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Unemployment Stimulus, BP Edition
It was only a matter of time before the administration converted the Gulf spill tragedy into the latest unemployment stimulus program. The Unified Command in Mobile, Alabama announced today the first deployment of the
Qualified Community Responder (QCR) program that will put unemployed
individuals to work in the counties that may be affected by the oil
spill. Working closely with the Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida
unemployment offices, unemployed workers have been hired to help with
the cleanup effort. There is no conformation yet whether any of these "unemployed" will be quintuple BLS-counted census workers, or just what death (birth, not so much) adjustment to crustacean wildlife the Department of Labor will apply in order to avoid a comparable overpromise/underdeliver gaffe as this Friday's NFP. And since the oilspill will likely reach Maine relatively soon, we expect the entire Eastern seabord to see at least half a million monthly pick up in temporary workers by the time there is no water left in the Oiltlantic Ocean, some time in September.
From Deepwater Horizon Response:
Starting today some 400 QCR workers in Florida and Alabama began cleaning affected beaches.
The QCR program secures local labor to help with a variety of tasks associated with cleaning beaches. QCR workers are trained and ready to help prevent and respond to the impacts of oil on the shoreline.
The plan is to train more than 4,500 workers in the three states in the Mobile Sector (1,500 in Alabama, 1,500 in Mississippi, and 1,600 in Florida). To date there are 2,946 people trained and ready to be deployed (978 in Alabama, 1,500 in Mississippi, and 468 in Florida).
QCR workers will perform shoreline cleanup activities that may include carrying and handling materials and supplies, raking or shoveling debris, operating front end loaders or power washers to clean rocks and beach areas, wiping or washing oil-covered items, and removing trash. These workers will not be dealing with impacted wildlife as there are specialists trained for those activities.
Safety is a primary concern, so all QCR workers have received extensive safety training and instruction on beach cleanup techniques for the activities they will be performing. All QCR workers will have the appropriate personal protective equipment and tools to clean the beaches.
The QCR program that hires unemployed workers is in addition to the states’ programs that will use potentially thousands of volunteers to walk the beaches looking for signs of oil in order to quickly identify areas needing cleanup.
Once operation LMRP proceeds to its natural conclusion and the nukes come out, we can't wait to see what part of the unemployed population the administration will use for alpha/beta (not so much gamma) ray shielding, and as a prop to June's nonfarm payrolls. We are confident that Rahm will not dissapoint.
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Yes, the Keynesian conclusion: we need more natural disasters. Hurricane Katrina created jobs!
This MAY be the only remotely good thing that Obama has done since becoming President.
I am sure that since it is a federal program, however, that there will be the normal immense waste, fraud, ineptitude, and delays we always see from .gov.
Obama's Katrina indeed.
Since, essentially these QCR workers are Federal employees, will they be able to join the public sector Unions such as AFSME that represent Federal employees and take part in the extensive benefits provided for union members?
I mean if a politician can receive substantial pension benefits for only serving two years in Congress, and it's quite probable that shoreline cleanup could last years.
Do I make out better collecting unemployment, or would I be better off becoming a QCR working and pretending to clean up oil while lollygagging along the beach?
If you're a Federal employee and a member of a union, can you ever get fired?
Decisions, decisions.
</snarky was here>
As a federal employee myself (Civilian Air Force Tinker AFB), I have seen several employees fired recently (or quit due to random drug test).
Yes you can be fired for bad attendance, or not wearing apropriate PPE.
Where is Velobabe when you need her?
or dismissed by death
Which is more likely if you are going to be touching toxic slop all day.
This is going to be one very interesting experiment on how baddly things can go.
Also by retirement. Get this one, there are some 28,000 folks working at Tinker AFB, do not know if that includes enlisted military but am sure it does. Anywho, there is talk that some 10,000 of them are going to be retiring in the next two to three years. So they are hiring a lot of new people to learn their gigs before they go.
