FISA Accountability and Privacy Protection Act Would Curtail Surveillance, Increase Transparency

A reasonable attempt at reform
StephenMeansMe
Politics • Views: 26,470

Unlike the knee-jerk “defund it!” of the Amash amendment, this new bill contains some meaty pro-transparency provisions:

As part of a bipartisan push to reform surveillance laws, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has introduced the FISA Accountability and Privacy Protection Act of 2013. The bill aims to bring more judicial oversight, public accountability, and transparency to the secret surveillance powers used by the NSA and FBI, focusing specifically on controversial sections of the Patriot Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The bill is co-sponsored by nine senators, including several outspoken critics of current spy laws, like Mark Udall, D-Colo., Ron Wyden D-Ore., Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Mike Lee, R-Utah.

The bill would, among other things:

  • Narrow the scope of the section 215 of the Patriot Act, the law used by the NSA to gather millions of Americans' phone records on a daily basis. Under Leahy's bill, to obtain the data the government would first have to produce a statement of facts showing that it is relevant to an authorized investigation and that there is a link to a foreign group or power.
  • Allow for judicial review of "gag order" provisions of the Patriot Act that can stop a recipient from challenging a nondisclosure order until one year has passed.
  • Bring forward the sunset clause of the recently renewed FISA Amendments Act by more than two years, to June 2015, enabling a sooner "re-examination" of the controversial spy law.
  • Require the inspector general of the intelligence community to conduct a comprehensive review of the FISA Amendments Act and its impact on the privacy rights of all Americans.
  • Mandate the production of an unclassified report for the public that would review the impact of the government's secret surveillance powers on the privacy of Americans.

The overriding theme appears to be “more oversight, more transparency,” not just stomping feet while screaming “No!” over and over. I’m cautiously optimistic about Sen. Leahy’s proposal.

More: Patrick Leahy’s FISA Accountability and Privacy Protection Act Would Curtail Surveillance, Increase Transparency

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415 comments
1 Kragar  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 1:49:03pm

Pff, what is with this “responsible government” horseshit?
///

2 Charles Johnson  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 1:49:06pm

Promoted. This is a much more thoughtful approach to reforming the Patriot Act and the NSA.

3 Bulworth  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 1:49:44pm

I’d rather stomp my feet and shout NSA ASSAULT!!!!

//

4 Kragar  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 1:50:08pm

re: #3 Bulworth

I’d rather stomp my feet and shout NSA ASSAULT!!!!

//

BENGHAZI!

5 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 1:50:08pm

re: #2 Charles Johnson

Promoted. This is a much more thoughtful approach to reforming the Patriot Act and the NSA.

Which means Greenwald will sniff and say it’s “not enough.”

6 EPR-radar  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 1:51:44pm

re: #2 Charles Johnson

Promoted. This is a much more thoughtful approach to reforming the Patriot Act and the NSA.

If it passes, perhaps with modifications as it goes through committees etc., it might serve as an example of Congress working pretty much as it should.

I can’t remember the last example of such an event.

7 freetoken  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 1:52:07pm

Why do I expect these sort of things to be amended with poison pill amendments, until they’re not worth passing?

8 Bulworth  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 1:52:30pm

[moonbat]WHere aRe the prosecutions for the Illegal and UNConstitutional ACTS committed by everybody in government??!??!! JAIL no Bail!!!![/moonbat]

9 GeneJockey  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 1:53:28pm

re: #7 freetoken

Why do I expect these sort of things to be amended with poison pill amendments, until they’re not worth passing?

Glenn Greenwald IS a poison pill.

10 erik_t  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 1:53:44pm

I rant and complain about the power of incumbancy and the old boys’ club and whatnot, but the construction of the Senate does occasionally lend itself to good governance. Leahy has been around the block enough, and is sufficiently insulated from flash-in-the-pan broprog foolishness, that he can take a calmer and more rational approach to this problem, having seen many (if not all) of the important sides of the problem.

11 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 1:53:48pm

re: #7 freetoken

Why do I expect these sort of things to be amended with poison pill amendments, until they’re not worth passing?

Because the GOP would not be caught dead putting their votes to a bill that might come back to haunt them should they win the White House in ‘16. The Patriot Act has been their baby, an example of how “committed” they are to fighting terrorism. They rammed through repeated extensions and have pushed against any suggestion that it be repealed.

12 geoffm33  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 1:54:52pm
13 Bulworth  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 1:54:57pm

The Circle of Derp will not rest until the CIA and NSA are disbanded, everyone in government arrested and a suitable dudebro government appointed by Rand Paul is placed in control. //

14 freetoken  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 1:55:15pm

re: #11 Targetpractice

Even if something reasonable could make it through the Senate, the House would attach DEFUND OBAMACARE! or similar amendments to it.

15 Varek Raith  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 1:55:28pm

The Patriot Act has out lived its’ purpose.
We won.

16 GeneJockey  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 1:56:03pm

re: #13 Bulworth

The Circle of Derp will not rest until the CIA and NSA are disbanded, everyone in government arrested and a suitable dudebro government appointed by Rand Paul is placed in control. //

Then there will be NO DRONES, except the ones to kill robbers coming out of 7-11s/

17 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 1:56:43pm

re: #14 freetoken

Even if something reasonable could make it through the Senate, the House would attach DEFUND OBAMACARE! or similar amendments to it.

Very likely. I imagine that, between now and next year, every “must pass” bill will see some attempt to attach a “defund Obamacare” amendment to it.

18 geoffm33  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 1:56:45pm

re: #11 Targetpractice

Because the GOP would not be caught dead putting their votes to a bill that might come back to haunt them should they win the White House in ‘16. The Patriot Act has been their baby, an example of how “committed” they are to fighting terrorism. They rammed through repeated extensions and have pushed against any suggestion that it be repealed.

Think about it though….in your scenario, think ahead to 2016/17/18 with a Republican President. All they have to do is talk about how, During the Obama presidency, Congress ripped the heart out of the Patriot Act.

19 Bulworth  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 1:56:46pm

Also, too, Circle of Derp demands that Bradley Manning be pardoned and Ed Snowden allowed to return peacefully to U.S. without fear of inprisonment. //

20 Kragar  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 1:56:54pm

Mike Lee To GOP On Obamacare: ‘If You Fund It, You’re For It’

Tea party Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) put the GOP on notice Tuesday by characterizing a vote against shutting down the government by refusing to fund the Affordable Care Act as endorsing the law outright.

“Defund it, or own it. If you fund it, you’re for it,” Lee said on the Senate floor.

Lee, joined by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Ted Cruz (R-TX), is spearheading an effort not to fund the government unless it excludes appropriations to implement Obamacare. The lawmakers are finding severe resistance within their own ranks, however.

Who says no talent ass clowns can’t make it in the world?

21 GeneJockey  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 1:57:18pm

re: #15 Varek Raith

The Patriot Act has out lived it’s purpose.
We won.

Well, shit, the GOP can’t admit THAT! That might mean Obama’s not a weak, terrorist-sympathizing crypto-Muslim.

22 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 1:58:50pm

re: #18 geoffm33

Think about it though….in your scenario, think ahead to 2016/17/18 with a Republican President. All they have to do is talk about how, During the Obama presidency, Congress ripped the heart out of the Patriot Act.

The Patriot Act’s support/opposition is largely dependent on whether or not the public is convinced that terrorism is a domestic issue. Note after the Marathon Bombing, after people got over their initial shock, the demand was “Why didn’t they see this coming?!” That’s the sort of narrative that lends itself to arguments for the Patriot Act and similar legislation.

23 Bulworth  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 1:58:51pm

re: #20 Kragar

“Defund it, or own it. If you fund it, you’re for it,” Lee said on the Senate floor.

Since the American people sort of, you know, voted for PBO, AGAIN, doesn’t that kindasorta mean that the American people Voted for The Fucking Obamacare bill, you dimwhit demagogue?

24 erik_t  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 1:59:18pm

re: #15 Varek Raith

The Patriot Act has out lived its’ purpose.
We won.

The Patriot Act has outlived even its alleged purpose, if indeed it ever had a legitimate one. I’m more than a little skeptical of the latter.

25 Kragar  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 1:59:23pm

San Diego Sues Mayor Bob Filner

Mayor Bob Filner is now being sued by the city he leads.

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a cross-complaint against Filner seeking indemnity for all damages the city may have to pay as a result of a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against the mayor earlier this month.

“This is part of due process,” said City Attorney Jan Goldsmith. “If Bob Filner is engaged in unlawful conduct and the city is held liable, he will have to reimburse us every penny the city pays and its attorney fees.”
Document

In the cross-complaint filed Tuesday, the city doesn’t admit liability while seeking indemnification from Filner. It is predicated on Filner’s personal liability and the city’s “zero tolerance policy as to sexual harassment and sexual harassment is not within the course and scope of employment.”

26 GeneJockey  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 1:59:45pm

re: #23 Bulworth

Since the American people sort of, you know, voted for PBO, AGAIN, doesn’t that kindasorta mean that the American people Voted for The Fucking Obamacare bill, you dimwhit demagogue?

No, because ACOOOORNNNN!!!!!!

27 freetoken  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:00:24pm

re: #15 Varek Raith

I would not be surprised if during the next decade there was another big terrorist attack somewhere… and it’ll start all over again.

This is not an issue that can just go away. We can pretend it isn’t an issue, but someday a big event will shake us out of our pretending.

Even recently there have been a couple of major jail breaks “over there” in which terrorists escaped… and it got a little bit of coverage here but hardly intruded into the mindspace of most Americans. Iraqis still die in bombing attacks. Violent leaders still take refuge in remote areas of Pakistan. And so on.

And let’s not try and package all of terrorism onto Middle Eastern Islamicists - violent groups can spring up anywhere. And they will use electronic communications, and we will want to spy on them.

28 Kragar  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:01:29pm

Obamacare Would Continue Even If Government Shuts Down

A Monday report conducted by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service states that the implementation of Obamacare would continue even if Republicans forced a government shutdown by demanding to withhold the law’s funding.

“It appears that substantial [Affordable Care Act] implementation might continue during a lapse in annual appropriations that resulted in a temporary government shutdown,” the report said.

Moreover, a government shutdown would not suspend the individual mandate requirement, according to the CRS.

29 GeneJockey  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:02:13pm

re: #28 Kragar

Obamacare Would Continue Even If Government Shuts Down

*Wha-whaaa*

30 Lidane  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:03:00pm

re: #20 Kragar

Mike Lee To GOP On Obamacare: ‘If You Fund It, You’re For It’

Who says no talent ass clowns can’t make it in the world?

31 gunnison  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:04:37pm

Half a loaf is better than none, that’s true, but the Patriot Act needs to go away. Only cringing fools would imagine that those kinds of powers would make us “safer”.
This is something that the authors and ratifiers of the Bill of Rights understood perfectly well, as any visit to their public statements and private correspondence makes abundantly clear.
Powers are always abused eventually, unless someone is willing to point me to historical examples of when they were not.
And Clapper still lied to a congressional committee, which is a felony.

32 engineer cat  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:04:54pm

FISA Accountability and Privacy Protection Act

REPUBLICAN VERSION

1) surveillance cannot be conducted under a democratic president

2) surveillance will be unrestricted under a republican president

33 Varek Raith  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:05:54pm

re: #31 gunnison

Clapper was screwed either way with that question. As answering it truthfully would’ve also been illegal. The senator knew that.

34 Carlos Dangler  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:06:27pm

re: #17 Targetpractice

Very likely. I imagine that, between now and next year, every “must pass” bill will see some attempt to attach a “defund Obamacare” amendment to it.

Confirmed. FACT.
/

35 Kragar  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:07:15pm

re: #32 engineer cat

FISA Accountability and Privacy Protection Act

REPUBLICAN VERSION

1) surveillance cannot be conducted under a democratic president

2) surveillance will be unrestricted under a republican president

2A) For reasons of national security, non-Republicans are prohibited from running for the office of President.

36 Lidane  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:08:20pm

re: #35 Kragar

2A) For reasons of national security, non-Republicans are prohibited from running for the office of President.

FTFY

37 engineer cat  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:09:35pm

re: #36 Lidane

2A) For reasons of national security, non-Republicans are prohibited from running for the office of President

really really FTFY

38 NJDhockeyfan  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:09:35pm

re: #25 Kragar

San Diego Sues Mayor Bob Filner

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner Asks City to Pay for Legal Fees

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner has asked the city to cover his legal fees for a sexual harassment lawsuit, according to an agenda released by the city council.

The city council will convene in a special closed session on Tuesday night to discuss whether or not to pay for legal fees in a sexual harassment claim filed by Filner’s former employee Irene McCormack Jackson.

39 Lidane  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:11:53pm

re: #37 engineer cat

Pretty much. If they could, the GOP would outlaw every other party.

40 wrenchwench  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:12:10pm
41 Varek Raith  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:17:33pm

re: #40 wrenchwench

[Embedded content]

Hate to say it, but he’s right. We fucked up bad on that case. Real bad.

42 EPR-radar  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:20:05pm

Another benefit of this vs. the Amash amendment is that the Amash approach was an example of making policy by defunding existing law rather than changing the law.

This business of making policy by defunding existing law is garbage that should not be adopted by sensible people. Leave it to the Teabaggers and wingnuts of the GOP house.

43 Kragar  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:21:37pm

Shit just got real.

During a press conference, Christie noted that his state paid more in federal taxes than they got back, which was not true to of the state that Paul represented. According to the Tax Foundation, for every $1.00 Kentucky’s taxpayers send to Washington, they get back $1.51. In contrast, for every $1.00 New Jersey’s taxpayers sent to Washington, they get only 61 cents back.

“I find it interesting that Senator Paul is accusing us of having a gimme, gimme, gimme attitude toward federal spending when in fact New Jersey is a donor state, we get 61 cents back on every dollar we send to Washington,” Christie said. “And interestingly Kentucky gets $1.51 on every dollar they sent to Washington.”

“So if Senator Paul wants to start looking at where he is going to cut spending to afford defense, maybe he should start looking at cutting the pork barrel spending he brings home to Kentucky at a $1.51 on every dollar and not look at New Jersey where we get 61 cents for every dollar,” he continued. “Maybe Senator Paul could deal with that when he is trying to deal with the reduction of spending on the federal side, but I doubt he would because most Washington politicians only care about bringing home the bacon so they can get reelected.”

Image: qgrmG.gif

44 Varek Raith  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:23:21pm

re: #43 Kragar

Youtube Video

45 piratedan  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:24:23pm

there’s no way that this can get thru the Republican house without one amendment defunding ACORN and another outlawing all abortions from receiving any NSA funding…. //

46 Kragar  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:24:30pm

re: #44 Varek Raith

[Embedded content]

Christie to Paul

Youtube Video

47 Varek Raith  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:25:28pm

When will they learn not to piss off Christie?
Morons.

48 GeneJockey  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:27:49pm

re: #43 Kragar

Shit just got real.

Image: qgrmG.gif

HAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!! That’s fucking GREAT!!! I’ve been waiting for SOMEONE with at least a little cred on the Right to point that out!!

“Real America” has been, by their own lights, a parasite on the rest of us for a long, long time.

Mind you, I don’t have a problem with how the Federal Government supports states that don’t have strong enough economies to stand on their own. But it sticks in my craw when wingnuts in these same states get up on their hind legs and start calling themselves the ‘Real America’ and bitching about their tax dollars paying for welfare queens, young bucks on street corners, and illegals.

49 Bulworth  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:29:27pm

re: #43 Kragar

Using my fuzzy math calculator, I will explain, mathematically, the wingnut answer to this.

1. The $1 to $1.5 ratio of taxes to benefits for Kentucky is really no big deal because relatively speaking, the $1.5 in benefits is a pretty small amount.

2. Even though the $1.5 in spending is really pretty insignificant, the $1 in taxes is really huge and oppressive because Kentucky, like Amercians everywhere, are Taxed Enough Already and taxes are high and must always be cut.

See, makes perfect nonsense.

50 Dr Lizardo  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:29:53pm

re: #48 Mateo Scrounge

HAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!! That’s fucking GREAT!!! I’ve been waiting for SOMEONE with at least a little cred on the Right to point that out!!

“Real America” has been, by their own lights, a parasite on the rest of us for a long, long time.

Mind you, I don’t have a problem with how the Federal Government supports states that don’t have strong enough economies to stand on their own. But it sticks in my craw when wingnuts in these same states get up on their hind legs and start calling themselves the ‘Real America’ and bitching about their tax dollars paying for welfare queens, young bucks on street corners, and illegals.

I’m glad Governor Christie pointed that out; watch for the wingnuts to start screaming any second now.

51 Lidane  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:30:30pm

re: #45 piratedan

there’s no way that this can get thru the Republican house without one amendment defunding ACORN and another outlawing all abortions from receiving any NSA funding…. //

No sarc tags needed:

52 RedSquareBear  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:30:32pm

re: #20 Kragar

Mike Lee To GOP On Obamacare: ‘If You Fund It, You’re For It’

Who says no talent ass clowns can’t make it in the world?

