Any idiot knows, business doesn't hire people unless they have extra money laying about because of tax credits! People, this is Fiscal Conservatism 101! Ever watch "Bar Rescue" on Spike TV? Each week, Jon Taffer, 'rescues' a bar/restaurant that is failing because of taxes and government regulation- the only reasons that businesses fail in a democrat controlled America. Jon steps in, removes tax and regulate democrats from office and the people with the pirate-themed restaurant become the self-made millionaires that our founders intended. It's a lovely, familiar story!
Some 30 years after Reagan created trickle-down, voodoo economics, republicans still believe it works. Some slow folks might be waiting for it to work but republicans do believe it does.
It doesn't. I don't get how anyone with even the most basic of business sense can't see how fucking stupid trickle down is. The state of Kansas recently went through this when republican governor, Sam Brownback, cut taxes on the wealthy and eliminated small business taxes. And he cut spending. Try this at home. Quit your good job and get a lower paying one so you bring in less revenue. Offset this by spending less on the kids. You might not see immediate results but, don't despair....
Kansas is in big trouble. As you might expect, taking in some $685 million less in revenue can hurt the budget. Well, republicans always figure that you simply offset that by cutting spending. Take in less, spend less. Of course, you cut spending on things like welfare rather than on the bloated military budget. A country like ours makes money on wars and fighting. Feeding poor people just squaders money. That's the thinking.
Stupid people from Topix threads all the way to the House of Representatives also firmly believe that a raise in the minimum wage would destroy America. They fear $20 Big Macs so, they fight any attempts to raise the minimum whether it's the $10.10 the White House proposes or the $15 per hour that many labor groups tout. Most economists figure that, if the federal minimum had kept pace with the cost of living, it would be $15 per hour. I've also heard $21 but, regardless, the minimum itself is too much for many teapublicans. They'd like it eradicated. Let the free market dictate the minimum, they say. If the free market says $2 an hour, so be it! It could say $20, or $200! In fact, under their thumb- I mean- system, you would be free to ASK for $200 an hour. You might not get it but, if the free market were so inclined, you maybe could....
Well, you can ask for any wage you want now. You just can't be paid less than $7.25 an hour. The minimum wage is a safeguard that was established by FDR because he knew how evil and greedy rich people were, having grown up with them. In 1938 the minimum (thanks to him) was 25 cents. Seventy six years later it's only $7 more and millionaire congressmen who work for billionaires think that is "too much". They think people would do better with less.
Well, OK- they don't actually think that. They want you to think that. They are not that stupid but they sure do believe that you are. And they want you to regurgitate their fiscal policies on the internet and support them in the voting booth. Stupidity unites non-attorney spokespersons with disabled muffler monkeys, at least on the internet.
Raising the minimum $3 can mean more people getting off of welfare. Not as many as $15 would but it's a step in the right direction. As it stands now, people can work at Walmart- the nation's largest employer, and still need welfare from the government to survive. Our tax dollars shore up the Walton family's payroll department. That's very fucked up. True conservatives (I think you and I qualify) should be literally up in arms over this alone. But, *actual* conservatives aren't. They figure that you get rid of the minimum and also get rid of welfare- you quit coddling people- and then they are forced to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, go to college and ($100,000 later) take advantage of the tax exempt status of small business and open up a Scotchtape store. Or a pirate bar. Why not? Right away, your labor costs will be whatever you feel like paying. No taxes and no payroll equals you equaling Exxon or General Electric inside of a year! You'll easily afford Big Mac's when they go up in price- not because of rising labor costs but because of the old business saw: "If you charge more, you fucking make more!" That, is Business 101. That's a major reason why prices go up. We learned that as kids when the candy bar got smaller AND the price went up.
It isn't just the minimum. It's the convoluted, *thinking* associated with trickle down. Common sense says that if you give $100 to a poor man, he spends it. It goes to rent, food, toys for the kids- it gets spent. Give $100 to a rich guy and he pockets it or maybe lights a Cuban cigar with it. He doesn't spend it. He doesn't have to. A raise in the minimum isn't welfare though the idiots in the threads equate it with that. I don't think these people refuse raises at work and many of them post on Topix all fucking day so, who is zooming whom when they say the guy behind the counter at McDonald's isn't *worth* his pay?
1.6 million people currently work at the rate of the Federal minimum. Do the math on a $3 an hour raise for all of them and base it on a 40 week instead of the 60 these people probably work- if they're 'lucky'. Whatever hours you choose, every fucking penny of that goes back into the economy. Not one cent would go to a bank in the Caymans. It would all go back into America. Why can't stupid people see this? Save money on taxes (welfare) by employers paying their employees rather than we the people picking up part of the tab. I don't know-maybe that's not capitalism? Maybe my Muslim-socialist-commie liberal self doesn't understand capitalism?
Let's look at it with a perspective that republicans can relate to- their own: If you can't afford to pay your employees a living wage, go to college and learn a better business model. Business success was not intended to only be successful at one level of pay throughout a businesses career. If you have been in business for several years and are still paying the low, minimum wage, you have failed. Get out of the business world basement and start a real business! It's not society's job to coddle you!
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
By Definition...
Once upon a time I did work for a very disagreeable woman who had a retarded stepson. I mention he was retarded because she rarely failed to mention it herself.
"I'm taking my retarded stepson to the store. My retarded stepson needs a new pair of pants"
Anytime she referred to him, it was as her "retarded stepson"and she spoke of him a lot. She was an awful woman on many levels. I heard her talking to her friend on the phone about how she couldn't wait until (her husband) died so she could move. I didn't think I was hearing a murder plot, just the musings of a tragically blunt- what's the word? Her husband probably did not fear death either.
