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Something I read in the News
Today's Bangkok Post had an article entitled "US careens towards
government shutdown". From reading the article it seems that the President wants a 5 billion dollar budget for the Mexican Wall and Congress doesn't want to give it to him. 5,000,000,000 divided by 1,954 miles is what? $25,588,536.33 a mile (that may be wrong as I'm not used to working with really big numbers) but even for the largest economy in the world that seems a tiny bit expensive, doesn't it? cheers, John B. |
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#2
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Something I read in the News
On 12/17/2018 9:58 PM, John B. Slocomb wrote:
Today's Bangkok Post had an article entitled "US careens towards government shutdown". From reading the article it seems that the President wants a 5 billion dollar budget for the Mexican Wall and Congress doesn't want to give it to him. 5,000,000,000 divided by 1,954 miles is what? $25,588,536.33 a mile (that may be wrong as I'm not used to working with really big numbers) but even for the largest economy in the world that seems a tiny bit expensive, doesn't it? That can't be true! When he was campaigning he promised Mexico was going to pay for the wall! I heard him say so! That darn Bangkok Post must be pushing fake news. -- - Frank Krygowski |
#3
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Something I read in the News
On Tue, 18 Dec 2018 09:58:10 +0700, John B. Slocomb
wrote: Today's Bangkok Post had an article entitled "US careens towards government shutdown". From reading the article it seems that the President wants a 5 billion dollar budget for the Mexican Wall and Congress doesn't want to give it to him. 5,000,000,000 divided by 1,954 miles is what? $25,588,536.33 a mile (that may be wrong as I'm not used to working with really big numbers) It's easier with exponential notation: $5 billion = 5*10^9 dollars. 5*10^9 / 2*10^3 = 2.5*10^6 = 2.5 million dollars / mile but even for the largest economy in the world that seems a tiny bit expensive, doesn't it? That's fairly close to what it would cost to build a 2 lane undivided rural road: https://medium.com/@TimSylvester/i-agree-it-sounds-astronomical-but-i-actually-understated-the-costs-according-to-artba-2e8baeac2a46 "Copying Israel's wall would cut Trump's price nearly in half" https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/copying-israels-wall-would-cut-trumps-price-nearly-in-half Actually, the construction contract will probably go to one of the major US construction companies, who will then subcontract the actual work to smaller Mexican companies. -- Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558 |
#4
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Something I read in the News
On Monday, December 17, 2018 at 8:58:15 PM UTC-6, John B. Slocomb wrote:
Today's Bangkok Post had an article entitled "US careens towards government shutdown". From reading the article it seems that the President wants a 5 billion dollar budget for the Mexican Wall and Congress doesn't want to give it to him. 5,000,000,000 divided by 1,954 miles is what? $25,588,536.33 a mile (that may be wrong as I'm not used to working with really big numbers) but even for the largest economy in the world that seems a tiny bit expensive, doesn't it? cheers, John B. What Jeff said. $2.5 million per mile of fencing. Not $25. Given the cost of everything the government buys, $2.5 million for a mile of fence doesn't really sound too extreme. We pay $10-20-30-40-50 Billion for every airplane or boat we buy for the military. So $2.5 million per mile is change we could find in the couch. Of course the fence could just be a single strand of electric fence with a stake stuck in the ground every 100 yards. All put up by some Mexican illegal immigrants paid below minimum wage. And the contractor could be laughing at how he made out like a bandit stealing money from the government as he jets off to Hawaii for vacation. That sounds far more reasonable. And of course this crook will make a $2.5 million donation to the Republican party and his buddies. |
#5
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Something I read in the News
On Mon, 17 Dec 2018 22:38:54 -0500, Frank Krygowski
wrote: On 12/17/2018 9:58 PM, John B. Slocomb wrote: Today's Bangkok Post had an article entitled "US careens towards government shutdown". From reading the article it seems that the President wants a 5 billion dollar budget for the Mexican Wall and Congress doesn't want to give it to him. 5,000,000,000 divided by 1,954 miles is what? $25,588,536.33 a mile (that may be wrong as I'm not used to working with really big numbers) but even for the largest economy in the world that seems a tiny bit expensive, doesn't it? That can't be true! When he was campaigning he promised Mexico was going to pay for the wall! I heard him say so! That darn Bangkok Post must be pushing fake news. NO, the Bangkok Post prints only the Truth! That is a bit of a tongue in cheek as the Post has never, in the history of the paper, printed anything that was derogatory to the government in power at press time :-O Actually the