Guess I am one of them, since I got hired in november 09. I had been layed off, and collecting U.E. benefits for 11 months when I got the offer. It was the only one out of several hundred I applied for during those 11 months. Not like I really had a choice, if I turned it down, no more U.E. bennies. I know working for the government is not the ideal situation, but you gotta do whatya gotta do.
Besides it is working on military aircraft, something I am really good at since I have been doing it since I graduated in 79. Also something I enjoy doing, which in itself is important.
But at 49 years old, is this going to last long enough for me to retire? I have a feeling the answer is no. If the gov. does not quit spending money like a bunch of drunken sailors, there is no way it can last another 21 years.
Speaking of public employee union pensions, today's local newspaper, www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2010/06/oregon_public_employee_retirem/2499. I am always amazed how unions/taxpayers hand over their dollars to the very people trying to destroy them. The comments are a hoot. Another interesting article in the biz section: video games to teach the financially illiterate. There was also a front page article, about the declining state revenues that was very interesting.
One of the things I enjoy most about my work travels is picking up the local papers to see how the squid permeate all levels of government in many different countries/states. The depressing thing is how totally fucked we all are.
Thank you...it's not just me.
I'm thinkin a few more bridges and buildings need an untimely demise as well and we'll have FULL employment.
Just another Potemkin Jobs Program. It may look good on paper... but Fox blows this wide open day after day, baby.
For example, 100s of boats and skippers have been hired for weeks by BP. They are getting paid, but just "sittin' by the dock of the bay". There is no management structure in place to organize these people, many of whom are highly qualified, to do anything productive. Even when they "work"... it's pretend work. Just like the White House.
And WTF is "Thad Allen"? His total lack of leadership and comptetence... makes me suspect that he's a Hollywood charcter actor and a friend of either James Cameron or Kevin Costner, possibly even a relative.
Do you think I would have a claim for damages against BP if I couldn't get one of these beachcomber jobs?
the dead animals washed ashore will be counted as dropouts from the labor pool to cause a decrease in unemployment.
There will be special burial societies created, specially trained men and women of some type of cloth will hold special services in their memory and, most likely, special masolea and monuments will be built with taxpayer dollars to honor the fallen-excuse me, the tarred and feathered.
Goldman sold twice the number of BP shares just before the oil spill...
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0602/month-oil-spill-goldman-sachs-sold-250-million-bp-stock/
Soon they will be offering community college degrees in census arts and spill clean up sciences.
That'd be a step up from the current crop.
The other day, I saw a young man on the subway paging through his study material from bartender school.
at least there is a future in that market
In mortuary services I totally agree.
make BP pay for this, and its a great idea. but lets face it, if you have people collecting unemployment already, it is better to have them doing something productive. after this mess BP needs to be broken up and auctioned off. fuck them.
I was waiting for this type of report, turning oily lemons into Quaker State. I'm only surprised it came so soon.
Oh, thanks, is that 10W-30? Extra ice please, it's hot as hell down here in Hades.
cd, been thoroughly enjoying the psychosis series. thx for the time and effort.
Thank you. Chapter 3 loaded for bear and ready to go. Should it post tomorrow (Sunday) or Monday?
Downloaded AC's Collection. Watching Living Dead Part 1.
Good stuff. Thanks.
It is not said often enough. You guys are the shit. This is the place for the truth. I'll donate when I can again. I got bitch slapped on that last pop in the S&P on June 2nd, but now my puts are look'n pretty. Sad I lost some time value, but what the hay, there's always July. Lik'n the superemposed March 09 crash charts to whats goin on now. Good replay if there was ever one. Still believe in a crash next 15 to 45 days.
I can not live without ZH. Thanks
So now they'll juice the unemployment stats using this QCR program but what about all of the people that are now out of work as a result of the spill in the first place? Wouldn't they drag the unemployment number higher? This has to net out to higher unemployment, unless they quadruple count the QCR hires and excuse the newly unemployed as an aberration due to the fact that is it an "outlier". This is one that will require a lot of reading between the lines...like everything else our government does. Thank you ZH.