Such statements portend a GOP primary season that will be 2010/2012 redux. This should be fun.

(Terrible for the nation, of course, but that’s hardly the Dem’s fault.)

53 GeneJockey  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:31:37pm

re: #51 Lidane

No sarc tags needed:

[Embedded content]

When you can’t make laws, make noise.

54 Kragar  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:31:40pm

Federal Taxing and Spending Benefit Some States, Leave Others Paying Bill

Top 10

State Outlay to Tax Ratio

New Mexico $2.03

Mississippi $2.02

Alaska $1.84

Louisiana $1.78

West Virginia $1.76

North Dakota $1.68

Alabama $1.66

South Dakota $1.53

Kentucky $1.51

Virginia $1.51

55 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:32:39pm

re: #54 Kragar

Federal Taxing and Spending Benefit Some States, Leave Others Paying Bill

Top 10

State Outlay to Tax Ratio

New Mexico $2.03

Mississippi $2.02

Alaska $1.84

Louisiana $1.78

West Virginia $1.76

North Dakota $1.68

Alabama $1.66

South Dakota $1.53

Kentucky $1.51

Virginia $1.51

Most of Virginia’s $1.51? Defense spending. See also: Hampton Roads.

56 Varek Raith  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:32:41pm

re: #51 Lidane

Like, whut?

57 Varek Raith  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:33:43pm

re: #55 Targetpractice

Most of Virginia’s $1.51? Defense spending. See also: Hampton Roads.

Yeah, we build carriers and shit. Also, home of the Atlantic fleet.
Take that!

58 GeneJockey  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:34:37pm

Come to Mississippi! Our taxes are low, because we make the other states pay instead!

59 Joanne  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:34:50pm

re: #43 Kragar

“Maybe Senator Paul could deal with that when he is trying to deal with the reduction of spending on the federal side, but I doubt he would because most Washington politicians only care about bringing home the bacon so they can get reelected.”

I would have agreed with Christie until the above part. Not all pork is bad. Pork to fix roads or bridges or many other things which is called pork these days is not inherently bad. Sending funds from Washington to a buddy with no benefit to the people of the state, that is pork.

While we may be loving Christie for what he says now, if he were to get to higher office, we’d be seeing something closer to Paul Ryan than to Barack Obama.

60 Kragar  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:35:37pm

I seem to be noting a distinct lack of socialist hellholes being in the top 10 states for being leaches of government funds.

Ah, I didn’t scroll down far enough. California, Massachusetts, and New York are all in the bottom 10, down there with New Jersey.

61 Political Atheist  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:35:51pm

re: #2 Charles Johnson

Promoted. This is a much more thoughtful approach to reforming the Patriot Act and the NSA.

Could not agree more-

Allow for judicial review of “gag order” provisions of the Patriot Act that can stop a recipient from challenging a nondisclosure order until one year has passed.

Require the inspector general of the intelligence community to conduct a comprehensive review of the FISA Amendments Act and its impact on the privacy rights of all Americans.

I really like this first part, which takes care of the situation of a citizen not being able to sue by way of lacking standing, being that the damages are classified. More judicial review is a good compromise. And if the Pew study I Paged earlier is right, this is far more in line with the will of the people at large. A Democratic compromise as it were. That was a word study but used this issue at it’s core.

62 Kragar  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:36:15pm

re: #57 Varek Raith

Yeah, we build carriers and shit. Also, home of the Atlantic fleet.
Take that!

For now. Norfolk will be underwater in 50 years.

63 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:36:59pm

re: #62 Kragar

For now. Norfolk will be underwater in 50 years.

And nothing of value will be lost.

//

64 Varek Raith  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:37:24pm

re: #63 Targetpractice

And nothing of value will be lost.

//

As the Navy is preparing for that.
;)

65 Kragar  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:37:30pm

re: #63 Targetpractice

And nothing of value will be lost.

//

True.

66 Lidane  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:39:39pm

Come to Texas, where we don’t have an income tax, a fire code, or any sort of oversight for chemical plants that explode or amusement park rides that kill you. We just have an 8.25% sales tax which will now apply to drinks in bars.

67 Kragar  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:41:08pm

re: #66 Lidane

Come to Texas, where we don’t have an income tax, a fire code, or any sort of oversight for chemical plants that explode or amusement park rides that kill you. We just have an 8.25% sales tax which will now apply to drinks in bars.

I hear I can get a house for really cheap. Of course, then I need to run the AC for most of the year and pay for heating oil to cover the remainder.

68 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:41:09pm

re: #66 Lidane

Come to Texas, where we don’t have an income tax, a fire code, or any sort of oversight for chemical plants that explode or amusement park rides that kill you. We just have an 8.25% sales tax which will now apply to drinks in bars.

Texas, aka a real life “Galt’s Gulch.”

69 Bulworth  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:41:40pm

re: #59 Joanne

Yeah, still not a fan. And he vetoed the SSM bill in NJ. But I’m more than happy to watch, for now, GOPers snip at each other.

70 GeneJockey  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:42:07pm

re: #66 Lidane

Come to Texas, where we don’t have an income tax, a fire code, or any sort of oversight for chemical plants that explode or amusement park rides that kill you. We just have an 8.25% sales tax which will now apply to drinks in bars.

And you can probably carry a gun into that bar, too! You know, for self-defense and suchlike.

71 Lidane  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:42:59pm

re: #43 Kragar

Shit just got real.

Image: qgrmG.gif

Dear Chris Christie,

Please proceed.

Sincerely,
Me

72 Bulworth  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:43:25pm

Rand Paul: Well, NJ deserves to pay more in taxes because they’re richer and the rich should pay more and….wait a minute, what am I saying?

//

73 Eclectic Cyborg  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:43:34pm

re: #39 Lidane

Pretty much. If they could, the GOP would outlaw every other party.

Ouch. That wouldn’t sit well with Charlie Sheen.

74 Bulworth  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:43:45pm

re: #70 Mateo Scrounge

But no abortionz. /

75 Lidane  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:44:30pm

re: #70 Mateo Scrounge

And you can probably carry a gun into that bar, too! You know, for self-defense and suchlike.

Not yet. They’re working on it, I’m sure.

You can carry a gun into the State Legislature, though.

76 Joanne  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:44:45pm

re: #69 Bulworth

Yeah, still not a fan. And he vetoed the SSM bill in NJ. But I’m more than happy to watch, for now, GOPers snip at each other.

Oh, I am always happy to watch GOPers eat their own.

I just don’t want people forgetting that Christie isn’t some radical moderate.

77 Eclectic Cyborg  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:44:48pm

re: #58 Mateo Scrounge

Come to Mississippi! Our taxes are low, because we make the other states pay instead!

We always get #1 on the bad lists…

78 Bulworth  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:45:32pm

re: #55 Targetpractice

Kind of surprised about Alaska and North Dakota, states relatively rich in natural resources, being on this list.

79 Lidane  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:45:36pm

re: #69 Bulworth

Yeah, still not a fan. And he vetoed the SSM bill in NJ. But I’m more than happy to watch, for now, GOPers snip at each other.

I wouldn’t vote for Christie given that whole matter of an (R) after his name, but fuck it. If he wants to spend the next few years ripping Rand Paul a new one, who am I to stop him?

80 freetoken  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:45:50pm

re: #76 Joanne

It’s his Sister Soulja moment.

81 Eclectic Cyborg  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:46:03pm

re: #78 Bulworth

Kind of surprised about Alaska and North Dakota, states relatively rich in natural resources, being on this list.

Aren’t both states heavily GOP governed?

82 A Man for all Seasons  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:49:07pm

re: #62 Kragar

For now. Norfolk will be underwater in 50 years.

That’s what they said about the Netherlands a 100 years ago.

83 Lidane  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:49:13pm

re: #81 Eclectic Cyborg

Aren’t both states heavily GOP governed?

If you can find a Democrat in either of those states, consider them an endangered species.

84 Kragar  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:49:53pm

re: #82 HoosierHoops

That’s what they said about the Netherlands a 100 years ago.

They obviously made a pact with demons.

85 freetoken  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:50:12pm

re: #84 Kragar

They obviously made a pact with demons ghosts.

86 Kragar  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:51:23pm

re: #85 freetoken

Don’t be silly. Ghosts don’t exist.

Demons are facts.

87 A Man for all Seasons  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:52:13pm

re: #84 Kragar

They obviously made a pact with demons.

Mr. President! The Sea is rising..What do we do?
President: Get the Dutch on line one!

88 NJDhockeyfan  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:52:38pm
89 Eclectic Cyborg  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:53:16pm

re: #83 Lidane

If you can find a Democrat in either of those states, consider them an endangered species.

I remember a movie awhile back with Hugh Grant where he had to go to live in some backwoods town in one of the Dakotas and, at one point when he was a restaurant talking to the townspeople he asked “Are there any democrats out here?” and the reply was: “Only two. We know where they live.”

90 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:53:26pm

re: #78 Bulworth

Kind of surprised about Alaska and North Dakota, states relatively rich in natural resources, being on this list.

They’re for differing, though related reasons. Alaska’s most sucking off the defense teat, along with various federal grants to local governments and private organizations. Meanwhile, North Dakota’s primarily getting its federal money through various payouts from federal programs like Social Security, Medicare, welfare programs, disability insurances, and so forth.

91 Kragar  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:54:39pm

DAMN IT TEXAS. THIS IS WHY WE CAN’T HAVE NICE THINGS.

Creationists Get Influential Positions in Texas Science Textbook Review

It looks like the Lone Star State’s reputation as a hotbed of anti-science fanaticism is about to be reinforced. At least six creationists/”intelligent design” proponents succeeded in getting invited to review high school biology textbooks that publishers have submitted for adoption in Texas this year. The State Board of Education (SBOE) will decide in November which textbooks to approve. Those textbooks could be in the state’s public school science classrooms for nearly a decade.

Among the six creationist reviewers are some of the nation’s leading opponents of teaching students that evolution is established, mainstream science and is overwhelmingly supported by well over a century of research. Creationists on the SBOE nominated those six plus five others also invited by the Texas Education Agency to serve on the biology review teams. We have been unable to determine what those other five reviewers think about evolution.

Although 28 individuals got invites to review the proposed new biology textbooks this year, only about a dozen have shown up in Austin this week for the critical final phase of that review. That relatively small overall number of reviewers could give creationists even stronger influence over textbook content. In fact, publishers are making changes to their textbooks based on objections they hear from the review panelists. And that’s happening essentially behind closed doors because the public isn’t able to monitor discussions among the review panelists themselves or between panelists and publishers. The public won’t know about publishers’ changes (or the names of all the review panelists who are in Austin this week) until probably September. Alarm bells are ringing.

92 freetoken  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:54:40pm

Perry calls third special session

Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday ordered lawmakers back to work for another special session — the third since the Legislature gaveled out of its regular 140-day session at the end of May.

In his proclamation, Perry ordered lawmakers to return to pass a transportation funding bill.

Why couldn’t they have worked on the transportation bill the first two sessions?

Oh, that’s right, they had more important work to do - God’s work.

93 erik_t  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:54:47pm

re: #90 Targetpractice

North Dakota’s got plenty of defense spending, actually. Lots of ballistic missiles and B-52s up there.

94 Kragar  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:55:54pm

re: #92 freetoken

Perry calls third special session

Why couldn’t they have worked on the transportation bill the first two sessions?

Oh, that’s right, they had more important work to do - God’s work.

Man, all these special sessions. Maybe they should see about getting someone to work full time.

95 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:56:24pm

re: #93 erik_t

North Dakota’s got plenty of defense spending, actually. Lots of ballistic missiles and B-52s up there.

Yeah, but it’s been scaled back some since the Cold War, since a lot of the ICBMs have been decommissioned as part of various arms limit treaties.

96 Eclectic Cyborg  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:56:47pm

re: #91 Kragar

DAMN IT TEXAS. THIS IS WHY WE CAN’T HAVE NICE THINGS.

Creationists Get Influential Positions in Texas Science Textbook Review

Yikes. Please page this if you can.

97 Bulworth  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:57:16pm

re: #90 Targetpractice

And even states relatively richer in natural resources wouldn’t necessarily return a large share of it to the feds if much of the wealth is highly concentrated.

98 Eclectic Cyborg  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:57:33pm

re: #92 freetoken

Perry calls third special session

Why couldn’t they have worked on the transportation bill the first two sessions?

Oh, that’s right, they had more important work to do - God’s work.

I’d watch what amendments they try to tack on to that bill.

99 Bulworth  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:58:03pm

re: #92 freetoken

For folks who want to be all limited government they sure legislate a lot.

100 Lidane  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:58:09pm

re: #94 Kragar

Man, all these special sessions. Maybe they should see about getting someone to work full time.

The flip side of all these special sessions is these idiots working full time.

I don’t think Texas could survive a full time Legislature. It would become Thunderdome in a matter of weeks.

101 Eclectic Cyborg  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:58:40pm

re: #99 Bulworth

For folks who want to be all limited government they sure legislate a lot.

I think what they really want is limited democratic government.

102 freetoken  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:59:06pm

re: #98 Eclectic Cyborg

I’d watch what amendments they try to tack on to that bill.

It’s supposed to be a transportation bill…. hmmm… let’s see, how about an amendment that outlaws any roads coming closer than 1000 yards to any facility that performs abortions?

103 Kragar  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:59:56pm

Groundswell: Frank Gaffney and Jerry Boykin Lobbied Boehner and Issa on Benghazi

As Mother Jones revealed last week, Groundswell, the hush-hush right-wing strategy group partly led by Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, wanted to hype the Benghazi tragedy into a full-fledged scandal for the Obama administration, as part of its “30 front war” on the president and progressives. A secret audio tape of one of Groundswell’s weekly meetings shows that prominent members of the group pressed House Speaker John Boehner and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the chair of the House oversight committee, to expand the Benghazi investigation and make this supposed scandal a top-priority for congressional Republicans. This recording indicates Groundswell’s mission extends beyond message coordination to scandal-stoking.

104 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 2:59:58pm

re: #100 Lidane

The flip side of all these special sessions is these idiots working full time.

I don’t think Texas could survive a full time Legislature. It would become Thunderdome in a matter of weeks.

On the upside, you could film it for PPV.

105 Eclectic Cyborg  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:02:28pm

re: #104 Targetpractice

On the upside, you could film it for PPV.

I am picturing the brawls in the Asian legislatures.

106 Lidane  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:03:51pm

re: #105 Eclectic Cyborg

I am picturing the brawls in the Asian legislatures.

Brawls? Try pistols at dawn. Guns are allowed in the Texas Legislature.

107 freetoken  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:04:42pm

Be you didn’t see this one sneak up on you:

Human urine used as source of stem cells to grow teeth

Scientists in China report they’ve grown rudimentary teeth from stem cells taken from an unexpected source — human urine.

[…]

108 Kragar  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:05:27pm

Rand Paul: Chris Christie Is ‘The King Of Bacon’

The public feud between Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), both potential presidential candidates in 2016, continued to percolate Tuesday, with the libertarian stalwart firing back in response to claims that Kentucky was bringing too much public funds home from Washington.

“This is the king of bacon talking about bacon,” Paul said about Christie on CNN’s ‘The Situation Room.’

You really want to go down that road, Rand? Really?

109 Eclectic Cyborg  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:06:05pm

re: #108 Kragar

Rand Paul: Chris Christie Is ‘The King Of Bacon’

You really want to go down that road, Rand? Really?

I think I’d like to hang out with a guy known as the King of Bacon.

110 freetoken  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:06:38pm

re: #108 Kragar

Watch the video:

politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com

111 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:07:13pm

re: #108 Kragar

Rand Paul: Chris Christie Is ‘The King Of Bacon’

You really want to go down that road, Rand? Really?

Seriously? A fat joke? That’s the best he’s got?

112 allegro  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:07:20pm

re: #108 Kragar

Rand Paul: Chris Christie Is ‘The King Of Bacon’

You really want to go down that road, Rand? Really?

Pssst, Rand, he wasn’t talking about yanno, actual bacon.

113 Justanotherhuman  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:07:39pm

re: #91 Kragar

DAMN IT TEXAS. THIS IS WHY WE CAN’T HAVE NICE THINGS.

Creationists Get Influential Positions in Texas Science Textbook Review

They really ought to rescind the college degrees of those people…

114 Kragar  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:09:30pm

re: #110 freetoken

Watch the video:

politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com

Paul pointed to Kentucky’s two military bases as reasons why the state may get more money from the government.

“What does he want to do, shut down military bases in Kentucky?” he said.

2 whole bases? Wow.

Jersey has 9.

