There is no such thing as transgender. It is impossible to change genders. There are only two of them and they are a biological imperative. One can be a transvestite and dress and impersonate the opposite sex, which is fine with me since I'm a libertarian and generally a nice guy. But being a transvestite does not give you the excuse to go beating up women. That's kind of not so cool. I don't care if your mommy told you it was okay. Your mom is a ******* **** if she said so.

I would love to see that little dude get his clock cleaned by another male boxer in the same weight class. I bet he doesn't last a full round.

While I'm at it, I really don't care who anybody sleeps with as long as it's not a child or incapacitated person that can't agree to what's going on. Live and let live. Freedom and liberty for all, just don't hurt anybody else.

Topic change-
I'm still trying to figure out how the Evangelical blacks can support the same people that support homosexuality, late term abortions, openly fight against Christianity and judeo-christian values, and other things that appear to be diametrically opposed to their worldview. Just seems like odd bedfellows.

 

I am genuinely curious as to how this concept first got started.

I've spent the past ten minutes or so writing, revising, and then deleting words, because I literally cannot articulate the thoughts and questions which I assume that many of us are thinking, and yet few are saying.


So, instead, I post this image which, I'm afraid, is not so far detached from reality as I would prefer.

 

Along the same lines...

 

 

 

 

 

 

I learned a new acronym today.

Hoping for unicorns, 1 in 5 young men are NEETs—not in employment, education, or training

BY Orianna Rosa Royle
August 16, 2024, 11:04 AM UTC


1 in 5 male Gen Z grads are unemployed and not actively looking for work

There’s a growing cohort of Gen-Zers who are rejecting life’s major milestones and becoming NEETs—that is, “not in employment, education, or training”. Many of them are college-educated men.

One in five young people around the world are currently NEETs, according to the International Labour Organization. In the U.S., this jumps to about 11.2% of young adults. Meanwhile in the U.K., almost 3 million Gen-Zers are now classed as economically inactive.

Now, new research has shown that male Gen Z grads are more likely than women to be among those opting not to work or get some form of qualification.

Despite having just graduated, 1 in 5 men under the age of 25 are unemployed, Bloomberg’s analysis shows. And they’re not actively looking for work, either.

While the share of Gen Z female college grads participating in the workforce has steadily increased, the participation rate for their male counterparts has nose-dived.

Why aren’t male Gen Z grads working?

The class of 2023 and 2024 are confronting a tougher job market than those who graduated during The Great Resignation when hiring rates and wages hit a record high.

It’s a trend that Lewis Maleh, CEO of the global recruitment agency, Bentley Lewis has witnessed too. While young college-educated women are making do by widening their job search, Maleh has seen their male counterparts try to wait it out.

“Women tend to be more flexible in accepting job offers, even if they’re not perfectly aligned with their career goals or are part-time or they are overqualified for,” he says.

“Men, on the other hand, often hold out for roles that align more closely with their ideal career path or offer what they perceive as adequate compensation and status.”

Some male candidates have been airing their frustrations that the few jobs available right now don’t match their expectations, he says.

“Whereas, female candidates often discuss strategies for making the best of available opportunities, focusing on skill development and networking even in less than ideal roles.”

Essentially, it’s not that young men don’t want to work—it’s that they want the right type of work.

Men have lost the upper hand

Another factor that comes into play, Maleh adds, is that men no longer have the upper hand in certain sectors that they once dominated.

For years, male students have enjoyed more lucrative roles straight out of university thanks to their majors: A Bankrate study published in September 2023 found that men accounted for almost 4 out of every 5 graduates with bachelor’s degrees in the 20 highest-paying fields.

However, male-dominated industries like technology and finance are currently experiencing mass layoffs and grad program slowdowns, as they correct for over-hiring during the pandemic and the economic uncertainty that followed.

‘Holding out for that unicorn role’

It perhaps explains why men have “sky-high expectations,” Conor Hughes a HR consultant echoes.

“They want that dream job title, the perfect culture fit, and a supreme compensation package right out of the gate,” he explains. “Instead of being open to decent opportunities as stepping stones, a lot of them would rather ride the unemployment wave while holding out for that unicorn role.”

After all, that’s what they’ve seen their predecessors enjoy.

“This shift might make men more selective or hesitant, waiting for roles that match their expectations or past norms, which could lead to longer periods of unemployment,” Maleh agrees.

“There’s an underlying narrative, often unspoken, about what constitutes ‘acceptable’ work for men,” Maleh concludes, adding that societal pressure for men to be breadwinners deters them from taking what they might view as ‘lesser’ jobs—even temporarily.



More young men are becoming NEETs than women—not in employment, education, or training | Fortune (archive.is)

 

Huh. I just always called them bums. These are the same people who will be complaining about not being able to afford retirement.

 

Remember these are the young voters whom Kamala is pandering to as she promises centralized economic control over food and housing.


I hate to sound like a "these kids today..." sort of grumpy old man, but I kind of am. The grumpy part, anyway.


My very first job out of college was hourly as a temp, working on the factory floor in an electronics manufacturing environment. I was putting connectors onto cables, stuffing wiring harnesses into bundles, etc. Tedious, physically taxing work for which you do not need an engineering degree.

