– This bike lanes are good for business piece is interesting. I had family in the area of the post for a while, and it was impossible to get anywhere over there by car.
– Plastic bags are the worst.
– I don’t know what to do about a winter games where gay athletes might be arrested. For what it’s worth (and at the risk of going Godwin), Jewish athletes in the Berlin Olympics were certainly treated poorly, but they weren’t threatened with arrest as far as I know.
– McGinn needs to do a better job hiring women at top levels instead of his staff making excuses.
– Book length to movie length is an interesting comparison (part I and part II). I do wish the graphs in part one were on the same scale.
Sensible people making stupid choices. Seems like the human brain is in decline too.
http://www.motherjones.com/env.....ate-change
Puffy is waiting for God to show up, he’s got a better chance of seeing Hitler resurrected – it is already happening, but he and the average being are fine with it. Reference to Russia’s policy and treatment of Gays. This country isn’t far from becoming Russia. And then they blame Hitler, how about taking some responsiblity yourself for not stopping Hitler (directed towards the people that were alive in Germany at the time).
For a university trying to move past a history of deadly violence:
Florida A&M Denies Responsibility for Drum Major’s Hazing Death
University moves to dismiss wrongful death lawsuit filed by parents of hazing victim
http://www.usnews.com/news/art.....zing-death
Manslaughter charges added in FAMU hazing death
http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/04/.....amu-hazing
picking the father of a kid who engaged in violent behavior that ultimately got him killed as some sort of inspiration to players of a violent sport
Trayvon Martin’s father named honorary captain of FAMU football team
Tracy Martin recently delivered an inspirational speech to the Florida A&M football team
http://www.orlandosentinel.com.....3770.story
seems to be an odd way of going about that.
@1
“human brain is in decline”.
@2
Mindless rant proving @1.
Metaphor alert:
Oops: Billboards list wrong date for Detroit’s Nov. 5 general election
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.....3308120112
The real issue on NE65th and 75th streets is that something needs to be done about all the aggressive driving on them, both during the rush hour and at other times. Compounding the problem is the sun-blindness factor in the morning and afternoon as drivers crest the ridge at 35th Ave NE and also at times at 18th Ave NE on 75th. The driver who boiled up 75th from 35th about a month and a half ago and hit four people crossing the street could hardly see where he was going–well, he was also drunk as a skunk, but the sun played a factor as well. We live near there and I don’t know how many times I’ve seen someone whiz past another driver on the right and then run up behind a parked car or get pocketed by a bus pulling into a stop. Jeez, people…your objective is to get to work in one piece, not show the world what hot shit you are.
I also got an interesting observation recently from a Metro driver: “Sharrows” don’t work on bus routes, period. Mixing the biggest things on the road (buses) with the smallest (bikes) is basically dumb.
God doesn’t like them?
Religious family abandons U.S., gets lost at sea
PHOENIX (AP) — A northern Arizona family that was lost at sea for weeks in an ill-fated attempt to leave the U.S. over what they consider government interference in religion will fly back home Sunday.
Hannah Gastonguay, 26, said Saturday that she and her husband “decided to take a leap of faith and see where God led us” when they took their two small children and her father-in-law and set sail from San Diego for the tiny island nation of Kiribati in May.
Sometimes even the best have problems. Deutsche Bahn having timekeeping problems. The problem is that it is expected to run at a profit, even the infrastructure company. Commuter/regional trains around Mainz have been hard hit by delays and cancellations due to short staffing at a nearby control center. Normally 15 staff it, a couple people out sick or on vacation, and it can cause chaos.
http://m.dw.de/english/mobile.A-17014566-9097.html
The Japanese Railways profitability, is a myth. The railroads there have various non railroad businesses that they own to prop up the balance sheet. Stations in Tokyo and Kyoto for example, have shopping malls and department stores, some owned by the railroads, and air rights leases.
The Montreal, Maine, and Atlantic railway, has now lost it’s license to operate in Canada. The reason that the Canadian Transportation Agency pulled the bankrupt carrier’s license, insufficient liability coverage.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/busines.....krupt.html
– I don’t know what to do about a winter games where gay athletes might be arrested. For what it’s worth (and at the risk of going Godwin), Jewish athletes in the Berlin Olympics were certainly treated poorly, but they weren’t threatened with arrest as far as I know.
Er, Jewish athletes at the Munich Games in 1972 weren’t treated much better. I don’t think I need to link.