Post quoted the AFP - Agency France Press - for that tidbit. I wonder why the U.S. doesn't follow Thailand in matter of illegal immigrants. Here the only individuals that qualify for government assistance of any sort are citizens , or, in some cases, legal workers who pay taxes. Illegal immigrants are liable to jail terms but are usually just extradited to their home country. AND, those who employ illegal workers are liable to a 1 year jail term and a large fine. I'm not sure about it but Thai law usually assigns one penalty per crime committed, i.e., two illegal workers equals two years and double fine, etc. While finding that one will be hanged in a fortnight is said to concentrates the mind wonderfully I also find that "no food unless you earn it" tends to ensure that most people will be gainfully employed :-) cheers, John B. |
#6
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Something I read in the News
On Mon, 17 Dec 2018 20:57:54 -0800, Jeff Liebermann
wrote: On Tue, 18 Dec 2018 09:58:10 +0700, John B. Slocomb wrote: Today's Bangkok Post had an article entitled "US careens towards government shutdown". From reading the article it seems that the President wants a 5 billion dollar budget for the Mexican Wall and Congress doesn't want to give it to him. 5,000,000,000 divided by 1,954 miles is what? $25,588,536.33 a mile (that may be wrong as I'm not used to working with really big numbers) It's easier with exponential notation: $5 billion = 5*10^9 dollars. 5*10^9 / 2*10^3 = 2.5*10^6 = 2.5 million dollars / mile Well as I said, I don't do really big numbers :-) But still 2.5 million a mile is (unless I make another mistake) is 2.5 million divided by 5,280 comes to $473.48 a foot, or in more precise terms $39.45 an inch. but even for the largest economy in the world that seems a tiny bit expensive, doesn't it? That's fairly close to what it would cost to build a 2 lane undivided rural road: https://medium.com/@TimSylvester/i-agree-it-sounds-astronomical-but-i-actually-understated-the-costs-according-to-artba-2e8baeac2a46 "Copying Israel's wall would cut Trump's price nearly in half" https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/copying-israels-wall-would-cut-trumps-price-nearly-in-half Actually, the construction contract will probably go to one of the major US construction companies, who will then subcontract the actual work to smaller Mexican companies. Mexican labor rates seem to be in the neighborhood of US$3.00 an hour while U.S. rates are what? $10.00 an hour? Certainly labor is not the only costs involved but even so, at $39.45 an inch a chap might be able to make a buck or two :-) And yes, the major U.S. construction companies will be standing in line to get their fingers in that pot. cheers, John B. |
#7
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Something I read in the News
On Mon, 17 Dec 2018 21:11:04 -0800 (PST), "
wrote: On Monday, December 17, 2018 at 8:58:15 PM UTC-6, John B. Slocomb wrote: Today's Bangkok Post had an article entitled "US careens towards government shutdown". From reading the article it seems that the President wants a 5 billion dollar budget for the Mexican Wall and Congress doesn't want to give it to him. 5,000,000,000 divided by 1,954 miles is what? $25,588,536.33 a mile (that may be wrong as I'm not used to working with really big numbers) but even for the largest economy in the world that seems a tiny bit expensive, doesn't it? cheers, John B. What Jeff said. $2.5 million per mile of fencing. Not $25. Given the cost of everything the government buys, $2.5 million for a mile of fence doesn't really sound too extreme. We pay $10-20-30-40-50 Billion for every airplane or boat we buy for the military. So $2.5 million per mile is change we could find in the couch. Of course the fence could just be a single strand of electric fence with a stake stuck in the ground every 100 yards. All put up by some Mexican illegal immigrants paid below minimum wage. And the contractor could be laughing at how he made out like a bandit stealing money from the government as he jets off to Hawaii for vacation. That sounds far more reasonable. And of course this crook will make a $2.5 million donation to the Republican party and his buddies. Yes, as I said, I don't work well with really large numbers but then... there are such things a "cost overruns". The San Francisco bridge was originally estimates at $250 million and actual costs were about $6.5 billion. At that rate the 5 billion might just be a drop in the bucket. Re the $10-20-30-40-50 Billion. President Eisenhower, in his farewell address warned about the potential influence of the "military - industrial complex". Did anyone listen? cheers, John B. |
#8
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Something I read in the News
On Tuesday, December 18, 2018 at 1:36:22 AM UTC-6, John B. Slocomb wrote:
On Mon, 17 Dec 2018 21:11:04 -0800 (PST), " wrote: On Monday, December 17, 2018 at 8:58:15 PM UTC-6, John B. Slocomb wrote: Today's Bangkok Post had an article entitled "US careens towards government shutdown". From reading the article it seems that the President wants a 5 billion dollar budget for the Mexican Wall and Congress doesn't want to give it to him. 5,000,000,000 divided by 1,954 miles is what? $25,588,536.33 a mile (that may be wrong as I'm not used to working with really big numbers) but even for the largest economy in the world that seems a tiny bit expensive, doesn't it? cheers, John B. What Jeff said. $2.5 million per mile of fencing. Not $25. Given the cost of everything the government buys, $2.5 million for a mile of fence doesn't really sound too extreme. We pay $10-20-30-40-50 Billion for every airplane or boat we buy for the military. So $2.5 million per mile is change we could find in the couch. Of course the fence could just be a single strand of electric fence with a stake stuck in the ground every 100 yards. All put up by some Mexican illegal immigrants paid below minimum wage. And the contractor could be laughing at how he made out like a bandit stealing money from the government as he jets off to Hawaii for vacation. That sounds far more reasonable. And of course this crook will make a $2.5 million donation to the Republican party and his buddies. Yes, as I said, I don't work well with really large numbers but then... there are such things a "cost overruns". The San Francisco bridge was originally estimates at $250 million and actual costs were about $6.5 billion. At that rate the 5 billion might just be a drop in the bucket. Re the $10-20-30-40-50 Billion. President Eisenhower, in his farewell address warned about the potential influence of the "military - industrial complex". Did anyone listen? cheers, John B. I made a terrible mistake. The F15 US jet is ONLY $30 million each in 1998 dollars. Given 20 years of escalating costs, that is probably $50 million today. So we could get 20 miles of fence for one F15 jet. |
#9
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Something I read in the News
On Tue, 18 Dec 2018 00:22:06 -0800 (PST), "
wrote: On Tuesday, December 18, 2018 at 1:36:22 AM UTC-6, John B. Slocomb wrote: On Mon, 17 Dec 2018 21:11:04 -0800 (PST), " wrote: On Monday, December 17, 2018 at 8:58:15 PM UTC-6, John B. Slocomb wrote: Today's Bangkok Post had an article entitled "US careens towards government shutdown". From reading the article it seems that the President wants a 5 billion dollar budget for the Mexican Wall and Congress doesn't want to give it to him. 5,000,000,000 divided by 1,954 miles is what? $25,588,536.33 a mile (that may be wrong as I'm not used to working with really big numbers) but even for the largest economy in the world that seems a tiny bit expensive, doesn't it? cheers, John B. What Jeff said. $2.5 million per mile of fencing. Not $25. Given the cost of everything the government buys, $2.5 million for a mile of fence doesn't really sound too extreme. We pay $10-20-30-40-50 Billion for every airplane or boat we buy for the military. So $2.5 million per mile is change we could find in the couch. Of course the fence could just be a single strand of electric fence with a stake stuck in the ground every 100 yards. All put up by some Mexican illegal immigrants paid below minimum wage. And the contractor could be laughing at how he made out like a bandit stealing money from the government as he jets off to Hawaii for vacation. That sounds far more reasonable. And of course this crook will make a $2.5 million donation to the Republican party and his buddies. Yes, as I said, I don't work well with really large numbers but then... there are such things a "cost overruns". The San Francisco bridge was originally estimates at $250 million and actual costs were about $6.5 billion. At that rate the 5 billion might just be a drop in the bucket. Re the $10-20-30-40-50 Billion. President Eisenhower, in his farewell address warned about the potential influence of the "military - industrial complex". Did anyone listen? cheers, John B. I made a terrible mistake. The F15 US jet is ONLY $30 million each in 1998 dollars. Given 20 years of escalating costs, that is probably $50 million today. So we could get 20 miles of fence for one F15 jet. And, at the time I was in the Air Force the A.F. bought jet engines without a grantee at a cheaper price then the airlines paid for theirs. I had thought that was silly but I was told that as they had the parts in normal stock and they had the trained mechanics already in place it was cheaper to do their own repairs. As for $30 million airplanes I wonder whether that is for a bare airplane or whether that is for an airplane and a bunch of spares? The Army here just got damned for "paying too much for helicopters" and it turned out that the Army's price included spares and training for the pilots. cheers, John B. |
#10
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Something I read in the News
On Mon, 17 Dec 2018 20:57:54 -0800, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
Actually, the construction contract will probably go to one of the major US construction companies, who will then subcontract the actual work to smaller Mexican companies. Aaah, economic trickle down for the local population, which was alledgedly one of the reasons for building the various Great Walls of China. Donald is probably annoyed that he can't specify the same foundation method. |
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