115 freetoken  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:15:46pm

Ted Cruz - on a mission to save the GOP:

Ted Cruz: Filibustering the Continuing Resolution and Shutting Down the Government Will Be Great for Republicans

116 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:17:29pm

re: #115 freetoken

Ted Cruz - on a mission to save the GOP:

Ted Cruz: Filibustering the Continuing Resolution and Shutting Down the Government Will Be Great for Republicans

In other news, White Star Line feels it would be great to run the world’s largest passenger liner through iceberg clogged waters at top speed, believing the saved transit time will make up for the increased danger of sinking.

117 Kragar  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:18:25pm

Rand says Kentucky gets their excess money because of their military bases:

2 bases, appx 55,000 people, so this explains why they get a return of $1.51 on the dollar.

California

30+ bases, appx 213,000 people, $0.78 to the dollar.

Please Rand, break it down for us.

118 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:18:56pm

Why I’m not really concerned about China’s sky-high publication rate of scientific papers meaning that they’re overtaking the US in science:

upi.com

Scientists at the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health used urine as the starting point, harvesting cells passed from the body and modifying them into stem cells.

The cells, when implanted into animals, began to resemble a tooth, the researchers said.

“The tooth-like structure contained dental pulp, dentin, enamel space and enamel organ,” they reported in the Cell Regeneration Journal.

Some stem cell scientists have expressed doubts about using urine as a cell source.

“It is probably one of the worst sources; there are very few cells in the first place and the efficiency of turning them into stem cells is very low,” stem cell scientist Chris Mason of University College London told the BBC. “You just wouldn’t do it in this way.”

119 Kragar  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:19:07pm

re: #115 freetoken

Ted Cruz - on a mission to save the GOP:

Ted Cruz: Filibustering the Continuing Resolution and Shutting Down the Government Will Be Great for Republicans

The only way to save it is by destroying it.
/

120 Decatur Deb  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:21:46pm

re: #119 Kragar

The only way to save it is by destroying it.
/

That’s worth a shot.

121 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:22:03pm

The whole business over Obamacare and shutdown is because this is really the GOP’s last real chance at ending it before the exchanges open and people start taking advantage of the law. Once that happens, it’s game over. Any Republican going to the voters next year talking about full repeal will have to explain a better alternative or face accusations that they’re trying to take health care away from people who had no access to it previously.

122 freetoken  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:22:40pm

Naive about Naïveté:

The Naïveté We Need: Notes on a Climate Action

[…]

To a lot of people, when you put it in those terms, the climate fight looks unwinnable—as naïve as trying to shut down a coal plant with nonviolent direct action. For others, including many of us who marched on Brayton Point, it’s a reason to fight all the harder, and to commit ourselves for the long haul. We can’t help thinking of all the “unwinnable” fights of the past—to abolish slavery and end segregation, to win labor rights, women’s rights, gay rights—and we’re grateful for those naïve enough to have fought them. And to keep on fighting.

What Stephenson misses, either on purpose or he just doesn’t understand how things work, is that climate-change causing emissions and their reduction really are NOT like slavery abolitionism or the suffragettes of old.

The only reason CO2 is emitted so willingly is that as a side effect of using stored solar energy (from the past 350 million years.) As long as we want to live in an energy-intensive society we will search for energy supplies, and the most readily available ones of any size are fossil fuels.

Every time Stephenson and his fellow believers in climate-change action gather at political rallies they also, as a side effect of their actions, emit more CO2, because traveling long distances for climate-change rallies is an energy intensive activity.

At heart to the issue of dealing with climate change is coming to terms with our own limited abilities as humans and how we expect to live our lives. And that calls for something quite a bit more radical than simply going to political rallies.

123 Carlos Dangler  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:24:01pm

re: #43 Kragar

Shit just got real.

Image: qgrmG.gif

Perfect GIF.

Don’t fuck with Jersey.

125 lawhawk  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:25:59pm

re: #114 Kragar

New Jersey per capita federal revenues - about $14k per person.

Kentucky per capita federal revenues - about $5.5k per person.

That’s the amount of money that the feds collect from individual and corporate income taxes, estate taxes, gift taxes, and excise taxes.

Put another way, Kentucky has gotten much more than it’s given - -$207.5 billion between 1990 and 2009.

In contrast, New Jersey has given $705 billion between 1990 and 2009 more than it’s gotten back.

Huge doesn’t begin to cover it.

126 freetoken  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:25:59pm

re: #124 Kragar

Eighth Woman Comes Forward With Harassment Allegations Against Mayor Filner

San Diego and its long history of dysfunctional mayors… makes me glad I moved out of the city limits.

127 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:26:08pm

re: #124 Kragar

Eighth Woman Comes Forward With Harassment Allegations Against Mayor Filner

So what next, the Cain Defense? “They’re just out to get money”?

128 Kragar  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:26:49pm

re: #126 freetoken

San Diego and its long history of dysfunctional mayors… makes me glad I moved out of the city limits.

I’m over in La Mesa. I can just sit back and laugh.

129 Jack Burton  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:29:09pm

re: #124 Kragar

Eighth Woman Comes Forward With Harassment Allegations Against Mayor Filner

I’m not claiming this is all BS, it’s not and the guy is unquestionably a creepy office ass-grabber… BUT I’m curious as to why this was never brought up before the election or during all the years he was in congress.

131 freetoken  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:30:51pm

re: #129 Jack Burton


There were murmurs during the election, but the political machinery papered over it.

132 Jack Burton  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:31:13pm

re: #128 Kragar

I’m over in La Mesa. I can just sit back and laugh.

I’m still stuck in the city limits myself… I still can laugh a little bit though, between my bouts of saying “Really?!?”

133 Kragar  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:31:22pm

re: #129 Jack Burton

I’m not claiming this is all BS, it’s not and the guy is unquestionably a creepy office ass-grabber… BUT I’m curious as to why this was never brought up before the election or during all the years he was in congress.

Good ole boys networks, women being convinced it would hurt their careers to pursue it, bullying, etc

134 freetoken  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:35:40pm

Did you know that the Juice are the ones guilty of destroying America by wrecking immigration policy?

Well, that’s what the latest writer at VDARE claims:

[…]


Goodlatte is a Christian Scientist; Cantor is Jewish. So we have one man who believes in the 19th-century version of Scientology, and another whose coreligionists have arguably wrecked U.S. immigration policy and are now pushing hard for the 2013 Amnesty/ Immigration Surge bill, trying to give the Left a major gift: more Democrat voters.

[…]

The writer is A. W. Morgan, known xenophobe.

135 Carlos Dangler  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:36:52pm

re: #69 Bulworth

Yeah, still not a fan. And he vetoed the SSM bill in NJ. But I’m more than happy to watch, for now, GOPers snip at each other.

Despite the SSM bone that Christie threw to the RWNJs, they no doubt still view him as a RINO for doing his job during and after Sandy.

136 A Man for all Seasons  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:36:56pm

re: #121 Targetpractice

The whole business over Obamacare and shutdown is because this is really the GOP’s last real chance at ending it before the exchanges open and people start taking advantage of the law. Once that happens, it’s game over. Any Republican going to the voters next year talking about full repeal will have to explain a better alternative or face accusations that they’re trying to take health care away from people who had no access to it previously.

Or maybe the GOP will appeal to the people, Like me, who’s premiums have gone through the fucking roof to pay for Obamacare..Is this really the affordable care act?
Not for me and many others..I liked the Dutch model of healthcare that is a single payer model.. We could call it the FCA. The Fair Care act. You know..They pay better unemployment benefits but they still take out money for your healthcare. Everybody pays something..Oh and the Dutch live longer than just about anybody in the world.
Men live on average till 81. It works..

137 klys  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:37:48pm

re: #133 Kragar

Good ole boys networks, women being convinced it would hurt their careers to pursue it, bullying, etc

QFT.

138 A Mom Anon  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:40:57pm

re: #133 Kragar

Bingo. I worked in an auto factory, on the line back in the late 70’s, early 80’s. I, and the other women who worked with me, put up with a ton of shit because these were great paying union jobs with a future(until our jobs got shipped to Japan, after a mysterious fire got the factory shut down). Guys didn’t want us there, they made it tough on us to see how much shit we’d take. Those of us that survived that crap gained respect, but Filner is a different animal. He’s a fucking perv, and until you’ve been backed into a corner by some asshole thinking he can lay hands on you because he knows you need the job, you honestly have no clue as to how much it sucks and how scary it is. Especially when you’re dealing with a guy in a position of power who will trash you or threaten to unless you take it and shut up.

When you’re a woman, you may not have as many employment choices ahead of you as some men do. You might have worked really hard to get into that job and want to keep it. I wish more people understood that even though this is 2013, this sort of crap still happens, just not to the degree it used to. The reason more women are coming forward is because they feel safe now that the truth is out. Their jobs are safe, his job isn’t so much now. They know they’ll be believed and not treated as some bitch trying to cash in.

139 klys  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:41:31pm

re: #136 HoosierHoops

Or maybe the GOP will appeal to the people, Like me, who’s premiums have gone through the fucking roof to pay for Obamacare..Is this really the affordable care act?
Not for me and many others..I liked the Dutch model of healthcare that is a single payer model.. We could call it the FCA. The Fair Care act. You know..They pay better unemployment benefits but they still take out money for your healthcare. Everybody pays something..Oh and the Dutch live longer than just about anybody in the world.
Men live on average till 81. It works..

Obamacare is the solution we got because the GOP refuses to even consider single-payer. I don’t think they’re going to go to the people with a plan for it now.

What the GOP would like to do is roll back the Affordable Care Act, but I doubt you’d see your premium drop. That rise? I’d bet real money that “Obamacare” is just the excuse they’re using.

140 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:41:33pm

re: #136 HoosierHoops

Or maybe the GOP will appeal to the people, Like me, who’s premiums have gone through the fucking roof to pay for Obamacare..Is this really the affordable care act?
Not for me and many others..I liked the Dutch model of healthcare that is a single payer model.. We could call it the FCA. The Fair Care act. You know..They pay better unemployment benefits but they still take out money for your healthcare. Everybody pays something..Oh and the Dutch live longer than just about anybody in the world.
Men live on average till 81. It works..

I don’t agree much with the ACA, but compared to the alternative, it was a welcome step in the right direction. Speaking personally, I’m looking forward to being able to finally afford health insurance.

141 Kragar  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:42:41pm

re: #140 Targetpractice

I don’t agree much with the ACA, but compared to the alternative, it was a welcome step in the right direction. Speaking personally, I’m looking forward to being able to finally afford health insurance.

Commie.

142 Carlos Dangler  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:43:09pm

re: #103 Kragar

Groundswell: Frank Gaffney and Jerry Boykin Lobbied Boehner and Issa on Benghazi

[Gomer Pyle]Surprise, surprise, surprise![/Gomer Pyle]

143 ProTARDISLiberal  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:44:17pm

re: #138 A Mom Anon

Bingo. I worked in an auto factory, on the line back in the late 70’s, early 80’s. I, and the other women who worked with me, put up with a ton of shit because these were great paying union jobs with a future(until our jobs got shipped to Japan, after a mysterious fire got the factory shut down). Guys didn’t want us there, they made it tough on us to see how much shit we’d take. Those of us that survived that crap gained respect, but Filner is a different animal. He’s a fucking perv, and until you’ve been backed into a corner by some asshole thinking he can lay hands on you because he knows you need the job, you honestly have no clue as to how much it sucks and how scary it is. Especially when you’re dealing with a guy in a position of power who will trash you or threaten to unless you take it and shut up.

Mysterious Fire my ass. Insurance fraud.

144 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:44:34pm

re: #141 Kragar

Commie.

Careful, comrade, that sorta talk might get you sent to the FEMA gulag in Wasilla.

//

145 klys  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:47:02pm

I need an afternoon moment of photo zen, so here you all go. In honor of FFL’s trip, hopefully he made it by there today:

One of the gardens at Manzanar.

146 wrenchwench  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:50:38pm

re: #54 Kragar

Federal Taxing and Spending Benefit Some States, Leave Others Paying Bill

Top 10

State Outlay to Tax Ratio

New Mexico $2.03

Mississippi $2.02

Alaska $1.84

Louisiana $1.78

West Virginia $1.76

North Dakota $1.68

Alabama $1.66

South Dakota $1.53

Kentucky $1.51

Virginia $1.51

To be fair, a lot of that money going to New Mexico supports some National Laboratories, and some nuke storage and maintenance.

147 wrenchwench  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:51:35pm
148 urbanmeemaw  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:52:12pm

re: #13 Bulworth

Which would consist of Rand and the dead ferret on his head.

149 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:52:44pm

re: #146 wrenchwench

To be fair, a lot of that money going to New Mexico supports some National Laboratories, and some nuke storage and maintenance.

So, in other words, defense spending and federal grants.

150 Gus  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:54:38pm
151 A Mom Anon  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:55:18pm

re: #143 ProTARDISLiberal

Oh I know, I should have put “mysterious” in quotes. I’m pretty sure my supervisor threw a lit cigarette into an injection mold on our line. Those molds (we made the dashboards for several different kinds of cars and light trucks) were sprayed with a wax that I am sure was flammable. We also used open containers of benzene to clean those molds with nothing but rubber gloves to protect us. It’s a wonder I don’t have some kind of cancer all these years later, but so far, I’m good. It was dirty work, but the pay was awesome. I was 19 yrs old, making almost 20 bucks an hour in 1979. I thought I would be there til I retired and could support myself forever. Two yrs later it was over.

152 wrenchwench  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:56:18pm

re: #149 Targetpractice

So, in other words, defense spending and federal grants.

Yes. There are also many people dependent on Social Security, and plenty of SNAP recipients, and the usual sustenance received from the mammary glands of Uncle Sam (wait, that doesn’t sound right) but the figure without context is not a totally accurate representation.

153 Belafon  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 3:59:48pm

re: #28 Kragar

The mandate may continue, but since the exchanges would have stalled, no one would be penalized.

154 wrenchwench  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:01:42pm
155 HappyWarrior  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:03:06pm

re: #154 wrenchwench

[Embedded content]

And yet no one on FNC has dismissed your credibility, Mr. Spencer so bugger off please.

156 Gus  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:04:21pm

re: #154 wrenchwench

[Embedded content]

Probably true.

157 wrenchwench  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:05:39pm

re: #156 Gus

Probably true.

Article goes into detail. Wrench Rating: Nose on fire.

158 Gus  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:06:49pm

re: #157 wrenchwench

Article goes into detail. Wrench Rating: Nose on fire.

For the article or Spencer?

159 Gus  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:07:36pm

So people have to have a degree in religious studies before writing a book about a historical religious figure?

160 wrenchwench  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:07:46pm

re: #158 Gus

For the article or Spencer?

Spencer.

161 wrenchwench  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:08:27pm

re: #159 Gus

So people have to have a degree in religious studies before writing a book about a historical religious figure?

If they claim to be a scholar of the subject, it would be a good idea.

162 Gus  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:08:50pm

re: #161 wrenchwench

If they claim to be a scholar of the subject, it would be a good idea.

Oh, yeah, for sure.

163 Gus  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:09:09pm

re: #161 wrenchwench

If they claim to be a scholar of the subject, it would be a good idea.

Or equivalent experience.

164 klys  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:10:15pm

re: #163 Gus

Or equivalent experience.

Great, now I’m going to be trying to figure out equivalent experience in religious studies that one gets without studying.

Maybe it involves iterations of color…

165 Justanotherhuman  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:10:18pm

More nonsense from the RWNJs.

Harvey: Dying Gay Ohio Man Should’ve Married A Woman, Merely Pretending to be Married - See more at: rightwingwatch.org

166 Gus  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:10:50pm

re: #160 wrenchwench

Spencer.

Reviewed. Exactly the same? No way. Aslan has a lot more.

167 wrenchwench  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:11:20pm

re: #163 Gus

Or equivalent experience.

Such as, saving a few souls from eternal damnation? Casting others into the Lake of Fire?

168 Gus  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:11:25pm

Uh oh. One of these afternoons. BBL

169 klys  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:11:51pm

re: #168 Gus

Uh oh. One of these afternoons. BBL

NOoooooooooooooooooo, the color monster ate GUS!

170 darthstar  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:11:52pm

Image: 480035_624379054262989_1729002659_n.jpg

171 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:12:12pm

INEZ PLEASE NOT THIS SHIT AGAIN

172 HappyWarrior  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:12:25pm

re: #165 Justanotherhuman

More nonsense from the RWNJs.

Harvey: Dying Gay Ohio Man Should’ve Married A Woman, Merely Pretending to be Married - See more at: rightwingwatch.org

Yeah and the gays and their allies are the real hateful ones? Not you Ms. Harvey who mocks a dying man. So sick of these bigots.

173 wrenchwench  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:13:04pm

re: #170 darthstar

Image: 480035_624379054262989_1729002659_n.jpg

She coulda got a red one….

174 HappyWarrior  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:13:26pm

re: #171 Croc-Wearing Authoritarian

INEZ PLEASE NOT THIS SHIT AGAIN

[Embedded content]

They don’t have help from Daddy.