She actually introduced her retarded step son to me in this way: "Ferrerman, this is my retarded stepson." I had to ask him his name. Turned out it was Jimmy. That mystery was solved. As you might guess, he was a sweet, happy kid, about 18 years old. I think he had no idea how awful his stepmonster was. I hope not.
She defined that boy every time she spoke about him. Why do people do that? I worked with a guy who always referred to his "black son" which was the only son he had and, being as how Timmy was a redheaded, redneck, crackhead and the kid was clearly not sprung from his loins, it seemed unnecessarily descriptive. Frankly, given Tim's redneck-ness, I was rather proud of him for accepting the boy as his son. Well, as proud as I could be of an asshole we all referred to as "Crackhead Tim". He began dating the boys mother right before she gave birth and he specifically asked her if there was any chance the baby daddy might be black. She said no. She was wrong about that. Last I knew they were all still together and, I imagine he's still referring to the kid as "my black son".
Sublime, the imaginary Lifestyles and Entertainment editor of Topix, frequently talks about his "autistic son" to differentiate from his two non-autistic boys. Why? Why share with strangers that you have an autistic child when you are the sort of creep that criticizes other people's children, as Sublime does? It's not clear whether Sublime is as horrible in real life as he portrays himself on the threads and there is no way of knowing if one of his kids is actually autistic or if he is just portrayed as one in the threads. It might all be a bait like the trashy tales he tells of his having sex with his wife. That nonsense might be real, I don't know. It's hard to say if he's bragging or simply laying this all out there to be mocked for being such a douchebag.You re supposed to have sex with your spouse. You are under no obligation to discuss it with strangers though. People embellish on the threads to create controversy because...because...why not? I don't know why it is important for people like that to come out with tid bits like that or things involving their children.
I think when we define our loved ones like this, we say more about ourselves than we do them.
"I'm taking my retarded stepson to the store. My retarded stepson needs a new pair of pants"
Anytime she referred to him, it was as her "retarded stepson"and she spoke of him a lot. She was an awful woman on many levels. I heard her talking to her friend on the phone about how she couldn't wait until (her husband) died so she could move. I didn't think I was hearing a murder plot, just the musings of a tragically blunt- what's the word? Her husband probably did not fear death either.
She actually introduced her retarded step son to me in this way: "Ferrerman, this is my retarded stepson." I had to ask him his name. Turned out it was Jimmy. That mystery was solved. As you might guess, he was a sweet, happy kid, about 18 years old. I think he had no idea how awful his stepmonster was. I hope not.
She defined that boy every time she spoke about him. Why do people do that? I worked with a guy who always referred to his "black son" which was the only son he had and, being as how Timmy was a redheaded, redneck, crackhead and the kid was clearly not sprung from his loins, it seemed unnecessarily descriptive. Frankly, given Tim's redneck-ness, I was rather proud of him for accepting the boy as his son. Well, as proud as I could be of an asshole we all referred to as "Crackhead Tim". He began dating the boys mother right before she gave birth and he specifically asked her if there was any chance the baby daddy might be black. She said no. She was wrong about that. Last I knew they were all still together and, I imagine he's still referring to the kid as "my black son".
Sublime, the imaginary Lifestyles and Entertainment editor of Topix, frequently talks about his "autistic son" to differentiate from his two non-autistic boys. Why? Why share with strangers that you have an autistic child when you are the sort of creep that criticizes other people's children, as Sublime does? It's not clear whether Sublime is as horrible in real life as he portrays himself on the threads and there is no way of knowing if one of his kids is actually autistic or if he is just portrayed as one in the threads. It might all be a bait like the trashy tales he tells of his having sex with his wife. That nonsense might be real, I don't know. It's hard to say if he's bragging or simply laying this all out there to be mocked for being such a douchebag.You re supposed to have sex with your spouse. You are under no obligation to discuss it with strangers though. People embellish on the threads to create controversy because...because...why not? I don't know why it is important for people like that to come out with tid bits like that or things involving their children.
I think when we define our loved ones like this, we say more about ourselves than we do them.
Monday, October 27, 2014
Redrawing Blurred Color Lines
Here is Sir Charles Barkley speaking of his people:
http://www.ijreview.com/2014/10/192471-charles-barkley-goes-brainwashed-think-youre-thug-idiot-youre-black-enough/
I agree with him. Black people are holding black people back. White people are too and there's no doubt about that if you have a brain in your head but, black people are also holding each other back in the way described by Barkley, on an up close and personal level.
In a way, isn't that human nature? There is a lot of jealousy at work in the world in most (if not all) cultures. I have noticed this about blacks but I've seen it about whites too. Heck, half our TV and movies seem to be about people (usually white) overcoming some sort of adversity, rising out of some emotional or economic ghetto, and meeting resistance along the way. Blacks do seem to make it harder for each other.
However, I've seen this with poor whites too. The street cred of jail or prison? Haven't been there and I actually have been mocked for that. I remember sitting down at lunch on a jobsite down south with about 20 other tradesmen, when somebody started a conversation about which jails had the best or worst food. Shakey O'Flinn asked me after lunch if I had felt as lost as him in that discussion. Yep, like Shakey, I had never been locked up. We sat that one out. I don't know about him but, I had been put down in other sessions for never having been in jail. In some circles it's perceived as weak. Really now. Just like with many black folks, you have to have that thug resume' going for you. I'll never forget the chubby little lesbian, Analisa Kroger, marveling to her cousin that Ferrerman had never been in jail. Like: what a pussy!
