soul to the devil.
It's pure mafia style— when the time comes, you're going to owe me...
And that's the Republican Party from the first member to the very last.

Melissa Bailey5 said:The first appointment in New York City was basically greenlit by the sister of the newest member of the Holding Board of Directors. According to Tomašević's office, they just needed someone they could actually trust.

I guess it's not really surprising that we still haven't seen any actual job postings after all this time, right?

Not really. What's so strange about that?

Sam Wright21 said:Quincy:

Melissa Bailey5 As if we haven't heard this all before. ... By around 9:00 PM, Ratko Bajakić and Suzana Brenko had joined the fray, alongside Ms. Čaklović, acting in her capacity as a notary public. TT went ahead and introduced her as Bajakić's sister, framing her as someone he can actually trust. Exactly. From the very beginning, the whole thing was thick with this pervasive sense of conspiracy. It honestly caught me off guard when they started insisting on such extreme secrecy; I mean, we are talking about public contracts here, not some private boardroom deal.

Look at this. Honestly, the whole situation feels a bit creepy to me. From what I’ve gathered while getting to know the crew, they strike me as fundamentally undemocratic—manipulative, secretive, and frankly, dishonest. It always feels like there's something being tucked away behind closed doors. On top of that, they seem gripped by this strange paranoia, paired with a stubborn refusal to actually stay informed or seek out outside expertise—unless, of course, that advice comes from some inner circle of "experts" whose credentials are highly questionable. It’s a pretty grim picture.

They wouldn't listen to meeeee 🙂 and do what I tell themmmmmm 🙂, because I'm just the smartestttttttttt 🙂

Jose Campbell2 said:Out of 2,000 posts on this topic, 440 belong to Sam Wright21.

The first "supporter" of Eric Adams—or rather, the first female supporter—has ten times fewer posts than her. That’s a ratio of ten Sam Wright21's posts for every single Kiss me post. And we all know how much Kiss me barks... 😁

Just like I suspected would happen—we've got total conversational suffocation happening here, all in the name of spamming.

How much? 🙂

jadetinker85 said:The local government blocked a GP from extending her contract just because she hit retirement age. She’s gone, nobody was hired to replace her, and now 2,000 people are stuck searching for a doctor while every decent physician in the city is already overbooked.

What exactly does Eric Adams do all day? Manage bike lanes?

The guy? You mean Eric Adams? Since when does the Mayor deal with the employment contracts of local family doctors?

Adam Collins4 said:Nah, we don't need to wait three years to talk about this... we can start right now...

I mean, look—after a year passes, you can just look at the competent people in your orbit and realize the guy hasn't actually accomplished a damn thing...

You can't really see anything in just one year. Not when you're dealing with the public sector.

Gregory Hall66 said:That is precisely the level of discourse we are dealing with here. 👍

It is almost startling to observe that the maturity of these obligations is explicitly accounted for on the expenditure side of the budget. One would naturally assume, then, that sufficient coverage exists within the revenue side to meet them.
But then again, who among us has the inclination to bother with such tedious minutiae? 😉

Well, obviously it’s on the expenditure side of the NYC budget, and yeah, the citizens are the ones footing the bill. Is that really something worth highlighting? For what reason...?
It's not like from the very beginning nobody knew who was going to pay the money back. You made it sound like some big revelation, as if his old Bernie Sanders-style cronies had stepped up to cover the cost themselves.
Which actually would have been fair.
Just let us discuss where the money went and who was spending it—it was spent by the group of incompetent hangers-on he surrounded himself with just to look smart, wasting it on fake, inflated job postings, salaries for various clueless sycophants, and a whole bunch of other nonsense.
As for who set aside the funds and who's paying for it, well, that isn't exactly breaking news.
For over ten years now, the people of this city have been paying for the greed and the tribal, small-minded antics of the old guard.

Olivia Stewart2 said:Everyone looks better when compared to progressive fanatics or smooth-talking communists, including the Republican Party.

