Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Reelya]

Privatization only saves money if there's competition. There's no thoeretical way it could otherwise. If you just privatize it as a monolithic entity that's paid from taxes, then the natural thing to happen is for "administration" costs to constantly increase while they cut operational expenses.

The goal of a private taxpayer-funded monopoly is for them to maintain just enough "shortages" so any time the contract terms are up for renewal they can point out that they're on the edge of collapse and need more money. The service itself needs to become more fucked so that they can keep justifying asking for more money. If it becomes well run then they risk getting funding cuts. e.g. they'll have planes almost hit each other due to diverting money from training and systems into profits (e.g. shell companies that do "consulting"), then claim that the government should give them more money, lest planes start colliding and shit. Basic blackmail, but this is how the game is played.

[smjjames]

Well okay, but in other countries that use privatized air traffic control, does it work and not become the potential clusterbleep that you describe? I know there's a heck of a lot more competition in Europe among airlines, so, i guess it may work there, no idea about Canada, which I've heard is the model they are using.

[Frumple]

Well, if a mayor WAS getting flack, it would more likely have been privately rather than in public. Let alone relentlessly like the way Trump does.

On the privatization of air traffic controllers, I know there's some countries that already do it like Germany and Canada. While Germany is a whole bunch smaller than the US, Canada is equivalent as far as 'flyover territory' goes, namely, lots and lots of rural airports between the major hubs. So, I'm wondering how it works out for them, and other countries that do the same.

They seem to do alright. That said, nav canada, ferex, also bought the system/rights to run it from the canadian government. Near as I can tell deficit spending wasn't involved. So straight from the start whatever they did isn't what's being proposed if it's coming with 45b price tag. And uh. As for Germany, it's organized under private law, but one might be interested in taking a moment and seeing who owns it. Independent third party as per the suggestion state side it is not. So it's a bit of a case of whatever they did apparently isn't exactly applicable to the plan at hand. They might have insights but those insights look pretty bluntly to be "not what the GOP is suggesting".

... that said, again, it's pretty likely to be a non-starter. There's a little slice of the GOP that's been suggesting privatization for a while now, and some air unions have been pushing for it in the clearest example of fox clamouring to be let into the hen house I've noticed in months, but the rest of the party has been persistently against it -- and if the GOP can't even sell it amongst themselves, you better believe that ain't going very far.

[Sergarr]

TOP-SECRET NSA REPORT DETAILS RUSSIAN HACKING EFFORT DAYS BEFORE 2016 ELECTION

RUSSIAN MILITARY INTELLIGENCE executed a cyberattack on at least one U.S. voting software supplier and sent spear-phishing emails to more than 100 local election officials just days before last November’s presidential election, according to a highly classified intelligence report obtained by The Intercept.

...

That review did not attempt to assess what effect the Russian efforts had on the election, despite the fact that “Russian intelligence obtained and maintained access to elements of multiple US state or local electoral boards.” According to the Department of Homeland Security, the assessment reported reassuringly, “the types of systems we observed Russian actors targeting or compromising are not involved in vote tallying.”

The NSA has now learned, however, that Russian government hackers, part of a team with a “cyber espionage mandate specifically directed at U.S. and foreign elections,” focused on parts of the system directly connected to the voter registration process, including a private sector manufacturer of devices that maintain and verify the voter rolls. Some of the company’s devices are advertised as having wireless internet and Bluetooth connectivity, which could have provided an ideal staging point for further malicious actions.

By the way, the leaker got arrested and charged with 'leaking classified information to a news outlet' for this.

[smjjames]

Apparently some of Trumps staff have joined the 'troll Sadiq Khan' bandwagon. It's at the same time not surprising and terrible because this isn't how the administration of the leader of a major country should act, and it's not surprising that staff are joining in because, well...... it's Trump.....

@sergarr: The vulnerabilities of the machines were already known, just that there weren't any known malicious attempts to hack them, until now at least.

