So far, probationers don’t cotton to farm life
How’s it going down on the farm?
The first batch of probationers started work last week at a farm owned by Dick Minor, president of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association. In the coming days, more farmers could join the program.
So far, the experiment at Minor’s farm is yielding mixed results. On the first two days, all the probationers quit by mid-afternoon, said Mendez, one of two crew leaders at Minor’s farm.
“Those guys out here weren’t out there 30 minutes and they got the bucket and just threw them in the air and say, ‘Bonk this, I ain’t with this, I can’t do this,’” said Jermond Powell, a 33-year-old probationer. “They just left, took off across the field walking.”
Mendez put the probationers to the test last Wednesday, assigning them to fill one truck and a Latino crew to a second truck. The Latinos picked six truckloads of cucumbers compared to one truckload and four bins for the probationers.
Just as an aside, Minor Brothers Farm is listed as the second largest recipient of federal farm subsidies in the state, collecting a total of $11.4 million between 2000 and 2009.
– Jay Bookman
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622 comments Add your comment
(ir)Rational
June 22nd, 2011
11:46 am
BADA – That could be the problem. Then again, expecting the criminals to do an honest day’s work at anything could be the problem too.
Bluto
June 22nd, 2011
11:47 am
I love how they left out the Labors had gloves yet the probationers did not have any. And that he cucumbers have thorns on their vines. Way to hide the facts. I wonder if they have a record of how many labors quite on the first day? Yeah do not let those facts get in the way of a good story.
USinUK
June 22nd, 2011
11:47 am
“But our work ethics sucks? Whaddaya want us to do — PAY employers to work for them?”
well, going by the attitudes I’ve seen displayed in this blog, it wouldn’t surprise me if there were a number of people here who said “YES, DAMMIT! and you should be GLAD to pay our overlords for the privelege!”
(ir)Rational
June 22nd, 2011
11:47 am
USinUK – everybody needs one, and I guess if you join him on the dark side, they’ll have two.
deegee
June 22nd, 2011
11:47 am
Where does it end? Farmers should buy gloves for their workers if they want them to be productive? The workers are walking away from the work because it’s hot and they’re tired. Now what is the farmer supposed to do with a few dozen pairs of used, sweaty, stinky gloves?
I remember talking to a contractor about the difference between working with a group of Latino bricklayers vs. a group of Anglo bricklayers. The Latino bricklayers showed up for work every morning at 7:00am ready to go to work. The Anglos would show up around 9:00 and then send someone out to get them some breakfast.
BADA BING
June 22nd, 2011
11:48 am
josef…… I am moved my your life story. Do you need a couple bucks? I would be glad to help out old friend. Didn’t know you were married, I am confused.
Kamchak
June 22nd, 2011
11:49 am
(ir)Rational
I can live with that. It’s them red devils and Liverpuddlians that have the most issues with. I too am a Barça fan, and I saw them play Man. U. at the then brand new facility in Philly in 2001. Got to see Ronaldinho play.
Awesome.
Mighty Righty
June 22nd, 2011
11:49 am
Editor
June 22nd, 2011
11:32 am
Most Americans know what they are asking for like always, currently they don’t experience any backlash on this. BUT as soon as produce and produce prices sky rocket then Liberals will cry to the government how bad they have it.
And the dummy’s in government will implement a food subsidy program, hire 100,000 new federal workers and claim a tax increase will be needed to fund the unfortunates new benefit. And the liberals on this post will hail the generosity of government. It’s another ground hog day program.
USinUK
June 22nd, 2011
11:49 am
(ir)Rational – I haven’t really formed an allegiance, yet. my next-door-neighbors are Georgies, so I root for Sunderland because I like my neighbors!
6 strong
June 22nd, 2011
11:50 am
(ir)Rational yes i’m saying they are wrong. Everything is going up except pay. And yes ur right about doing what u have to do to take care of ur family. I use to work 2 jobs and one of them was with the government and the other was just for extra money to make sure my kids had what I felt they needed. I had no problem with doing that for my family. But for someone to say that $7.25 is enough to support themselves with a family is crazy no matter if the government or someeone else is saying it ITS NO MONEY!!
