Welcome to Bizarro Amerika!

Chuck and I called it months ago..

damn we're good..

since Bachman,Cain,Romney and Perry have all come out to say they want NO cap gains taxes... and Bachman today said she want a ZERO corp tax rate.. I expect one of these bafoons to pick this up and then all of them to run with it.... and then, we're fucked.

we're ?

who does that we're include ?

i need to know so i can figure out where i fall on the implied wishful thinking of doing away with minimum wage...

that you anticipate or expect...as a producer or the consumer...

i'm afraid i may not see it the same way as you describe...

we're...the min wage employee....is that you ?

::)

Of course! That'll make it easier for the corporations to rake in profits! They are ppl too, after all!

dude, I'm a 'small business owner' so this helps me..I'd love to get away with paying my white workers what big farm pays their brown ones(not really)....  but if you think that your hourly rate, whether it's slightly above minimum wage or $45 an hr wouldn't be affected by a ban on the legal minimum wage mandate... then might I suggest you vote for one of the above listed candidates and stfu when you become 'serf 187' instead of BoH..

the best part is, you wouldn't have a leg to stand on in this issue.. people are against those who get paid or paid benefits.. so when you're all a twitter because the job you've been at for 20 years and built up a nice salary/hr-rate over those years gets slashed along with the MW, then you can comfort yourself with the comment sections of news the stories reporting such atrocities... like these comments about the post office being forced to pay benefits for 75 years in the future and being unable to make their payment this year..



ooooooooooooo yes, the evil of teachers and unions.. let's privatize kill them all..


but BoH, you go with your blind self, attacking the people who want to help you instead of screw you.

i don't think min wage will be repealed...

an economist suggeted that one way to adjust for the current position we are in...

its not going through congress as a bill...

i'm not gonna get all excited...cause someone suggested something...

but i do appreciate the view...it allows for an understanding...

it was on fox news...doh...

and it is just a move to bring us in line with the world labor model...

and the worlds standard of living...so we are not so much different than the rest of the world that

every fucking one wants to come here...

this is a way to slow down migration of third world citizens to the U.S.

if we're brought down to the worlds level...suddenly we're not the go to country...


one day...

quote author=ekg link=topic=11256.msg150851#msg150851 date=1176596369

"from 04/07 in thread about howie and his erotic sig..."

I knew I liked Boh.... I just didn't know we complained about the same exact thing at almost the same exact time.....

one day, we must meet... ;D


Does it still apply ?

(pausing self-imposed exile)

a. Are you aware even Florida's trying to repeal the minimum wage? Nah...I didn't think so...

http://m.naplesnews.com/news/2011/apr/05/minimum-wage-change-clears-florida-house-panel/



TALLAHASSEE — A bill designed to thwart a lawsuit challenging the state's refusal to increase Florida's minimum wage cleared a House committee Tuesday.

The measure (HB 1425) narrowly won approval from the Finance and Tax Committee on a largely party line 13-11 vote. Three Republicans joined Democrats in voting against the legislation.

It would provide legal justification for a decision by the Agency for Workforce Innovation to keep Florida's minimum wage at the $7.25 an hour federal rate instead of increasing it to $7.31 on Jan. 1 to keep up with inflation.

In January, a lawsuit was filed in state Circuit Court in Tallahassee on behalf of minimum wage workers. It alleges the agency violated a state constitutional amendment that requires adjustments in the rate to match increases in the Consumer Price Index.

Democrats said the bill was part of a pattern by majority Republicans to favor businesses over workers no matter how low they are paid.

"Some in the business community have taken out a full-fledged war on the working class and the middle class in this state and they know who they are," said Rep. Scott Randolph, D-Orlando. "They call it minimum wage. They don't call it a living wage because it's not a living wage."

Randolph said the state is trying to deny about 200,000 minimum wage workers a raise that would only amount to $2.40 a week.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. John Tobia, R-Melbourne, denied the accusation that GOP lawmakers are waging war against the working class.

"We have to remember businesses are the ones that employ the bulk of these individuals," Tobia said. "The more burden you place on the businesses the less individuals they can employ."

He acknowledged, though, that if he could he'd repeal the minimum wage but it's required by the Florida Constitution.

The agency's refusal to raise the minimum wage this year was a delayed reaction to its reduction in the rate from $7.21 to $7.06 last year after the Consumer Price Index declined. That decision had no effect at that time because either way the Florida rate was superseded by the $7.25 federal minimum wage. When the index increased, the agency used the $7.06 rate as a base to calculate a corresponding rise in the state minimum wage to $7.16 — still below the federal rate.