Well, Anatasia had truth issues and I have to believe that her crime resume' was as padded as her birthing resume'. She's still the only woman I've ever known who has lied about giving birth, claiming a child that wasn't hers, had sprung from her loins. She also claimed to have shot a guy in a gang fight and done (too short) time for that. It was a pretty good story but, it never happened. Story for another day there.
The gist of her crime resume' was just like ghetto kids and construction workers on break: "I'm tough. I've been locked up. Don't fuck with me!" That's what it's all about, this street cred thing. It's about advertising your bad self.
Whether it's a black neighborhood anywhere or a area like Hell's Kitchen in New York City that I'm sure was as tough as it sounds, where you grow up often dictates how you grow up. If it's a tough neighborhood, no one outside of your family is rooting for you to make it out because they long ago gave up on themselves. What makes you so fucking special?
I know that Barkley's words are already being taken out of context on the right. For some it's validation that it was black's fault all along- one of them just said so! There can be no white racism, yada, yada, yada.
Again, unless you are a brain-dead, moron, you have to realize that there has been systemic white racism towards blacks since the first slave ship hit these shores. But, blacks themselves have to accept that they haven't done a lot to disprove Barkley's observations. Russell Wilson not black enough? That sounds like your problem, not his. If you are black and critical of your peers who 'talk white' or do well in school and endeavor to be something other than a rapper, NBA baller or gangster, you are the problem.
Lyndon Johnson said: "If you can convince the lowest white man that he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket." Too many black people are convincing each other of that, as well.
http://www.ijreview.com/2014/10/192471-charles-barkley-goes-brainwashed-think-youre-thug-idiot-youre-black-enough/
I agree with him. Black people are holding black people back. White people are too and there's no doubt about that if you have a brain in your head but, black people are also holding each other back in the way described by Barkley, on an up close and personal level.
In a way, isn't that human nature? There is a lot of jealousy at work in the world in most (if not all) cultures. I have noticed this about blacks but I've seen it about whites too. Heck, half our TV and movies seem to be about people (usually white) overcoming some sort of adversity, rising out of some emotional or economic ghetto, and meeting resistance along the way. Blacks do seem to make it harder for each other.
However, I've seen this with poor whites too. The street cred of jail or prison? Haven't been there and I actually have been mocked for that. I remember sitting down at lunch on a jobsite down south with about 20 other tradesmen, when somebody started a conversation about which jails had the best or worst food. Shakey O'Flinn asked me after lunch if I had felt as lost as him in that discussion. Yep, like Shakey, I had never been locked up. We sat that one out. I don't know about him but, I had been put down in other sessions for never having been in jail. In some circles it's perceived as weak. Really now. Just like with many black folks, you have to have that thug resume' going for you. I'll never forget the chubby little lesbian, Analisa Kroger, marveling to her cousin that Ferrerman had never been in jail. Like: what a pussy!
Well, Anatasia had truth issues and I have to believe that her crime resume' was as padded as her birthing resume'. She's still the only woman I've ever known who has lied about giving birth, claiming a child that wasn't hers, had sprung from her loins. She also claimed to have shot a guy in a gang fight and done (too short) time for that. It was a pretty good story but, it never happened. Story for another day there.
The gist of her crime resume' was just like ghetto kids and construction workers on break: "I'm tough. I've been locked up. Don't fuck with me!" That's what it's all about, this street cred thing. It's about advertising your bad self.
Whether it's a black neighborhood anywhere or a area like Hell's Kitchen in New York City that I'm sure was as tough as it sounds, where you grow up often dictates how you grow up. If it's a tough neighborhood, no one outside of your family is rooting for you to make it out because they long ago gave up on themselves. What makes you so fucking special?
I know that Barkley's words are already being taken out of context on the right. For some it's validation that it was black's fault all along- one of them just said so! There can be no white racism, yada, yada, yada.
Again, unless you are a brain-dead, moron, you have to realize that there has been systemic white racism towards blacks since the first slave ship hit these shores. But, blacks themselves have to accept that they haven't done a lot to disprove Barkley's observations. Russell Wilson not black enough? That sounds like your problem, not his. If you are black and critical of your peers who 'talk white' or do well in school and endeavor to be something other than a rapper, NBA baller or gangster, you are the problem.
Lyndon Johnson said: "If you can convince the lowest white man that he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket." Too many black people are convincing each other of that, as well.
Thursday, October 23, 2014
The Young Savages
Well, I looked at YouTube and I could find Matt Dillon (the actor, not the Marshal) saying: "You get tough- like me- and you don't get hurt!" Damn shame because it's so fitting in these times. I found him saying: "Let's do it for Johnny!" though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpXBptw8ZGQListen to that as "Ronnie" and think of Reagan and you'll get the gist of how many of our teapublican friends view the future of our country.
Representative Don Young, a republican asshole in Alaska told a bunch of school kids that suicide didn't exist in Alaska until "government largesse" took over. In his old, warped mind, the gubmint tells people they are weak, gives them stuff, and then they become weaker. It's no wonder they kill themselves. They need to chop wood, catch fish and kill animals to get over it. Sheesh. Does he not watch the hundreds of shows on cable about Alaska? Those fuckers are crazy! Ten months of winter might do that to them. Half of them do hunt, fish and chop wood. Those that don't fish for crab, dive for gold or drive trucks on ice. And they drink A LOT and have guns laying about and I suspect that leads to their high rate of suicide, combined with the weather and I think all those factors contribute rather than big gubmint. BTW, every citizen of Alaska receives a check from the Permanent Fund Dividend courtesy of the state and its business with the oil companies. It varies from year to year but it has been up over two grand. To qualify you need be a citizen with at least one years residency. I should point out that this was not a Barack Obama idea and that during her half-term as governor, Sarah Palin never complained about it. Some handouts must be better than others.
