With inflation rising weekly all the Democrats and Biden can do is look to blame anyone but their reckless spending and assault on oil companies. As far as the spending, they are not totally at fault. This has been going on for decades and now we will feel the pain for many years to come, but their regulations on oil companies along with stopping key pipelines from being built is the reason for everything we buy skyrocketing and has made oil companies profits soar -- which is not what the Democrats intended. They expected oil companies to go broke.
Gun problems
Guns are the leading cause of fatalities among minors, our children. Two thirds of those under 19 killed by guns are homicides (purposeful and accidental), one third are suicides. Please support more gun control legislation.
Himmelberger home
What a wonderful opportunity SEMO has squandered! They have on their campus a wonderful historic building that they have unfortunately allowed to fall in disrepair. There's no excuse for that, of course, but it's exactly what they've done, while at the same time spending millions on a somewhat historic athletic facility. Very telling of the university leadership's priorities. Turning the Himmelberger House over to the Department of Historical Preservation would have been the perfect solution. Allow students to put into practice what they are learning about procuring funds, making plans, etc., to restore a historical landmark.
"...layoffs for 628 Hawesville smelter employees..."
"The layoffs are expected to start August 5 and be complete by August 20."
"Unfortunately, an unprecedented rise in global energy prices..."
Eh, maybe due to energy prices, predicted coming recession, or any number of other reasons - just bad news in uncertain times for 628 employees plus those many other vendors and related folks who support the operation...
For those too lazy to pull out their globe, Hawesville is over by Owensboro KY, about 200 miles sorta east from Cape.
-- Posted by fxpwt on Wed, Jun 22, 2022, at 1:31 PM
fxpwt: Been there for meetings with some of their management. It's almost a copy of the New Madrid aluminum plant. Folks that I knew there are probably like me retired. National Aluminum (name at the time) and Noranda were the only USA plants that could make high purity ingots.
-- Posted by Truth Slinger on Wed, Jun 22, 2022, at 2:09 PM
-- Posted by DA Braswell on Mon, Jul 4, 2022, at 5:13 PM
fxpwt: That's a shame 2 out of their 5 pot lines are now shut down. According to Wikipedia there are only 8 operating USA plants. I had heard of at least 10 plants across the USA shutdown thru the years while I was active in the business. That High energy cost is the main cause for most of the idled plants. Good paying jobs lost!
-- Posted by Truth Slinger on Mon, Jul 4, 2022, at 5:22 PM
-- Posted by Truth Slinger on Mon, Jul 4, 2022, at 5:22 PM
Wondering how many of the remaining plants are at reduced capacities? Our old Noranda plant restarted with two of the three lines where it remains today, so not at previous capacity.
Heard scuttlebutt chatter that one of the reasons for the Alcoa closure was the inability to find enough people with the want-to, can-do, and know-how to sustain their 3-potline operations.
Cringe to think about what's happened to the American steel and aluminum industries, towards my philosophy of being in control of one's resources. Figure to be a major bump in the economic road if our reliance on foreign metals gets upset through a trade relations tiff, or worse yet, a conflict or all-out war with one of our current major suppliers (China).
The powers-that-be need to find that big ol' John Deere to help pull their heads out of, er, the sand. Power cost is a huge issue for many industries, however, the present cobbled-up approach toward going 'green', retiring perfectly good and reliable coal plants having many years of service left in 'em ahead of schedule, without a solid reliability and redundancy plan for their replacement and backup, is likely to leave many in the dark with empty wallets for many years coming.
-- Posted by fxpwt on Mon, Jul 4, 2022, at 6:48 PM
fxpwt: Times have changed for sure. Back in the day, there was a waiting list of folks wanting a job at Noranda.
BTW, the Rod Mill has been bought don't know if you saw or heard of it:
-- Posted by Truth Slinger on Tue, Jul 5, 2022, at 8:31 AM
"BTW, the Rod Mill has been bought..." -- Posted by Truth Slinger on Tue, Jul 5, 2022, at 8:31 AM
Heard good things were happening in that regard - pics from the article appear to be of the new Rod Mill 3 - the one Noranda announced construction in ~2011 but was walked away from incomplete and uncommissioned at their bankruptcy in 2016.
Just baffling on the challenges many are facing to find help. More money seems to be the common snapback response but figure it doesn't matter how much money is offered, when so many seem to be unable or unwilling to even follow Rule #1 - show up, on time, every time, in a condition ready to gitter dun. People are hired to solve problems and to make money - so when they create problems or cost money - pfffft.
Sad state in the final days of my career scrounging for help - one of the questions became, "would hiring this person be better than continuing struggles with the hole (vacancy)?" More than once after an interview and the knowledge/skills-test, the answer was, "Nope, not better than a vacant hole.".
-- Posted by fxpwt on Tue, Jul 5, 2022, at 2:18 PM
fxpwt: Why work when a person can sleep on the couch and draw that government check....the mindset of today's freeloaders.
-- Posted by Truth Slinger on Tue, Jul 5, 2022, at 2:59 PM
I’m wondering if Brittney Griner will have a transformation and a new found respect for the USA after a taste of Russian prison?
-- Posted by DA Braswell on Thu, Jul 7, 2022, at 9:05 AM
Menu
Inflation problems
With inflation rising weekly all the Democrats and Biden can do is look to blame anyone but their reckless spending and assault on oil companies. As far as the spending, they are not totally at fault. This has been going on for decades and now we will feel the pain for many years to come, but their regulations on oil companies along with stopping key pipelines from being built is the reason for everything we buy skyrocketing and has made oil companies profits soar -- which is not what the Democrats intended. They expected oil companies to go broke.
Gun problems
Guns are the leading cause of fatalities among minors, our children. Two thirds of those under 19 killed by guns are homicides (purposeful and accidental), one third are suicides. Please support more gun control legislation.
Himmelberger home
What a wonderful opportunity SEMO has squandered! They have on their campus a wonderful historic building that they have unfortunately allowed to fall in disrepair. There's no excuse for that, of course, but it's exactly what they've done, while at the same time spending millions on a somewhat historic athletic facility. Very telling of the university leadership's priorities. Turning the Himmelberger House over to the Department of Historical Preservation would have been the perfect solution. Allow students to put into practice what they are learning about procuring funds, making plans, etc., to restore a historical landmark.
Replies (10)