Within a few months, I got promoted to doing field installations. Still temp and hourly, but now traveling and sleeping in hotels 95% of the time as well, working long hours, often overnights, every meal out of either a bag or a vending machine...

After a few months of that, I got hired on full-time as a design engineer. $50k a year and full benefits including 401k with contribution-match. Not bad for a 24 year old in the late 90s. I spent 13 years with that company, then jumped to another company which I've been with for 11 years. Been making six figures since before I turned 40.

I plan to retire before I turn 55. Wouldn't be in this position today if I hadn't taken a crummy, low-level job (at a very good company) when I did.


I don't know if these people don't realize that, when you're young and have zero experience, starting you out in crummy, relatively unimportant roles is one way that employers size you up to see if you're cut out for an "upstairs" job. It's an audition that you get paid to attend.

 

This is what happens when you pass out participation trophies. People expect to be rewarded for doing not a damn thing and they expect to always be called winners and be given prizes just for showing up. They've never paid any dues so they don't know that's how life works.

My degree is in Psychology and I didn't realize until I had the degree just about in my hand that it was pretty useless for pay at an entry level. I ended up choosing to take a more difficult road and managed Waffle House restaurants for 2 years to bolster my resume and gain valuable management experience. I made $45,000 the first year and $55,000 the second year. Entry level in psychology at that point was $18k to 22k, and $24k if you had experience.

After that, I was recruited to be a sales trainee for a construction machinery dealership chain. Once learning that craft and developing returning business customers, that quickly developed into a six-figure position for the last many many years.

I'm just amazed how six figures don't go nearly as far as they used to anymore. I haven't looked it up but I imagine 1994 to 2024 the value of a dollar must be a whole lot less.


Edit: I looked it up. That entry-level pittance of 22k a year is the equivalent of $46k now. Fawk, I need to get a raise. What I'm getting paid now is not what I perceived it to be because they have devalued the dollars so much.

 

I'll never make even close to 6 figures, but I really don't care. My job is easy, and I like where I work. But I probably won't be able to retire until after I'm dead.

 

Man, Jalopnik has *really* gone woke.

Saw this article today, in which they condemn Harley Davidson for "Bowing to bigots," and referring to their customers as "those human shitstains" and "a bunch of right-wing cretins" because Harley realized that trying to publicly push DEI when their core customer base is upper-middle-class, flag-waving, middle-aged white men, didn't work well.

That place used to be a legitimate automotive journalistic publication.

I don't think I'm exaggerating this at all.

https://jalopnik.com/harley-davidson...ves-1851627345

Companies are finally figuring out that trying to radically alter the moral and ethical standards of society is not a good business model. And some folks can't seem to tolerate that.






Who would have thought that Harley would cave?

Literally everyone who understands basic economics.

 

Once they started cross posting Jezabel articles and other gawker trash I stopped reading, been at least 10 years now I bet...

Harley HAS TO branch out from dieing off old boomers, but going woke ain't it either.

 

I honestly don't see the situation as being that dire. Gen X is now at peak midlife-crisis age, and I see just as many folks my age purchasing $30,000 motorcycles as my parents' generation did.

And it's not like the company is hurting. Obviously corporate revenues are subject to many whims, but HOG's annual revenue is higher today than it was 15 years ago, and while their share price is a bit off from its peak, it's by no means in the toilet and has been fairly stable since rebounding from the two-week stay at home orders.

 

FortNine did a good video on Harley's artificial stock inflation buybacks, no longer releasing demographic numbers and playing with financing #s to make sales look stronger than they are along with some other things they are up to.

Given this video is 4 years old so hopefully things HAVE changed for the better, they have tried to roll out some adventure bikes and trying to reach some new markets with lower/cheaper model bikes since then.

I'm not convinced they have shaken the boomer only bike owner persona personally, but maybe I'm not old enough to fall into the demo yet? Personally all my close friends have bikes and most of them are naked sport bikes or super motos, and I'll admit if I was 50+ riding something with full aero would be more appealing on longer rides compared to my sv650.

 

Anyone who has been to MATG except for Padlock probably thinks "**** Harley and the douchebags who ride them". Rolling roadblocks of wannabe toughguys.

In fact, **** anybody who cuts the mufflers off their internal combustion engine vehicles and rides them through residential neighborhoods at full throttle, and/or revs them at every ******* stoplight and stop sign. They act like the piece of ****'s going to die if they actually let it idle.

Maybe they are so henpecked at home that this is the only way they can say anything without being interrupted. Rev Rev. I'm so insecure. Rev Rev. My ***** is smaller than I would like. Rev Rev. I have no control over my own life. Rev Rev. I hate my job. Rev Rev. I don't find my wife attractive anymore. Rev Rev. She doesn't find me attractive anymore. Rev Rev. I'm overweight. Rev Rev. I'm balding. Rev Rev. Somebody's going to be forced to listen to this noise whether they like it or not. Rev Rev. Something something erectile dysfunction. Rev Rev.

 

 

There's also a big delta between what HD corporate is "envisioning" vs. what the dealerships are pushing. I know a small number of folks who went in looking for an adventure bike or a Sportster, and all they did was try and tell them how they needed at LEAST a Road King with every piece of boomer chrome in the catalog. Most vowed to never step foot in an HD dealership ever again and ended up with KTM's or Yamahas.