On teapublican radio, pundit Michael Savage recently went absolutely nutsy coocoo about how weak Americans are, particularly those who suffer depression, including our soldiers who have PTSD.
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/michael-savage-veterans-ptsd-are-destroying-america
Read that and click on the Soundcloud. Yikes. Savage does not support the troops. Or anyone really except successful, happy job creators, I guess.
There's a lot of crazed teapublicans out there, some on the radio and far too many in office. It's amazing in a country like this even though it's a country like this that allows such speech to happen. The ironic thing is that, should the Young Savage's...ever come to power, there won't be such free speech any more. No room for dissent in the next America. What kinda pussy are you that you would accept rights given to you?
Representative Don Young, a republican asshole in Alaska told a bunch of school kids that suicide didn't exist in Alaska until "government largesse" took over. In his old, warped mind, the gubmint tells people they are weak, gives them stuff, and then they become weaker. It's no wonder they kill themselves. They need to chop wood, catch fish and kill animals to get over it. Sheesh. Does he not watch the hundreds of shows on cable about Alaska? Those fuckers are crazy! Ten months of winter might do that to them. Half of them do hunt, fish and chop wood. Those that don't fish for crab, dive for gold or drive trucks on ice. And they drink A LOT and have guns laying about and I suspect that leads to their high rate of suicide, combined with the weather and I think all those factors contribute rather than big gubmint. BTW, every citizen of Alaska receives a check from the Permanent Fund Dividend courtesy of the state and its business with the oil companies. It varies from year to year but it has been up over two grand. To qualify you need be a citizen with at least one years residency. I should point out that this was not a Barack Obama idea and that during her half-term as governor, Sarah Palin never complained about it. Some handouts must be better than others.
On teapublican radio, pundit Michael Savage recently went absolutely nutsy coocoo about how weak Americans are, particularly those who suffer depression, including our soldiers who have PTSD.
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/michael-savage-veterans-ptsd-are-destroying-america
Read that and click on the Soundcloud. Yikes. Savage does not support the troops. Or anyone really except successful, happy job creators, I guess.
There's a lot of crazed teapublicans out there, some on the radio and far too many in office. It's amazing in a country like this even though it's a country like this that allows such speech to happen. The ironic thing is that, should the Young Savage's...ever come to power, there won't be such free speech any more. No room for dissent in the next America. What kinda pussy are you that you would accept rights given to you?
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Ya gotta believe...
That's what I hate about the alleged conservatives of the republican party. If you want to control government spending, if that will make you feel better in your life, you have to believe it's necessary to control other people's lives as well. So, to get that, you have to sign up for things you may not interest you so much. You don't have to believe but, you signed up, just the same.
The republican party has issues. In fact, they will be against anything your cold, little heart hates as long as you sign up for everything else they are against. Whether it is the old stand-by of abortion to maybe even zoology, if you are against it, they'll be against it too, as long as it fits their platform.
Most republicans probably don't really believe everything they hear on Fox news or from the mouths of Sarah Palin, Louis Gohmert, Ted Nugent or any of the rest of the parade of fools that speak for the GOP/TEA party. But, they willfully go along with most or all of it, because they have one or two issues that they truly support. They might bite their tongues and they might cover their ears from time to time but, they suck it up and vote for it all in support of their one or two issues.
Fiscal conservatism is supposed to be the basis of the GOP. It's their thing. But, it's so lost in translation over the years that it's not funny and it's more scary than it used to be. It's not a senator or congressman standing up and questioning how that dam will be paid for, it's that person standing up and refusing to pay for that damn dam in the first place- unless, of course, it's in his district... Well, that's politics as usual and it's also bi-partisan. And, it's not the least bit fiscally conservative because it doesn't ask how a damn or a program will be paid for. It asks: What can we not pay for, to save money?
And you have to believe that we the people can all save money by eliminating welfare and other social services because this is America and we all made it on our own- why can't you? You gotta believe that then these lazy niggers will get off their asses and get jobs because now, they have to. What you don't have to believe is that whites (many of them republican) are the majority of welfare recipients. Do the math. Blacks are 14% of the population. How can they dominate in any category but the NBA? 14% is not Mitt Romney's 47% no matter how you do the math. But, ya gotta believe that it is.
You gotta believe that all wealthy people are "job creators" regardless of how they attained or perpetuate their wealth. A trust fund is as a factory does. If you've got it, flaunt it and you should not have to pay those punishing taxes! Of course, someone does have to pay taxes and you have to subscribe that those lazy, do-nothing poor people should pay taxes... Didn't Jesus say something along the lines of: Render unto Caesar all that which is of the least of my brethren? Something like that? You also have to believe in Jesus even if you don't because Christianity is another aspect of the buy in.
You also have to believe that Obama will take away our guns even though he has made not even one move suggesting that he will. You have to believe that's exactly how tricky he is. He's obviously waiting until the last moment when he takes over the country and declares himself Messiah For Life. Well, your average republican probably doesn't really believe that but, he doesn't argue with the ones that do.
See, there's the buy-in again. Ya gotta believe...and you gotta accept that Christian values are under attack by liberals and that gay marriage destroys the sanctity of marriage even though one out of two marriages (perhaps your own) ends in divorce.