175 klys  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:14:11pm

re: #171 Croc-Wearing Authoritarian

INEZ PLEASE NOT THIS SHIT AGAIN

[Embedded content]

Self-awareness meter at zero and falling…

176 ProTARDISLiberal  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:14:22pm

re: #151 A Mom Anon

$20/hour doesn’t even exist any more. This will be a problem for me too. As another Muslim friend (female this time) explained to me, many Muslim families want to make sure the male can support their daughter, which I don’t object too.

But I get even get a damn job in my field. I was fired from the Phone Sales rep job, and the stress has gone down. But I need to get into my field, GIS. At this point, with near everyone in Colorado having abandoned me, I am now a free agent geographically speaking. But looking at pay, how could I support someone else, especially when having a family comes into play? Or the fact I want to have a life outside of work, which is an idea becoming unpopular in the Corporate World.

I am really damn sick of the Millennial Bashing in the media. You know why we aren’t marrying? We don’t have the money! That was a recent article I found. Or the talk about irresponsibility? The Boomers were the ones to drive the nation in the ditch, leaving us with paying off their foolish decisions, lower pay, and a world with plausibly runaway warming. I’ll let George Carlin sum up my thoughts.

Youtube Video

We really need to dump the Free Trade Model, it’s only helping a tiny number of people.

177 StephenMeansMe  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:14:51pm

Thanks for the promotion, again! If this is incentive for me to contribute more, I’ll gladly take it.

178 Dr Lizardo  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:14:54pm

re: #151 A Mom Anon

I was 19 yrs old, making almost 20 bucks an hour in 1979.

Damn. That’s $64.33 p/h in 2013 dollars (adjusted for inflation). Holy crap; I wish I was making that kinda moola when I was 19!

179 wrenchwench  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:18:49pm

re: #176 ProTARDISLiberal

I am really damn sick of the Millennial Bashing in the media…. The Boomers were the ones…

Generation bashing is as stupid as religion bashing, race bashing, gender bashing, and all other mashings together of people on the basis of something not relevant to the topic.

180 HappyWarrior  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:18:54pm

re: #178 Dr Lizardo

I was 19 yrs old, making almost 20 bucks an hour in 1979.

Damn. That’s $64.33 p/h in 2013 dollars (adjusted for inflation). Holy crap; I wish I was making that kinda moola when I was 19!

I’d be happy to make 20 bucks a hour now. On a plus side though, had an interview today for a technical writing position and I think it went over well enough.

181 ProTARDISLiberal  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:21:19pm

re: #179 wrenchwench

I’m going with the “Two can play at this game” philosophy.

182 wrenchwench  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:23:31pm

re: #181 ProTARDISLiberal

I’m going with the “Two can play at this game” philosophy.

Was that third grade or fourth?

183 Varek Raith  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:23:31pm

re: #179 wrenchwench

Generation bashing is as stupid as religion bashing, race bashing, gender bashing, and all other mashings together of people on the basis of something not relevant to the topic.

SPY!

184 The Mountain That Blogs  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:25:28pm

re: #178 Dr Lizardo

$20 an hour sounds pretty good right now, and I’m making a living wage. Also, the feds subsidize most of my salary, so I guess that makes me a dirty leech.

185 klys  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:25:42pm

re: #181 ProTARDISLiberal

I’m going with the “Two can play at this game” philosophy.

I will vote that a better philosophy is to ignore the shit that people are saying to the extent that you can.

Nothing you say is going to change the mind of folks like that. I just ignore them, vote consistently with my beliefs and principles, and prepare for things like the reality that I probably won’t get a lot of social security - that way, any I do get will be a plus.

And also make snarky comments here. That helps vent.

186 Justanotherhuman  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:26:01pm

Ready for Hillary: readyforhillary.com

“As an independent expenditure committee, Ready for Hillary is legally allowed to accept unlimited donations from individuals and corporations. But the organization has chosen to instead focus on the same kind of grassroots efforts that gave the competitive edge to then-Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, who defeated Clinton in the 2008 primary.”

It’s going to be a juggernaut.

187 ProTARDISLiberal  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:26:22pm

re: #182 wrenchwench

Well, what do you suggest then?

Boomers are the same ones who also go against any sort sane tax increase, any sort of restriction on free trade.

If I’m not mistaken, Boomers skew very Republican. Makes an even better target.

Yes, I am getting bitter.

188 ProTARDISLiberal  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:29:19pm

re: #187 ProTARDISLiberal

Also, I may have forgotten to take my meds today. That could be contributing to the attitude.

189 Varek Raith  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:29:21pm

Print Dead At 1,803

NEW YORK—Sources close to print, the method of applying ink to paper in order to convey information to a mass audience, have confirmed that the declining medium passed away early Thursday morning.

The influential means of communication was 1,803.

Print, which had for nearly two millennia worked tirelessly to spread knowledge around the globe in the form of books, newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, and numerous other textual materials, reportedly succumbed to its long battle with ill health, leaving behind legions of readers who had for years benefited from the dissemination of ideas made possible by the advent of printed materials.

190 Dr Lizardo  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:29:41pm

re: #180 HappyWarrior

I’d be happy to make 20 bucks a hour now. On a plus side though, had an interview today for a technical writing position and I think it went over well enough.

Best of luck to you.

191 klys  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:29:45pm

re: #187 ProTARDISLiberal

Well, what do you suggest then?

Boomers are the same ones who also go against any sort sane tax increase, any sort of restriction on free trade.

If I’m not mistaken, Boomers skew very Republican. Makes an even better target.

Yes, I am getting bitter.

Bitterness doesn’t help you have a conversation with them which has any potential of changing their views, tempting though it might be. People dig in and retrench when you come at them aggressively trying to make them wrong. We all do it. That’s part of your gut reaction to all the articles shitting about millennials (and can I just say we got the shittiest generation name?).

Channel the energy that would go into being bitter into working to make positive changes happen - be part of the get out the vote effort, work to raise awareness of issues, things like that. It’ll be healthier for you in the long run too.

192 HappyWarrior  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:29:50pm

re: #186 Justanotherhuman

Ready for Hillary: readyforhillary.com

“As an independent expenditure committee, Ready for Hillary is legally allowed to accept unlimited donations from individuals and corporations. But the organization has chosen to instead focus on the same kind of grassroots efforts that gave the competitive edge to then-Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, who defeated Clinton in the 2008 primary.”

It’s going to be a juggernaut.

I don’t know I feel about Hillary being the nominee in a few years ago. She certainly was a capable enough SoS but I don’t know. I’d Obama’s successor to be another young and energetic type. Now this I have no doubt of, Hillary would be miles better than anyone the Republicans could run.

193 HappyWarrior  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:30:40pm

re: #190 Dr Lizardo

Best of luck to you.

Thanks. Finally hoping something clicks here. It’s frustrating at times but a lot better off on this front than I was this time last year.

194 bubba zanetti  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:30:45pm

re: #176 ProTARDISLiberal

Here’s a place to start GIS networking:

Geospatial Amateurs Denver Meetup

195 Dr Lizardo  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:32:45pm

re: #193 HappyWarrior

Thanks. Finally hoping something clicks here. It’s frustrating at times but a lot better off on this front than I was this time last year.

I know how you feel.

In my little corner of the world, at $20 p/h, you can live like a king at 40 hours a week. $3200 p/m gross here……shit, you’re in the big leagues!

196 HappyWarrior  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:32:49pm

re: #187 ProTARDISLiberal

Well, what do you suggest then?

Boomers are the same ones who also go against any sort sane tax increase, any sort of restriction on free trade.

If I’m not mistaken, Boomers skew very Republican. Makes an even better target.

Yes, I am getting bitter.

If I may, I think she’s suggesting that you should stop directing your frustration at groups of people. There are in fact many boomers including many here on LGF that share your frustration on the lack of movement on those issues. The real problem isn’t a group of people from a certain generation, it’s a mindset and that mindset can include people as old if not older than Newt Gingrich but also young like Marco Rubio as well.

197 freetoken  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:33:07pm

re: #186 Justanotherhuman

Please, no Hillary.

What is it with Democratic Party machinery that wants to reinvent its death continually - look at Weiner and Filner for examples.

198 HappyWarrior  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:35:33pm

re: #195 Dr Lizardo

I know how you feel.

In my little corner of the world, at $20 p/h, you can live like a king at 40 hours a week. $3200 p/m gross here……shit, you’re in the big leagues!

It’d be just nice to get my feet back on the ground again. Nothing like spending that first paycheck.

199 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:37:05pm

PAMELA WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG? I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR WEEKS FOR TEH DETROIT/SHARIA FREAKOUT!

200 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:37:31pm

re: #197 freetoken

Hillary isn’t going to kill the Democratic party. Calm down.

Comparing Hillary with Weiner is ridiculous.

201 Justanotherhuman  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:37:50pm

re: #187 ProTARDISLiberal

Well, what do you suggest then?

Boomers are the same ones who also go against any sort sane tax increase, any sort of restriction on free trade.

If I’m not mistaken, Boomers skew very Republican. Makes an even better target.

Yes, I am getting bitter.

The earliest Boomers are the ones who will benefit the most: They got in earlier, matured faster, can already sign up for SS benefits, and many had dedicated pension plans. Those like my sons, born in 1959 and 1960, at the tail end of the “baby boom”, are the “Boomers” getting the shaft right now, since their adulthood basically started during the Reagan years, and they’re at the age (early 50s) being laid off with nowhere to go, and years to wait for SS.

202 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:38:06pm

Kudos to the SMART bus company.

203 freetoken  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:38:48pm

re: #200 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut

I am calm, and I didn’t claim that the Democratic Party is going to be killed.

My point is the prevalence of blind spots when some party faithfuls are looking at candidates who come with serious baggage.

204 HappyWarrior  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:39:22pm

re: #199 Croc-Wearing Authoritarian

PAMELA WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG? I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR WEEKS FOR TEH DETROIT/SHARIA FREAKOUT!

[Embedded content]

Did they stop selling beer and hot dogs at Tigers games because otherwise she’s full of shit- I know, I know.

205 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:40:22pm

re: #204 HappyWarrior

Did they stop selling beer and hot dogs at Tigers games because otherwise she’s full of shit- I know, I know.

Not “otherwise,” all the time.

206 Romantic Heretic  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:41:01pm

re: #15 Varek Raith

The Patriot Act has out lived its’ purpose.
We won.

I’m afraid bin Laden won.

He wanted America to invade Afghanistan so that it would be weakened the same way The Soviet Union was. It would also radicalize many people in the Islamic world.

The U.S. obliged him, and it doubled down by invading Iraq.

Now the U.S. is weaker than it was, and the Islamic world is more radical than it had been.

The essence of strategy is to get your opponent to do what you want to his detriment. Bin Laden succeeded at this.

So bin Laden won.

207 HappyWarrior  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:41:47pm

re: #205 Croc-Wearing Authoritarian

Not “otherwise,” all the time.

Yeah I know. Honestly I worry more about Shariah like stuff coming out of places like the deep South where things like dry counties and towns have existed for ages.

208 wrenchwench  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:42:16pm

re: #187 ProTARDISLiberal

Well, what do you suggest then?

Boomers are the same ones who also go against any sort sane tax increase, any sort of restriction on free trade.

If I’m not mistaken, Boomers skew very Republican. Makes an even better target.

Yes, I am getting bitter.

A ‘boomer’ is anyone born between 1946 and 1964. Famous boomers: Barack Obama. Michelle Obama. Charles Johnson. Me. No Republicans there.

209 wrenchwench  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:43:16pm

re: #196 HappyWarrior

If I may, I think she’s suggesting that you should stop directing your frustration at groups of people. There are in fact many boomers including many here on LGF that share your frustration on the lack of movement on those issues. The real problem isn’t a group of people from a certain generation, it’s a mindset and that mindset can include people as old if not older than Newt Gingrich but also young like Marco Rubio as well.

Exactly.

210 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:44:30pm

Pamela is pissed that Detroit buses will not carry her Islamophobic banners. But that’s because every last fucking bus in Detroit is a rolling advert for this ambulance chaser.

Go ahead Pamela, go ahead sue Joumana. She will wipe the street with you.

211 HappyWarrior  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:46:01pm

re: #210 Croc-Wearing Authoritarian

Pamela is pissed that Detroit buses will not carry her Islamophobic banners. But that’s because every last fucking bus in Detroit is a rolling advert for this ambulance chaser.

Go ahead Pamela, go ahead sue Joumana. She will wipe the street with you.

Maybe Joumana can help Pamela with her chronic case of butt hurt at the fact that American Muslims have the same constitutional rights as she.

212 wrenchwench  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:46:08pm

re: #191 klys

Bitterness doesn’t help you have a conversation with them which has any potential of changing their views, tempting though it might be. People dig in and retrench when you come at them aggressively trying to make them wrong. We all do it. That’s part of your gut reaction to all the articles shitting about millennials (and can I just say we got the shittiest generation name?).

Channel the energy that would go into being bitter into working to make positive changes happen - be part of the get out the vote effort, work to raise awareness of issues, things like that. It’ll be healthier for you in the long run too.

This too.

213 Varek Raith  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:46:34pm

re: #210 Croc-Wearing Authoritarian

Pamela is pissed that Detroit buses will not carry her Islamophobic banners. But that’s because every last fucking bus in Detroit is a rolling advert for this ambulance chaser.

Go ahead Pamela, go ahead sue Joumana. She will wipe the street with you.

You ain’t kidding…
Wow.

214 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:47:28pm

re: #211 HappyWarrior

Maybe Joumana can help Pamela with her chronic case of butt hurt at the fact that American Muslims have the same constitutional rights as she.

Joumana has an Arabic name but she is Lebanese Catholic, not Muslim.

215 Justanotherhuman  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:47:53pm

re: #195 Dr Lizardo

I know how you feel.

In my little corner of the world, at $20 p/h, you can live like a king at 40 hours a week. $3200 p/m gross here……shit, you’re in the big leagues!

Cheez, I was making that in the 90s (in my 50s, though), and never made it again. Really hurt my SS, too.

$3200/mo looks really good right now, compared to what I have to live on, at least in NC. It’s all relative, though; I’d never survive in a state that had higher living costs. For instance, compared to $500K houses in CA, you can buy a great house here, outside the city, on an acre+ lot.

216 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:49:24pm

DUMBEST MAN ON TEH INTERNETS

217 Varek Raith  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:50:08pm

re: #216 Croc-Wearing Authoritarian

DUMBEST MAN ON TEH INTERNETS

[Embedded content]

Yep, EMT’s are screwed over too. Glad you agree, Dim.

218 Dr Lizardo  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:51:04pm

re: #215 Justanotherhuman

Cheez, I was making that in the 90s (in my 50s, though), and never made it again. Really hurt my SS, too.

$3200/mo looks really good right now, compared to what I have to live on, at least in NC. It’s all relative, though; I’d never survive in a state that had higher living costs. For instance, compared to $500K houses in CA, you can buy a great house here, outside the city, on an acre+ lot.

Of course, yes it’s all relative. Here, my studio apartment, 323 sq ft., is $215 per month, and the price includes energy. Hell, I don’t think there’s too many place in the US where I could touch that.

219 ProTARDISLiberal  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:52:01pm

re: #216 Croc-Wearing Authoritarian

I could say something really cruel to that bloated waste of flesh that is Dim Hoft right now. But, for the moment, I will hold back.

220 klys  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:52:10pm

re: #215 Justanotherhuman

Cheez, I was making that in the 90s (in my 50s, though), and never made it again. Really hurt my SS, too.

$3200/mo looks really good right now, compared to what I have to live on, at least in NC. It’s all relative, though; I’d never survive in a state that had higher living costs. For instance, compared to $500K houses in CA, you can buy a great house here, outside the city, on an acre+ lot.

I moved out to CA after growing up on the East Coast and even by the standards of living in the greater NYC suburban area, the housing prices out in Silicon Valley are INSANE.

On the plus side, my husband bought the house well before the stratospheric climb, so we’re doing quite well in terms of equity. On the flip side, anything to do with housing prices generally makes me go THEY WANT WHAT???

Our house probably wouldn’t break $300k back where I grew up (and much less in most other places of the country) but it’s quite possible we’ll clear double that when we sell. And honestly …it’s not that nice of a house. Or that big.

221 HappyWarrior  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:52:57pm

re: #217 Varek Raith

Yep, EMT’s are screwed over too. Glad you agree, Dim.

And I am sure those protesters agree too. My favorite GOP/right wing moment in labor misunderstandings had to go to the one Congresswoman who pointed out that when she was in high school or college she made 2.00$ a hour and it worked fine for her, so why are people complaining. It was pointed out that the minimum wage when she made it is higher adjusted to inflation than present minimum wage is. Really, it amuses me. Nutters like DimJim there get pissy about labor union leaders and members getting good salaries but don’t say shit about executives who have a bonus larger than ten of those union members’ salaries.

