Lurker > Antifar

Sativa_Rose posted...

Reis posted...

Friendly reminder that TC made a topic pretending to be black disparaging other black people, until someone posted a screencap of him with another topic saying "As a white person..."

LOL

pwned

*clears throat*



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https://nyti.ms/2BH3RfI

Gwen Hurd got the letter just before her shift at the outlet mall. Her health insurance company informed her that coverage for her family of three, purchased through the Affordable Care Act marketplace, would cost almost 60 percent more this year $1,200 a month.

She and her husband, a contractor, found a less expensive plan, but at $928 a month, it meant giving up date nights and saving for their future. Worse, the new policy required them to spend more than $6,000 per person before it covered much of anything.

It seems to me that people who earn nothing and contribute nothing get everything for free, said Ms. Hurd, 30. And the people who work hard and struggle for every penny barely end up surviving.
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President Trumps attempts to undermine the health law have exacerbated a tension at the heart of it while it aims to provide health coverage for all, the law is far more generous to the poor and near poor than the middle class. By taking steps that hurt the individual insurance market, Mr. Trump has widened the gulf between people who pay full price for their coverage and those who get generous subsidies or free Medicaid. That, in turn, has deepened the resentment that has long simmered among many who do not qualify for government assistance toward those who do.

Such attitudes have helped shift white working-class voters to the right and were integral in the election of President Trump. They underlie the sharp cuts to social welfare programs in the budget proposal he released this week. They help explain why the national debate over health insurance has been so bitter, and why the only government programs with broad support are those that everyone benefits from, Social Security and Medicare.

They are also likely helping fuel the renewed Democratic push for a single-payer system, or at least one that provides broader access to government health insurance.

Democrats have begun to recognize the political costs of playing into the narrative that they only care about the poor, said Joan C. Williams, a professor at the University of California Hastings College of Law and author of a recent book, White Working Class: Overcoming Class Cluelessness in America.

Many Republican states plan to start requiring many Medicaid recipients to work, volunteer or take job-training classes. Along the same theme, Mr. Trumps new budget proposal would make it harder for the so-called able-bodied poor who dont work to receive food stamps and public housing.

Such proposals reflect a very American view that only those who are severely disabled or struck by tragedy deserve government assistance, and that anyone else who gets it is shirking, said Mark Rank, a professor of social work at Washington University in St. Louis.

Our social safety net is, in general, the weakest of any of the Western industrialized countries because we have these kinds of views, Mr. Rank said.
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Ms. Hurd remembers watching a documentary about people signing up for Obamacare coverage last year and bristling when someone who got a big subsidy gushed about the low price.

I was like, Its not expensive for you because everybody else is paying for it, she said.
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For Ms. Hurd, health care has been something to avoid since she and her husband got the marketplace plan shortly after Harrys birth last year. (Before that, she had a job with benefits but quit because of her difficult pregnancy.) She went to an urgent care clinic for a throat culture last fall because unlike at her primary care practice, she could find out the cost, $150, upfront. And when Harry was up all night sobbing with a fever recently, she hesitated briefly before seeking medical help, again at urgent care.

Thats ugly, she said. I hate that I, even for a moment, considered waiting it out to save money.

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GTA V had cool cheats
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The focus in this post on Haiti seems designed to obscure the treatment of black people in this country.

Even then, it was Reagan who backed Baby Doc
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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevalier_d%27%C3%89on?wprov=sfla1
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How did a topic about wage theft in the US become one about the merits of the Soviet Union?
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The topic title reads like: would you have a threesome with your girlfriend *and* wife. Which is like the dream, no?
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Garcetti 2020!
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I'm not hip on the new hot singers, so I'll say Katy Perry
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Rancid - Alleyways & Avenues
Dead Kennedys - California Uber Alles
The Clash - I Fought the Law
Sex Pistols - God Save the Queen
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kuwab0 posted...