You gotta believe that liberals and their lame stream media invented global warming just because they hate business. There's just no fucking way that a billion cars spewing fossil fuels and factories and the modern techniques used in creating almost everything of the past century could possibly hurt the environment. They never did during the time of our founders, or Jesus.... No, you have to believe it's all made up, possibly to make Al Gore rich because he thinks he invented the internet....
You know where I am going with this. How stupid is it to believe that everything a president or a party does is wrong, wronger, wrongest? It isn't just stupid goons on Topix or on Fox. At least the Topix goons are anonymous but, the pundits on Fox are saying and doing on tape for posterity. There are people who simply do not care how foolish they are if it gets them airtime and a decent paycheck. If you can forgive or understand a Steve Doocey or a Judge Jeannie making a buck, how do you understand those who give it away- those who do the believing?
If I didn't know these people really existed, I wouldn't believe it.
The republican party has issues. In fact, they will be against anything your cold, little heart hates as long as you sign up for everything else they are against. Whether it is the old stand-by of abortion to maybe even zoology, if you are against it, they'll be against it too, as long as it fits their platform.
Most republicans probably don't really believe everything they hear on Fox news or from the mouths of Sarah Palin, Louis Gohmert, Ted Nugent or any of the rest of the parade of fools that speak for the GOP/TEA party. But, they willfully go along with most or all of it, because they have one or two issues that they truly support. They might bite their tongues and they might cover their ears from time to time but, they suck it up and vote for it all in support of their one or two issues.
Fiscal conservatism is supposed to be the basis of the GOP. It's their thing. But, it's so lost in translation over the years that it's not funny and it's more scary than it used to be. It's not a senator or congressman standing up and questioning how that dam will be paid for, it's that person standing up and refusing to pay for that damn dam in the first place- unless, of course, it's in his district... Well, that's politics as usual and it's also bi-partisan. And, it's not the least bit fiscally conservative because it doesn't ask how a damn or a program will be paid for. It asks: What can we not pay for, to save money?
And you have to believe that we the people can all save money by eliminating welfare and other social services because this is America and we all made it on our own- why can't you? You gotta believe that then these lazy niggers will get off their asses and get jobs because now, they have to. What you don't have to believe is that whites (many of them republican) are the majority of welfare recipients. Do the math. Blacks are 14% of the population. How can they dominate in any category but the NBA? 14% is not Mitt Romney's 47% no matter how you do the math. But, ya gotta believe that it is.
You gotta believe that all wealthy people are "job creators" regardless of how they attained or perpetuate their wealth. A trust fund is as a factory does. If you've got it, flaunt it and you should not have to pay those punishing taxes! Of course, someone does have to pay taxes and you have to subscribe that those lazy, do-nothing poor people should pay taxes... Didn't Jesus say something along the lines of: Render unto Caesar all that which is of the least of my brethren? Something like that? You also have to believe in Jesus even if you don't because Christianity is another aspect of the buy in.
You also have to believe that Obama will take away our guns even though he has made not even one move suggesting that he will. You have to believe that's exactly how tricky he is. He's obviously waiting until the last moment when he takes over the country and declares himself Messiah For Life. Well, your average republican probably doesn't really believe that but, he doesn't argue with the ones that do.
See, there's the buy-in again. Ya gotta believe...and you gotta accept that Christian values are under attack by liberals and that gay marriage destroys the sanctity of marriage even though one out of two marriages (perhaps your own) ends in divorce.
You gotta believe that liberals and their lame stream media invented global warming just because they hate business. There's just no fucking way that a billion cars spewing fossil fuels and factories and the modern techniques used in creating almost everything of the past century could possibly hurt the environment. They never did during the time of our founders, or Jesus.... No, you have to believe it's all made up, possibly to make Al Gore rich because he thinks he invented the internet....
You know where I am going with this. How stupid is it to believe that everything a president or a party does is wrong, wronger, wrongest? It isn't just stupid goons on Topix or on Fox. At least the Topix goons are anonymous but, the pundits on Fox are saying and doing on tape for posterity. There are people who simply do not care how foolish they are if it gets them airtime and a decent paycheck. If you can forgive or understand a Steve Doocey or a Judge Jeannie making a buck, how do you understand those who give it away- those who do the believing?
If I didn't know these people really existed, I wouldn't believe it.
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Asshole-Americans
Let's make it a new classification. Why not? I think that assholes have a right to be distinguished like this and that the classification would give them the stature that they so desperately crave in today's society. Who exactly is an Asshole-American? Well, for starters, this guy and his followers: http://www.politicususa.com/2014/10/14/nra-board-member-ted-nugent-calls-assassination-president-obama.html
Did you know that Ted Nugent doesn't drink or do drugs? That means there's no walking back the stupid things he says because he was drunk or high. He says the insane shit he says because it's his right as an Asshole-American. The same stature goes for other famous Asshole-Americans like Sarah Palin, Sean Hannity, really anyone on Fox news, and hundreds of Asshole-Americans on the Topix threads with their thousands of Asshole-American socks.
I think that Asshole-American is an important distinction because not all republicans are assholes to the degree that ol' Ted, Sean or Sarah is. Asshole-Americans (A-A's for short) follow these people and believe everything that they think or say. It's sad. But, A-A's can't think for themselves. They've signed over their minds to these folks and willfully regurgitate their political beliefs as their own.
Asshole-Americans believe that Obama is a cruel, ruthless dictator who has wiped his ass with the Constitution. They also believe he is inept and the worst president ever. They believe both at the same time and even in the same sentence. They believe he will take their guns away at any moment. They believe he has taken away freedoms from them even though they can't name a single freedom they have lost- due to Obama. They believe that he believes there are 57 states and that you can keep your doctor because he did at one time say sorta the one and definitely the other but, has not said either since. But, Asshole-Americans still do say he believes both. A-A's are stupid that way and don't care who knows it.