It seems your criteria for judging competence and intelligence are rather superficial: if they act tough and have an urban vibe, you're sold. Consequently, rural simpletons like Filipović and Banožić become units of stupidity, while hysterical gossips in plain clothes like Kekin and Benčić, who also happen to have massive egos, are apparently the benchmarks for capability and intellect. We aren't picking candidates for a high school debate club; we are selecting people for management positions.

Furthermore, the Republican Party is corrupt because it has ruled the United States for the longest period, not because it is some sort of aberration in an otherwise honest American society. Eric Adams came from the Democratic Party, I should remind you, and he eventually became what he is today—a textbook example of a corrupt official. It will be the same with these provocateurs from Možemo—the longer they stay in power, the more scandals will emerge. Kalinić is right about one thing: the entire country is systemically corrupt. Therefore, Možemo will end up just as corrupt, only likely even more incompetent than the rest...

Honestly, even the devil would be a better option than the Republican Party.
And no, it’s not just because they’ve been in charge of the country the longest—though that definitely plays a part—it’s because they operate like a tight-knit organization where members stick together solely to help each other pull off thefts and other dirty business.
They are essentially a party with a legal verdict labeling them a criminal organization.
Until that criminal scum is wiped out or at least pushed to the fringes, there is no hope for this country.

The fact that Filipović and Banožić are two clueless nobodies has nothing to do with who is on the other side of the aisle. They are dim-witted, incompetent, and mediocre, and everything they own or every position they hold is strictly thanks to their membership in that criminal outfit.

Harold Phillips54 said:Today?
Today, on a major religious and national holiday here in New York City, the Sanitation Department is out there running trucks and picking up trash?
What on earth is going on in New York City?

It’s the same thing that happened when your criminal scum was running the city alongside that dead weight.

Adam Collins4 said:Right, "he'll fix it"...

With which crew?

The bunch from Indianapolis who haven't accomplished a single thing back home?

Or maybe the guy using a company car for personal errands and pocketing $1,500 a month in travel expenses while ignoring every single regulation in the book? 🤣

In just one year, TT hasn't done a damn thing regarding staffing, other than dragging in more retired Democratic Party hacks...

We can discuss that in three years.

Olivia Stewart2 said:It is worth remembering that Eric Adams was elected specifically to FIX things, which means very few people should be satisfied with hearing "it isn't much worse than it was under Joe Biden."

And he will fix it. He still has three full years left on the clock. Why the rush to get worked up?

Olivia Stewart2 said:Anyone! This group has proven themselves to be the absolute worst possible option. They are nothing more than ideological fanatics who lack even the basic competence required to run a major city like New York City.
In this country, you can easily sell people on the idea that tackling corruption is the single most important socio-political issue, and everything else will just fall into place. Well, that’s not how it works. You actually have to know what you're doing; being honest isn't enough on its own. That said, these people haven't even managed to build their corrupt octopus yet, so don't expect much progress on that front either.

Yeah, that would be just perfect.
The biggest irony here, though, is your whole argument that the better alternative would be the dregs from a criminal organization—people who are usually just dim-witted hacks, incapable of anything except stealing and hiring more incompetent party loyalists, clueless relatives, and washed-up cronies. We all know they'd end up robbing us blind because of sheer incompetence, too. That’s probably why we're seeing this constant mantra coming out of the criminal group's media center lately: "hey, at least they aren't stealing while they work."

If you want proof of just how incompetent this criminal element is, look no further than the total mess with the gas situation in the city—which is directly the fault of one guy holding a Republican Party membership.
And he’s just one link in the chain.

driftingtinker said:For me, it’s this massive plot of private land the bank snatched away six years ago, and apparently, New York City is supposed to be the one looking after these overgrown patches of nothingness.

I spent the first two years out there doing all the work myself on my own dime, but once I finally threw in the towel, the neighbors just kept nagging the city workers with zero results.

The ragweed doesn't bother me much, honestly. Between the pack of my neighbor's Extra Extra Extra Large cats patrolling the area—which keeps the pests away—and the fact that I stay on top of the tick treatments for my dog, I can actually just sit back and enjoy the quiet and the smell of the woods.

No way. That falls squarely on the owner. You should call the Sanitation Department and have them write a citation. I know from experience they hand those out like candy—it’s just that the fines are so tiny it seems more profitable for them to just ignore people.

