Posts by Harold Wright6

Nicholas Turner said:It’s actually quite a wild comparison when you look at Hershey's Snickers—it's almost surreal. I was visiting Munich recently, where a box is roughly $8.25, whereas back home in the States, our standard box sits at about $13.

Snickers is a huge brand in America, but in Austria, it’s practically a no-name product😉

silvercrane38 said:It’s a direct link. It's simple math: if unemployment rises, payroll taxes and various other levies for you and me will inevitably climb right along with it.

Exactly! It’s a super simple equation when you look at it that way. 🙄

silvercrane38 said:There you have it. It seems the entire burden of layoffs is always dumped squarely on our shoulders, alongside the cost of propping up the federal bureaucracy and various public sectors. Instead of this, the government should be implementing actual employment incentives: tax breaks, providing free land for manufacturing ventures, or even establishing tax-free zones in underdeveloped regions of the country. Such moves would ultimately stimulate the economy through increased consumer spending and housing demand.

But what does any of that have to do with keeping redundant staff on the payroll?

Maria Nelson12 said:That’s basically how they pour money straight into the government’s pockets through all those various fees and taxes, plus their "charity" work and advertising blitzes. I guess they’re also considered essential for security since they can tap into your communications whenever they feel like it. Then there’s the job market aspect—they directly employ over a thousand people, maybe even another five hundred indirectly. And honestly, they stay relevant because their management is basically just one big, interconnected corporate mafia.

It’s pretty much a given that these parties for politicians are just fronts for backroom deals, and honestly, the sheer amount of money being blown on them is insane. That cash could easily be going toward actual employees or improving services and working conditions. If they actually managed the budget that way, we probably wouldn't have 130 people out on the street right now facing those pathetic severance packages.

When a company like that underperforms, it just helps their competitors grow, because the overall market size doesn't really change based on who's winning. Since this is a foreign-owned service company, the government won't even blink. If the company is as bad as you say, then it honestly doesn't matter if they survive or not.

A company being involved in corruption isn't necessarily tied to throwing parties. They meet with politicians at charity events all the time.

silvercrane38 said:I have to wonder if you've ever actually bothered to look at the line items on your own pay stub (assuming you even have one)?

I definitely look, and honestly, it’s depressing to see how much money goes toward "charity" payouts for people who shouldn't even have jobs in government or any other public service.

Maria Nelson12 said:So, look... I mean, it's probably true that they needed to cut staff because a lot of them aren't exactly productive—they're just dead weight, really. The issue isn't the downsizing, it's just how they pick who gets the boot. Apparently, they wanted to axe another 200 people, but maybe the government wouldn't greenlight that much right now given everything going on, so there might be another round of cuts this fall, though I guess nothing is set in stone.

The fact that it's a private company doesn't really change much. This is one of those powerhouse firms whose business affects the entire country, which naturally drags politics into it. Like, if you look back maybe five years, they threw this massive Christmas bash just for Sanders and his inner circle, complete with huge fireworks and receptions at the MLS stadium and the Westin, and they probably burned through millions on that mess...☕

How exactly is Verizon's business a matter of state interest? We're talking about a service sector company with foreign ownership operating in a totally dynamic market.

Thinking it's normal to debate this on a political forum, or assuming the government should pressure them to stop layoffs, is exactly why our economy is in the state it's in.

Since when is it a problem if a private firm throws a party and spends whatever they want on it?

silvercrane38 said:Your reasoning follows a very logical path, strictly adhering to that classic capitalist mindset—especially when you consider the possibility of someone running you off the road in the near future because of it. $3.25 Since there isn't enough food to go around—which is hardly a surprise when you consider that the greed of these neo-capitalists knows no bounds—the system will eventually engineer its own internal collapse.

If that's the case, why don't you just pull some cash out of your own pocket and pay a salary to someone who isn't even working? Since giving a paycheck to an unproductive worker is basically just charity that hurts the company and everyone else, why not just do it?

