And employers cannot simply hire people right out of high school without providing specialized training programs to bring them up to speed.

It is 100% money. You are so close to seeing the point with this sentence. If the factory owners paid for specialized training programs for new hires, then they would have specialized employees who can do the job. They are neither willing to invest money in new people, stubbornly insisting that people already come fully trained, but also not willing to appropriately compensate those who are both trained and willing to put their bodies at risk on a factory floor.

There’s not enough skilled talent because the jobs are not paying enough when considering the physical risk and pain involved compared to what the execs make. I grew up surrounded by factory workers who made an OK salary in Indiana, enough to have a small house and 2 cars, but who always seemed to be on the verge of a strike. Constantly fighting with management to get basic benefits and decent pay, then having their bodies wrecked after years of a hard job. It was a thankless, hard job that was only made palatable by the wages and benefits unions had to constantly fight for. It’s no wonder young people look at that life and decide it isn’t worth all the specialized training to spend your life being dehumanized by the corporations who are making so much more money than you. At least in the skilled trades like construction and electrical you can go it alone and get most of the money for yourself. Not much of an option for that for factory workers.

Without reading I can give a most likely answer: money. If the job is exhausting and dangerous but pays a tenth of what middle management makes, which is a tenth of what the CEO makes, then I think we might have the reason.

Dear Diary, I’m hungry.

Signed, me.

Since this was an “emergency” ruling, the majority opinion was not required to say why they felt it was constitutional to send a person to a prison in a war-torn country they’re not a citizen of without having due process. This is straight up kidnapping and human trafficking. It’s one thing to argue that a person who doesn’t have proof of citizenship in the US has to go back to the country where they do have citizenship, but to send them to a prison in Africa without any kind of court trial? That’s insane. I can’t even imagine what justification the judges would give for saying that doesn’t violate due process rights of all people in the US. Because the constitution doesn’t say only citizens have the right to due process. Even the evil nutjob Scalia formally stated, “aliens [non-citizens] [are entitled] to due process of law in deportation proceedings.”

I liked this part of the story:

"Kasper Erikesen, a Danish father of four and green card holder who made posts supporting Trump, was among those detained while actively trying to become a U.S. citizen. "

This is so fucked up. The wife was brought in illegally when she was a minor by her mother. Her mom applied for asylum to make their status legal but missed an immigration hearing 7 years ago, triggering a deportation order. After getting married she applied for a green card like she was supposed to do, but instead they are going to deport her based on her mom’s mistake.

She didn’t choose to come to the US, didn’t choose to do so illegally, didn’t choose (or even know about) her mother missing an immigration hearing, and didn’t choose to stay even though there was a deportation order because she didn’t know about the order. She followed the rules and is being punished.

So you don’t agree with granting amnesty to kids brought over illegally by their parents? You’re fine with them suffering for the actions of their parents?

My legal opinion is they are FABULOUS!

I think it would be a hard case for a serious lawyer to make that a man wearing women’s clothing is obscene (or vice versa), seeing as PG rated movies have had men dressed as women for decades. That doesn’t mean the AG here won’t decree it, just that it should be easy to challenge in federal court.

There are so many excellent reasons to visit the US… just not necessarily right now.

Our cities are fun to explore and have great restaurants and museums. Most need a car to explore, unfortunately, but some don’t. Our nature is honestly amazing. From forests to deserts to mountains to beaches to lakes and rivers. Yes, other places have some of those, but not many countries have all of those.