10)Part of the failure at Munich was the short leash the Bavarian Polizei were on, and could not get help from the military. The only marksmen they had were cops who did competitive shooting on the weekends. What was formed as a result, the Federal Polizei’s national SWAT team, GSG-9, the debate in Bonn was contentious. Some politicians did go Godwin, but perhaps is Bonn, and now Berlin perhaps the only place they can make that reference?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSG_9
@4 I see you are the first one trying out for Hitlers part. Doesn’t surprise me. You did beat out Puffy, but that doesn’t say much.
A better link to my story @8.
http://m.dw.de/english/mobile.A-17014566-1432.html
In the US, both BNSF and Union Pacific habe centralized network control out of Fort Worth and Omaha, although BNSF understands SoCal is a complex situation, that they have a regional center out of San Bernardino.
Serial Racist Bigot is at it again. He just can’t help himself.
He sneaks in that Travon Martin “a kid who engaged in violent behavior that ultimately got him killed.”
A kid walking home at night, armed with skittles and was defending himself from a freak with a gun gets killed and Serial Racist Bigot continues to blame the victim.
Trying to stop airline consolidation through the Sherman Act? I think that the DoJ is a little late. Looks like they are trying to enforce it against the proposed US Airways/American Airlines merger.
http://touch.sun-sentinel.com/.....-20130813/
The Federal minimum wage in 1980 was $3.10/hr.
Adjusted for inflation and COL – $22.50/hr.
The Federal minimum wage is currently $7.25/hr.
A little more info on my post@8. The delays are becoming an election issue. (The Federal Election is scheduled for the end of the next month)
http://m.dw.de/english/mobile.A-17015919-9097.html
The frustration comes as campaigning for Germany’s September elections heats up, with pressure mounting on Deutsche Bahn and Germany’s federal transport minister, Peter Ramsauer, of the ruling Christian Democrats’ Bavarian sister party, CSU. Politicians from the opposition SPD, including chancellor candidate Peer Steinbrück, have criticized the state-owned rail company’s personnel policies. “It’s apparent here that they have made cuts in the wrong place. That is now coming back to haunt them,” he told the Passauer Neue Presse newspaper on Tuesday.
“The ruling parties have been forcing Deutsche Bahn to pay dividends of half a billion euros a year. Consequently it is now lacking the money for personnel and infrastructure,” Florian Pronold, who is responsible for the SPD party’s transport campaign, told the German news agency dpa.
The past failure must be analyzed in detail to avoid similar further chaos in the future, Julia Klöckner, the chairwoman of the Christian Democrats in Rhineland-Palatinate said.
Ahhh Yes, it is the Family Values that I love best.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new.....-1.1425560
@ 16
What cost $3.50 in 1980
would cost $9.89 in 2013
Total Inflation: 182.70%
Average Inflation: 5.54%/year
________________
http://www.calculatorsoup.com/.....ulator.php
Curious as to your inflation and COL multiplier. Is that like stagflation, where you get to add shit up to make it look worse?
@ 18
Family Values that I love best.
Ah, yes, Wes Clark, failed Democrat presidential candidate and noted Obama 2008 supporter.
Second Amendment Report for Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2013
“Authorities say a gunman has taken at least three people hostage at a bank in northeastern Louisiana. … Police say the man was armed with some type of automatic weapon. … [T]he FBI is on the way and a state police negotiator was on the scene.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....50423.html
Roger Rabbit Commentary: Some people shouldn’t have Second Amendment rights. Or access to guns. I have an idea, making owning and possessing guns a privilege, not a right. Require those who want them to get a license. The rules for getting a license can be quite simple: Applicant (1) isn’t a homicidal maniac, (2) doesn’t rob banks or hunt rabbits, and (3) isn’t in Chicago.
@19
Not sure of your point as usual.
Since 1980 the Federal minimum wage has risen 58%. But prices on goods and services have risen 182.70% (No, I’m not checking your math or @16, just accepting it.)
After 30+ years of Reagonomics I’ll paraphrase his question. Is a minimum wage worker better off today than when the rising tide started to float all boats?
Even if you’re talking about a teenager flipping burgers in 2013, can they pump an equal amount into the economy eating fast food with friends, going to movies, saving for a car or contributing to their education as the same teenager could in 1980?
Amazing how little Conservatives understand about economics.
Hey, if anyone in food service deserves a raise, it’s these brave women:
Photo: Hooters Restaurants in San Diego Won’t Serve Bob Filner
http://www.slate.com/blogs/wei.....ilner.html
They’ve put their personal safety on the line, day in and day out, to serve Democrat politicians. Enough is enough.
San Diego Hooters Refuse To Serve Mayor Bob Filner
http://livewire.talkingpointsm.....-mayor-bob
I find that amusing.