The lawsuit contends the agency should have used $7.21 as the base because that's what it was before the index dropped, which would have resulted in a $7.31 rate.

Rep. Jim Waldman, R-Coconut Creek, cited a Florida Supreme Court opinion noting the constitution allows only for increases in the minimum wage.

"It does not say we should decrease it," Waldman said. "This bill says the opposite."

Tobia replied that he's not worried about constitutional issues. He said lawmakers are independently elected so they shouldn't base their decisions on what the courts say.

The bill has one more committee stop in the House before it can get a floor vote. A similar bill (SB 1610) has been filed in the Senate but has yet to get a committee hearing.

-----------------------

b. It was a gif of two stormtroopers dry humping...sheesh!

ok...

the first highlighted area is your exaggeration of the issue...notice i didn't call it a lie...

2nd...highlighted text show how you exaggerated the truth...

3rd...easy math for the most part...the cost to businesses would amount to roughly....half a million a week....doh !!!

thats not small potatoes by any means...

over all grade for this thread... C-

then you're not paying attention enough..

the facts are this could happen extremely easily in this 'I hate anyone with a job or a pension' environment. All it takes is a spark started in the right forum.. whether that be Fox news or elsewhere.. for shit's sake, we have candidates for POTUS saying they are against the dept of education and would do what they could to get rid of it.. and their base cheering for this!  how far of a leap do you need make to see that something this 'producer friendly/worker unfriendly' is ripe for this time?


ok.. end of discussion..

thanks for playing..




why wouldn't it?

I think I'll dust off the ol' stormtrooper gif.

Minimum wage is the least amount possible that one can be paid and still "make it" in a particular economic environment as measured against cost of living...or at least it's suppose to be.  Several jobs, not a single job using the current minimum wage numbers, are required to make this a true statement in our current economic landscape...and that statement is only true in the most narrow sense.

Prices for goods and services are not, and never will, readjust back to levels that make Minimum wage viable against the cost of living.  We move forward, never backwards (unless it's assaulting women's rights or science).  

No attempts have been made, nor will be made anytime in the future, to address and remedy the "investment" brand of capitalism that "produces" very little (if any) jobs...and keeps cash out of the general economy and instead keeps it in a closed loop, that builds upon itself to benefit only those within that loop who do not use it as a betterment (jobs) and they also pay very little in capital gains...but the accumulation and extraction of the wealth is very real and continues.

We're in the "me" time right now.  Me times says you can profit (via favorable lobbied legislation), at the "expense" of the economic stability you derive your wealth from, instead of profiting while keeping the economic stability viable.

The effects(affects?, I always fuck that up) roll like a giant shit ball down hill and the end result is small business owners, who are the last line of defense for jobs, struggle against an environment that is removing the bulk of their business...customers.  Those customers can no longer afford their goods and services on minimum wage and the small business owner has a difficult time paying minimum wage and making profits.

So we end up with two types of loops.  One loop cannibalizes the economy, for profit, at the expense of societies stability...and the other loop (a direct result of the first loop) cannibalizes itself, trying vainly to profit, in a medium that keeps removing their source of stability.

its in its name yo...minimum....not maximum....the min allows you to get by...

you may not have what you want...but you can afford what is needed...

and if you can't figure out how to team together and survive....fuck you...!!!

this is america...where even the poor have cable, cell phones, internet access...please...

the rest of the world just shakes their head in shame at our glutenous living standards...

the people of america have no true idea of what poor is...except for maybe those moutain people living in the appalachian's

I don't know why so many people think we should actually have a goodly portion of the population actually living in third world status...in order to be considered poor.

We lifted our least fortunate to have the ability to at least be able to have some form of housing and food...and that's by no means everyone.  Because we're America.  We're not like those other countries that leave their dying in the streets.  I don't understand why they must suffer to extremes, in order to fulfill a definition that resembles Somalia, to be taken seriously as a poor individual.  I sort of thought we didn't want to return to the days of poor houses and hospitals where you just go to die, not be treated.

Minimum wage is a joke in our current economic environment.  It's better than 2 dollars an hour, but that's not saying much.