USinUK
June 22nd, 2011
11:50 am
(ir)Rational – but, until the hooker scandal a few months ago, I really liked Crouch (Tottenham) – so, like I said, no solid ties, yet.
(ir)Rational
June 22nd, 2011
11:51 am
deegee – The farmers should probably also feed, clothe, provide shelter for, provide a car for, set up a movie theater every night for entertainment, provide beer and cigarettes, and healthcare for the workers and their families. Oh, and then not expect them to work more than two hours a day. That’ll make the libs happy.
USinUK
June 22nd, 2011
11:51 am
6 stong – good gravy – who on earth said that $7.25 /hour is enough to support themselves and a family?
The Pettifoggers' Pettifog
June 22nd, 2011
11:52 am
josef@ 11:39 – If “some” people on this blog won’t even READ links with informative information, you honestly think they’re gonna waste their wee little brain cells to do Math?!? HA!
“I got no time for the jibba-jabba. I pity the fool who jibba jabbas!” — Mr. T
USinUK
June 22nd, 2011
11:52 am
(ir)Rational – 11:51 – hyperbolate much?
Joe Mama
June 22nd, 2011
11:52 am
Mighty Righty — “BUT as soon as produce and produce prices sky rocket then Liberals will cry to the government how bad they have it.”
Kind of like how business pees and moans about how bad they collectively have it whenever the minimum wage goes up.
Even though there’s no empirical evidence that minimum wage increases do any harm whatsoever to employment.
Laurie
June 22nd, 2011
11:53 am
If you don’t give the probationors a choice, they will continue to work the fields, become better prepared to deal with prickly vines and an overbearing sun. To compare their output to what immigrants produced during the first day or week is not reasonable. Revisit the issue in a couple months and then we can really see how they did.
josef
June 22nd, 2011
11:53 am
BADA
Ain’t I just pee-tee-ful?
Not married, just living in sin until we can repeal DOMA! And believe me, that was hypothetical…I won’t even consider getting off my sorry, low-down, goood-for-nothing high-white a33 and go mow the yard…much less go below the gnat line and pick cucumbers…
Kamchak
June 22nd, 2011
11:54 am
USinUK
It’s only “outing” if I’m ashamed of being a fan of The Blue Lions.
6 strong
June 22nd, 2011
11:55 am
@USinUK lol read some of (ir)Rational post directed toward me.
(ir)Rational
June 22nd, 2011
11:55 am
Kam – I tried to get tickets to the December 26 game a few years ago, and work that in as part of my honeymoon. I almost ended the marriage before it even started.
USinUK – so sad, you would think that living across the pond like you do, you would be able to pick a team and follow them religiously. It has to be easier for you than it is for me living in NW Atlanta.
(ir)Rational
June 22nd, 2011
11:56 am
USinUK – 11:52 – maybe.
The Pettifoggers' Pettifog
June 22nd, 2011
11:57 am
USinUK: well, going by the attitudes I’ve seen displayed in this blog, it wouldn’t surprise me if there were a number of people here who said “YES, DAMMIT! and you should be GLAD to pay our overlords for the privelege!”
HA!
getalife
June 22nd, 2011
11:58 am
Of course, it is the raise on the minimum wage’s fault
AmVet
June 22nd, 2011
11:59 am
A quick scan reveals the usual right wing lunacy – blacks are lazy, minimum wage is wrecking the economy and our government is the source of all of our problems.
Yep, another day in the parallel reality…
Mighty Righty
June 22nd, 2011
12:00 pm
Obama Gets 30% of Americans Certain to Support Re-Election in Economy Poll
More bad news for the Bamster!
(ir)Rational
June 22nd, 2011
12:00 pm
AmVet – I haven’t seen all that? Some of it yes, but I haven’t seen anyone say that minimum wage is ruining the economy, except those that are arguing that it isn’t enough.
Probation Farm Worker
June 22nd, 2011
12:00 pm
I inherited this mess form the previous administration. It going to take time to undo all the damage done by the workers before me.
