Our Country And Communities Are Dying...

[Ark]

This is why they call Indianapolis a food desert. All the neighborhood grocery stores got tired of constant robberies until the cost of loss and security got unsustainable and they closed. All the big box stores like Walmart and Meijer close at night unlike their suburban counterparts outside of 465 which are usually 24-hr. IndyGo's hub-and-spoke route system makes a bus trip for groceries an all-day affair so expect melted frozens by the time you get home. The people who suffer are usually the ones who have no means to relocate but I'm guessing they also are the ones responsible for raising the pieces of $#!+ who are robbing the stores in the first place.

I spent about 4 years living in Indy, Mapleton-Fall Creek. There was an abandoned building at the end of the block near the intersection of 34th and Central that I was told used to be a neighborhood grocery but closed due to repeated robberies. Every other business around had bars on every window and door. The house I lived in was flanked on three sides by abandoned houses so it was surprisingly quiet but you'd see people coming and going at night using these locations for who-knows-what. I moved three blocks away to a more populated block and was burgled 3 times in 2 years. You'd think with neighbors right there someone would speak up but their attitude was that if you just let them take what they want they won't harm you personally.

Yeah, that's my hood. First time I've ever seen an airlock with metal detectors and a buzzer to get into a regular chain bank branch. No grocery stores or supermarkets anywhere until you get out to Keystone or over the canal to W 38th. No overnight hours for anything.

It's starting to get encroached by developers, though. Crapholes getting demo'd, older buildings and houses getting remodeled, people getting bought out. But there's no point moving here without a car, because everything you need for daily life is 20 minutes away.

Just wanna make money for a couple years and then buy land and GTFO...

 

[Route 45]

Looked through some of those videos, the one from Camden looks real to me. Others I watched I'm thinking some of the people look too clean and rather dramatic.

That said, I haven't visited a city in a long time and have no plans to. Local drug dealers are visible here, but I don't see zombies walking around their yards and their customers look way rougher than many of those people in the videos.

So...several months of these videos and it's fake?

Ok.

I forget sometimes that I'm on INGO. Surprised someone hasn't chirped up and said that it's real, but it's people suffering from being vaccinated as opposed to obvious heroin addiction.

 

[Hatin Since 87]

So...several months of these videos and it's fake?

Ok.

I forget sometimes that I'm on INGO. Surprised someone hasn't chirped up and said that it's real, but it's people suffering from being vaccinated as opposed to obvious heroin addiction.

 

[BugI02]

.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

If I were King... I'd declare that the longshoremen were essential personnel and order them back to work, 3 shifts, 7 days a week until the backlogs were cleared. Same for truckers and other supply chain essential personnel.
[/MEDIA]

I thought we were against forcing people to work and nobody had a right to someone else's labor?

You could nationalize the docks, maybe use military personnel who are trained (there are some, I assume), but that's socialism.

What a quandary.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

But for whatever reason there is a shortage of drivers. I'm sure the ones that are still driving have been busy.

Something else we've been importing from India. I would never have guessed what percentage of OTR truckers are Indian these days, and maybe it's not national but it's *very* prevalent in Indy. Then the support industries as well. Mechanics, trailer storage lots, etc.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I thought we were against forcing people to work and nobody had a right to someone else's labor?

You could nationalize the docks, maybe use military personnel who are trained (there are some, I assume), but that's socialism.

What a quandary.

Were we against it in WWII? We had IBM, U.S. Postal Meter, General Motors, etc. making M1 Carbines. Did they do that of their own volition?

What we have now is a combination of .gov and unions preventing workers from you know... working. "We'll go to work as long as there's no work to be done." Seriously?

 

[Shadow01]

We had a barn once that was leased out to a ****** renter. It became overrun with rats.

Traps, poison, and an opportunistic gun shot put an end to it.

The renter? Or the rats?

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Something else we've been importing from India. I would never have guessed what percentage of OTR truckers are Indian these days, and maybe it's not national but it's *very* prevalent in Indy. Then the support industries as well. Mechanics, trailer storage lots, etc.

I've noticed the same. Lots of Sikh drivers especially. I don't have a problem with that, but I don't want to hear the "good ol' boys" complaining about "Der Takin' Er Jobs!" when they have ample opportunity to take those jobs themselves.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

The trucking industry today is not the same as it was in the Smokey and the Bandit days, that's for sure.

 

[Alpo]

The renter? Or the rats?

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Were we against it in WWII? We had IBM, U.S. Postal Meter, General Motors, etc. making M1 Carbines. Did they do that of their own volition?

What we have now is a combination of .gov and unions preventing workers from you know... working. "We'll go to work as long as there's no work to be done." Seriously?

Today isn't WWII and today people aren't WWII-era people. There's no will to sacrifice *anything* for the common good. INGO would lead the charge against the 'socialism' of a War Production Board.

Dockworkers were essential employees and worked during COVID restrictions. At least as far back as June they were complaining management wouldn't hire workers for a third shift. But, you know, unions and .gov are the issue.