This IS America...and the poor having cable, cell phones and internet access, refrigerators and microwaves is no more farcical in conjunction with being poor...than those same people dying from a simple toothache, because they couldn't afford 30 dollars for anti-biotics.  Poor isn't relative to someone who is poor...poor is poor when compared to the surrounding environment and how you fair within it. What IS accessible, via amenities, to an individual of little means, does not redetermine what poor means.  Even the slaves/poor in Rome had access to the bathhouses, Forums and amenities...that did not redetermine their slave/poor status.

We're either America in every sense of what that implies and try to be...or we are not and need to drop the greatness routine.

Not everyone will be fortunate, that's life.  But what's available based on innovation and commonality doesn't make one ungrateful and thus not poor by poors standard...it's what's present for the bulk.  I have a cell phone, but I can't afford to go to the movies.  I have a refrigerator, but I couldn't afford a single pair of jeans right now.  I have electricity and internet, but even without them...I would make no significant move towards a positive financial bank account.  I would be sitting in the dark, unable to charge my wheelchair and be at the mercy of people coming to check in on me, rather than being able to call for help.

There are individuals even less fortunate than myself, but that does not make me non-poor.

Wait. You've got an electric wheelchair? Well ain't THAT suckin off the gubmint tit! ::)

that made me laugh...

alrighty...usinglessleggs...

while you may feel poor or not non poor...thats because your view is from the wealthiest nations perspective...

but worldly...most would consider affluent...

based on available options...you're in america...

where you can get paid for your creativity...you can produce if you choose !!

I look at it like the person who compares the leper to the person with Aids and says one is worse off.  They're both fucked.  One to stay confined from society, one to be rejected by society.  No one wants Aids, but it's the lesser of the two evils if you were forced to choose one...but that doesn't make it less devastating.

going to be tough getting on the same page when we're using different books !

mary had a lil habit...needed her fix, don't ya know
and everywhere that mary went...her nose would drip from the blow...

We're reading from the same book...we're just gleaning different takes from the direction of the plot.

Are you equating homosexuality with personal choice?

See that door? That's the entry to the new millenium. It would be nice if you joined us...it's sooo much more tolerant than the little world of bigotry and hate Gryff lives in..

woah...woah....lets slow that horse down a bit...

i'll have you know....i'm one of the doormen...have been...and

waiting for the rest of the world to enter...

don't make such leaps HowiEE...

if the door is closed...be patient...but don't leave...

we close it at times to keep the undesirables out !!!

i see...ok...

i thought i had three different books here...but...

its just one giant book that had fallen apart...

bravo.

I know that I am somewhat  more fortunate than you are because we talk, so I all up in your business and all.. .. LOL  BUT, that doesn't make me 'well-off'.. not by a llllllloooooooooooongggggggggg shot. By the standards I heard the other day that defined 'middle class' I am middle class.. and frankly, that's bullshit. Because I'm not.. I'm upper-poor-class..

IMO middle class means you may have some of the amenities out there and you have something left over out of every paycheck to put away. You have health insurance,car insurance.. gas money.. and food money..maybe a movie once or twice a month.. along with the rent/utilities.. You may have 1 or 2 cars.. maybe even a boat..that to me is middle-class.. the higher up you are in that structure the more 'stuff' you have or money you have left over.. thus the 'upper middle class' tag.. well, the definition I heard was a yearly income from 30K-60K.. wtf? You can't live on 30K a year. not and have the things I listed above so that's not 'middle class' imo, that' 'upper-poor'

do I have tv/internet.. yep. But I have two teens and need the internet/comp.. so I 'budget' for that. We also don't own a single 'laptop' or 'video game player'.. and both kids have a 'smart phone' that they paid for themselves with their birthday money. The only reason they even have phones (which we just got 3 years ago btw) was because I lucked into a MetroPCS sign-up contract that they don't offer anymore but as long as I keep the 3 phones on it, I can keep the contract.. $25 a month for each phone.. unlimited text,calls,and media usage.. Same with my cable. I got my cable contract about 15 years ago and we lucked into a sweet contract.. so I'm always running about $50 less than everyone else because I just happened to sign up at the right time.. so does that make me 'rich'? Hell no. The oldest has a UTI that I can't take her to the doc for because I didn't have the money for the visit.. luckily I had the meds in the cabinet that could clear it up or it would have been a $1000 er visit for a $40 problem..