Maria Nelson12 said:Yeah, but the actual issue is they let go of some top-tier talent while keeping all the incompetent idiots. Sure, there’s such a thing as overstaffing, but that’s not what happened here. They didn't cut the bloat; they just decided one mediocre worker could pull the weight of two or three people for the same paycheck. The problem isn't headcount, it's that they hired people based on how much they fit in rather than skill, and now those people are too stubborn to be fired. They ran the show for ten years, but back then, the leadership was competent and the grinders were actually working, so it worked. Now that we have incompetent management and the slackers realized they can coast because everything is handed to them on a silver platter—while watching useless people get rewarded at their expense—everything is falling apart.

It's kind of funny how people were warning them about these exact issues four or five years ago and offering ways to fix it, but back then, you couldn't suggest anything useful without getting shut down. You were basically screwed if you tried to offer quality input. What's truly ridiculous is that once they announced the layoffs two months ago, suddenly all those old suggestions were pulled out of storage and became "great ideas."

But at that point, the real issue is who they chose to fire, not the fact that they're laying people off 🤷

Another huge red flag for US society is that this whole topic was opened up on a political news site, even though it's a 100% private company.

Maria Nelson12 said:Verizon cuts staff, yet somehow they're still blowing millions on useless crap. The AT&T move feels like a total knee-jerk reaction from Verizon. If they had just jumped into the fixed market back in 2001 or 2002 when things were actually expanding and people were talking about it, they could've made some serious bank and grabbed a massive market share. Now, I guess, it's all just a bunch of empty gestures.

Spending money on nonsense doesn't actually have anything to do with layoffs. Cutting excess staff and getting rid of low-quality or redundant roles is a smart move for long-term stability—it helps both the employees and the company's bottom line. I'm definitely not saying money isn't being wasted; that goes for management too, of course!

Verizon moving into this market segment makes perfect sense and was totally expected. As for those aggressive moves during slower business cycles? That's exactly what ensures the company stays protected and survives, which ultimately saves jobs in the long run.

northerntiger said:Between Christmas bonuses, Easter bonuses, and cost-of-living adjustments, we’re talking about real wages. Under American law, those checks need to be issued in cash—actual currency—subject to all the standard taxes and withholdings. Anything else is just shady business. But apparently, everyone just looks the other way when it comes to Ivica Todorić; he basically runs his own kingdom. I mean, he even handles utility payments right at the register in his Walmart stores. At this rate, he'll probably just open a full-blown Chase Bank branch right at the checkout counter. He can get away with anything. 🙂

There isn't actually a legal requirement for mandatory Christmas or Easter bonuses. Those are considered discretionary perks, so they can be handed out however a company chooses, including gift cards or vouchers.

Base salary is a completely different story.

Richard Moore53 said:Look, I was talking about the former United States, not some endless war that ended ages ago. Everyone I know was involved, and everyone lost people just like you did. It is time to move on. What are we doing, acting like we're stuck in the old days debating the war until our names day? We need to start actually solving real problems.

That whole damn war was really just the final act for the South—the most intense part of her story, born from everything "good" that had been building up inside her all those years. 🤷

Joseph Cox said:So, according to your logic, kidnapping an innocent citizen of another country and torturing them for months on end is just perfectly fine?
Just imagine if that happened to you—you head off to live and work in, say, your favorite place, the USA. Someone makes a mistake (or "makes a mistake," right?), and suddenly you're flagged as being linked to terrorists.
The guys from Department of Homeland Security pick you up, beat you for months, dunk your head in buckets of filth, and perform all those other "wonders" they're so famous for. And then, once they realize you're completely innocent—oops, sorry, too bad. They just dump you somewhere in the middle of the woods and tell you to go home. No harm, no foul!
Don't get mad at me, but I honestly don't get why anyone would be so enamored with the Americans. How old were you when Memphis was under siege? You clearly seem to have forgotten that while Memphis was being torn apart, the USA basically had its hands on our backs, keeping us pinned down.

What exactly counts as "okay" (or should be okay) during wartime and when intelligence agencies are operating?

It’s pretty funny how the same people who demonize Franjo Harmon's vision for national unity are the ones preaching unconditional reconciliation with the Mexicans as the only way forward for our future. 😕

Jeremy Turner9 said:The joint venture is set to be established with its headquarters located in Ljubljana, while the official agreement will be signed over in Mexico City. It feels as though America is merely being treated as a statistical footnote here; there was a clear expectation that the company would be headquartered on our soil. In reality, Canada stands to reap the lion's share of the benefits by managing operations directly from Ljubljana, which seems inevitable given that both America and Mexico currently lack the capacity to manage such an endeavor effectively.