James Brown is dead so it's pointless

Do you think they can bring Survivor back?
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Hype level through the damn roof
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http://wapo.st/2BAQQEF

The White House was under siege.

Domestic abuse allegations against a senior aide were ignored, pointing to a potential high-level coverup. Two Cabinet secretaries were caught charging taxpayers for luxury travel. A Playboy centerfold alleged an extramarital affair with the president. And the special counsels Russia investigation was intensifying. The tumult was so intense that there was fervent speculation that President Trump might fire his chief of staff.

But a gun massacre at a Florida high school last Wednesday, which left 17 dead, seemed to shift the media glare away from the Trump scandals and gave embattled aides an opportunity to re focus on handling a crisis not of their own making. While the White House mourned the loss of life in Parkland, Fla., some aides privately acknowledged that the tragedy offered a breather from the political storm.

A tentative plan for White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly to address the media from the briefing room Wednesday where he would have faced intense scrutiny over his role in the mishandling of the domestic abuse allegations against former staff secretary Rob Porter was scuttled.

Press staffers cited the tragedy as a reason to cancel on-camera briefings for the remainder of the week, allowing them to avoid questions about the swirling controversies. The White House could hold its next briefing Tuesday, a full week after press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders last faced reporters.

For everyone, it was a distraction or a reprieve, said one White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to reflect internal conversations. A lot of people here felt like it was a reprieve from seven or eight days of just getting pummeled.

The official likened the brief political calm to the aftermath of the October 2017 gun massacre in Las Vegas that left 58 dead and hundreds more injured. That tragedy united White House aides and the country in their shared mourning for the victims and their families.

But as we all know, sadly, when the coverage dies down a little bit, well be back through the chaos, the official said.

In the few instances in which officials answered questions, the focus was mostly on the shooting. In two appearances Friday on Fox News Channel, deputy press secretary Raj Shah was not asked about Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin charging taxpayers for his wifes lavish travel a controversy that in a normal media environment might have prompted questions about whether the president would fire Shulkin.

From an awful, cynical, purely political point of view, the tragic events in Florida probably helped the White House this week by distracting from the awful wave of scandal and bad news they have faced, said Michael Steel, a Republican strategist.

The three-day Presidents Day weekend added to the hiatus, with Trump traveling to his private Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., with only a few aides and giving others on his beleaguered staff a chance to rest and recuperate.

Among those accompanying the president was Kelly, who earlier in the week appeared in serious jeopardy of losing his job. The chief of staff had lost the support of some senior aides, and last Tuesday evening rumors were rampant that his days or even hours were numbered because Trump had been sounding out friends and advisers about possible replacements.
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The national tragedy in Florida has really, for now, turned the page on some of these crises, said Ron Bonjean, a Republican strategist close to the White House. Theyre going to come back, but what it does do is give the White House a chance to collect itself and, if they can, organize a communications strategy and get their ducks in a row.

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Shapiro looks like David Mink
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no
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is it explained why there's no suspicion (yet) surrounding the girlfriend in this incident?
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https://www.facebook.com/RepBost/photos/a.1000111276683396.1073741829.996394850388372/2012767862084394/?type=3&theater

I am 75% sure that these are prayers for Trump, and not about the shooting, but the timing here is, uh, not great.
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@chill02
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electricbugs2 posted...

Doom_Art posted...

also they've never formed a government

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_Ferry_Scandal

Oh wow, these are different fast ferry scandals than the one I'm familiar with between Toronto and Rochester
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https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/pennsylvania-new-map_us_5a8b2cb6e4b0a1d0e12c1287

From what I've seen on Twitter, the new layout is good news for Democrats in comparison to the previous map (which you would expect). Republicans won 13 of 18 seats in 2016, despite just a 54-45 margin of victory. The new map would reduce that edge to 10-8 with the same voter turnout.

Old map:
New map:

2016 results: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6e/Pennsylvania_house_elections_2016.svg/1242px-Pennsylvania_house_elections_2016.svg.png
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Questionmarktarius posted...