My car is a paid for 1997.. hubby's is a paid for 1998.. they're jeeps, both over 120K miles.. luckily he can usually fix any problems with them so we've been very lucky on that front.. but does having 2 cars mean I'm rich? Nope.. it means I'm lucky because if I lose either one tomorrow, I can't replace them.. because I don't have the money to buy one or pay on one monthly.. I don't even have the cash to help the oldest buy her own car.. she's 20 and still doesn't have a car.. she can't find any work other than when she works with me or her nightly part-time gig, but that doesn't matter anyway because she wouldn't have a ride to work even if she did find a 'real' job.... it'd be nice if we had mass-transit but hey, that's European socialist shit right there..

The idea that people can live off of minimum wage is bullshit.. I get well over minimum, and I can barely live off it..the idea that someone has to look like a starving Somalian to understand what poor is, also bullshit. Don't tell me I don't know what poor is, don't tell Chuck.. don't tell the people who are around us.. we know what it looks like, what it tastes like, what it smells like.. trust me, we know.

I guess it is and will admit it. No way I could afford the fuckin thing.  No way I could afford a garbage model either.  My current chair (one that I wanted that went a bit faster than my last chair) was no more special, because of the speed increase (simple resistance modification at the factory)...yet they both cost enough to buy a GOOD used car.  Seriously.  My brother estimated from web sites (parts) and labor(knowing people that work in the industry)...that this chair has about a 500 to 600 percent mark up.  What a racket.

I'm allowed one new chair every 5 years (with the old one returned).  They're thinking about extending that to 7 or 8 years.  These things (even the better models) start seriously breaking down after about 3, oh joy.

Ask Kell, I bet I weigh about a buck 50, a buck 55 and when she was kind enough to take me to a recent outing, I had to excuse myself from her and her girls company to recharge a "fully" charged chair, that I was assured, with a test not even 5 days prior to the outing...that the batteries were "good to go."

I'm grateful beyond measure...but I can still bitch!

You do know I've met you twice before, right?

I know, but not lately!

Hell. I'm almost half the man I was then too. But that's a good thing.

I'm sorry...

i was eating cake while reading about the struggles of the american version of

woah i'm poor...fascinating !!!

the terrible struggles you all have to endure...

disappointed that your country won't support you in the manner you seem to want...

left by the wayside to figure out how to support yourselves...


some people require support....others lean on it like a crutch...out of convienence

only you can stop yourself from success or productivity...

just ask... stephen...

(http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/04/20/article-0-031999DE0000044D-549_468x382.jpg)

His talent, his gift for math, along with an imagination and determination to buck the old standards helped him achieve (though many within the scientific community would argue unnecessary) recognition and acclaim around the world.  If your use of him is to example perseverance, in the face of adversity...he's an outstanding representation.  But I am not him.

If in every moment, you're convinced that any ones lot is self determined, through effort, ambition, drive, and mixed with the luck only sweat can produce...I would agree, wholeheartedly....with exceptions and if we lived in a perfect world where success...small or large was a simple matter of iron will equally shared, rewarded or recognized. 

To label any situation as an entirety, lensed through your view of self reliance and get up and go, assumes you know every factor involved...or at the very least...you discount all factors that you deem self made or illusionary by the person in question...through your particular myopic prism...that shines with one all encompassing light.

If my chapter, in this life, were mere aches, pains, and willing my determination to fire full throttle until some modicum of success or comfort were achieved, I'd say you don't know me...and we'd have to know...does my success match up with your notion of success?...and does my comfort equally parrot yours?  Because your word choices indicate you know my situation and how hard or how little my ambition and drive are...based on what you assume you know about me through my postings (one would guess).  The tone of those words deliver a matter as fact conclusion, laden with snarky sarcasm that deduces my circumstance can be over come as soon as I stop feeling sorry for myself and apply the proper and sustained amount of initiative.

Though I know your posting, even with the cynicism of disbelief, is well intentioned...

...you assume to much.

this cake is so fucking good...

where were we...ah...yes

(*1) it is how i communicate...sorry...but i believe that for all...not just you

and whatever your situation might be...that i know nothing about truely...

the notion of comfort and success being measured happens in the use of

language, sentence structures and words !!...we will all be able to tell through the

means of how one chooses to communicate...well...some of us thus far...2012

the awaken begins...

yes...stephen was an extreme example...but only to show...

it is we ourselves who are Holden us Bach...

and you did it again...in this thread...by taking the position you did...

quit fighting your DNA...stop making excuses...live...