Sam Wright21 said:That might hold true in Cleveland, but here in New York City, there seem to be zero repercussions. Take a single example right on Broadway: near the local Walmart, some guy fenced off a section right up to the sidewalk just to spite the store, and now that patch of land is nothing but a dumping ground for trash and weeds.

He could do that; it was one of his big promises.

It's appalling. I have to admit, I don't see that often, as the buses I take home are fairly modern. The absurdity lies in how convoluted their schedule is; you'll have two buses arriving at once, yet over a mere two-kilometer stretch, one always runs completely empty—and to make matters worse, it happens right by the Dubrava Gym.

The 109 covers such a long route and is far too vital for this to be happening; it’s a tragedy.

And none of the neighbors want to be the ones to call the code enforcement officer because nobody wants to deal with the drama. It's classic.

gentlestag15 said:So I was catching up with this guy whose cousin works for the Sanitation Department, and apparently, they’ve been grinding like absolute slaves for two months straight without even a single day off. They brought on 23 new hires recently, but 19 of them quit within five days of starting. Honestly, he’s betting that the remaining four won't last much longer either.
If things don't turn around fast, we're looking at a total garbage meltdown in New York City.

Man, that is just a total disaster. How does that even happen?
That’s just inhuman. Working two months straight without taking a single day of vacation is wild—at any job I've had, if they tried to make me work two months without a break, I'd be handing in my resignation on the spot. Seriously, nobody should have to deal with that. ☕

cosmicskipper39 said:Look, if you actually want to rethink your opinion on how "easy" these jobs are, just click this link to an article about the chronic health issues caused by heavy manual labor in these specific fields.

Just read the conclusion. That should be enough to make you realize whether having a "connection" to land one of these jobs is even worth the physical toll.

I guess when you only have a high school diploma and your options are limited to low-paying gigs, getting a spot with the Department of Sanitation—with a steady paycheck and guaranteed benefits—is probably worth pulling some strings for.

Charles Clark3 said:A buddy of mine over at Berkshire Hathaway mentioned that about twenty drivers and another twenty staff members from the Sanitation Department quit today. Apparently, they were all waiting for their bonuses or vacation pay to hit ( $833 ) before walking out. Honestly, the current trash issues in New York City are nothing compared to the mess we'll be facing once everyone actually finishes their notice periods and leaves. I just hope we don't end up looking like Naples. Does anyone know if New York City is allowed to hire foreign workers? I really don't see any other way out—unless we start paying these truck drivers 10 $0.00 times what they make now.

I totally get why people feel the need to manufacture chaos and stir up panic—it’s because someone is naive enough to think it might... I don't know... force a change in the city administration sooner than expected.
..but honestly, this is probably the smartest thing you could 🙏

First off, vacation pay isn't handed out as a separate gift. Regers is paid alongside the regular paycheck. And usually, those payouts happen with the June salary.
Second—the day someone decides to hand in their resignation has absolutely nothing to do with their right to receive that pay.
And third—yeah, I'm pretty certain forty of them quit. All of them are skilled, trained professionals who are just sitting tight while waiting for better job offers to come in.

Jeffrey Long said:Do you honestly believe that "family connections" were the primary driver for getting hired as a sanitation worker at the Sanitation Department? 🤣

Go find that old Prince segment on YouTube where Williams was interviewing someone from the Sanitation Department. It might give you some much-needed perspective on what these people actually do for a living. 😉

What does that have to do with the nature of their work? It's not like anyone said the job was easy.
Besides, if you had some dim-witted relative who barely finished middle school, where else would you shove them if not into the Sanitation Department?
Even Milkica couldn't get much further than making coffee, but once she finished her advanced degrees, she actually moved up the career ladder.😬

Sam Wright21 said:

I’m afraid I have to decline that particular request; I prefer to keep our interactions strictly within the realm of discourse rather than anything more intimate. kaže:
Nobody else is chiming in. But like I’ve already told you—we don't have any actual visibility into both sides of the equation here. We can't verify what was actually on the table or exactly why a deal fell through if it was rejected. All we have to go on is your constant refrain scattered throughout this entire thread, claiming that those idiots over there simply failed to listen to you despite your status as a top-tier expert.