Do they have a right to be assholes? They sure act like it! They think all Americans should be Asshole-Americans....as long as they are white and Christian Asshole-Americans. They are assholes after all and not all inclusive. But, ya know, they are all over the place and even in government!. Here's another one: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/14/debbie-dunnegan-waters-obama-coup_n_5987058.html?utm_hp_ref=politics Now, she's very low level and I do wonder what the County Dog Catcher thinks but, sheesh- what kinda asshole truly believes that a bloody, military coup is good for the country?
Well, an Asshole-American, that's who! If you are anywhere on the internet (and odds are, dear reader, I suspect you are) you know that Asshole-Americans are are force to be rectumed- I mean- reckoned with. They are all over the internet. Let's do our best to keep them out of office.
But, let's let them be proud! Let's acknowledge them as Asshole-Americans! We could even give them their own day. How does February 31st sound? Clear your calendars.
Did you know that Ted Nugent doesn't drink or do drugs? That means there's no walking back the stupid things he says because he was drunk or high. He says the insane shit he says because it's his right as an Asshole-American. The same stature goes for other famous Asshole-Americans like Sarah Palin, Sean Hannity, really anyone on Fox news, and hundreds of Asshole-Americans on the Topix threads with their thousands of Asshole-American socks.
I think that Asshole-American is an important distinction because not all republicans are assholes to the degree that ol' Ted, Sean or Sarah is. Asshole-Americans (A-A's for short) follow these people and believe everything that they think or say. It's sad. But, A-A's can't think for themselves. They've signed over their minds to these folks and willfully regurgitate their political beliefs as their own.
Asshole-Americans believe that Obama is a cruel, ruthless dictator who has wiped his ass with the Constitution. They also believe he is inept and the worst president ever. They believe both at the same time and even in the same sentence. They believe he will take their guns away at any moment. They believe he has taken away freedoms from them even though they can't name a single freedom they have lost- due to Obama. They believe that he believes there are 57 states and that you can keep your doctor because he did at one time say sorta the one and definitely the other but, has not said either since. But, Asshole-Americans still do say he believes both. A-A's are stupid that way and don't care who knows it.
Do they have a right to be assholes? They sure act like it! They think all Americans should be Asshole-Americans....as long as they are white and Christian Asshole-Americans. They are assholes after all and not all inclusive. But, ya know, they are all over the place and even in government!. Here's another one: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/14/debbie-dunnegan-waters-obama-coup_n_5987058.html?utm_hp_ref=politics Now, she's very low level and I do wonder what the County Dog Catcher thinks but, sheesh- what kinda asshole truly believes that a bloody, military coup is good for the country?
Well, an Asshole-American, that's who! If you are anywhere on the internet (and odds are, dear reader, I suspect you are) you know that Asshole-Americans are are force to be rectumed- I mean- reckoned with. They are all over the internet. Let's do our best to keep them out of office.
But, let's let them be proud! Let's acknowledge them as Asshole-Americans! We could even give them their own day. How does February 31st sound? Clear your calendars.
Saturday, October 11, 2014
We're takin' what they're givin'...
The Supreme Court is looking at a case that will decide whether employees at places like the Amazon warehouses have to be paid for the time they are screened by security, each day when they leave work. This is a process that currently takes 25 minutes. At one point, after Amazon lost a lower court case, they hired more screeners and trimmed the process to five minutes. But, hiring employees costs money and in these difficult times the last thing our job creators need to do is hire more people!
I thought this had been decided years ago. I know that employers have always been looking to squeeze as much work out of employees as possible without pay. But, it's the 21st century in what is often referred to as THE GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD and Walmart- it's largest employer, still forces employees to work off the clock. It saves them money. They roll back prices to save you money and they roll back employment practices to the early 20th century because that makes them money. They get caught for it, pay a fine and move on in life only to do it again. Getting caught is part of doing crime. It's part of doing business. They, and other corporations would rather cut the middleman that the courts are and just police themselves.
What is afoot here, what the Supreme's will be deciding, is whether employers can legitimately screw employees like this. If so, it's another huge chunk out of workers rights. It's wage theft.
Workers in a warehouse like Amazon may well be taking work home with them. Certainly not all but, maybe four or five? You gotta check. I get that. If it's part of the job, it's part of the job and people need to be paid for their time. If it's not part of the job, well then it's optional. "Would you like to stay late and be searched for free? No? OK, see you tomorrow!"
I've been subject to such searches when I've painted at warehouses. Some were damn near comical. We did a job at some company that did some tech stuff I never understood that had lost $1 million in employee theft the year before and they insisted that our work and lunch boxes be checked when we left at the end of our day. OK. The thing was, we were allowed unchecked access in and out of the same building to our trucks all day. There was a security guard stationed at our designated door but he didn't check anything whether we went out for a tool or a smoke. We had free run of the place- until quittin' time. All the guards were like this but the very friendly,American-Indian guy we most often dealt with, confided that they hadn't even been trained what to look for. They just made a perfunctory look and let us through.
Security guards are often a mixed bag. Some may have been concentration camp guards in a previous life. They took their jobs perhaps too seriously. One day, an entire job was shut down by the general contractor because the new security guard insisted that every visitor (worker) leave their drivers license with her the entire time they were on site. She wouldn't budge. So, until she heard different from her superiors, no one could work. That lasted a day. The GC wanted to let the tenant know that, until they got the Use and Occupancy permit, it was his building. That actually is the way that works. His guys got to go home with pay but this Ferrerman had to go to another job as I worked for someone else. But, I got paid for the whole damn day, including all the unnecessary running around!