Actually the dead don't get counted. The faster you can kill them, the faster they are off the books as unemployeed.
I see you have never been to Chicago.
+ 55! Hahahaha!
Another fave Chicago-ism, "vote early and often".
LOL!
Beer came out my nose...
I've heard that the standard method of disposal that these new workers will be trained with is the humane oral method. This will help BP's owner the Queen and her relatives reach their goals in NSSM 200 in one easy step.
Of course, all registered workers will be vaccinated so that sterility and immuno-depressive disease is guaranteed regardless of whether the worker is every actually deployed. If they get trained, then they're contained.
Rule #1: Step away from the hand-out job. Its more risky than a hand desk job as in working for the SEC.
WTF. It's the WPA make-work program.
This must've been in the works for a while. I think it was yesterday or the day before that a democrat person I know mentioned this very thing as something the adminstration should do 'to show leadership'.
Man what kind of cranked up program are they going to institute when the Katla volcano blows.
Updated DOW charts :
http://stockmarket618.wordpress.com
http://www.zerohedge.com/forum/latest-market-outlook-1
Not for all the money in the bank would I touch that crap. We'll be seeing the fisherman that are out there dying in a year of cancer of one form or another. Since there will be no "link" to dealing with oil and cancer officially, we'll see them ship students to "fix" the problem for student jobs.
A year later their parents will be bagging them.
To be blunt, I'm not surprised that the russian method of combat is being used in this hopeless effort. AKA throw bodies at the problem until the enemy runs out of bullets. Somehow I don't think mother nature is going to run out before we do.
Speaking of which. BP and the entire media has shut up about the lack of salt water in the gulf and now turning into the atlantic. NYC by sept people and in the food courtesy of the water cycle by July thanks to the way Methane can bond with H2O. Yum, potatoes should be especially flammable this year.
+1 it's just like those poor responders after 9-11
I just hope the poor sods won't fall under the VA Dept. Guaranteed death warrant.
Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) might be a bigger problem. It is REAL toxic and often associated with crude oil.
Lack of salt water in the gulf?? There are 643 quadrillion gallons of salt water in the gulf. That's 6.43*10^17 gallons of salt water.
If somehow the oil/gas/whatever is removing salt from the sea water. How much oil do you think would be required to reduce this by any significant amount?
Let's say we want to remove the salt from 1% of water in the gulf - That would be 6.43*10^15 gallons of water to desalinate.
Now imagine a worst case scenario that 1 gallon of oil can somehow remove the salt from 10000 gallons of water. We would need 6.43*10^11 gallons of oil to do this.
6.43*10^11 gallons of oil would be around 21,433,333,000 barrels.
If there are 100000 barrels a day coming from the spill it would take 587 years for it to produce that much oil.
No doubt this disaster is bad but the hysteria and lack of critical thinking shown by some folk on the internet when addressing this issue is quite incredible.
I was trying to find a map of the Gulf Stream Current so I could see how close the current comes to the North Carolina coast and found this gem:
Burial at Sea in the Gulf Stream, will carry your loved ones ashes up the East coast of the United States, across to Europe, and eventually throughout the Atlantic Ocean’s surface current systems. One of our clients said “My husband wanted to travel, now in my final tribute to him, he can”.http://www.burialsatsea.com/
Here is another "flow" chart for you:
http://www2.ucar.edu/sites/default/files/news/images/features/2010/oil_slick_map.jpg
You don't suppose the BP / Gulf oil spill was a manufactured event designed with the intent of creating renewed interest in a life on the west coast. As in... Vastly overvalued Cali real estate might be crazy expensive, but at least the coast is clear, so to speak.
I put nothing past the evil fucktards running government.
9/11 = Dept of Homeland Security/Patriot Act
H1N1* = Universal Healthcare
Gulf Oil Disaster = Cap & Trade
Next?
