tvashtarkatena

The ability to strong arm the state for medical and pension contributions is now a first amendment right? Ummmm, riiiiiiiiiight. Being on the wrong end of a negotiation is a bit like being banned, no? NO FAIR!!!! Bottom line is that state employees negotiated and won very reasonable compensation. Only a cube-zealot would characterize it as 'strong arming'. Now workers have resorted to strike and protest in a reasonable response to an attack on the union's very existence (a silenced union is one in name only). STRONG ARMING!!!! 'Persecution' is the first propaganda tool a Tightie reaches for. Nobody whines like a bully getting a much begged for slaparound.

Nice apotheosis-bathed attempted re-framing of the conflict between broad and narrow wealth distribution. Best interests of the country? That's whatever you think sparkles the most. Baby talk aside, the state union thing pits democracy against social justice. Having public unions share economic pain is a legitimate position, removing their collective voice violates the principles in our first and most important amendment. The absent lawmakers are pitting their right to protest against voter's right to be represented by those they elected.

got a day to kill out there this weekend. Any suggestions?

Lab rat quality hypothetical 'debate' with no relevance to reality, and, as such, crushingly boring.

Filet mignon!

Yup. Two words: Military Budget. Want real cuts? Everybody knows where they're to be had.

Nah, you're just a prick. Planned Parenthood does a lot more than family planning: cancer and HIV screenings and the like. It's a cost effective and critical health care resource for low income folks without health care. Defunding it will result in much more expensive options: like spreading HIV and emergency room visits. So the message from the GOP is: We'll FORCE YOU to have unwanted children, then DENY YOU all affordable options for pre and post natal care, the PUT YOUR LITTLE FUCKING RUG RATS IN A FOR PROFIT PRISON when the time comes.

Keith quit a couple of weeks ago.

My ex room mate Juan was shot point blank through the chest with a .38 when he was eight by a friend. He's still go the entrance and exit scars. The bullet missed his aorta by a few mm, according to his surgeon.

fahq'n'a STart drivin mothahfuckah!

The middle class isn't the problem. Find the fuckin' money elsewhere or fuck off and die.

Vegan diets.

More historical denialism from Laissez Faire boy: public workers without collective bargaining rights were systematically fired when they tried to improve their conditions by demonstrating, striking, etc .. it's well known that pay scale, working conditions, etc... in non-union, "right-to-work" states is conditioned by working conditions in neighboring states where workers have collective bargaining. Dickensian squalor already exists in many industries where collective bargaining is denied. Yes - we've all seen the starving public sector workers milling about the ruins of the administrative buildings in the wake of rulings that don't allow them to bargain collectively... If wages and working conditions in the public sector become comparatively less attractive than options outside of the public sector, state and local governments won't be able to attract and retain the staff with the skills necessary to deliver public services and they'll have to respond by increasing wages or improving working conditions. It's not like people working in the public sector have been forcibly conscripted and locked in fenced compounds. Presumably the reason they're working in the public sector because the tangible and intangible benefits of doing were more appealing than the alternatives available to them in the private sector. If the tangible and intangible benefits of working for the public sector are no longer satisfactory - they can and should leave. If enough public sector employees do so and the state or municipality can't fill the position at the same wage and benefit level, then the state will have to....increase the wages and benefits until they are sufficient to attract a replacement. Where is the nightmare scenario here? Our income distribution is already fucked up - we're in the Nightmare scenario, whether or not you're aware of it. Cutting more middle class jobs isn't exactly gonna help.

"Human GI quotient pattern typical of faunivores. Human GI quotients are considerably lower than predicted/expected for all 4 digestive system components measured. Martin et al. report [1985, p. 72] that: Calculation of gut quotient values has particular interest in the case of the four average surface areas of the gut compartments determined for six Homo sapiens. It can be seen from figs. 1-4 that man has values of less than one for all four gut compartments, most notably with respect to the cecum: GQ = 0.31; IQ = 0.76; CQ = 0.16; LQ = 0.58 [in the above, GQ is the quotient for the stomach, IQ for the small intestine, CQ for the cecum, and LQ for the colon.] This is a pattern shared with a number of animals relying heavily on animal food ["faunivores" (Chivers and Hladik, 1980)]." GOOGLEZ from here....

Ya forgot to mention that the shooters were Minutemen... ...Gun rights NOW!

That the 'attacking crazy' makes national news is an indicator of how rare this even is. Most gun deaths are people shooting their 'loved one's, accidents, and suicides. The Hero Protecting His Loved Ones Scenario which makes so many gun owners spurt when they think about it never really happens in real life. They wind up with a dead 8 year old instead. Increased gun ownership, of course, means increased crazy people gun ownership. Most crazy folk come with no indicator that would raise a flag in a background check. Own a gun. That's fine with me. Some people are responsible, some are not. The law can deny those with violent convictions the right to own one. although it very rarely does. Just don't bullshit yourself about what happens when more people, rather than less, do.

Then you're more likely to die in a garage accident.

Our digestive systems are closest to chimps. Mostly veggies, some meat. Ours are slightly more evolved to handle meat than chimps. No one here has argued for the Eskimo diet.

THAT HURT.

For all his self reliance bluster, Nitrox sure whines like a little bitch when he gets banned. No fair!

Michelle Bachmann raised five babies and didn't need no government subsidized breast pump to do it!

Yeah, people don't shoot each other that much here. It sucks.

innocent people with guns defending themselves from crazy people with guns. I don't think you're the one missing something, Ivan.

I'd happily opt out of paying for public schools if it meant I had to send my kids to private school. Its seams that when TTK says that I should "fuck off" he really means that I should 'fuck off but keep paying for his social programs". No, I pretty much mean 'fuck off' cuz you're a tool.

Just make sure nobody takes your stapler.