We had another one on a job who tried to give parking tickets to the trades who had parked in handicap spaces. Mind you, whatever the business was it was not open to the public yet and security guard parking tickets aren't even good for rolling joints. It was the thought that counted though the deed itself had not.
To some degree this happened on every job whether there was preexisting security or new security. The new ones were befuddling because we were used to having the run of a building for months until 'security' came along. Most were easy enough to work with but some, if they had been at Auschwitz, there might still be people enslaved there by guards...just following orders...
I had one boss (currently under several indictments for bank fraud and other crimes) who was terrified that we were stealing from him because we filled out our own time sheets. There's a reason we in construction do this. All of our work is spread about town and even out of town where time clocks are unavailable. It's kinda the honor system and it's not as sorta-kinda accurate as a time clock and I promise you that construction companies want it this way because my time sheet is subject to rewrites the second it leaves my hand. I put down a quite accurate representation of my day-to-day work and my boss would then change it to reflect how the company wanted my time billed to various clients. There were jobs I never saw that clients were billed for my time and considerable talents. Anyway, the terrified now-indicted boss insisted that we begin and end each day at the time clock in the office. This meant that our time spent travelling from the office to the job was accounted for and paid for as was our leaving the job early to travel to punch out. In other words, thinking we were screwing him out of time, he fucked himself out of as much as an hour each day, five days a week, fifty two weeks a year....
A company has to pay travel time if they insist on you coming to the shop each day before going to the job site. It's a cost of doing business. What the companies are trying to do now in these corporate times is to legalize wage theft. It saves them money. Add up the nearly three dollars per hour that the Obama administration wants to raise the minimum. I guarantee every employer who pays minimum has and they're not happy about it. Amazon has done the math on how much they can save by not paying employees to be searched and it's enough to make a Federal case out of it.
So, yes, employee theft is a huge deal. But, not everybody does it. If your only security measure is checking every employee when they leave, every day, then pay people for the time it takes. It's part of the job. Considering that so many people are having an issue with there even being a minimum wage, I have to wonder how long before we just quit messing around with the pretense of working for a living and realize that we are really living for work, at the will of others?
I thought this had been decided years ago. I know that employers have always been looking to squeeze as much work out of employees as possible without pay. But, it's the 21st century in what is often referred to as THE GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD and Walmart- it's largest employer, still forces employees to work off the clock. It saves them money. They roll back prices to save you money and they roll back employment practices to the early 20th century because that makes them money. They get caught for it, pay a fine and move on in life only to do it again. Getting caught is part of doing crime. It's part of doing business. They, and other corporations would rather cut the middleman that the courts are and just police themselves.
What is afoot here, what the Supreme's will be deciding, is whether employers can legitimately screw employees like this. If so, it's another huge chunk out of workers rights. It's wage theft.
Workers in a warehouse like Amazon may well be taking work home with them. Certainly not all but, maybe four or five? You gotta check. I get that. If it's part of the job, it's part of the job and people need to be paid for their time. If it's not part of the job, well then it's optional. "Would you like to stay late and be searched for free? No? OK, see you tomorrow!"
I've been subject to such searches when I've painted at warehouses. Some were damn near comical. We did a job at some company that did some tech stuff I never understood that had lost $1 million in employee theft the year before and they insisted that our work and lunch boxes be checked when we left at the end of our day. OK. The thing was, we were allowed unchecked access in and out of the same building to our trucks all day. There was a security guard stationed at our designated door but he didn't check anything whether we went out for a tool or a smoke. We had free run of the place- until quittin' time. All the guards were like this but the very friendly,American-Indian guy we most often dealt with, confided that they hadn't even been trained what to look for. They just made a perfunctory look and let us through.
Security guards are often a mixed bag. Some may have been concentration camp guards in a previous life. They took their jobs perhaps too seriously. One day, an entire job was shut down by the general contractor because the new security guard insisted that every visitor (worker) leave their drivers license with her the entire time they were on site. She wouldn't budge. So, until she heard different from her superiors, no one could work. That lasted a day. The GC wanted to let the tenant know that, until they got the Use and Occupancy permit, it was his building. That actually is the way that works. His guys got to go home with pay but this Ferrerman had to go to another job as I worked for someone else. But, I got paid for the whole damn day, including all the unnecessary running around!
We had another one on a job who tried to give parking tickets to the trades who had parked in handicap spaces. Mind you, whatever the business was it was not open to the public yet and security guard parking tickets aren't even good for rolling joints. It was the thought that counted though the deed itself had not.
To some degree this happened on every job whether there was preexisting security or new security. The new ones were befuddling because we were used to having the run of a building for months until 'security' came along. Most were easy enough to work with but some, if they had been at Auschwitz, there might still be people enslaved there by guards...just following orders...
I had one boss (currently under several indictments for bank fraud and other crimes) who was terrified that we were stealing from him because we filled out our own time sheets. There's a reason we in construction do this. All of our work is spread about town and even out of town where time clocks are unavailable. It's kinda the honor system and it's not as sorta-kinda accurate as a time clock and I promise you that construction companies want it this way because my time sheet is subject to rewrites the second it leaves my hand. I put down a quite accurate representation of my day-to-day work and my boss would then change it to reflect how the company wanted my time billed to various clients. There were jobs I never saw that clients were billed for my time and considerable talents. Anyway, the terrified now-indicted boss insisted that we begin and end each day at the time clock in the office. This meant that our time spent travelling from the office to the job was accounted for and paid for as was our leaving the job early to travel to punch out. In other words, thinking we were screwing him out of time, he fucked himself out of as much as an hour each day, five days a week, fifty two weeks a year....