@ 22
Hard to take you seriously. In 1980 minimum wage workers were the kids in the Fast Times at Ridgemont High movie. They were high school students and were working their way through college.
Today they’re college grads, or better, who work PT in some restaurant because they can’t find a job in their field of choice, and that’s IF they’re lucky enough to have a job at all.
If you’re asking whether the average minimum wage worker has walking around money rather than asking whythefuck Obama after four-plus years in office still isn’t growing jobs at faster rate than the population growth rate and whythefuck those jobs are 93% PT, you’re asking the wrong question.
Remember when ‘Where are the jobs’ was asked derisively of GWB43? Ah, those were the days.
Here Serial Racist Bigot, since you will not respond, without out snark, to my question of what do you do with all of those extra workers who can’t find a job?
I just saw this go by…
Seem about right?
@23 your agenda is showing. Let me fix that for you…
They’ve put their personal safety on the line, day in and day out, to serve misogynist bigots of every political persuasion. Enough is enough.
Serial Racist Bigot, the republicans have just as bad a track record as dems. Maybe it’s scope. Filner was abusing one woman at a time, republicans pass laws to do to every woman in their state.
@25
That was a long disertation that didn’t address the issue. Was a minimum wage worker in 1980 better of than a minimum wage worker today?
We’re discussing the effect of a higher minimum wage. Would the economic activity of a higher minimum wage be a boon or a bust for the economy?
Can you google all the charts that show that we lost jobs after the last wage increase in June 2009? I’ll wait here. I mean EVERYONE knows that we lose jobs when business are forced to pay more for labor.
@20 – I never tied Family Values to one Political Party. Although it does seem to be the Republican hypocrite battle cry.
It probably has something to do with sex. If you know what I mean. Kind of like Serials post the other day about MILFS.
@16 It’s just a matter of time before Cheap Labor Conservatives reinstate slavery. But first they have to take away the slaves’ right to vote.
Will have to check this out. There good money in God.
“You cannot avoid the impression that these men are preaching and pastoring for the money,” Frank Peretti, a best-selling author of Christian fiction, told ABC News.
http://truth-out.org/buzzflash.....ding-teeth
Would the economic activity of a higher minimum wage be a boon or a bust for the economy?
I say it would be better. An economy cannot grow if the people don’t have disposable income to buy new things.
@19 Does this mean you support raising the federal minimum wage to $8.77 to bring it into parity with the 1980 FMW?
I’ve always suspected that government inflation statistics understate the real cost of living for minimum-wage workers for several reasons:
1) This formula is used to adjust many federal benefits, so the government has an inherent conflict of interest, as it wants to keep these COLAs as low as possible.
2) This formula offsets rising prices in things minimum-wage workers buy (rent, food, transit fares) with declining prices in goods affluent people buy (cellphones, big-screen TVs, computers), which understates the real change in cost of living for people with subsistence incomes.
3) There are many ways of calculating inflation, and no matter what method is used, it involves bureaucrats making arbitrary decisions about what source data to use, what to count, and how much to weight the different items in the index.
4) The whole idea of basing minimum-wage adjustments on price changes is flawed because it totally fails to measure the general rise in affluence. Why should 2013’s minimum-wage workers live no better than 1980’s minimum-wage workers, when living standards have risen for everyone else?
One thing we all should be able to agree on, though, is this: Anyone who works full-time shouldn’t have to live on food stamps.
@25 “Hard to take you seriously.”
Are you kidding? Does anyone take you seriously?
@25 “asking whythefuck Obama after four-plus years in office still isn’t growing jobs at faster rate than the population growth rate and whythefuck those jobs are 93% PT”
I can give you a one-word answer to this question: Republicans.
Obama is not a dictator. But a lot of House Republicans are dictator wannabes. At this point, it’s also well to remember that voters did NOT elect a Republican House majority. In 2012’s elections, Democratic House candidates got over a million more votes than GOP House candidates. The only reason Republicans control the House is because of abusive gerrymandering by GOP-controlled legislatures in some of the states.
So, in answer to the question of how high the minimum wage should be, the answer is high enough so that a full-time minimum wage worker can support him/herself without needing his/her income supplemented with food stamps and other public assistance.
That would suggest an approximate doubling of the minimum wage, to roughly $15/hr., because at present we taxpayers are subsidizing approximately half of the subsistence needs of minimum wage workers. That’s effectively the same thing as making us pay taxes to owners of low-wage businesses.