*This one was quite a failure, but at least big Pharma was paid off.
Cape Hatteras.
One worker to scout the tar balls
One to pick up the tar balls
One to run toxicity test on tar ball
One to photograph and catalgue the tar ball
One to place the tarball in containment
One to drive the tarball to it's final destination
One shop stewart to watch everyone work dillgently
One Super to watch the shop stewart
One compliance officer
One guy to hand out water and sandwiches
Ahhhhhhhhh...I can smell the cash burning from here.
Broken windows bitches
One Ring to rule them all.
lol! I often say to my friends who want me to run for political office, that I prefer to remain invisible to the Eye of Sauron!
And since the oilspill will likely reach Maine relatively soon,
The country can simply re-hire the Bush Administration for the clean-up. You know, Cheney and Rumsfeld picking tar balls from their waterfront homes and, of course, the entire Bush clan shoveling oil off Kennebunkport. Surely Condi will be there to help.
No. Cheney is out hunting with his broker.
Bush Admits To War Crimes
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/6/6/873245/-Bush-Admits-War-Crime......
I keep reading about "oil spill cleanup" but not much detail about what this means.
Spraying oil-covered beaches, rocks, & various beachfront structures with high-power hoses accomplishes nothing in the long run. The oil is still in the water and will return, meanwhile it continues to damage marine life. This is not like census employment which mainly involves learning a list of rules and some clerical skills. Remediation of oil contamination requires training & experience, plus specialized equipment and chemicals. You can't just grab unemployed people off street corners and turn them loose. At best they will accomplish little; at worst they will make things worse and endanger their own health. (That last part has potential as a lawyer-employment program for the future!)
And none of that addresses the question of whether significant cleanup of this godawful mess is even possible.
Get with the program, will ya. The idea here is NOT to clean up the spill, The Administration doesn't give a rats ass about that. The whole idea here is to reduce the unemployment number so than Obama/Biden can spew their mouths off about how many jobs they created.......check that......saved. Booyah baby.
Yes in addition to reversing any domestic drilling concessions made to Republicans for signing Healthcare and Cap and Trade bills.
IMO, domestic drilling sends a bad message to our friends and allies in the Persian Gulf which could directly effect the USD. Domestic offshore drilling is a form of protectionism and a clear sign of hostility towards our oil exporting buddies.
Solution:
Turn this spill into a free for all wildcatter expedition. Anyone who is able to mop up any part of the slick is guaranteed market price + 50% (currently about $70 + $30 = $100/barrel) payed by BP.
Put's fisherman, shrimpers and the unemployed back to work in new ventures without tax payer funds.
Will they hire and fire the same workers over and over just like the Census to jack up the number of jobs created?
If the following headline report has any merit:
"BP faces ban on future American operations"
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_...
I would say BP Plc stock will take another hit tomorrow.
The riser pipe under that dome contraption they installed is starting to break up.
Check it out on the vid at the top of this link.
Its starting to crack around a circular fixture on the pipe. This is getting BAD FAST!
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/bps-attempt-lmrp-installation-process
I hope they are given adequate medical attention after they suffer from the high toxicity levels.
*COUGH*
first responders
*COUGH COUGH*
BP says they are going to attach a different fixture this week. I hope there is something for them to attach a fixture to, as it appears to be eroding away at a serious pace.
Canary-in-the-coal-mine anyone?
I do declare myself Prescient.
From Yesterday:
by Oh regional Indian
on Sun, 06/06/2010 - 07:32
#397430
Bruce,
There is a very tragic possibility that the GOM oil spill will fill the next jobs report with the numbers.
There is a huge tragedy there, waiting to explode and the Government and the privateers will have to hire massively, albeit temporarily to manage all the out-comes from there.
Such is how I see it. And then, as we trot our way to never never land, a new draft.
I hopium I am wrong, but I don't do bongs and feel I am not.
This is beyond six-sigma territory we are in.
In the end, we are all mucked!