222 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:53:03pm

re: #216 Croc-Wearing Authoritarian

I saw this and thought of you:

Image: dXPaHwS.jpg

223 engineer cat  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:55:18pm

re: #187 ProTARDISLiberal

Boomers skew very Republican

not correct

Democrats Do Best Among Generation Y and Baby Boomers

224 klys  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:57:35pm

re: #223 engineer cat

not correct

Democrats Do Best Among Generation Y and Baby Boomers

*shakes fist at GenX*

////

225 engineer cat  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:57:57pm

re: #218 Dr Lizardo

Of course, yes it’s all relative. Here, my studio apartment, 323 sq ft., is $215 per month, and the price includes energy. Hell, I don’t think there’s too many place in the US where I could touch that.

where’s ‘here’?

226 HappyWarrior  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 4:58:34pm

re: #223 engineer cat

not correct

Democrats Do Best Among Generation Y and Baby Boomers

Not really surprised. It was funny today. Was with my Dad and he shouted at some guy he knew who got his hair cut “Dude you look like a fucking Republican.”

227 erik_t  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:00:27pm

re: #224 klys

*shakes fist at GenX*

////

How might we punish them and enact our revenge?

////

228 Justanotherhuman  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:00:34pm

re: #218 Dr Lizardo

Of course, yes it’s all relative. Here, my studio apartment, 323 sq ft., is $215 per month, and the price includes energy. Hell, I don’t think there’s too many place in the US where I could touch that.

Not even here. But I do have a 2 BR apt on a road of single family houses on huge lots (these units are tucked in the back of 2 on the road), older apts from the ’70s, but well kept, for $550/mo. It’s about 800 sq ft from what I can estimate and has a balcony on the back, looking out over wooded acreage. I was lucky to get this since for that price you usually are looking at a broken down mobile home in this area. On my 4th yr lease with no rent increase. OTOH, I’m at a distance from the city and nothing is very convenient without a car.

229 Varek Raith  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:01:25pm

re: #224 klys

*shakes fist at GenX*

////

Gen Y FTW!

230 HappyWarrior  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:02:03pm

re: #227 erik_t

How might we punish them and enact our revenge?

////

Turn MTV into a network that has nothing to do with music? ///

231 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:03:39pm

re: #222 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut

I saw this and thought of you:

Image: dXPaHwS.jpg

232 Varek Raith  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:04:21pm

re: #230 HappyWarrior

Turn MTV into a network that has nothing to do with music? ///

And Gen Z responds, “MTV had music”?

233 A Mom Anon  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:04:26pm

re: #223 engineer cat

I’m on the young end of the Boomer generation, 1960. I have only voted for Republicans on a local level a couple of times, back when there were actually sane conservatives. I was raised by right wing evangelical Christians, that kinda made me a liberal, lol.

As for my big 20 bucks an hour job back in the day, I never made that much ever again. I saved enough to help defray the cost of having my first baby a few years later when I was working at K-Mart and bringing home about 110 dollars a week. I had great insurance with K-Mart, but the pay was awful. I also remember training men to work in that store who were then promoted over me.

What we really could use in this country is affordable secondary education, it’s so hard to be at all upwardly mobile without it. Bringing back unions wouldn’t hurt either.

234 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:04:36pm

JESUS TAPDANCING CHRIST INEZ NOBODY IS ADVOCATING FOR COMMUNISM. WAY TO BEAT THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF A STRAW MAN

235 Dr Lizardo  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:05:08pm

re: #225 engineer cat

where’s ‘here’?

Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Here, renting is easy; find an apartment, arrange to see it, meet the landlord, say you’ll take it, fork over first month/last month + one month to the realty agent, and move in. No credit checks, no background checks, easy as pie.

236 wrenchwench  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:05:58pm
KTVU-TV has dismissed at least three veteran producers over the on-air gaffe involving the fake names of those Asiana airline pilots that became an instant YouTube hit - and a major embarrassment to the station.

[…]

237 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:06:19pm

And now for some Anti Derp

238 HappyWarrior  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:07:20pm

re: #232 Varek Raith

And Gen Z responds, “MTV had music”?

Ha, yeah I know. I’ve watched some retro 90’s stuff with my Gen-Z 12 year old kid brother and he mocks the stuff we found entertaining. Somethign wrong with that boy. I mean he thinks Spongebob > Ren and Stimpy. The hell with that noise.

239 engineer cat  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:07:23pm

re: #234 Croc-Wearing Authoritarian

JESUS TAPDANCING CHRIST INEZ NOBODY IS ADVOCATING FOR COMMUNISM. WAY TO BEAT THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF A STRAW MAN

[Embedded content]

second that

inez would probably define communism as ‘taxes’

240 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:08:41pm

re: #239 engineer cat

second that

inez would probably define communism as ‘taxes’

Minimum wage. YOONYUNZ!!

241 Dr Lizardo  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:08:57pm

re: #228 Justanotherhuman

Not even here. But I do have a 2 BR apt on a road of single family houses on huge lots (these units are tucked in the back of 2 on the road), older apts from the ’70s, but well kept, for $550/mo. It’s about 800 sq ft from what I can estimate and has a balcony on the back, looking out over wooded acreage. I was lucky to get this since for that price you usually are looking at a broken down mobile home in this area. On my 4th yr lease with no rent increase. OTOH, I’m at a distance from the city and nothing is very convenient without a car.

$550 p/m for a 2BR isn’t bad. Yes, you’re at a distance from the city, and unlike here in Central Europe, I presume there’s no public transportation (the tram is about 50 feet away from the front of the apartment where I live) so that’s an inconvenience. I do have a view, however.

Image: balcony1.jpg

Image: balcony2.jpg

242 HappyWarrior  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:09:02pm

re: #239 engineer cat

second that

inez would probably define communism as ‘taxes’

Thirded. Really, the only people advocating for Communism are fringe idiots. If Ms. Feltchner thinks what Obama and the Dems advocate for is communism, she doesn’t know a damn thing about the system her family fled. Hell Obama is too right for most European center-left parties let alone far-left parties.

243 engineer cat  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:09:33pm

re: #235 Dr Lizardo

Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Here, renting is easy; find an apartment, arrange to see it, meet the landlord, say you’ll take it, fork over first month/last month + one month to the realty agent, and move in. No credit checks, no background checks, easy as pie.

kuhl

is your place old-fashioned or soviet era?

244 Dr Lizardo  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:10:15pm

re: #243 engineer cat

kuhl

is your place old-fashioned or soviet era?

Soviet-era panelák - prefab concrete high-rise.

245 Justanotherhuman  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:13:30pm

re: #234 Croc-Wearing Authoritarian

JESUS TAPDANCING CHRIST INEZ NOBODY IS ADVOCATING FOR COMMUNISM. WAY TO BEAT THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF A STRAW MAN

[Embedded content]

Does this actually mean Feltscher comes from a long line of communists? I mean they have been around for 100 yrs…

246 BongCrodny  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:14:18pm

re: #241 Dr Lizardo

$550 p/m for a 2BR isn’t bad. Yes, you’re at a distance from the city, and unlike here in Central Europe, I presume there’s no public transportation (the tram is about 50 feet away from the front of the apartment where I live) so that’s an inconvenience. I do have a view, however.

Image: balcony1.jpg

Image: balcony2.jpg

That view alone could save you thousands a year in analyst bills.

247 ProTARDISLiberal  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:14:52pm

re: #234 Croc-Wearing Authoritarian

She strikes me a female hipster.

248 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:15:52pm

re: #247 ProTARDISLiberal

She strikes me a female hipster.

She’s a little derptard.

249 engineer cat  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:15:58pm

re: #240 Croc-Wearing Authoritarian

Minimum wage. YOONYUNZ!!

i’m not allowed to get to twitter where i am right at the moment, but i’d love to ask inez what she thinks she means by ‘communism’

the result might be amusing

250 HappyWarrior  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:16:22pm

re: #247 ProTARDISLiberal

She strikes me a female hipster.

Hipters usually save their contempt for people who don’t know their obscure band of choice, not a fantasy of what communism is. Just saying from someone who spends a lot of time in U Street and Adams-Morgan.

251 Dr Lizardo  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:16:55pm

re: #246 BongCrodny

That view alone could save you thousands a year in analyst bills.

LOL.

It is nice, and it’s blissfully quiet here at night. All I hear is the wind in the trees, or the rain, and occasionally - depending on prevailing winds - an airplane on its way to the airport, about 12 miles distant.

252 Justanotherhuman  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:17:06pm

re: #241 Dr Lizardo

$550 p/m for a 2BR isn’t bad. Yes, you’re at a distance from the city, and unlike here in Central Europe, I presume there’s no public transportation (the tram is about 50 feet away from the front of the apartment where I live) so that’s an inconvenience. I do have a view, however.

Image: balcony1.jpg

Image: balcony2.jpg

Very nice. : ) Much larger vista than I have, which is lots and lots of trees—but also lots and lots of wildlife, esp birds, but even deer.

253 Dr Lizardo  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:18:59pm

re: #252 Justanotherhuman

Very nice. : ) Much larger vista than I have, which is lots and lots of trees—but also lots and lots of wildlife, esp birds, but even deer.

Unfortunately, that vista means lots and lots of mosquitoes, beetles, and assorted flying critters. There is a small bat colony on the roof of the building, thankfully. Window screens aren’t standard issue here, so I’ll be investing in mosquito netting over the bed.

254 HappyWarrior  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:19:16pm

I am amused though how Obama implementing a health care plan that the Heritage Foundation once supported and whom wants tax bracket rates what they were under Bill Clinton (who even have some Republicans now praising his economic policies) makes Obama a communist. Obama wouldn’t even be New Labour if he were British. He’d be in the moderate to liberal wing of the Tories.

255 A Mom Anon  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:19:42pm

re: #241 Dr Lizardo

Wow. I would love that. Sigh.

256 danarchy  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:21:55pm

re: #231 Croc-Wearing Authoritarian

[Embedded content]

While I agree with he sentiment, the numbers are a bit misleading. That’s was their “gross profit”, which is just total revenue minus cost of goods. The relevant number is actually 5.41 Billion which was net income after all operating expenses. The point still stands though. They make a shit ton of money and raising wages by a dollar or 2 per hour would still leave them with a nice healthy profit and happier employees.

257 Dr Lizardo  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:23:38pm

re: #255 A Mom Anon

Wow. I would love that. Sigh.

Thanks. The city ends about 300 feet away from the building going south. I’m right on the very outskirts of town.

258 ProTARDISLiberal  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:23:43pm

re: #250 HappyWarrior

I’m going with out-of-touch trust fund hipster. The one that has mommy and daddy supporting them.

I know two married couples I talk to.

One is Muslim, with a little one of the way in 8-9 months. She’s a High School Teacher while getting education to be a Doctor. He is in the Air Force (and, like me, a convert).

The other is Christian. She’s a speech pathologist, working for a Master’s. He is an…engineer. Also, they get a crapton of support from family. I know this because, once or twice a week, I see an FB status about how they are spending time with His or Hers family.

After nuts like these guys, along with my own dad, I am skeptical of Engineers. They seem to be smart in a very narrow band of Math and Science, and completely nuts outside of it. Hell, the Challenger Disaster had a hint of this:

The Challenger accident has frequently been used as a case study in the study of subjects such as engineering safety, the ethics of whistle-blowing, communications, group decision-making, and the dangers of groupthink. It is part of the required readings for engineers seeking a professional license in Canada and other countries. Roger Boisjoly, the engineer who had warned about the effect of cold weather on the O-rings, left his job at Morton Thiokol and became a speaker on workplace ethics. He argues that the caucus called by Morton Thiokol managers, which resulted in a recommendation to launch, “constituted the unethical decision-making forum resulting from intense customer intimidation.” For his honesty and integrity leading up to and directly following the shuttle disaster, Roger Boisjoly was awarded the Prize for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Many colleges and universities have also used the accident in classes on the ethics of engineering.

259 HappyWarrior  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:23:47pm

Shit I think even though I’ve met some very lefty people in my day. I’ve met only a handful of actual communists. I don’t think some people realize how fine a line between communism and liberalism and even socialism exists. After all, Norman Thomas, the perennial socialist candidate for president was an early critic of Stalin. Harry S. Truman’s partner in the Berlin Airlift? None other than Labour’s Clement Attlee. Could go on and on but it gets annoying hearing about how socialists, communists, and liberals are one in the same. And in fact, some of our conservatives would be amazed that they share some common ground with communists on some social issues i.e. homosexual rights. Bryan Fischer has a lot more in common with Fidel Castro on GLBT rights than your average American liberal.

260 Amory Blaine  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:25:26pm

Tennessee newspaper editorial:

Take your jobs plan and shove it, Mr. President: Your policies have harmed Chattanooga enough

President Obama,

Welcome to Chattanooga, one of hundreds of cities throughout this great nation struggling to succeed in spite of your foolish policies that limit job creation, stifle economic growth and suffocate the entrepreneurial spirit.

Forgive us if you are not greeted with the same level of Southern hospitality that our area usually bestows on its distinguished guests. You see, we understand you are in town to share your umpteenth different job creation plan during your time in office. If it works as well as your other job creation programs, then thanks, but no thanks. We’d prefer you keep it to yourself.

That’s because your jobs creation plans so far have included a ridiculous government spending spree and punitive tax increase on job creators that were passed, as well as a minimum wage increase that, thankfully, was not. Economists — and regular folks with a basic understanding of math — understand that these are three of the most damaging policies imaginable when a country is mired in unemployment and starving for job growth.

Derp continues.

261 HappyWarrior  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:26:01pm

re: #258 ProTARDISLiberal

I’m going with out-of-touch trust fund hipster. The one that has mommy and daddy supporting them.

I know two married couples I talk to.

One is Muslim, with a little one of the way in 8-9 months. She’s a High School Teacher while getting education to be a Doctor. He is in the Air Force (and, like me, a convert).

The other is Christian. She’s a speech pathologist, working for a Master’s. He is an…engineer.

After nuts like these guys, along with my own dad, I am skeptical of Engineers. They seem to be smart in a very narrow band of Math and Science, and completely nuts outside of it. Hell, the Challenger Disaster had a hint of this:

Well as a liberal arts graduate, I can tell you that there are plenty of crazy people in my field too. Honestly people are people. I haven’t known too many engineers being a humanities guy and coming from a more humanities background family but I think some people are just nuts and it has little to do with their academic specialty of choice. Besides, I was just teasing about hipsters. She could very well be one but most hipsters even the most obnoxious ones don’t parrot the so-con crap I’ve seen from her via the tweets I’ve seen posted. She seems sheltered and naive. She could very well be a hipster or she could just be spoiled.

262 Dr Lizardo  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:29:12pm

re: #259 HappyWarrior

Shit I think even though I’ve met some very lefty people in my day. I’ve met only a handful of actual communists. I don’t think some people realize how fine a line between communism and liberalism and even socialism exists. After all, Norman Thomas, the perennial socialist candidate for president was an early critic of Stalin. Harry S. Truman’s partner in the Berlin Airlift? None other than Labour’s Clement Attlee. Could go on and on but it gets annoying hearing about how socialists, communists, and liberals are one in the same. And in fact, some of our conservatives would be amazed that they share some common ground with communists on some social issues i.e. homosexual rights. Bryan Fischer has a lot more in common with Fidel Castro on GLBT rights than your average American liberal.

When I was much younger, I was a member of the now-defunct Socialist Labor Party, and they were adamantly opposed to Soviet-style Communism, whether it was Leninism, Stalinism, or the Trotskyites. They weren’t big fans of Mao Zedong, either, for that matter.

263 ProTARDISLiberal  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:29:35pm

re: #258 ProTARDISLiberal

re: #261 HappyWarrior

True. But at the same time, the engineers I have met personally have either been preening and arrogant, emotionally abusive, say the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics disproves evolution, or try to promote a perverted form of Islam.

Then you add in Morsi and Ahmadinejad, and voila! My perception on engineers as arrogant and religiously radical.

264 The Mountain That Blogs  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:31:13pm

re: #258 ProTARDISLiberal

Ever read this book? It’s a good read, and Mullane doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to the Challenger.

265 Carlos Dangler  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:31:28pm

re: #247 ProTARDISLiberal

She strikes me a female hipster.

Maybe she just needs to be trapped and released back into the wild with this:
Image: hipster-trap-20110316-234958.jpg

266 HappyWarrior  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:31:42pm

re: #263 ProTARDISLiberal

True. But at the same time, the engineers I have met personally have either been preening and arrogant, emotionally abusive, say the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics disproves evolution, or try to promote a perverted form of Islam.

Then you add in Morsi and Ahmadinejad, and voila! My perception on engineers as arrogant and religiously radical.