Someone else gets it. By paying a higher wage, you get a better caliber of employee and longevity. Funny in conserviworld that equation only applies to CEO pay.
http://seattletimes.com/html/l.....11xml.html
Line cooks have always been a brutal job. You do it for love and hoping to be Tom Douglas some day. But succeeding like Tom is about as likely as making an MLB roster even with talent. But really, the line cooks make the restaraunt run like no other position on the staff. You work every weekend night, most nights, many holidays and you don’t get rich.
Let me start by saying I don’t know what the correct answer is to the stance the Russian government(s) and some Russian Neanderthals have about LGBT people. But one of the ways to find the correct answer is to eliminate the wrong ones.
Bigotry against LGBT is not unique to the Russian Federation nor Russians. Hell, there are still sodomy laws on the books in too many US states.
If the goal is to demonstrate to the Russian government and those Russian Neanderthals that LGBT bigotry is unacceptable, then the wrong thing to do is stay away.
I’ve never been an athlete of Olympic caliber nor LGBT, but I bet the USofA will send some to the games. I bet other nations shall too.
I’d offer that “Gay Pride” coordinated on an international Olympic scale would do more to foster political change on LGBT issues in Russia than any boycott ever could.
There’s quite a lot I don’t know, but I know Russians. If you don’t know, Russians don’t drink Stolichnaya vodka. Your pouring it out is humorous to Russians. Russians drink Русский Стандарт.
Russians are a great and intelligent people. If we demonstrate our values in a reasonable way, they’ll notice. That’s what I think.
You’ll get more flies with honey (vodka с медом) than with boycotts.
@37 Dictators and Nazis – that’s all they have.
Probably Putin needs somebody to scapegoat. People elected him President, not Tsar. Problem is, Russians had no choice, he locked up the opposition candidates, or at least the potential candidates.
In Canada, must be tough for the Russian Ambassador in Ottawa. The Ontario Premier is a Lesbian, being exposed to the”propaganda” that Moscow is warning against.
@42 EvergreenRailfan,
It would be incorrect to view Putin as someone who does not have the support of the majority of the Russian people. That support does not come with rose colored glasses, but like the Republicans in 2012, it takes something more than nothing to beat something.
Sadly, there does not exist an opposition candidate who can draw the support Putin does. And it is not simply because of Putin’s illegal tactics.
FYI, when you are watching anti-Putin demonstrations on the teevee remember a saying all Russians know and understand; Moscow is not Russia.
43)I understand Russia spans 9 Time Zones. Takes the fastest passenger trains on the Transaiberian Railway 7-8days to get from Moscow-Vladivostok.
That saying, almost reminds me of all the big city vs. Rest of the state issues we got here.
@25
Way to go Spicoli!
@25, 38
All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz, and I’m fine.
@44 EvergreenRailfan,
It is more than just distance and time. Russia is a big and complicated “country” with (just like every other country) distinct local issues.
But you bring up a good point. If the winter Olympics were to be held in LGBT bigoted Utah, should we boycott? Oh, wait.
The Olympics were held in and around Salt Lake City, which is generally regarded as fairly gay friendly and is a pretty nice place. The trick is to simply refuse to admit the SLC and Zion NP are part of any state. There’s no Utah, there’s just SLC and Zion and not SLC and not Zion NP.
As for the Russian and the olympics we should go and give all our athletes diplomatic immunity, they’re ambassadors after all. And we should brag about it every time a gay kid wins.
48)Good point, never thought of it that way. Before this, and Snowden, the biggest concern I had about Sochi, was if we could field a Hockey team that could be a second Miracle on Ice.
@47 Utah never didn’t have a law against being gay and never threatened to arrest gay athletes and spectators.
I say don’t boycott ’em, send every gay athlete we’ve got, and if they arrest them we storm their embassy and take hostages, just like the Iranians did, and trade them for our people, just like USA and Russia did back in spy-vs-spy days.
Obummer an adherent to Reaganomics? Who knew?
Yes those Cheap Labor Conservatives who lead Apple, GE and Google. Yes those who have way over $100 Billion in cash stashed overseas. Yes those cheap labor conservative who vote DUMMOCRAPTS all the time who exploit their overseas workers in factories with little pay and crummy conditions.
Does gleeeeeeeeeeeman make sense anymore? NOPE cuz he’s a dope!
Funniest quote of the day from Roger SENILE DUMBASS and LUNATIC Wabbit. When Obummer doesn’t get his way he rules by executive
fiatorder and acts like a petulant child. Petulant child… must be the way DUMMOCRAPT progressives teach their children to act as adults. Throw tantrums and cry those Wascally Wepublicans!