USinUK
June 22nd, 2011
12:00 pm
Kam – 11:54 – I stand corrected
(ir)rational – I’d rather go outside and play / do something than sit and watch pretty much any sport.
willie lynch
June 22nd, 2011
12:01 pm
I have an idea. Lets just set up some internment camps for the 11 or so million immigrants, then we can implement a re-education system so we can indoctrinate the alien mass thus bringing them further into the American mainstream.
Realistically you’re never going to remove that number of people from the country without a progam that allows wholesale round ups akin to the violation of the Japanese here during WWII.
These states who have put these laws on the books are no doubt voicing the concerns of some of it’s citizens but this approach is sorely misplaced. There will have to be some sort of amnesty given to keep the people from hiding and moving from place to place in order to avoid the laws.
getalife
June 22nd, 2011
12:01 pm
“but I haven’t seen anyone say that minimum wage is ruining the economy, ”
That is lil lib’s thingie.
Who Said That?
June 22nd, 2011
12:03 pm
AmVet
June 22nd, 2011
11:59 am
blacks are lazy
(ir)Rational
June 22nd, 2011
12:03 pm
USinUK – good point. However, I do enjoy watching sports, so it is kind of a toss up with me. Now, let me go outside to shoot, and then the dilemma isn’t so strong. I’ll pick shooting any day of the week.
Who Said That?
June 22nd, 2011
12:04 pm
willie lynch
June 22nd, 2011
12:01 pm
There will have to be some sort of amnesty given
AmVet
June 22nd, 2011
12:04 pm
My bad (ir).
Though that nonsense is proffered here with great regularity, it apparently hasn’t been suggested this morning.
But the white bigots/mystery meats (see that brilliant 12:03) have certainly crawled out of their cesspools today, huh?
Logic 05
June 22nd, 2011
12:06 pm
According to Jay and Granny we should open the borders and provide free health care for the world, housing for everyone and of course jobs. No mention of how to pay for all of the give away programs.
stands for decibels
June 22nd, 2011
12:06 pm
More bad news for the Bamster!
Hey guys, if you’re going to copy/paste the same Sludge Report headline, don’t forget to add “SHOCK POLL” to it.
And you might mention if it’s got one of those sigh-reens going next to it as well.
(ir)Rational
June 22nd, 2011
12:07 pm
That’s why I didn’t mention that part. I saw plenty in the early part of the comments that were suggesting that it was because blacks were lazy. I’m suggesting that it is because criminals are lazy, and arguing that is why they became criminals in the first place.
AmVet
June 22nd, 2011
12:07 pm
“According to Jay and Granny we should open the borders and provide free health care for the world, housing for everyone and of course jobs. No mention of how to pay for all of the give away programs.”
Gotta love those far right wing, bald face liars.
And bloggers whose moniker is a joke…
stands for decibels
June 22nd, 2011
12:07 pm
Off topic, but does the fact that I’ve seen links to some story about a “Casey Anthony trial” on my news.google page for what seems like a month now, but never gave a crap and thus never clicked it, make me a bad person?
6 strong
June 22nd, 2011
12:08 pm
Who Said That? There is always a fool in here that gets off the point and says something that is full of sh**.
WOODSTOCK MIKE
June 22nd, 2011
12:09 pm
Is there a difference between sending jobs overseas and filling jobs with illegals? I thought Democrats were opposed to sending jobs overseas? Now, they complain that we should let illegals work here?
Hmmmm…..
AmVet
June 22nd, 2011
12:09 pm
Then I would generally agree with you, (ir).
Witt the caveat that you are referring to low-grade street criminals only, not white-collar criminals…
josef
June 22nd, 2011
12:10 pm
SFD
I’m avoiding that one myself…have we really become such a nation of ghouls?
Kamchak
June 22nd, 2011
12:10 pm
Now, they complain that we should let illegals work here?
Not intended to be a factual statement.
(ir)Rational
June 22nd, 2011
12:10 pm
stands – No, I think it is fine. Especially considering how sick it is that criminals are turned into celebrities so much here.