"Mr. Tirschwell blames ILWU workers for decisions made by our employers: The union agrees that gates should open 24/7, but terminal operators refuse to consistently hire us for the third shift. The shortage of chassis, railcars and other equipment has nothing to do with ILWU labor. Agricultural exporters have begged our employers to provide containers that farmers need to ship overseas. But instead, the overseas-based owners optimize for their own profits, not productivity here in the U.S." (06/04/21)
William Adams
ILWU International President
San Francisco


And no, they didn't say they would go to work when there was no work to be done. They said they would bring in more people when there was room for them. I'm no expert, but it looks like this is not historically unusual due to it being faster to unload a ship then it is to then clear the dock. See in 2015:

Night shifts at L.A.-area ports to be cut, in latest move during talks

Employers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will no longer order dockworkers to unload ships at night, a move they contend will help relieve crushing congestion on the waterfront.

www.latimes.com

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Side note: Those guys actually get to pilot giant mech suit robot crane things. The mech suit dudes make nearly 3x what regular dock workers make. $100k a year and getting to walk around in a giant "robot suit" is almost kinda enough to sorta think about living in CA. Sure, they only move at the pace of a brisk walk and it's more crane than Transformer, but still. CA would be awesome if it wasn't for the Californians.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Today isn't WWII and today people aren't WWII-era people. There's no will to sacrifice *anything* for the common good. INGO would lead the charge against the 'socialism' of a War Production Board.

Dockworkers were essential employees and worked during COVID restrictions. At least as far back as June they were complaining management wouldn't hire workers for a third shift. But, you know, unions and .gov are the issue.

"Mr. Tirschwell blames ILWU workers for decisions made by our employers: The union agrees that gates should open 24/7, but terminal operators refuse to consistently hire us for the third shift. The shortage of chassis, railcars and other equipment has nothing to do with ILWU labor. Agricultural exporters have begged our employers to provide containers that farmers need to ship overseas. But instead, the overseas-based owners optimize for their own profits, not productivity here in the U.S." (06/04/21)
William Adams
ILWU International President
San Francisco


And no, they didn't say they would go to work when there was no work to be done. They said they would bring in more people when there was room for them. I'm no expert, but it looks like this is not historically unusual due to it being faster to unload a ship then it is to then clear the dock. See in 2015:

Night shifts at L.A.-area ports to be cut, in latest move during talks

Employers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will no longer order dockworkers to unload ships at night, a move they contend will help relieve crushing congestion on the waterfront.

www.latimes.com

Okay, I'll bite. Whose job is it to clear the dock? I'm willing to admit it if my frustration is misdirected.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Side note: Those guys actually get to pilot giant mech suit robot crane things. The mech suit dudes make nearly 3x what regular dock workers make. $100k a year and getting to walk around in a giant "robot suit" is almost kinda enough to sorta think about living in CA. Sure, they only move at the pace of a brisk walk and it's more crane than Transformer, but still. CA would be awesome if it wasn't for the Californians.

A robot suit would be cool. I mean, they promised us we'd have flying cars by now, so the least they could do is give us robot suits.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Okay, I'll bite. Whose job is it to clear the dock? I'm willing to admit it if my frustration is misdirected.

It's their job, but more workers don't equate to faster times if manpower isn't the chokepoint. Those containers have to go somewhere once they are on the dock. Like on a train or on a truck. If the chokepoint is logistics after the container is ashore and clogging up the docks, then the longshoremen putting another shift on the docks isn't going to do anything.

Imagine this very simple supply chain.

I have a giant cart of cubes. My job is to take the cubes out of the cart and put them on a table behind me.

Your job is to take the cubes and put them in smaller carts.

Someone else's job is to bring you the small carts. Your current cart is full, the table is full, and I'm piling more stuff on the table. There is not another small cart coming for an hour. Does giving you another person help this supply chain? Does giving me another person help?

 

[DoggyDaddy]

"Robot Suit Warehouse. You're gonna love the way you look. I guarantee it."

 

[DoggyDaddy]

It's their job, but more workers don't equate to faster times if manpower isn't the chokepoint. Those containers have to go somewhere once they are on the dock. Like on a train or on a truck. If the chokepoint is logistics after the container is ashore and clogging up the docks, then the longshoremen putting another shift on the docks isn't going to do anything.

Fair enough. Sounds like somebody needs to get their asses to work. Who should I be complaining about? I want to complain, dammit! But seriously, somehow or other, that backlog has got to be cleared.

 

[snapping turtle]

Emigration follows in states neighborhoods and streets. Then low level positions into the higher occupations and management. Just the same now as the Italians or Irish before now.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Fair enough. Sounds like somebody needs to get their asses to work. Who should I be complaining about? I want to complain, dammit! But seriously, somehow or other, that backlog has got to be cleared.

Society in general? The people who moved so much of our manufacturing base across a giant ocean? Gremlins? Probably lots of people, all doing what was best for them in the moment but maybe not what was best for everyone long term.

I'm sure it'll shake out eventually. I'm equally sure we weren't learn much from it.