I don’t know dude. I just think you generalize often based on anecdotal incident sometimes. I mean, I don’t doubt you’ve had shitty experiences with engineering students. I’ve felt similar about business students who I saw as people who just wanted a quick buck but then again I know I’d resent the often stereotype one gets of humanities people, that we’re majoring in something useless and will contribute nothing to the economy.

267 HappyWarrior  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:33:20pm

re: #262 Dr Lizardo

When I was much younger, I was a member of the now-defunct Socialist Labor Party, and they were adamantly opposed to Soviet-style Communism, whether it was Leninism, Stalinism, or the Trotskyites. They weren’t big fans of Mao Zedong, either, for that matter.

Indeed, leftism is a diverse bunch of people and I’d say the same about rightism which is why I am careful never to liken moderate conservatives or even conservatives as a whole with far right groups like Nazis or fascists.

268 ProTARDISLiberal  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:34:00pm

re: #266 HappyWarrior

True, as I must come off as someone who is more bitter than people 3 times my age (23).

I’ve heard that “2nd Law of Thermodynamics disproves evolution” line so many times it is ridiculous.

269 HappyWarrior  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:35:14pm

re: #268 ProTARDISLiberal

True, as I must come off as someone who is more bitter than people 3 times my age (23).

I’ve heard that “2nd Law of Thermodynamics disproves evolution” line so many times it is ridiculous.

Try to find the better in people I guess. Believe me, I’ve had my share of shitty experiences with people but I know that if I go through life bitter, I’m going to be angry. I got enough shit on my own plate, I can’t let other people and their shit fill my already shitty plate.

270 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:37:45pm

re: #258 ProTARDISLiberal

I’m going with out-of-touch trust fund hipster. The one that has mommy and daddy supporting them.

I know two married couples I talk to.

One is Muslim, with a little one of the way in 8-9 months. She’s a High School Teacher while getting education to be a Doctor. He is in the Air Force (and, like me, a convert).

The other is Christian. She’s a speech pathologist, working for a Master’s. He is an…engineer. Also, they get a crapton of support from family. I know this because, once or twice a week, I see an FB status about how they are spending time with His or Hers family.

After nuts like these guys, along with my own dad, I am skeptical of Engineers. They seem to be smart in a very narrow band of Math and Science, and completely nuts outside of it. Hell, the Challenger Disaster had a hint of this:

I graduated from an engineering school. Just sayin’

271 Dr Lizardo  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:38:26pm

re: #267 HappyWarrior

Indeed, leftism is a diverse bunch of people and I’d say the same about rightism which is why I am careful never to liken moderate conservatives or even conservatives as a whole with far right groups like Nazis or fascists.

Exactly. There are real fascists and neo-Nazis - especially here in Europe - but moderate conservatives or even conservatives as a whole are far different.

272 Varek Raith  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:38:52pm

re: #270 Croc-Wearing Authoritarian

I graduated from an engineering school. Just sayin’

And she’s gotta cane!
*Ducks*

273 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:39:15pm

DERP
Dim Jim how do you know how much he paid for the watch? Unless you sold it to him on eBay?

274 jaunte  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:39:23pm

re: #260 Amory Blaine

Forgive us if you are not greeted with the same level of Southern hospitality that our area usually bestows on its distinguished guests.

There’s that old familiar passive-aggressive southern bullshit.

275 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:39:42pm

re: #272 Varek Raith

And she’s gotta cane!
*Ducks*

*Throws Croc*

276 The Mountain That Blogs  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:41:28pm

re: #273 Croc-Wearing Authoritarian

Come on now. Everyone knows expensive watches can’t be counterfeited.

277 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:42:38pm

AND YET STILL POSTING ON TEH TWITTERS. YOU CAN’T EXPLAIN THAT!

278 jaunte  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:43:28pm

re: #260 Amory Blaine

Tennessee newspaper editorial:

Take your jobs plan and shove it, Mr. President: Your policies have harmed Chattanooga enough

Derp continues.

From the comments:

JakeJackson said…

This editorial is an astonishing attempt to deceive the readers of this newspaper. Its transparent deception is to claim that the federal funds were intended to support only internet access, when in reality, the funds were to support the entire electrical grid.

Moreover, self-evidently, setting up the grid and laying fiber-optic cable required an expensive investment, just as it would be for a conventional cable company. That investment will not pay for itself in a short time. Any responsible business person or reporter knows that initial outlays may at first be a burden, but can later save money. In addition, this editorial ignores the national and statewide economy, claiming that the program should have been an instant success even despite a recession that started before Mr. Obama was elected, and which has led many companies and cities to tighten their budget.

279 engineer cat  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:44:06pm

re: #258 ProTARDISLiberal

well maybe us software engineers are different

here in silicon valley, the sw engineers my age (boomer) are often frustrated musicians or some other variety of bohemian, and to the general public in the bay area the stereotype of a sw engineer is of a scruffy eccentric (hence the famous “managing programmers is like herding cats”)

280 Varek Raith  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:45:06pm

Nighty-night.

281 Interesting Times  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:46:09pm

re: #278 jaunte

A sensible, fact-filled, and well-argued comment on a newspaper site?

*fetches smelling salts*

282 Amory Blaine  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:47:46pm

Walker exempted Police and Fire unions from his union busting. Maybe he’s changing his mind.

Scott Walker opens door — then downplays — limiting public safety unions

Two and a half years after mostly sparing police officers and firefighters from his union restrictions, Gov. Scott Walker said this week he is open to the idea of limiting their ability to collectively bargain.

Such a move would go against one of the few sets of unions where he has found support. The unions for Milwaukee officers and firefighters endorsed Walker in 2010 and the 2012 attempt to recall him from office.

But a day after broaching the subject of expanding his collective bargaining rules, Walker downplayed the comments Tuesday, saying he had simply made “an observation” in response to a question. He said he is not pursing the issue.

“There isn’t a specific proposal I’m pushing,” Walker told reporters Tuesday.

He said he made his remarks on Monday because the subject may come up in future legislative discussions, primarily because the passage of the bargaining limits did not lead state workers to walk off the job or incite violence as some feared.

283 lawhawk  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:50:34pm

re: #282 Amory Blaine

He fears those two powerful unions because they can get out the vote and end up knocking him from office. So, withholding the threat of union-busting is supposed to curry favor with them.

But he’s clearly looking to reduce their ability to function and limiting the unions.

284 austin_blue  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:51:03pm

re: #276 The Mountain That Blogs

Come on now. Everyone knows expensive watches can’t be counterfeited.

No shit! My Bolex is a perfect example!

285 klys  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:51:26pm

re: #279 engineer cat

well maybe us software engineers are different

here in silicon valley, the sw engineers my age (boomer) are often frustrated musicians or some other variety of bohemian, and to the general public in the bay area the stereotype of a sw engineer is of a scruffy eccentric (hence the famous “managing programmers is like herding cats”)

I know how to herd cats.

You put wet food on a plate but don’t set it down until you have them where you want them.

It might work for software engineers.

286 lawhawk  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:53:05pm

re: #284 austin_blue

No shit! My Bolex is a perfect example!

Hey, forget the Bolex, I’ve got the perfect Gukki watch. Perfect time. Twice a day. /

287 Amory Blaine  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:54:47pm

I bought a fake watch in NYC. It was on my itinerary.

288 Feline Fearless Leader  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:54:57pm

Greetings Lizards from cozy Bishop, California!

Left Colton, CA about 8am this morning and headed north. Detoured off US-395 early on to go through Red Rocks Canyon State Park - where I also stopped and hiked a short nature loop trail (about a mile). Took pictures of the mountains, rocks, and the skinks that were running about.

Eventually got back onto US-395 and proceeded up the Owens Valley. Ugly looking salt flat where Lake Owen *used* to be.

Second stop was at Marzaran (sp?) per suggestion from a Lizard. Since it’s right on US-395 that worked in. A pretty depressing site - desolate, windy, and I presume nastily cold in the winter (and it was 90+ when I stopped.) Deserved a longer stop than I gave it, and there’s an auto tour that covers more of the grounds. Sort of hits you when you get off US-395 and head up the secondary road and there’s a guard tower (reconstructed) with a search light sitting there.

Third stop was a detour to the east up onto White Mountain to look at the bristlecone pines. Did not get back to the oldest ones, but did a shorter loop (about 1 mile) that included a number of 4,000+ year old trees.* Nice rocks in the area as well so I got to take tons of pictures and also play with the Macro setting for extreme closeups.

* - They do not identify the specific old trees due to issues with vandalism and people simply wanting to touch them.

The drive up White Mountain was also enjoyed since it was 72 F up there and pushing 100 F down in the valley. Very nice to take a walk with a breeze and *cool* air.

Still working out tomorrow’s plans. A fire up in this region might be causing air quality issues with the smoke and such. Also need to nail down where I am sleeping tomorrow as well.

Off to find some BBQ. And a cold beer.

289 Justanotherhuman  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:55:40pm

Mine was only $9.80, not $98K: Image: Patek-Philippe-Ladies-Complicated-Watch.jpg

290 Carlos Dangler  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:57:00pm

re: #282 Amory Blaine

Walker exempted Police and Fire unions from his union busting. Maybe he’s changing his mind.

Scott Walker opens door — then downplays — limiting public safety unions

re: #283 lawhawk

He fears those two powerful unions because they can get out the vote and end up knocking him from office. So, withholding the threat of union-busting is supposed to curry favor with them.

But he’s clearly looking to reduce their ability to function and limiting the unions.

Walker knew exactly what he was doing; by breaking the other state employees’ unions, the ones that remain (the public safety unions) have less organized support to help them out when he turns the knives on them. Plus, I’m guessing that Walker and his cronies are banking on more than a little animosity from those other state employees who got fucked when their unions were turned into charred husks towards said public safety employees.

291 Decatur Deb  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:57:37pm

re: #274 jaunte

There’s that old familiar passive-aggressive southern bullshit.

They’re more hospitable than Dallas, so far.

292 klys  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:58:04pm

re: #288 Feline Fearless Leader

So glad you got to stop at Manzanar! It’s definitely worth it and so many people just pass it by.

The bowling alley in Bishop has some awesome food. (I kid you not.)

The bar downtown across the street from the main BBQ place is also a lot of fun. I tied for second in a bling contest there one night.

293 austin_blue  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 5:59:49pm

re: #136 HoosierHoops

Or maybe the GOP will appeal to the people, Like me, who’s premiums have gone through the fucking roof to pay for Obamacare..Is this really the affordable care act?
Not for me and many others..I liked the Dutch model of healthcare that is a single payer model.. We could call it the FCA. The Fair Care act. You know..They pay better unemployment benefits but they still take out money for your healthcare. Everybody pays something..Oh and the Dutch live longer than just about anybody in the world.
Men live on average till 81. It works..

Blaspheming socialist…

294 alpuz  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:00:27pm

re: #290 Carlos Dangler

Yep. Who’s gonna give a shit now? It’s been neighbor against neighbor here for a couple of years. ‘I told ya so’ doesn’t mean squat.

295 Amory Blaine  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:02:33pm

My fucking health care has been rising by double digit percentage increases for 20 years. ObamaCare had nothing to do with it.

296 alpuz  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:05:01pm

re: #290 Carlos Dangler

On top of that, he’s bucking for the big promotion. Wisconsin is just something he’ll use/screw over to lube up the right-wing on his run for higher office. Just like he did in Milwaukee.

Fitzie & Vos will be more than happy to fall in line.

297 lawhawk  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:07:21pm

re: #288 Feline Fearless Leader

Manzanar is a spectacularly desolate area, and definitely gives some sense of what the Japanese had to contend with in the internment camps.

If you can, try to get to Tioga Pass in Yosemite. We couldn’t do it the last time we were out there since it was still closed due to snow, but I hear it’s got some great scenery.

Heck, that entire part of the country is great scenery.

298 klys  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:07:26pm

re: #288 Feline Fearless Leader

Also: I don’t know what your end destination is and what you’re looking to do, but here’s some ideas.

Mono Lake is near where the turn-off for Yosemite is. You can go up over the Sierras at that point to see Yosemite, which is probably worth it despite it being summer and therefore an utter zoo. Alternately, you can keep driving north to Bridgeport and take 108 over, which is Sonora Pass and my personal favorite. At the bottom on the other side is Sonora, one of the towns that popped up during the gold rush (with a nice historic downtown), and there’s a state historic park at Columbia that is a lot of fun to visit (check because I don’t know what the current status is with budget cuts, etc.).

If you go north slightly from Mono Lake you can also go to Bodie, which is a preserved ghost town. Open all year, but the road isn’t necessarily. :) I haven’t done it yet but my husband has and it’s on our list to do together at some point.

If you end up that far north, the Auburn Brewing Company in Auburn, CA, has fantastic beer and food. We routinely make it a point to stop there if we are at all in the area.

299 austin_blue  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:07:54pm

re: #295 Amory Blaine

My fucking health care has been rising by double digit percentage increases for 20 years. ObamaCare had nothing to do with it.

No shit. At least with the exchanges, some competition is being put into the system. It appears that in states that have set up exchanges, the price points have pleasantly surprised many of the folks who have looked at them.

I still don’t like that different health plans have an MRI costed anywhere from $250 - $2500. We have more MRI machines in Houston than in Canada. I wonder why MRIs are overused by so many physicians?

Kickback is such a *filthy* word…

300 Justanotherhuman  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:07:58pm

It would take me about 40 yrs to pay for this watch, if I lasted that long, and could live in it…$485K.

Image: Richard-Mille-Caliber-RM-019-Celtic-Knot-Tourbillon-Watch.jpg

301 klys  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:08:18pm

re: #297 lawhawk

Manzanar is a spectacularly desolate area, and definitely gives some sense of what the Japanese had to contend with in the internment camps.

If you can, try to get to Tioga Pass in Yosemite. We couldn’t do it the last time we were out there since it was still closed due to snow, but I hear it’s got some great scenery.

Heck, that entire part of the country is great scenery.

Tioga is really nice but Sonora is better.

/biased

This time of year Tioga will have a lot of crowds and chances are good you will get stuck behind some giant RV. However, if you are planning to see Yosemite, it is the logical choice. :)

302 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:09:31pm

re: #300 Justanotherhuman

It would take me about 40 yrs to pay for this watch, if I lasted that long, and could live in it…$485K.

Image: Richard-Mille-Caliber-RM-019-Celtic-Knot-Tourbillon-Watch.jpg

Walmart CEO would snap it up in 2 weeks.

303 Decatur Deb  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:10:12pm

re: #290 Carlos Dangler

Walker knew exactly what he was doing; by breaking the other state employees’ unions, the ones that remain (the public safety unions) have less organized support to help them out when the knives turn on them. Plus, I’m guessing that Walker and his cronies are banking on more than a little animosity from those other state employees who got fucked when their unions were turned into charred husks towards said public safety employees.

He might have damaged the other union’s ability to help the police and fire unions, but I don’t think there is a wedge in their solidarity. The police and fire hung with the occupiers during the struggle.

304 austin_blue  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:11:26pm

re: #298 klys

Also: I don’t know what your end destination is and what you’re looking to do, but here’s some ideas.

Mono Lake is near where the turn-off for Yosemite is. You can go up over the Sierras at that point to see Yosemite, which is probably worth it despite it being summer and therefore an utter zoo. Alternately, you can keep driving north to Bridgeport and take 108 over, which is Sonora Pass and my personal favorite. At the bottom on the other side is Sonora, one of the towns that popped up during the gold rush (with a nice historic downtown), and there’s a state historic park at Columbia that is a lot of fun to visit (check because I don’t know what the current status is with budget cuts, etc.).

If you go north slightly from Mono Lake you can also go to Bodie, which is a preserved ghost town. Open all year, but the road isn’t necessarily. :) I haven’t done it yet but my husband has and it’s on our list to do together at some point.

If you end up that far north, the Auburn Brewing Company in Auburn, CA, has fantastic beer and food. We routinely make it a point to stop there if we are at all in the area.

From a geologists viewpoint, the Devil’s Postpile is a can’t miss. One of those Nature Things, in this case the result of basaltic jointing and weathering. It’s a breathtaking spot.

305 Decatur Deb  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:12:09pm

re: #300 Justanotherhuman

It would take me about 40 yrs to pay for this watch, if I lasted that long, and could live in it…$485K.

Image: Richard-Mille-Caliber-RM-019-Celtic-Knot-Tourbillon-Watch.jpg

Does it keep better time than an electronic Timex?

306 Amory Blaine  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:12:29pm

Yeah the arrests of the singers at the Capitol are stirring the pot again, myself included.

Fourth round of arrests made at Wisconsin Capitol

Police made a new round of arrests Tuesday at the state Capitol, as opponents of Gov. Scott Walker resumed their singalong protest in the rotunda.

It marked the fourth batch of mass arrests in a week, after a crackdown that started Wednesday. No protests or arrests occurred over the weekend, and Monday offered a reprieve as well because the anti-Walker singalong was held outside while a pro-Walker event was conducted inside the Capitol.