WOODSTOCK – You’re making too much sense, expect to get attacked for that.
Doggone/GA
June 22nd, 2011
12:11 pm
“Now, they complain that we should let illegals work here?”
Nope, we just want to know how much you are willing to accept in tax increases to cover the costs of finding, trying, processing and deporting them all?
getalife
June 22nd, 2011
12:11 pm
No workers is anti business, anti capitalist and horrible for the economy.
The gop should be called out on their position.
AmVet
June 22nd, 2011
12:11 pm
“Now, they complain that we should let illegals work here?”
The always nebulous “they”.
Would you be so kind as to show where “they” said this, mike?
Joe Mama
June 22nd, 2011
12:12 pm
willie lynch — “Realistically you’re never going to remove that number of people from the country without a progam that allows wholesale round ups akin to the violation of the Japanese here during WWII.”
Please don’t give them any ideas.
(ir)Rational
June 22nd, 2011
12:12 pm
AmVet – nah, the white collar ones are generally just stupid in that they got caught. Or greedy because they thought they could get one more big score before they skipped town. That doesn’t preclude the street criminals from being stupid, because they typically are in my experience, I’m just saying.
Who Said That?
June 22nd, 2011
12:12 pm
There is always a fool in here that gets off the point and says something that is full of sh**.”
You mean … Kamchak, AmVet, deegee (unemployed liberals that are available to pick ____ ! )
WOODSTOCK MIKE
June 22nd, 2011
12:13 pm
@Am Vet
Can you answer a simple question? Do you think illegals should be able to work here?
Adam
June 22nd, 2011
12:13 pm
Man finds his way to free healthcare
Now, if only this were provided to all people AHEAD of time.
josef
June 22nd, 2011
12:14 pm
w. lynch
@ 12:01
Well, we know the math and language arts scores ain’t the best…!
getalife
June 22nd, 2011
12:14 pm
“akin to the violation of the Japanese here during WWII.”
And the na zis
Kamchak
June 22nd, 2011
12:14 pm
Nope, we just want to know how much you are willing to accept in tax increases to cover the costs of finding, trying, processing and deporting them all?
I keep asking this question of the round ‘em up and ship ‘em backers: How much are you willing to spend — on a per head basis — to accomplish this task?
So far the only answer I have received is “however much it takes.”
Adam
June 22nd, 2011
12:15 pm
Making illegal aliens who are already here into legal immigrants without deporting them first is a good idea. The only reason to oppose such an idea is misinformation about the population in question, usually advanced first by bigots and perpetuated by either more bigots or simply clueless, mindless, dittohead individuals.
stands for decibels
June 22nd, 2011
12:15 pm
have we really become such a nation of ghouls?
I literally have no idea of what the trial’s even about. I guess there’s a murder involved, given that the latest screaming headline mentions human decomposition in a trunk.
I always suspect that the reason that certain crime stories become national is because of the attractiveness and/or wealth of someone involved.
If the perp and victim are poor and/or ugly, it’s not really important.
Paulo977
June 22nd, 2011
12:15 pm
Normal
“Normal
June 22nd, 2011
9:09 am
“Bring ‘em all back, make them legal, and put them to work” Of course …we are all one on this planet!! Taking most of us forever to figure this out!!
WOODSTOCK MIKE
June 22nd, 2011
12:16 pm
@AmVet
My point is very simple, what is the difference between sending jobs overseas to foreigners and having illegal foreigners working jobs here in the USA?
XYZ
June 22nd, 2011
12:16 pm
“Off topic, but does the fact that I’ve seen links to some story about a “Casey Anthony trial” on my news.google page for what seems like a month now, but never gave a crap and thus never clicked it, make me a bad person?”
Yes, because you care more about illegal aliens and their “rights” than a dead US citizen!
Kamchak
June 22nd, 2011
12:16 pm
You mean … Kamchak, AmVet, deegee (unemployed liberals that are available to pick ____ ! )
I’ve got my own garden to tend,
mystery meatsport.AmVet
June 22nd, 2011
12:16 pm
“Do you think illegals should be able to work here?”