Antifar posted...

I should note, as the article does, that sea ice melting won't raise sea levels.

How does that work, when the sea level has been shown to have actually risen?

Land ice melting raises sea levels. Sea ice is already displacing an equivalent amount of water
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God bless
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Bio1590 posted...

Quicksilver posted...

So whats the big deal the ice melts it opens new shipping lanes and gives us access to more natural resources sounds like a win win situation.

Because all that melted ice has to go somewhere.

I should note, as the article does, that sea ice melting won't raise sea levels. The greater concern is that water will be able to absorb more heat, threatening the glacier ice of nearby Greenland (and screwing with weather patterns besides).
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https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/12/12/16767152/arctic-sea-ice-extent-chart

Arctic sea ice extent has been measured by satellites since the 1970s. And scientists can sample ice cores, permafrost records, and tree rings to make some assumptions about the sea ice extent going back 1,500 years. And when you put that all on a chart, well, it looks a little scary.

In December, NOAA released its latest annual Arctic Report Card, which analyzes the state of the frozen ocean at the top of our world. Overall, its not good.

The Arctic is going through the most unprecedented transition in human history, Jeremy Mathis, director of NOAAs Arctic research program, said at a press conference. This years observations confirm that the Arctic shows no signs of returning to the reliably frozen state it was in just a decade ago.

The report, which you can read in full here, compiles trends that scientists have been seeing for years. The Arctic is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the world. And 2017 saw a new record low for the maximum sea ice extent (i.e., how much of the Arctic ocean freezes in the coldest depths of winter).

That huge drop-off at the end? Thats the largest magnitude decline in sea ice, and the greatest sustained rate in sea ice decline in that 1,500-year record, said Emily Osborne, the NOAA scientist who compiled the data for the chart.

There is some natural variability, and a fairly wide range of error in these assumptions, she said. But even accounting for that, its clear were living through something unprecedented. And it seems to be getting worse very quickly: This was the third straight year of a record low winter maximum, the report concludes.

Its not yet clear how 2018 will fare, but it doesnt look good: On February 6, the National Snow & Ice Data Center reported that Arctic sea-ice extent for the month of January was at a record low.

And right now, the planet has the least amount of sea ice since satellite record-keeping began in the 1970s. As meteorologist Eric Holthaus explains, February is usually the month where the combined sea ice at both poles bottoms out for the year.

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Sephiroth1288 posted...

Waluigi7 posted...
https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/04/mississippi-republicans/349433/

46% of Mississippi Republicans disapprove of interracial marriage.

What does this have to do with hate crimes

You had made the claim in post 40 that "blue states are more bigoted than red states," but of course hate crime reports are not the only measure of this.
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Tom Clancy's Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze
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Blue states: not racism free!
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Ayy lmao
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Also he got quality time with the president

https://twitter.com/brianklaas/status/965347809867259906
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Bump
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Well?
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Pearl Haribo
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prince_leo posted...

I just want to know what goes through someone's head as they think that the FBI only has resources to investigate one thing at a time
or that the counterintelligence and domestic crime divisions are separate

Patrick_Star_milk_spilling.gif
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With whose wages?
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Pepys Monster posted...

Half the guys here claim to be married somehow, but no one here has proposed marriage and got rejected? I find that hard to believe.

Success rate on marriage proposals is pretty damn high, I feel.
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The people who talk the most about using guns to fight back against the government think just criticizing the military and police should be grounds for deportation.
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https://twitter.com/mtracey/status/965038679361245190
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bump
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Kineth posted...

Dark_Spiret posted...

and like always this is why nothing will ever change. one side believes what they want and fuck you to the other side for believing something else.

wanting to save lives is commendable, but to achieve that most proposals means stripping away rights to make people more "safer" which is the starting bases of many dictatorships and authoritarian govts through-out history. and once you go down this path its hard to come back from it. and this goes for the right as well with trying to place armed guards in schools and snatching up individuals who have no prior issues on their record who may or may not do something based on some tweets. both of these are dangerous starting points for something much worse.