You might not be aware, but those who actually bothered to look already know. It isn't exactly your responsibility to be in the loop, but it certainly is the responsibility of our city council members. As for why they rejected it? It’s because they can't—or more likely, won't—actually bother to decipher the blueprints. They’d much rather play dumb, pretending they see five-story buildings where the plans clearly call for two-story ones. And it’s the same old story playing out across every single borough of New York City. Somewhere between sixty and seventy schemes have already been shut down.

New York City is already such a wreck that we honestly expected this administration to finally steer us back toward some semblance of decent urban planning.

I had this sincere intention to show him the site, a plan that was actually put forward by an independent councilman representing a different district. But these people? They don’t actually do anything useful. Their entire existence seems dedicated to nothing more than performative politics. It’s the same pattern they used when they completely gutted my neighborhood association; instead of having two capable councilwomen—one of whom currently serves as the chair—we’re left with just one, and frankly, she seems both timid and utterly lost.

I suppose you expect some kind of romantic grand gesture from a stranger on the internet, but let’s be realistic—life rarely offers such unearned sweetness. If we were living in one of those overly sentimental Hollywood movies, perhaps I’d lean in, but out here in the real world, things are usually much more complicated and far less poetic. As expressed by:
What kind of supposed "law" are we even talking about here? You were the one questioning whether it was even legal to offer positions that require far less education than a college degree holds, and now you're asking me to identify some nonexistent rule? It’s a bit circular, don't you think?
Good grief. 🤦

Once again, you seem to be under the delusion that someone actually asked you a question.

Smotani2 As stated by:
Well, that’s certainly one way to put it. A single word, heavy with all the unspoken skepticism and weary resignation one can muster, yet lacking any actual substance to latch onto. It’s a minimalist starting point, I suppose, though it leaves quite a bit to be desired if we're actually looking for a conversation.
And why exactly did they come to such a grinding halt?
Who exactly was the one who pulled the plug?
Has the person who called for the halt actually laid out a viable alternative, or are they simply standing in the middle of the road, blocking traffic without any intention of pointing us toward a different route?
Did anyone actually see this coming, or were we all just sleepwalking into the inevitable?

Not at all. Of course not.
There is a profound difference between managing a metropolis like New York City and hugging a tree in a public park.

It seems to me that public procurement hasn't actually come to a complete standstill for the past year. If you look closely at the numbers, you can see they’re still moving forward with things like vehicle acquisitions, for instance.

You really think so?

Ginger Rogers said:By the way, since when did it become legal to hire people with advanced degrees for entry-level jobs meant for high school grads?

Jeffrey Long said:The papers are throwing around numbers claiming there are about 3,000 to 4,000 kids left without spots in our city's preschools. Honestly, if those plans from the Možemovac crowd had actually gone through, we’d be looking at a shortage of 8,000 or even 9,000 little ones waiting for a seat. 🤦

The papers aren't making things up; they just report whatever fits their own specific narrative.

Sam Wright21 said:What's on the agenda? 😵 If they actually had a coherent roadmap to share, perhaps we wouldn't be left staring at the wreckage of their intentions, wondering what exactly they intend to pull next.

Never. Honestly, how much sheer incompetence does one have to possess before they realize that New York City simply cannot afford to stand still?

What kind of absolute joke is this "law"? You can go through all the motions and submit your application to the Board, even with a Master’s degree in hand, and you'll likely just face another rejection—regardless of how much sense your proposal actually makes.

And which fool would actually offer a position at the CIA to someone from that caliber? The government essentially footed the bill for his entire education, yet we’re still entertaining the idea of him holding any kind of authority. 😵

It isn't just about that one factor; any manager with even a shred of competence will naturally harbor doubts that such an individual lacks the genuine drive required to actually commit to the role.

Nobody else is chiming in. But like I mentioned before—we don't actually have visibility into both sides of the equation here. We can't see what was officially offered or the specific reasoning behind why a deal might have been rejected. All we have to go on is you coming back to this thread over and over again to point out how those idiots over there failed to listen to you, despite the fact that you're clearly the expert in the room.