[Reelya]

Is this seriously where you're at in terms of getting rid of Trump:

Vice President: Forrest Gump
President: The Scorpion King

Luckily Kanye is holding off until 2024, so you're spared the Kanye West/Lindsay Lohan campaign for now.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

I will die of laughter if they run Republican and oust Trump in the primary. At that point I wouldn't even care who wins the Presidency, that would just be the most dismissive "fuck you" to Trump possible.

[MrRoboto75]

"In the past I never would've run for president, I was worried I wasn't qualified," Johnson said. "But the truth is, now, I think I'm a little too qualified."

The most insidious part about the trump presidency is that it left a precedent for literally any joke/meme candidate possible.

[Starver]

There's always time for Boris Johnson., then...

[smjjames]

"In the past I never would've run for president, I was worried I wasn't qualified," Johnson said. "But the truth is, now, I think I'm a little too qualified."

The most insidious part about the trump presidency is that it left a precedent for literally any joke/meme candidate possible.

To be fair, Ronald Reagan opened the door to actor types running.... and Arnold Schwarzenegger, though he hasn't really done any acting in a while.

Is this seriously where you're at in terms of getting rid of Trump:

Vice President: Forrest Gump
President: The Scorpion King

Luckily Kanye is holding off until 2024, so you're spared the Kanye West/Lindsay Lohan campaign for now.

Tom Hanks has had a long film career and Forrest Gump is what you chose? lol.

There's always time for Boris Johnson., then...

Didn't he renounce his US citizenship when Trump got elected? I heard something about him doing that, but don't know if he actually went through with it.

[MrRoboto75]

"In the past I never would've run for president, I was worried I wasn't qualified," Johnson said. "But the truth is, now, I think I'm a little too qualified."

The most insidious part about the trump presidency is that it left a precedent for literally any joke/meme candidate possible.

To be fair, Ronald Reagan opened the door to actor types running.... and Arnold Schwarzenegger, though he hasn't really done any acting in a while.

Reagan was at least governor for 8 years.  He actually had a political career.

[Starver]

To be fair, Ronald Reagan opened the door to actor types running.... and Arnold Schwarzenegger, though he hasn't really done any acting in a while.

Reagan was at least governor for 8 years.  He actually had a political career.

Ditto Arnie.  Though (Demolition Man future-history aside) the rules didn't and don't allow him to become President.

I don't think Boris renouncing citizenship even disqualifies himself from the first condition required for the Presidency (the NBCness). And, even if it does, that can probably be re-reversed in the future. Especially during the fourteen years or so he'd need to plan ahead for to fulfill the necessary residency requirement.

What might put the nail in the coffin, for us trying to play Fantasy Whitehouse League, is if he gets and accepts a seat in the House Of Lords. The unratified Titles Of Nobility amendment would, if made applicable and not then overridden by Congress anyway, possibly exclude him so long as he materially benefits from the role.

Realistically, though, his (current) rejection of US citizenship¹ is no future bar. Not compared with just making an active/passive deliberate decision to just not move to the States for the best part of a decade and a half, presumably having lost all possibility of usefully serving within the UK government (or even in opposition, biding his time for another go). And he's not getting any younger.  (Which at least means we don't have to factor in his disqualification from POTUS due to no longer fulfilling the minimum age requirement, however the other conditions turn out. Well, unless he uses the secret of rewinding time, known to just a select few. But obviously not being a Bullingdon Club secret, or else we'd never have been allowed to hear about some of the things they did.  )



¹ More to do with his UK ambitions than any rejection of US ambitions.

[Reelya]

Tom Hanks has had a long film career and Forrest Gump is what you chose? lol.

You're not getting it. If I called him "Paul Edgecomb" how many people would know WTF I'm talking about. The joke would need to be explained. (That's his character in The Green Mile). Same deal for Saving Private Ryan, since he's not the title character.

By selecting Forrest Gump, the joke needed no explanation since you knew who I was talking about straight away. Forrest Gump was literally the only role that could be used and still have that joke work.

[Bumber]

Charlie Wilson and WILLSON!!!

I guess that needs explaining.

[Starver]

Woody