Of course not.
Why would you even ask me such a nonsensical question?
So now it’s your turn to answer a simple question.
2nd request – Would you be so kind as to show where “they” said this, mike?
Jack
June 22nd, 2011
12:16 pm
Carlos, I think you hit a nerve.
josef
June 22nd, 2011
12:17 pm
W. Lynch, Joe Mama, getalife
Paging Andy Jackson…
willie lynch
June 22nd, 2011
12:17 pm
WOODSTOCK MIKE
June 22nd, 2011
12:09 pm
If we send jobs overseas are those people shopping with American merchants and paying taxes on their purchases, paying utility bills? Yeah there’s big difference in jobs that go overseas and those that are taken here by immigrants. Wow!
USinUK
June 22nd, 2011
12:17 pm
“I keep asking this question of the round ‘em up and ship ‘em backers: How much are you willing to spend — on a per head basis — to accomplish this task?
So far the only answer I have received is “however much it takes.””
good grief. sounds a lot like their plans to balance the budget, too
USinUK
June 22nd, 2011
12:18 pm
“If we send jobs overseas are those people shopping with American merchants and paying taxes on their purchases, paying utility bills?”
that doesn’t make even a tiny bit of sense.
Joe Mama
June 22nd, 2011
12:19 pm
MIKE — “what is the difference between sending jobs overseas to foreigners and having illegal foreigners working jobs here in the USA?”
You could pass legislation that regularizes the status of the US-employed illegals and have them pay taxes, consequently, the US would receive revenue from that, whereas the US won’t receive any individual or corporate tax revenue when American jobs go overseas.
Pretty simple thing, actually.
BeeJay
June 22nd, 2011
12:19 pm
Once again, a brilliant AJC editorialist earning a dollar by copying and pasting from another source.
Doggone/GA
June 22nd, 2011
12:21 pm
“So far the only answer I have received is “however much it takes.”
Until it comes time to actually raise those taxes, then it’s “Taxed Enough Already”
Paulo977
June 22nd, 2011
12:21 pm
Adam
@12:13 pm
OMG , has it really come to this? Wish I could sky-write this! When will it ever pierce our thick skulls that we need NHC?
USinUK
June 22nd, 2011
12:21 pm
it’s a blog. get over yourself.
USinUK
June 22nd, 2011
12:22 pm
Doggone – WELL SAID!
AmVet
June 22nd, 2011
12:22 pm
(ir), exactly.
I’m sure lots of criminals – both street and white-collar – were damn hard workers before they turned to the dark side.
BUT, this entire topic is exactly as I predicted days ago.
No matter if it is probationers or dumb mystery meat bloggers in the suburbs, I said they wouldn’t last one day in those fields.
I know of what I speak. (And now that I’m an older dog, I too wouldn’t last very long.)
But I know first hand what it is like to bust your ass day in and day out in a farming community. And that’s why I know that soft city-slickers who think they are above manual labor couldn’t pull their excess weight if their lives depended on it…
JEFF
June 22nd, 2011
12:22 pm
If we legalize all the migrant workers and make them eligible for social programs, over time we’ll make them too sorry to work too
WOODSTOCK MIKE
June 22nd, 2011
12:22 pm
@willie lynch
Really, haha, I guess that’s one way to look at it… I was talking more about the fact that with unemployment numbers the way they are it would be nice to have these jobs available to Americans. And this article showing that criminals don’t work very hard is a joke… I think we can all agree that criminals for the most part don’t have a great work ethic…
Your point of them spending money within our economy is a good one though, I wasn’t thinking about that…
Doggone/GA
June 22nd, 2011
12:24 pm
“that doesn’t make even a tiny bit of sense”
Actually, it does…it was just poorly worded. What’s he’s saying is that the jobs that go overseas takes the spending with it. The spending that would be done HERE if the jobs were here. And the the illegal immigrants working here spend their money HERE.
USinUK
June 22nd, 2011
12:26 pm
Doggone – wow. you’re much better at divination than I am – i didn’t get that message at all!