A company has to pay travel time if they insist on you coming to the shop each day before going to the job site. It's a cost of doing business. What the companies are trying to do now in these corporate times is to legalize wage theft. It saves them money. Add up the nearly three dollars per hour that the Obama administration wants to raise the minimum. I guarantee every employer who pays minimum has and they're not happy about it. Amazon has done the math on how much they can save by not paying employees to be searched and it's enough to make a Federal case out of it.
So, yes, employee theft is a huge deal. But, not everybody does it. If your only security measure is checking every employee when they leave, every day, then pay people for the time it takes. It's part of the job. Considering that so many people are having an issue with there even being a minimum wage, I have to wonder how long before we just quit messing around with the pretense of working for a living and realize that we are really living for work, at the will of others?
Saturday, October 4, 2014
The Ferrerman Who Knew Too Much
I don't study Topix. That's for fake therapists who infiltrate groups of posters for fun but probably not profit. But, Topix studies me and none too well, at that.
I read a lot about me but much of it is quite innocuous information. I've been on Facebook with some people in the past so, my real name is known. YIKES! Who knew I had a real name? Well, those people I was on Facebook with, that's who. You know, it turns out that about a hundred people on Topix have actual real names with Facebook pages with pictures and all the usual accouterments of the 21st century. Probably more than one hundred but, there are at least one hundred that I know of. In Topix terms, that covers several hundred troll personas as well, if you're scoring at home. That may seem like a big deal but it's not. You find out things when you you are being stalked, that's all. You find out how sloppy hunters are.
I don't want to give away the store here but, if you've got a house in- say- North Carolina, I've seen it. If you have just three Facebook friends and two of them are the same person, I know it. Innocuous things like that, things I wouldn't know except that someone sees fit to post misinformation about me on Topix on a regular basis and in checking around, I find things out. Those are the tip of the iceberg. Some people never learn cause and effect. Imagine looking to make trouble for someone and leaving yourself open to trouble in the process? Not everybody thinks things through. I guess that's why we can't have nice things.
Some of the reasons people have given for stalking Ferrerman are pretty weird. Sure, I busted the fake therapist nearly six years ago. S/he's moved on to other fake professions but, hasn't moved on in an emotional sense. And, sure, I did charm a poster who had a somewhat sexy, cartoon avatar several years ago, much to the chagrin of some loser known as Michael who had been embarrassing his or herself pursuing the cartoon avatar for a time, but, a couple of charming posts were as far as it went. Not being an idiot, I'm not about to give my heart to a gender-questionable avatar. Evidently Michael never got over that! Never got the girl either! And, of course, when the brain trust of the republican party gathered immediately after Obama's election in '08 to vow to make him a one term president, the Topix brain trust of trolls gathered under a bridge the same night and vowed to make Mr. Ferrerman a one Obama term poster. That didn't happen either.
Man- what a bunch of weirdos. eh? You'd think ...one... person could be that stalkerish but, three? Or more? For one Ferrerman? Does it really take a village to troll a Ferrerman? I think not. But, I'm checking on it. It's not that hard, ya know? They make it kinda easy.... I may not know exactly who this stalker is at this moment but, I sure do know it's friends! Do they really want a friend who leaves them wide open like that?
I read a lot about me but much of it is quite innocuous information. I've been on Facebook with some people in the past so, my real name is known. YIKES! Who knew I had a real name? Well, those people I was on Facebook with, that's who. You know, it turns out that about a hundred people on Topix have actual real names with Facebook pages with pictures and all the usual accouterments of the 21st century. Probably more than one hundred but, there are at least one hundred that I know of. In Topix terms, that covers several hundred troll personas as well, if you're scoring at home. That may seem like a big deal but it's not. You find out things when you you are being stalked, that's all. You find out how sloppy hunters are.
I don't want to give away the store here but, if you've got a house in- say- North Carolina, I've seen it. If you have just three Facebook friends and two of them are the same person, I know it. Innocuous things like that, things I wouldn't know except that someone sees fit to post misinformation about me on Topix on a regular basis and in checking around, I find things out. Those are the tip of the iceberg. Some people never learn cause and effect. Imagine looking to make trouble for someone and leaving yourself open to trouble in the process? Not everybody thinks things through. I guess that's why we can't have nice things.
Some of the reasons people have given for stalking Ferrerman are pretty weird. Sure, I busted the fake therapist nearly six years ago. S/he's moved on to other fake professions but, hasn't moved on in an emotional sense. And, sure, I did charm a poster who had a somewhat sexy, cartoon avatar several years ago, much to the chagrin of some loser known as Michael who had been embarrassing his or herself pursuing the cartoon avatar for a time, but, a couple of charming posts were as far as it went. Not being an idiot, I'm not about to give my heart to a gender-questionable avatar. Evidently Michael never got over that! Never got the girl either! And, of course, when the brain trust of the republican party gathered immediately after Obama's election in '08 to vow to make him a one term president, the Topix brain trust of trolls gathered under a bridge the same night and vowed to make Mr. Ferrerman a one Obama term poster. That didn't happen either.
Man- what a bunch of weirdos. eh? You'd think ...one... person could be that stalkerish but, three? Or more? For one Ferrerman? Does it really take a village to troll a Ferrerman? I think not. But, I'm checking on it. It's not that hard, ya know? They make it kinda easy.... I may not know exactly who this stalker is at this moment but, I sure do know it's friends! Do they really want a friend who leaves them wide open like that?
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