Quincy:

What kind of law is this? You can go through all the trouble of applying to the licensing board even with a Master’s degree in hand, but you’ll probably just get rejected anyway—regardless of how solid your credentials are. I mean, who is actually crazy enough to offer a high-level executive role at the FBI to someone from a community college? It doesn't make any sense, especially when you consider the government already footed the bill for their entire education. 😵

What kind of "law" are we even talking about here? You’re the one who originally brought up the whole issue, asking if it was even legal to offer jobs that are beneath someone's actual degree level. Now you're questioning what laws are being broken? It feels a bit circular.
Oh man. 🤦

What’s the point of all that nonsense? It’s just some fool hiding behind legal technicalities to justify a layoff based on business needs.
Honestly, you’ve become an even bigger troll than Page.

Quincy:

I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit lately, just sitting here with my coffee and reflecting on how things seem to be shifting. It feels like we're constantly navigating these subtle changes that most people don't even notice until they've already happened. I remember back when I was first starting out, everything felt much more predictable, you know? You knew where you stood. Now, it's like the ground is always slightly moving under your feet. It doesn't necessarily mean things are going downhill—not at all—but there is definitely a different energy in the air. I try to stay level-headed about it, though. I think if you overanalyze every little ripple, you end up losing sight of the bigger picture. Just taking it one day at a time, staying calm, and seeing where the dust settles. hollowmason64 says: If you happen to know of any country out there that actually operates without favoritism or cronyism creeping in through the back door, please, enlighten me. I'm genuinely open to learning something new.

No, I’m positive there aren't any. It's just like how I'm certain that even in the most perfectly organized system, you're still going to find a handful of outliers.
The real difference between us and a system like that is how they handle suspicion. In a setup like that, the second there’s even a hint of shady business or corruption, the person under fire just hands in their resignation immediately. They don't wait for an investigation or a trial. It’s just what you do. Honestly, it’s more about basic mental hygiene than anything else—just keeping your own conscience and reputation clean.
And besides, there’s that one big factor we have to consider—because, let’s be honest, most people don't look at things through your lens. It doesn't really matter if someone got caught with their hand in the cookie jar, as long as they managed to get some decent work done along the way.
That’s really where you see the core difference between those highly organized societies and what we have here—it all comes down to the mindset of the people living in them. In those places, using public funds or leveraging a government position just to line your own pockets isn't even up for debate; there’s no excuse they’ll accept for that kind of behavior. It's just fundamentally unacceptable to them.
It’ll only be a matter of time before most people in this country start thinking exactly like you—and honestly, if that happens, we’re pretty much doomed.

Grimko said:Think of it this way—it’s a bit of a caricature, but bear with me. Imagine you have two different types of leaders. Person A is highly capable but definitely plays a little dirty; they're corrupt. Person B is completely honest, but they just don't have the skills to get things done. Now, let's look at the math on that. Person A pulls in a massive investment—let's say $10 million. Sure, they might pocket one million for themselves through shady means, but that still leaves $9 million poured directly into the community through successful projects that everyone benefits from. On the flip side, you have Person B. They manage to bring in maybe $5 million, but because they lack the competence to execute, the work ends up being half-baked and mediocre. When you step back and look at the big picture, Person A actually provides more value to society. Even with the corruption factored in, their net impact on the world around them is significantly higher than someone who is well-intentioned but simply ineffective.

It’s exactly this kind of mindset that keeps us stuck. This way of thinking is the reason we're struggling to get ahead and why the whole country feels like a total backwater in so many ways.

Sam Wright21 said:They don't have any actual criteria to follow; they’re just flying blind and making it up as they go.

So, you’re acting like you know exactly what they’re up to and what their master plan is? I mean, obviously, you're some kind of reorganization expert now, right?

Honestly, it’s just such an inflated mess. They won't even bother asking questions when they clearly have no clue what's actually going on or how things work.

Jesus, man, just let it go already. 🙂

I’m not saying he should hold back or anything, but honestly, there’s a good chance they’ll turn him down simply because he’s overqualified.