(ir)Rational
June 22nd, 2011
12:26 pm
AmVet – I know what you mean. I spent summers working for my grandparents and parents picking fruits and veggies, and mowing and baling hay, and other not so fun tasks such as that when I was a kid. Gave me great incentive to go to college and get a degree so I wouldn’t have to do that when it came time to support myself and my family. I don’t particularly want to, but I had to, I would be on my way to Americus or somewhere else in that part of the state looking for work. But I agree, most of the people I know up here wouldn’t last 15 minutes in that line of work.
WOODSTOCK MIKE
June 22nd, 2011
12:26 pm
@Joe Mama
Good point, that income needs to be taxed somehow…
AmVet
June 22nd, 2011
12:27 pm
As Gomer used to say, “Surprise, surprise, surprise!!”
Mike is great at asking questions, but not answering any.
I’m pretty sure I know where this is headed…
(ir)Rational
June 22nd, 2011
12:28 pm
Doggone – why do you assume that the illegals do their spending here. Maybe on the bare necessities, but all the immigrants I’ve ever dealt with typically send as much of their paycheck as humanly possible back to their families wherever they came from. Therefore, removing the spending from here.
Joe Mama
June 22nd, 2011
12:28 pm
JEFF — “If we legalize all the migrant workers and make them eligible for social programs, over time we’ll make them too sorry to work too”
I didn’t say “legalize.” I said “regularize.”
You could regularize their status to “Guest Workers” who have to pay taxes on their income, but who aren’t entitled to vote or stay here forever. Or to unemployment benefits and the like.
I wouldn’t have a problem with educating their kids on our dime, though; if they were working and paying taxes, it seems to me that keeping their kids in school five days a week would keep them off the streets and out of trouble.
willie lynch
June 22nd, 2011
12:28 pm
USinUK
June 22nd, 2011
12:18 pm
Well how many of the people who are answering the phone in a call center for American Express over in India walked into a Quick Trip here in Georgia and bought anything today? Again Wow!
stands for decibels
June 22nd, 2011
12:29 pm
Yes, because you care more about illegal aliens and their “rights” than a dead US citizen!
By my estimation, any given year there are going to be approximately 14 thousand US citizens who’ll be murdered. Am I supposed to care about the other 13,999 folks who’ve been dispatched as well as this one atop my news.google stack, or is it ok to ignore those?
Just wondering.
Chris
June 22nd, 2011
12:29 pm
Fletch…As soon as you agree to pay $4 per tomato and $6 per cucumber, we’ll get right on paying sharecroppers higher wages. You DO realize don’t you when the Cost of Doing Business (labor expense) go up SO DO the PRICES!
josef
June 22nd, 2011
12:30 pm
(ir)Rational
@ 12:29
Moving their assets offshore, eh?
Funkstar
June 22nd, 2011
12:30 pm
One important element in this story is that the Probationers are convicted criminals who have had some of their jail time probated and allowed by the communities to walk freely among us if they can be productive and stay out of trouble. They can and may at their request, be returned to the jail cell, where I understand, they have no freedom, do no work and are paid no minimum wage. The Probationers also pay a hefty monthly fee to the Probation Office for their valuable guidance and recommendation to the Probate Court that moderates the assimilation of these still-under-sentence convicted criminals.
I understand this is an experiment, and these Probationers are not on a prison work farm in shackles or under armed guard. They have agreed to get out of jail early and work on a farm for pay. If they do not like that arrangement, they are free to say “Bonk this” throw their buckets away and stroll back home to wait for that prison bus to pull up, if that’s their choice. Many of the Probationers are not well-suited to any honest work, much less cucumber picking. They will eventually return community and their previous criminal occupation. Our State’s Ag Industry needs the ability to hire any and all willing and qualified workers.
Joe Mama
June 22nd, 2011
12:31 pm
ir(Rational) — “mowing and baling hay, and other not so fun tasks”
Agreed. Of all the crap jobs on my granddaddy’s farm, the August hay mowing & baling had to be the WORST. Going up on the hill to fix barb wire fence during christmas break was pretty bad, too, but I’d have to say the hay job edges it out for sheer misery.