Police issued 30 citations largely without incident, though one man was removed from the Capitol by paramedics after he collapsed.

Walker’s opponents for 2 1/2 years have been holding what they call the Solidarity Singalong most weekdays over the lunch hour. They have refused to get permits for their gathering, saying the state constitution allows them to peaceably assemble without the government’s permission.

307 klys  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:12:58pm

re: #304 austin_blue

From a geologists viewpoint, the Devil’s Postpile is a can’t miss. One of those Nature Things, in this case the result of basaltic jointing and weathering. It’s a breathtaking spot.

Oooo, yes, I had blanked on that. We have done it. :)

There’s a bunch of nice hot springs in the Bridgeport area (up by 108) if that’s your thing too. I don’t have any of those photos handy, unfortunately.

We *love* this section of CA, if you can’t tell. And also road-tripping, which is why I am packing the travel trailer.

308 lawhawk  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:13:42pm

re: #301 klys

Yeah, I hear ya. Next time I’m out that way, I’m going to try for those areas. Just never enough time.

Now, if I win Powerball, that’ll change a few things. /

309 austin_blue  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:13:57pm

re: #305 Decatur Deb

Does it keep better time than an electronic Timex?

No, you peasant.

310 Feline Fearless Leader  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:14:47pm

re: #297 lawhawk

Manzanar is a spectacularly desolate area, and definitely gives some sense of what the Japanese had to contend with in the internment camps.

If you can, try to get to Tioga Pass in Yosemite. We couldn’t do it the last time we were out there since it was still closed due to snow, but I hear it’s got some great scenery.

Heck, that entire part of the country is great scenery.

Going to transit Yosemite east to west on Thursday. Got a hotel in Bridgeport lined up already. Tomorrow will be Ruby Falls and stuff near Mammoth and the plan on hitting some sites around Mono Lake.

This means I cut into my planned time for LA. However, it’s definitely easier to work in a visit to LA then back out to Yosemite and Sequoia. So nature wins!

311 klys  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:15:08pm

re: #308 lawhawk

Yeah, I hear ya. Next time I’m out that way, I’m going to try for those areas. Just never enough time.

Now, if I win Powerball, that’ll change a few things. /

I am totally spoiled rotten that these things can be done as a weekend/long weekend.

Did Tahoe to Bishop (via 395) to the Racetrack and Furnace Creek in Death Valley and Manzanar and then back as a Friday to Monday night/Tuesday morning at 2am trip.

312 Interesting Times  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:15:56pm

re: #300 Justanotherhuman

It would take me about 40 yrs to pay for this watch, if I lasted that long, and could live in it…$485K.

Image: Richard-Mille-Caliber-RM-019-Celtic-Knot-Tourbillon-Watch.jpg

Chump change compared to the ones on this list… o_O

313 klys  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:16:22pm

re: #310 Feline Fearless Leader

Going to transit Yosemite east to west on Thursday. Got a hotel in Bridgeport lined up already. Tomorrow will be Ruby Falls and stuff near Mammoth and the plan on hitting some sites around Mono Lake.

This means I cut into my planned time for LA. However, it’s definitely easier to work in a visit to LA then back out to Yosemite and Sequoia. So nature wins!

Do Bodie.

If the little food stand in Bridgeport is still going, their chicken bacon ranch wrap is very tasty. NOMNOM.

314 Justanotherhuman  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:17:18pm

Katrina vandenHeuvel ‏@KatrinaNation 13m

News Break: Senator Rand Paul running for President. Has a NYC fundaiser slated for mid-August.

Haw, haw, haw, haw.

315 Feline Fearless Leader  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:19:34pm

re: #313 klys

Do Bodie.

If the little food stand in Bridgeport is still going, their chicken bacon ranch wrap is very tasty. NOMNOM.

Bodie will go on list, but will be 3rd stop. (Mono Lake and Ruby Falls/Devil’s Post Pile are ahead of it.)

I saw a mention of Devil’s Post Pile yesterday tracking something else. Columnar basalts are simply awesome, and there are not that many places to go look at them. :)

(Yes I do a lot of geologist stuff - osmosis from my brother.)

316 klys  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:21:50pm

re: #315 Feline Fearless Leader

Bodie will go on list, but will be 3rd stop. (Mono Lake and Ruby Falls/Devil’s Post Pile are ahead of it.)

I saw a mention of Devil’s Post Pile yesterday tracking something else. Columnar basalts are simply awesome, and there are not that many places to go look at them. :)

(Yes I do a lot of geologist stuff - osmosis from my brother.)

That’s fair enough. :) Days are long enough to make that work. Mono Lake is gorgeous and well worth a stop too, and the tufa are pretty neat. I don’t know if the hot spring that was by the edge has been submerged by the rise in water level in the lake (as mandated) but if it isn’t that’s a nice little hike to find it.

317 Political Atheist  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:22:18pm

re: #315 Feline Fearless Leader

You are inspiring me to extend my December trip to Death Valley. Do our photography there a couple days and head north instead of home.

318 austin_blue  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:22:21pm

re: #311 klys

I am totally spoiled rotten that these things can be done as a weekend/long weekend.

Did Tahoe to Bishop (via 395) to the Racetrack and Furnace Creek in Death Valley and Manzanar and then back as a Friday to Monday night/Tuesday morning at 2am trip.

When I was in SAC training in Merced (first in in ‘79 and then again in ‘81), the trip to The Valley was religious for this Deist. Yosemite (and its environs) is simply the most spectacularly beautiful chunk of dirt in the world. Breathtaking, unworldly, and unique on the entire planet.

319 Decatur Deb  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:23:10pm

re: #314 Justanotherhuman

Katrina vandenHeuvel ‏@KatrinaNation 13m

News Break: Senator Rand Paul running for President. Has a NYC fundaiser slated for mid-August.

Haw, haw, haw, haw.

Just wants to be at the Henry Hudson Pkwy for the Running of the Rats.

320 lawhawk  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:23:21pm

re: #315 Feline Fearless Leader

They’ve got a bit of those too at Yellowstone IIRC (along with most every other possible type of geological formation one can think of).

321 klys  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:23:22pm

re: #318 austin_blue

When I was in SAC training in Merced (first in in ‘79 and then again in ‘81), the trip to The Valley was religious for this Deist. Yosemite (and its environs) is simply the most spectacularly beautiful chunk of dirt in the world. Breathtaking, unworldly, and unique on the entire planet.

I …confess that Yellowstone holds first place in my heart.

And second.

And third.

And fifth.

GEYSERS.

322 wrenchwench  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:26:09pm

Don’t try this yourself.

Youtube Video

At the end you’ll see why this guy can do it.

Later, lizards.

323 Feline Fearless Leader  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:28:11pm

re: #321 klys

I …confess that Yellowstone holds first place in my heart.

And second.

And third.

And fifth.

GEYSERS.

Saw Yellowstone, Glacier, Banff, Devil’s Tower, and a few other places on a month long family vacation back in the mid-70s. Took us from eastern Indiana to Edmonton, Alberta and back again in a big loop.

324 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:28:43pm

Wingnuts still Derping the “Southern Strategy denial.

325 danarchy  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:28:58pm

re: #321 klys

I …confess that Yellowstone holds first place in my heart.

And second.

And third.

And fifth.

GEYSERS.

Right up until it blows and covers half the country in ash ;)

326 lawhawk  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:28:59pm

re: #321 klys

Lions? Tigers? No … Bears - oh my.

Yellowstone is my favorite NP, though Yosemite definitely has the wow factor when coming in via Tunnel View.

Zion and Bryce hold a special place in my heart though - something about them just does it for me.

Still gotta figure my next national park sojourn though.

Of the big parks, still have to figure out how to do Big Bend, Rocky Mtn., White Sands, Glacier, and Acadia. But having hit the big names, it’s going to fill in the map that’s going to get tougher in a week vacation.

327 klys  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:29:14pm

re: #323 Feline Fearless Leader

Saw Yellowstone, Glacier, Banff, Devil’s Tower, and a few other places on a month long family vacation back in the mid-70s. Took us from eastern Indiana to Edmonton, Alberta and back again in a big loop.

I am that person who can spend a month or seven just sitting and watching the geysers go. And taking notes. And watching them go more.

To spare my husband, I try to restrict visits to once every other year.

328 jaunte  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:30:36pm

re: #326 lawhawk

White Sands, Carlsbad Caverns and Big Bend are reasonably grouped for a week.

329 klys  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:32:25pm

re: #325 danarchy

Right up until it blows and covers half the country in ash ;)

But I will die happy.

/

re: #326 lawhawk

Lions? Tigers? No … Bears - oh my.

Yellowstone is my favorite NP, though Yosemite definitely has the wow factor when coming in via Tunnel View.

Zion and Bryce hold a special place in my heart though - something about them just does it for me.

Still gotta figure my next national park sojourn though.

Of the big parks, still have to figure out how to do Big Bend, Rocky Mtn., White Sands, Glacier, and Acadia. But having hit the big names, it’s going to fill in the map that’s going to get tougher in a week vacation.

I think Denali and Glacier are vying for top booking for our next one - Glacier was very nearly going to be this trip but we like to stay at the historic lodges and trying to sort that all out last minute just wasn’t going to happen. Need to hit up the volcanoes. We will see Rocky Mountain this trip, in transit on the way to the wedding I’m in.

Have you seen the National Parks quarter series that’s now coming out? I confess I adore them as miniature works of art - they’re beautiful - and such an awesome way to commemorate the National Park Service and what it does.

I did Zion with my sister as a drive through transit; definitely need to go back. Still got some awesome shots.

330 Decatur Deb  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:32:31pm

re: #324 Croc-Wearing Authoritarian

Wingnuts still Derping the “Southern Strategy denial.

[Embedded content]

Would there be as many victims without the Republican Party?

331 lawhawk  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:32:57pm

re: #327 klys

I’m with you. I could definitely spend years studying ‘em. And checking out the backcountry.

I keep hearing that folks keep finding new waterfalls all across Yellowstone - some of which are huge.

I’d love to find one of those.

332 jaunte  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:34:42pm

White Sands, last fall:
Image: DSC00550.jpg

333 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:35:05pm

re: #330 Decatur Deb

Would there be as many victims without the Republican Party?

334 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:36:26pm
335 lawhawk  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:37:33pm

re: #329 klys

That Zion shot looks like Kolob Canyon, but that’s sure pretty.

I’m actually thinking of heading to Moab, Canyonlands, and Natural Bridges.

336 klys  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:37:54pm

re: #331 lawhawk

I’m with you. I could definitely spend years studying ‘em. And checking out the backcountry.

I keep hearing that folks keep finding new waterfalls all across Yellowstone - some of which are huge.

I’d love to find one of those.

Fairyland Basin is potentially on my bucket list, if I can work out the whole major fear of heights thing.

337 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:39:38pm
338 The Mountain That Blogs  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:41:18pm

re: #331 lawhawk

Grand Tetons are on the short list of “most awesome places in the country”

339 blueraven  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:41:32pm

re: #136 HoosierHoops

Or maybe the GOP will appeal to the people, Like me, who’s premiums have gone through the fucking roof to pay for Obamacare..Is this really the affordable care act?
Not for me and many others..I liked the Dutch model of healthcare that is a single payer model.. We could call it the FCA. The Fair Care act. You know..They pay better unemployment benefits but they still take out money for your healthcare. Everybody pays something..Oh and the Dutch live longer than just about anybody in the world.
Men live on average till 81. It works..

Well a single payer plan would have been nice, but really, do you think that was doable?

What makes you think your premium increase is due to Obamacare? Premiums have been rising at warp speed for at least 20 years. With or without Obamacare I suspect your premiums would be about the same.

340 engineer cat  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:42:03pm

re: #333 Croc-Wearing Authoritarian

[Embedded content]

some pointed questions for morons insisting that the republican party is responsible for civil rights:

1) who were the “dixiecrats” and what happened to them in the past 50 years?

2) where are they now?

3) who was the republican presidential nominee in 1964 and did he vote for or against the CRA?

4) who was strom thurmond and why did he leave the democratic party?

5) who was george wallace and why did he leave the democratic party?

6) (if your correspondent is from the south) who did your parents and grandparents vote for, did they support the CRA, and why are they voting republican today?

7) who do you think you’re fooling?

341 Dancing along the light of day  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:42:11pm

re: #326 lawhawk

Glacier is SO worth the trip!

342 lawhawk  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:44:23pm

re: #338 The Mountain That Blogs

That they are - and thanks to John D. Rockefeller for that. He bought up the land that was turned over to the NPS for the park.

343 lawhawk  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:47:29pm

re: #341 Dancing along the light of day

If we’re to do Glacier, I’m thinking we’d be heading up into Canada for Banff and maybe Jasper too (via Spokane).

344 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:50:16pm

WHO NEEDS FACTS WHEN U CAN HAZ TEH DERP?

345 jaunte  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:51:51pm

re: #344 Croc-Wearing Authoritarian

I question whether he’s really “successful in the free market.”

346 lawhawk  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:52:24pm

re: #344 Croc-Wearing Authoritarian

Some folks can’t quite grasp facts or history. The Derp is strong with them.

347 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:54:16pm

LALALALA I CAN’T HEAR U!!11!!

348 engineer cat  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:54:22pm

re: #344 Croc-Wearing Authoritarian

MLK: “I have always voted the Democratic ticket” LOL some “Republican”

The “Beyond Vietnam” speech reflected King’s evolving political advocacy in his later years, which paralleled the teachings of the progressive Highlander Research and Education Center, with which he was affiliated.[129][130] King began to speak of the need for fundamental changes in the political and economic life of the nation, and more frequently expressed his opposition to the war and his desire to see a redistribution of resources to correct racial and economic injustice.[131] He guarded his language in public to avoid being linked to communism by his enemies, but in private he sometimes spoke of his support for democratic socialism. In one speech, he stated that “something is wrong with capitalism” and claimed, “There must be a better distribution of wealth, and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism.”[132] King had read Marx while at Morehouse, but while he rejected “traditional capitalism”, he also rejected communism because of its “materialistic interpretation of history” that denied religion, its “ethical relativism”, and its “political totalitarianism”

en.wikipedia.org

349 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:55:20pm

Jesus Tapdancing Christ Teh Derp

350 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:56:44pm

LALALALA I CAN’T HEAR U!!11!!

351 jaunte  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:58:32pm

Epistemic closure is a liberal lie!

352 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 6:58:47pm

These people (and I use the term with extreme generosity) are so fucking stupid.

353 jaunte  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 7:00:51pm
354 ಠ_ಠ  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 7:01:47pm

I for one hope the FAPP Act can help us out of this sticky mess.

355 A Man for all Seasons  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 7:06:14pm

re: #339 blueraven

Well a single payer plan would have been nice, but really, do you think that was doable?

What makes you think your premium increase is due to Obamacare? Premiums have been rising at warp speed for at least 20 years. With or without Obamacare I suspect your premiums would be about the same.

Hi You! Ok.. First point..Single payable would have had a chance if our hired civil servants would have looked at other plans that were very successful globally.
The VERY FIRST DAY we spoke of this I kept saying look at the Dutch plan..It works!
People kept saying it’s a small country so that is the reason and I have said a great Country can scale up a great idea and make it work for all Americans..Not just an extra 30 million or whatever number they dream up..All Americans can be covered with a thought out plan..Like the Dutch..
On the 2nd point.. Honestly, you are right.. My Health plan keeps going up every single year of my life. Since I came out of college..It has gone up..
I can’t blame off the cuff that it is Obamacare causing the rise..I grant you that.
I can’t mathematically populate a spread sheet showing that the % of rising costs has changed since 2010. It just always goes up and up.

356 Lidane  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 7:09:53pm

Goddamnit. I have a birther in my FB friends list. They’re linking to this garbage:

DEVELOPING: Whistle-Blower Comes Forward, Attests To Attorney That Obama’s Financial Aid State His Citizenship Indonesian, Aid Given To Obama As A FOREIGN Student…

What. The. FUCK. If there was anything to this birther shit it would’ve been found back when Barack Obama was getting his security clearances as a Senator. There is no goddamn way that a sitting President would be able to hide something as basic as his citizenship for his entire first term and through a second election.

357 Feline Fearless Leader  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 7:10:40pm

I iz back. (Sits back and picks teeth.)

The hotel clerk recommended the bowling alley - but I got her directions wrong and didn’t realize she meant *behind* the motel until I was most of the way down to the BBQ place. Which wasn’t bad either!

BTW, what’s with the “bakkery”? I presume this is the place my brother recommended since he is a morning baked goods person.

358 Dark_Falcon  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 7:10:47pm

re: #9 Mateo Scrounge

Glenn Greenwald IS a poison pill.

True, but the bill as described is mosdest enough to get through the Senate largely intact. The House? We’ll have to see. It depends greatly on how well the leadership of both parties in that chamber are able to control their people.