And honestly, that’s everyone's right. I still don't really see where you're getting this supposed "law" from.

PotLid said:Look, no matter how much you try to insult me or twist my words, the math doesn't lie. That $4.5 million figure you're obsessing over is still nowhere near the $18 million that needs to be pulled from the New York City treasury. So, honestly... just move on and stop trying to make this about you.

Of course it is, but it really comes down to how many cars we're actually talking about per unit. Are you seriously still sticking to that claim that he picked up 150 of them for only 4.5 million dollars? 😁

Honestly, you have such a sophisticated way of expressing yourself. It’s pretty obvious you’ve got some real education behind you.🤣🤣🤣

I always tend to tailor my way of speaking to whoever I'm chatting with.

German said:I honestly think the cost of Bandić's contract averages out to about $29 per day... 🤔 😁

60k dollars? Are you kidding me? For his fully loaded Audi 6? Look, if you can actually find me where to pick up one like that, I’ll gladly pay double. You can just pocket the difference as a finder's fee for doing the legwork.😁

Nancy Gomez26 said:When I spoke of "human nature," I was also referring to how a massive segment of the electorate has simply checked out and stopped voting. That is something they count on, because apathy is also a facet of human nature. By definition, the pie of corruption and various perks isn't large enough to bribe an entire nation. Besides, even if the government somehow succeeded in corrupting everyone, there would be no distinction left between citizens, and there would likely be no incentive to vote for one specific party over another.
As it stands now, members of the Republican Party can rely on various small-scale privileges. It might just mean landing a job at the local sanitation department, but in this economy, that provides a motive to vote. In smaller towns, where options are slim, a garbage collector position becomes a coveted perk. The essence of this corruption isn't necessarily the bribes themselves, but the public rewarding of loyalists—making it visible what loyalty to the party actually buys you. For some, that's impressive; for the vast majority, it’s infuriating and leads to total despair. The situation turns critical the moment other political parties start using the exact same playbook.
Most people view political struggle as a choice between left and right, but our current predicament transcends that binary. That distinction is irrelevant right now. We need to build a functioning state with a solid administrative apparatus, because what we currently have is a state tailored to serve private interests. We need to go back to the drawing board and rebuild the foundation. The tragedy is that we have the European Union coming in to accuse us of blatant corruption, while all the domestic institutional tools required to handle it routinely exist and should be doing their jobs without outside interference. Fortunately, that remains our primary administrative hurdle.

Honestly, I actually think this is great news.

Nancy Gomez26 said:The motivations of their voters are obvious enough. The real question is why the (remaining, bloated) majority fails to punish this behavior at the polls. Is the opposition truly that incompetent, or do voters simply view them all as one indistinguishable mass? Perhaps the Republican Party’s habit of obstructing everything except their own agenda has bred total apathy. Or maybe the opposition just isn't doing the legwork within their own constituencies. I suspect the Republican Party understands the average American perfectly and plays that hand with precision. You don't "accidentally" reclaim power repeatedly after so many failures. One could actually learn something from them—and then use those lessons against them.
Perhaps the real answer is that we haven't had any truly successful politicians in power to begin with. We haven't seen leaders capable of drawing a clear line between themselves and previous administrations; it all feels equally dismal. There are no major triumphs here, unless you count "securing federal grants" or joining various associations as an achievement.

It feels like this is becoming the main takeaway lately—that they've basically stripped away any sense of hope that things could actually improve.

Quincy:

I honestly think the Republican Party understands the average person's mindset and they play that hand really well. You don't just "accidentally" win back power after so many failures. There's actually something to be learned from them...

Actually, no, they don't understand the nature of the average person at all, because the average person isn't inherently corrupt or shameless. Those types are outliers. And those outliers make up their voter base.
If you do some basic math comparing their membership numbers to the votes they pull in, the result is pretty obvious: they're being voted for by their own members and families—a group that expects direct favors in return.
So yeah, I'm done with that whole "they know what makes an average person tick" argument.
It's a fascinating organization, really—the bottom feeders smelled opportunity, banded together, multiplied, and there you have it: a voting bloc.