AmVet
June 22nd, 2011
12:31 pm
(ir), I’m grew up in a tiny chicken village in Kansas. And as a teenager, shared some of those experiences you mentioned. Back-breaking, grueling work in very difficult conditions.
And though I loved the freedom of being outdoors and making my own money(!), I knew I was destined to use my brains and not my back to make my way through life.
But I respect the hell out of those people who chose, for whatever reason, to get dirty and do that tough, but honorable work…
USinUK
June 22nd, 2011
12:31 pm
willie – 12:28 – Doggone translated your post for me – I agree with your point, just didn’t understand it as it was written
Uncle Jed
June 22nd, 2011
12:32 pm
And now, back to today’s news:
Poll: 44% of Americans Worse Off Under Obama
By a 44 percent to 34 percent margin, Americans say they believe they are worse off than when President Barack Obama took office in early 2009, when the U.S. was in the depths of a recession compounded by the September 2008 financial crisis and the economy was losing as many as 820,000 jobs a month.
Higher Than Reagan
The portion of Americans who say they believe the U.S. is on the wrong track is higher than it was at any point during Ronald Reagan’s presidency, when unemployment peaked at 10.8 percent after the 1981-82 recession, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll. The ABC poll showed the wrong-track number during Reagan’s first term peaking at 57 percent in October 1982. The Bloomberg poll shows 66 percent of Americans think the U.S. is going in the wrong direction now.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-22/americans-worse-now-than-when-obama-inaugurated-by-44-34-margin-in-poll.html
Joe Mama
June 22nd, 2011
12:33 pm
Funkstar, I believe you have probation and parole mixed up.
It’s my understanding that these probationers were out of jail *already* and were looking for honest work. Declining the job would not mean an automatic trip back to jail, as taking the job wasn’t a condition of release (as I understand the situation).
Kamchak
June 22nd, 2011
12:33 pm
You DO realize don’t you when the Cost of Doing Business (labor expense) go up SO DO the PRICES!
What’s painfully obvious to me is that you don’t understand IF NO ONE BUYS THIS PERISHABLE PRODUCE, AT SUCH A HIGH PRICE ALL THAT’S LEFT IS ROTTEN FOOD.
Don't Tread
June 22nd, 2011
12:34 pm
“offenders can turn down jobs they consider unsuitable” Time to take away that option.
Yeah, sorry, picking cucumbers isn’t quite as profitable as picking pot leaves, now is it?
“None of the probationers could keep pace. Pay records showed the best filled only 134 buckets a day, and some as little as 20. They lingered at the water cooler behind the truck, sat on overturned red buckets for smoke breaks and stopped working to take cell phone calls. They also griped that the Latinos received more tickets per bucket than they did, an accusation that appeared unfounded.”
Give them a job and they want to goof off all day and still get paid. Great work ethic there. I guess that’s why they committed crimes to begin with. Work just gets in the way of the pimpin’ lifestyle, doesn’t it?
Doggone/GA
June 22nd, 2011
12:34 pm
“Doggone – why do you assume that the illegals do their spending here”
It wasn’t me who said that, I was explaining someone else’s point…BUT, they do spend at least SOME of their money here. Jobs that go offshore take ALL of the workers spending offshort…which was the point of the original post not made by me.
WOODSTOCK MIKE
June 22nd, 2011
12:34 pm
@AmVet
“They” is anyone who thinks that illegals should be allowed to continue working in the USA without going through the correct processes. I know that hispanics have an extremely good work ethic, so would most people that are trying to provide for their families, however, that doesn’t mean they should continue to be paid without any taxation and utilize all the great things America has to offer without paying their fair share. Do you agree?
Adam
June 22nd, 2011
12:35 pm
Paulo977: Yes I am afraid it has come to that. There is free health care, if you go to jail. I am just marveling at how smart he was in his execution of his plan. I hope more people do it to bring attention to the problem, but only if they do it as intelligently as him. Of course, I am sure the right’s response will be to simply close down jails or defund jails or something… Let’s see how politically tenable THAT prospect is.