359 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 7:11:21pm

re: #358 Dark_Falcon

True, but the bill as described is mosdest enough to get through the Senate largely intact. The House? We’ll have to see. It depends greatly on how well the leadership of both parties in that chamber are able to control their people.

So it’s DOA.

360 jaunte  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 7:11:26pm

re: #356 Lidane

Ask them if they’ll send you $10 to help de-fund ACORN.

361 Feline Fearless Leader  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 7:12:10pm

re: #356 Lidane

Goddamnit. I have a birther in my FB friends list. They’re linking to this garbage:

DEVELOPING: Whistle-Blower Comes Forward, Attests To Attorney That Obama’s Financial Aid State His Citizenship Indonesian, Aid Given To Obama As A FOREIGN Student…

What. The. FUCK. If there was anything to this birther shit it would’ve been found back when Barack Obama was getting his security clearances as a Senator. There is no goddamn way that a sitting President would be able to hide something as basic as his citizenship for his entire first term and through a second election.

If you want a copy of that form, just send your bank account number to our special whistleblower documents department. Nigeria?!? Oh, that’s just to throw off the NSA.

362 Lidane  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 7:12:37pm

re: #360 jaunte

Ask them if they’ll send you $10 to help de-fund ACORN.

Too late. The House GOP courageously defunded ACORN again last week.

363 freetoken  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 7:12:39pm

Let me rant about web developers and their choice of colors:

Who in their right mind thinks putting grey letters on a white background is a good thing? There appears to be a rage to put medium gray (#777) as the type color.

WTF?

364 jaunte  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 7:13:00pm

re: #362 Lidane

Can’t be too safe!

365 thedopefishlives  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 7:14:16pm

Evening Lizardim. Just hopping in for a bit to see what’s new among the lizardfolk.

366 Dark_Falcon  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 7:14:23pm

re: #350 Croc-Wearing Authoritarian

367 jaunte  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 7:15:07pm

re: #366 Dark_Falcon

Is he a parody account?

368 Vicious Babushka  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 7:20:43pm

re: #367 jaunte

Is he a parody account?

You can’t carry on a reasoned conversation on Twitter with facts and shit. Everything to this clown is tl;dr

369 Dark_Falcon  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 7:21:35pm

re: #367 jaunte

Is he a parody account?

I hope so, jaunte, I hope so.

370 jaunte  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 7:21:38pm

re: #368 Croc-Wearing Authoritarian

Reading deep into his timeline. It’s like a robot.

371 Belafon  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 7:22:29pm

re: #368 Croc-Wearing Authoritarian

It’s obvious he doesn’t actually read anything, and he’s pretty much admitted that he isn’t going to learn anything. But he’ll claim he won when the chain stops.

372 Decatur Deb  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 7:24:47pm

Doing the grandkids Grand Tour next week, won’t be on much. You may consider this your summer stay-cation.

373 GeneJockey  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 7:40:09pm

re: #273 Croc-Wearing Authoritarian

DERP
Dim Jim how do you know how much he paid for the watch? Unless you sold it to him on eBay?

[Embedded content]

Cripes, has he been to K-mart? Or Target? All the watches these days are enormous, blingy “homages” to various expensive watches.

374 blueraven  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 7:44:11pm

re: #355 HoosierHoops

Hi You! Ok.. First point..Single payable would have had a chance if our hired civil servants would have looked at other plans that were very successful globally.
The VERY FIRST DAY we spoke of this I kept saying look at the Dutch plan..It works!
People kept saying it’s a small country so that is the reason and I have said a great Country can scale up a great idea and make it work for all Americans..Not just an extra 30 million or whatever number they dream up..All Americans can be covered with a thought out plan..Like the Dutch..
On the 2nd point.. Honestly, you are right.. My Health plan keeps going up every single year of my life. Since I came out of college..It has gone up..
I can’t blame off the cuff that it is Obamacare causing the rise..I grant you that.
I can’t mathematically populate a spread sheet showing that the % of rising costs has changed since 2010. It just always goes up and up.

I know Hoops :) same here with the rates. it sucks. Although when we took our daughter off our plan at 21 yrs old in 2009 our premiums didn’t go down. Fortunately with Obamacare we were able to add her back on and keep our son on after he turned 21.
I think about all the kids and people with pre-existing conditions that couldn’t even get heath insurance in the past and I think this is better. Not perfect, but better.

375 klys  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 7:44:29pm

re: #357 Feline Fearless Leader

I iz back. (Sits back and picks teeth.)

The hotel clerk recommended the bowling alley - but I got her directions wrong and didn’t realize she meant *behind* the motel until I was most of the way down to the BBQ place. Which wasn’t bad either!

BTW, what’s with the “bakkery”? I presume this is the place my brother recommended since he is a morning baked goods person.

The BBQ place is good but I adore the bowling alley.

The bakkery is famous for its cheese bread. I confess we normally stick our noses in and occasionally the husband gets a loaf of that but I am not the world’s biggest fan. I’d rather have the cheese on top.

376 Feline Fearless Leader  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 7:46:20pm

Downloaded the camera had have started looking through shots:

A couple for Gus. :)

Image: A4_Skyhawk.jpg

Image: A7_Corsair_II.jpg

And a nice flight deck shot that includes the two Nimitz-class carriers moored over at Coronado.

Image: Flight_Deck.jpg

377 klys  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 7:46:38pm

re: #375 klys

Are you staying at the hotel right by the bowling alley, along the stream, right next to the bakkery? We did that for a break after Christmas two years ago and loved it. They run a class act there.

378 Feline Fearless Leader  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 7:49:02pm

re: #377 klys

Are you staying at the hotel right by the bowling alley, along the stream, right next to the bakkery? We did that for a break after Christmas two years ago and loved it. They run a class act there.

I’m in the La Quinta right in front of the bowling alley and about a block or so down from the bakkery.

Might hit the place up for a loaf of bread or something else for lunch/snack before I head out tomorrow morning. Hotel serves breakfast, so I might as well take advantage of food I have already paid for.

379 klys  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 7:54:17pm

re: #378 Feline Fearless Leader

I’m in the La Quinta right in front of the bowling alley and about a block or so down from the bakkery.

Might hit the place up for a loaf of bread or something else for lunch/snack before I head out tomorrow morning. Hotel serves breakfast, so I might as well take advantage of food I have already paid for.

We have stayed at the one right next to yours (facing it, to the right - it used to be a Best Western but is now independent).

Man, I want to go back to Bishop now.

380 Feline Fearless Leader  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 7:56:14pm

And now some lizard action from Red Rock Canyon:

Image: Lizard_I.jpg

Edit:
Probably a Western Zebra-tailed lizard
californiaherps.com

381 Political Atheist  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 7:59:54pm

re: #380 Feline Fearless Leader

He looks fast. Great color too.

382 austin_blue  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 8:00:04pm

re: #376 Feline Fearless Leader

Downloaded the camera had have started looking through shots:

A couple for Gus. :)

Image: A4_Skyhawk.jpg

Image: A7_Corsair_II.jpg

And a nice flight deck shot that includes the two Nimitz-class carriers moored over at Coronado.

Image: Flight_Deck.jpg

A Scooter and a SLUF!

And a heavily modified Greyhound as a fleet AWACs bird.

I miss flying jets. So much fun…

383 Dark_Falcon  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 8:09:30pm

re: #382 austin_blue

A Scooter and a SLUF!

And a heavily modified Greyhound as a fleet AWACs bird.

I miss flying jets. So much fun…

Which ones did you fly other than the B-52?

384 Feline Fearless Leader  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 8:14:20pm

Nuts. Have to see what a better photo editor can do with a bunch of these shots. All my close-up shots (flowers, a few insects, rocks) are very dark. And I left that setting on by accident and have a lot of dark distance shots (blue - like I took them with a filter on the camera lens.) And my interior shots from Manzanar are not salvagable. :(

And just too many bristlecone pine pictures to pick one and shrink it for the upload library. :)

Lessons learned for tomorrow!

385 Lidane  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 8:17:03pm
386 Political Atheist  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 8:18:30pm

re: #384 Feline Fearless Leader

Nuts. Have to see what a better photo editor can do with a bunch of these shots. All my close-up shots (flowers, a few insects, rocks) are very dark. And I left that setting on by accident and have a lot of dark distance shots (blue - like I took them with a filter on the camera lens.) And my interior shots from Manzanar are not salvagable. :(

And just too many bristlecone pine pictures to pick one and shrink it for the upload library. :)

Lessons learned for tomorrow!

If I can help? Just drop me a line.

387 Dark_Falcon  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 8:19:03pm

Someone at Irrational Games is either a Raymond Chandler or James Ellroy fan:

Youtube Video

388 Feline Fearless Leader  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 8:25:29pm

re: #386 Political Atheist

If I can help? Just drop me a line.

Thanks for the offer - but will wait until I get these onto my home laptop with better editing software. This is a work laptop and thus I am limited in what I can drop onto it that can work with photos.

If I get hung-up I will get in touch.

389 Lidane  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 8:30:10pm

Not sure if serious or just trolling the stupid:

390 austin_blue  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 8:31:08pm

re: #383 Dark_Falcon

Which ones did you fly other than the B-52?

KC-135As, (left and right seats), KC-10s (right seat). The T-37 and T-38 during flight training. The FB-111 (right seat, a sports car), and the F-4J (dual control), another sports car. G-3s and G-4s (right seat- yawn). Several flavors of Falcons and Citations (yawn) and Lears (sports cars!).

391 jaunte  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 8:32:23pm

re: #389 Lidane

I Love my Country! Progressives need to go back in the hole they came from!!! LEAVE NOW!!!! I’m only asking once!!!!

Seems legit.

392 Single-handed sailor  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 8:32:23pm

Are We In Full Weiner Meltdown?

TPM’s Hunter Walker was interviewing Anthony Weiner’s communications director today for information that appeared in this piece this afternoon. But during the discussion Barbara Morgan went off on Olivia Nuzzi, the ex-Weiner intern who quit recently and just published a pretty damning run-down of the experience in the New York Daily News, calling Nuzzi a fame hungry “bitch”, a “slutbag,” a “twat,” and “****” while threatening to sue her.

The Onion couldn’t even make this up if they tried.

393 ProTARDISLiberal  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 8:33:17pm

Tomorrow, I should be able to start a play-through of New Vegas as the Doctor. Downloaded a TARDIS mod. And I will be going to the GIS meetup recommended earlier.

394 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 8:33:31pm

re: #387 Dark_Falcon

Someone at Irrational Games is either a Philip Marlowe or James McElroy fan:

[Embedded content]

Ah, looks like that Season Pass is finally gonna be of some use.

395 Lidane  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 8:37:47pm

re: #387 Dark_Falcon

o_O

OMG. A Bioshock Infinite add-on that is somehow tied into Rapture? AND before the events of the first Bioshock game?

SOLD. I would replay the original games AND play my way thrugh Infinite for this, even though I barely have time for games as it is.

396 klys  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 8:38:23pm

re: #392 Single-handed sailor

Are We In Full Weiner Meltdown?

The Onion couldn’t even make this up if they tried.

Her excuse is she thought it was an off-the-record conversation.

Like that makes saying that stuff about someone any better.

397 Dark_Falcon  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 8:38:30pm

re: #389 Lidane

Not sure if serious or just trolling the stupid:

[Embedded content]

Shouldn’t he have the Stars and Bars instead of the Stars and Stripes as part of his avatar?

398 ProTARDISLiberal  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 8:39:13pm

So, whose side are you on in this.

McCaskill’s or Gillibrand’s?

I’m on Gillibrand’s side on this. Military has had decades to do something about it, and has failed.

399 Dark_Falcon  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 8:39:15pm

re: #395 Lidane

o_O

OMG. A Bioshock Infinite add-on that is somehow tied into Rapture? AND before the events of the first Bioshock game?

SOLD. I would replay the original games AND play my way thrugh Infinite for this, even though I barely have time for games as it is.

If you like the news that much, put an upding on it.

400 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 8:39:49pm

re: #395 Lidane

o_O

OMG. A Bioshock Infinite add-on that is somehow tied into Rapture? AND before the events of the first Bioshock game?

SOLD. I would replay the original games AND play my way thrugh Infinite for this, even though I barely have time for games as it is.

Feel free to skip over Bioshock 2.

401 Dark_Falcon  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 8:40:10pm

re: #390 austin_blue

KC-135As, (left and right seats), KC-10s (right seat). The T-37 and T-38 during flight training. The FB-111 (right seat, a sports car), and the F-4J (dual control), another sports car. G-3s and G-4s (right seat- yawn). Several flavors of Falcons and Citations (yawn) and Lears (sports cars!).

Very cool. Not something I could do, as my eyesight isn’t good enough.

402 Lidane  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 8:41:34pm

re: #399 Dark_Falcon

If you like the news that much, put an upding on it.

Youtube Video

403 Dark_Falcon  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 8:50:28pm

re: #387 Dark_Falcon

Someone at Irrational Games is either a Raymond Chandler or James Ellroy fan:

[Embedded content]

Actually, looking at it a second time, the theme is much more Raymond Chandler than James Ellroy. (And I had to edit the post to get the authors right. Culture FAIL.)

404 Lidane  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 8:51:13pm
405 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 8:55:39pm

re: #403 Dark_Falcon

Actually, looking at it a second time, the theme is much more Raymond Chandler than James Ellroy. (And I had to edit the post to get the authors right. Culture FAIL.)

Apparently it’s to be a two-parter, with the bonus of the second part being that you play it as Elizabeth. But it’s also being sold as stealth/survival horror…which is probably going to grate on me real quick.

406 sagehen  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 9:00:21pm

re: #392 Single-handed sailor

Are We In Full Weiner Meltdown?

The Onion couldn’t even make this up if they tried.

The photo Ms Nuzzi chose to use for her article is… uh… a Fox News application??

nydailynews.com

407 klys  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 9:03:46pm

re: #406 sagehen

The photo Ms Nuzzi chose to use for her article is… uh… a Fox News application??

nydailynews.com

I skipped the opportunity to hear Bloomberg speak at my graduation, but I have to say in some ways he is a step up from some of the current applicants for the position.

I …fail to see what her article adds to the discussion though.

408 A Man for all Seasons  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 9:18:18pm

re: #401 Dark_Falcon

Very cool. Not something I could do, as my eyesight isn’t good enough.

Very cool indeed D_F. The thing is..It’s not eyesight, twitch muscles or anything else that isn’t good enough..
Just face it..Ausin_Blue has more talent in his little pinkie finger flying the worlds more advanced Aircraft than you or I will ever have. Big time props.
It’s not just your eyesight D_F! *wink*

409 Lidane  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 9:33:27pm

Ugh.


So between this asshole refusing to step aside in NYC and that sleazebag douche in San Diego refusing to resign, this is going to be a looong rest of the summer.

410 Political Atheist  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 9:40:13pm

re: #408 HoosierHoops

Fastest thing I ever flew was a Cessna 172 or maybe the Piper Cherokee. PA 28. And I still miss it bad a lot of years later. So I can’t imagine walking away from that much fun.

411 Dark_Falcon  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 10:07:56pm

re: #409 Lidane

Ugh.

[Embedded content]


So between this asshole refusing to step aside in NYC and that sleazebag douche in San Diego refusing to resign, this is going to be a looong rest of the summer.

Politicians tend to have large egos and sometimes that causes them to refuse to leave a situation even after its clear they’re hurting their party.

With Weiner I also think that he wouldn’t have left Congress the last time around if it had been up to him, but the Democratic House leadership actively pushed him to leave (a wise action on their part). But now he doesn’t have that check on his actions anymore, so he’s free to make an even bigger ass of himself.

412 engineer cat  Tue, Jul 30, 2013 10:08:04pm

re: #404 Lidane

[Embedded content]

never happen

413 RedSquareBear  Wed, Jul 31, 2013 7:04:33am

re: #221 HappyWarrior

And I am sure those protesters agree too. My favorite GOP/right wing moment in labor misunderstandings had to go to the one Congresswoman who pointed out that when she was in high school or college she made 2.00$ a hour and it worked fine for her, so why are people complaining. It was pointed out that the minimum wage when she made it is higher adjusted to inflation than present minimum wage is. Really, it amuses me. Nutters like DimJim there get pissy about labor union leaders and members getting good salaries but don’t say shit about executives who have a bonus larger than ten of those union members’ salaries.

What tickles my funnybone is that this sort of person is usually a “ZOMG INFLATIONZZZZ!!111” confidence fairy/bond vigilante type when it comes to monetary policy.

414 chadu  Wed, Jul 31, 2013 7:07:03am

re: #224 klys

*shakes fist at GenX*

////

Hey, now. I resemble that remark.

415 chadu  Wed, Jul 31, 2013 7:08:02am

re: #227 erik_t

How might we punish them and enact our revenge?

////

I don’t know, being treated all through the 90s like Gen Y and Millenials are being treated today?

half/


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