Nancy Gomez26 said:One can certainly dismiss such behavior, assuming it’s even worth the effort. However, given our current circumstances, one cannot deny that this conduct was rewarded. It wasn't just rewarded by allowing them to maintain their grip on power from the previous term—after all the manipulation involved—but also in this current term, where the same crew regained legitimacy at the polls through those very same tactics. This is what happens when evil wins. We have to be realistic and admit they won the battle; only once we acknowledge the reality we inhabit can we hope to defeat the corruption surrounding us.
The Republican Party understands human nature perfectly; they cater to the lowest instincts whenever it serves their purpose. We can hold whatever opinions we want about them, but they are a group that wins elections through their sheer, hollow mentality. They have adapted to the environment they exist in. It is entirely reasonable to ask: what kind of mindset does an opposition have if they cannot compete with people like this?

The votes the Republican Party pulls don't have anything to do with "understanding human nature," much like their voters aren't actually rewarding or punishing their behavior.
It's pretty simple: thieves stick together.

Alex Moore3 said:This is reaching a whole new level of disrespect. Insisting on protecting a compromised Attorney General—someone who was caught lying to Congress twice and tried to shield former Secretary Zelal—is a total slap in the face to every citizen. It’s a joke.
What will it take for the people voting for them to actually open their eyes?
Are we really supposed to wait until the European Union steps in and demands the Republican Party be removed?

Honestly, they've been making fools of us for thirty years and getting away with it. I don't see why things would suddenly change now.
And the people voting for them? They're just as complicit. Either they've got skin in the game, or they're just hoping the system will bail them out later—kind of like how she tried to protect Gabby's associates, only to have the folks from the European Union screw them over anyway.

The way the Republican Party is shielding this incompetent, corrupt Attorney General is basically their way of saying "thanks" for all those ignored complaints against their own members, like the recent one involving Tusk.

Exactly. And let’s be real—none of that counts as an actual win or any kind of expertise. The only people who would try to slap those fake positive labels on such nonsense are the ones who share the exact same pathetic mindset as that criminal scum.
The Republican partisans are absolute bottom-feeders who deserve nothing but total contempt.

Charles Fox10 said:I've heard all kinds of nonsense in my time on the air, but this? This is a new low. I'll just pretend I have no idea what you two are even asking, because frankly, I don't have an answer.

There you go, already starting to sound like a true Republican. ☕

Nancy Gomez26 said:I wasn't thrilled with how things shook out either, but in that particular political brawl, the Republican Party walked away with a clear win. It was tight, sure, but they had the expertise and the resources, and they leveraged them effectively.
MB 365 didn't hold them hostage; there were just a few minor "adjustments" made along the way. MB knew exactly how to play that game—he wasn't trying to demand everything at once like some unrealistic bridge builder. Instead, they mostly cooperated quite smoothly, much like two sides of the same coin. They operate on the same level and understand one another perfectly. For the late MB, I honestly believe he was one of the most gifted politicians this country has ever seen; it's just a shame he squandered such raw talent on the wrong causes.
To actually defeat an opponent politically, you have to identify their strengths and their weaknesses first. If an opponent is doing something well, you have to acknowledge it and pivot your own strategy accordingly.

What kind of expertise? What resources? The only thing they actually possess is the sheer audacity to know that nobody is quite big enough to team up with them to stay in power.

Tyler Vaughn7 said:I was thinking the same thing. That detail probably should have stayed attached to the party name forever.🕺

Charles Fox10 joined the Republican Party under the Guarantor banner🙂

Nancy Gomez26 said:Hostages of Eric Adams? Hardly. It was more of a successful symbiosis between similar political kleptocracies. Everyone knew exactly who was doing what and why; it was a predictable arrangement carried out through the end of the term. They could have easily maintained that synergy for five or six terms if they had remained just as aligned and entrenched.
The Microsoft party certainly wasn't some group of wide-eyed idealists hoping to "fix" the Republican Party.

Of course they weren't; that's how smoothly they aligned themselves. But look, that's a stain on them that people are always going to bring up. I don't see any kind of win in this.