take risk's...not to be affiliated with risky (former allumnist)

help me write something crazy we can sell as a play or movie....idk

@betteroffhere2 on twitter and #iamboh

when did you decide to turn into this pompous prick anyway?  was it because Howie made you angry so you decided you're just going to shit on everyone else around here? and then go around telling people, in essence, to pull themselves up and get to work and stop bitching?  How dare you presume that the people you are insulting haven't done or aren't doing that very thing, How dare you assume that every person is capable of becoming a story like Hawking. Hawking is an outlier, he is not the rule, he is not the pattern to which all can follow even if they try with all their might, all their will, all their blood,sweat and tears. Especially since his is based on a super-human intellect.His physical problems are of no consequences in his academic world. But were he just an above average intellect, without academia around him, the world we live in would have regulated him to a home somewhere if he was lucky..More likely than not, in this country, someone would have just pushed him into the corner and told him to pull his own self up and if he failed then it must be because he didn't try hard enough  since everyone must have the same opportunities  as everyone else because their ideologue bible says so..

You've failed in whatever this quest of yours is, you've only succeeded in becoming a pretty myopic douche who refuses to bend his newly discovered ideology when faced with realities... In short, welcome to the Tea Party. You will fit in quite well with the other blind followers who not only have no real concept of the world, but have no concept of human either..

I told Howie you were coming close to 'ignore'.. and darling, I think you're there. I've wasted too much time trying to move immovable ideologues.. I simply don't have it in me any longer to try, so ignoring them has become my personal quest. I'll converse with anyone as long as they have some ability to alter any position they may have or allow another to have a different one.. but when  their personalities won't allow any compromise? fuck 'em..

oh look...there's blame to be placed on me...

good job...its my fault...gottcha

way to focus on issues...wtf...

to much shit to highlight...fuck...way to babble

(*1) Ha...hey...we have the same thought...or is it only you that can feel this way ?...can i too ?...maybe thats why i do my best to stay away from this section...

its all fun till someone with a different view chimes in...i see that...didn't know participation would cause you to ignore...but that makes sense...to me about you

(*2) Doesn't surprise me you would have that position...conformist much do you ?...oh, not you...you just expect others to conform to your view....gottcha !

(*3) Way to exercise some compassion for the disabled there !!!...i'm sure the blind would be thrilled they made your post...and were represented with the tea party !

(*4) Nice...excellent display of your opinion....very good...i hope i haven't called you anything like that in my posts...i would be disappointed at myself if i have !!!

(*5) the way you show your smart is mindboggling....i failed you know but not at what....ha...you so smart yo !

(*6) two points for craty name calling...nice

(*7) howie screwed up a bit i had been putting together and had nearly finished...what angered me was his use of information in a retaliation !!!!*

(*8) sweet heart....its you that make the assumptions...more than i...i just express my thoughts...and i believe we should all strive for better...wow, thats wrong...?

(*9) nice,a giant load of excuses...why am i not surprised....with a hefty dose of this is the real world,thank you...as expected/assummed...way to show me you again

oh my...if this is where dialogue and conversation is likely to go with you when you encounter someone who isn't one the same page as you...

do whatever it is you feel you should do honey...its all good and ok...

just remember...i'm not the one name calling or creating restrictions on thinking...or productivity...or hope...or nevermind

and just like lil mike....i shall miss you...some !

Please don't leave!

me ?

that was me speaking to her...

she had typed...

you turn into this pompus prick...wait...that wasn't it...

hold on...

"I told Howie you were coming close to 'ignore'.. and darling, I think you're there"

following me here ?

i was acknowledging that her intentions were received loud and clear...

and then this...

" I've wasted too much time trying to move immovable ideologues.. "

certainly things should be clear now ?....you know what i mean...oh wait...no you didn't...

but you do know if you're still following along by now...i hope

i don't no why or how we got here...ya know...do you know ?

what did i miss...what am i missing ?

i presented a different view someone could have...i didn't scream it yell it

interupt to announce my view...i tried to draw correlations or something nearly spelled like that

gotta keep going so i don't lose my train of thought here...(might be to high for this...eh)

correlations to help express a position...i didn't attack did i ?

i tried to offer positivety...self sufficiency (http://www.worksourceonline.com/js/matrix.htm)...

responsibility...self awareness...motivation...

but i finally wore her down...so she won't ingage me...great!...

one less person to join so many others...i'm building a hell of a fan club

let me tell you...jesus fuck...

um...um...EKG !!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvrb1PCtyKI

i'll leave...



this bored if you'll still talk to me on the other boreds like you do so much....

peace...!!!

#iamboh @betteroffhere2 on twitter....much love to you ALL