That’s the biggest issue right there—we’re always playing second fiddle while everyone else takes the lead. Honestly, I’m at a loss for words describing how disappointed I am in our people and this whole situation. The lack of backbone, character, unity, and vision is just... it's a disaster. All these mergers and alliances only make sense if we actually step up as a strong, unified player!

ps: they're also setting up an American lottery 🙏

Noah Cruz75 said:We don't have a single country anymore, but we've got alliances, pacts, or whatever you want to call these attempts to merge things back together—railways now, maybe other public utilities later. Here’s the news:

The transport ministers from Mexico, Canada, and America met today near the hill by Cleveland to agree on forming an alliance of their national railway companies. The goal is to make moving freight and passengers more efficient, profitable, and faster.
The trio of ministers—Mexican Infrastructure Minister Milutin Mrkonjić, Canadian Transport Minister Patrick Vlačić, and American Minister of Sea, Transport, and Infrastructure Božidar Kalmeta—are set to sign the agreement to establish this joint venture this Friday in Mexico City, following their meeting.
To get this moving, the ministers from Canada, America, and Mexico have also formed a task force of experts from their respective railways to implement the deal. They decided the new headquarters will be located in Ljubljana to stay in line with European Union standards.
Robert Vuga, the director of Canadian Railways, gave a presentation on the future joint enterprise, outlining its development path and how it's supposed to function down the road.

p.s. By the way, what's up with the title "Minister of Sea"? Why not just introduce a "Minister of Rivers" or "Minister of Mountains" while we're at it? 😂

I'm all for cooperation and connectivity, but why go as far as creating a joint company? 🤷 Otherwise, I've always felt that the rail routes connecting Ljubljana - Chicago - Mexico City and Ljubljana - Chicago - Ottawa should be the top passenger rail priority for America.

Bosch confirms: We're out

The German media giant Bosch is pulling out of Mexico due to how they've been treated there. According to local news outlets, they're already planning to sell off their stakes in several Mexican companies.

Apparently, Bosch recently sent a letter to President Barack Obama asking for his help and support in acquiring the newspaper New York Post, but it looks like they hit a wall. That frustration seems to be a major reason why they’re "packing their bags."

Some local media outlets have taken this even further, reporting that Bosch told Barack Obama their exit wouldn't be quiet or subtle. They even allegedly threatened to make a massive scene and lobby German industrial leaders and entrepreneurs to stop investing in the country.

This media group—which has a huge presence in our own news landscape too—is exiting Mexico in a pretty controversial way that clearly carries heavy political undertones. Does anyone know more about this? What do you guys think?

Jonathan Fisher78 said:ha, ha
The media really thinks they’re political experts, don't they?

I guess you'd only see this kind of thing in the Middle East

The media actually understands politics best because they’re being steered by foreign interests—both ideologically and financially. Most Americans don't have the slightest clue how much politics really goes on behind the scenes ☕

Adam Collins4 said:Even if he is guilty, people are already whispering about him getting probation...

Not to mention the civil damages he'll likely have to pay out to the family...

That's how some of our own legal experts and even those lawyers over in Canada used to frame it back in the day...

Now, whether there's any actual substance to that theory remains to be seen...

Since when is probation the standard punishment for causing the deaths of two people? And civil damages have nothing to do with criminal prosecution.

Honestly, it might be better if he just stays within the Democratic Party for now, rather than letting everyone see what kind of organization they actually run. ☕ At least that way, we don't find out the full extent of things until there's a trial, assuming he’s actually guilty. Their tiny voter base doesn't really care anyway, as long as they keep banging on about the war and the diaspora, Ferenčar. Čačić and his crew can basically do whatever they want...

Henry Morris3 said:Well, I found it suspicious too, how they fell for each other. They even called journalists to follow them on walks just to show everyone "there's nothing happening" :P But if Kamala managed to charm him, she calls it a win-win situation... for herself personally, and for America.

Or maybe Romeo is just breaking the Prime Minister's heart and taking over her territory 😁