Well said.

I'm not convinced that this status quo is the best of all possible worlds, or that our only alternatives to regular mass shootings is police state authoritarianism.
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More of them
https://twitter.com/tayloryon_/status/965225532165148674
https://twitter.com/Aly_Sheehy/status/965237538607726594
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Jesus. Just finished reading the article in full (it's long, but worth it), and man is it bleak.

Like this part:

The problem can be exacerbated by the long delays in processing claims. Twelve years ago, the New York state Labor Department ruled that a limousine company called Altour Service owed 25 drivers more than $250,000 in back pay.

Altour Service allegedly charged all its customers a 20 percent gratuity fee and then didnt share that money with its drivers. In 2005, the New York Labor Department ordered the firm to give the drivers nearly $260,000 in back pay. Altour Service appealed that decision to the state Industrial Board of Appeals, which in 2012 upheld the state Labor Departments decision. Altour then appealed again, this time to the New York state Supreme Court appellate division. In 2015, a full 10 years after the initial ruling, the court once again upheld the state Labor Departments decision.

Even after the appellate division upheld the drivers claim, several told POLITICO that no money changed hands. That was because the company, Altour Service, no longer existed. Even as it continued filing briefs in its court cases, Altour Service dissolved as a company in April 2014.

Altour Service shared an address with a much larger firm, the 1,500-employee Altour International, but that firm has no legal responsibility for its debts, according to Altour Services attorney.

Like Altour Service, Altour International was run by a businessman named Alexandre Chemla, who remains its president. Altour Services 2014 certificate of dissolution listed Chemla as chief executive officer and listed 1270 Avenue of the Americas, 15th floor, as the dissolved companys address. Altour International resides at the same address, same floor.

Altour Service and Altour International were separate corporate entities involved in different lines of business, Justin Sher, an attorney for the now-liquidated Altour Service, told POLITICO in an email. Altour Service was not a subsidiary of Altour International. Altour International has no obligations with respect to Altour Services debts.

Asked about whether Altour International would speak on its own behalf, Sher responded in an email, I am in touch with the company, and it has no further comment. Altour International did not respond to a request for comment from Chemla.

Altour Services former limousine drivers, though, think those who backed Altour Service, and profited from it, should still be held accountable for its debts.

They dragged it out for years, one of the drivers, Edgar Lewis, told POLITICO. The finding was that we were right and they were wrong. But then Altour and its management they refused. Another driver, Fredy Monzon, said he hadnt received any back pay, either. To me, this is news, he said. Jesus Christ I didnt realize how much I was awarded.

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The idea held by many on the right that emotions are a disqualifying factor is bullshit. Emotions matter. They're how we say that the deaths of 17 school children are tragic. They're how we prioritize the significance of some events over others. You're not the cold, unfeeling automatons you portray yourself as, and it would be bad if you were. It would be bad if you weren't emotional about the senseless, preventable deaths of 17 children.
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https://www.texasobserver.org/austin-passes-first-paid-sick-leave-policy-south/

At nearly 1 a.m. on Thursday night, the Austin City Council passed a citywide, mandatory paid sick leave policy that will provide sick days to around 87,000 workers. After more than five hours of emotional testimony and debate, the proposal passed on a 9-2 vote, prompting thunderous applause from the raucous crowd and a rendition of the labor song Solidarity Forever. The measure is one of around 40 such policies in the country, but the first in the South.

This is about widening inequality and fighting against it, said Council member Greg Casar just before the vote, citing the disparities in life expectancy in different parts of Austin. We have hardworking people in our community and structures in place saying you get 20 more years or you dont, who lives and who dies, who has access to health care and who doesnt.

Casar, who led the sick leave effort, congratulated an unprecedented coalition for coming together to support the measure. Without your organizing, he told the crowd, we would not be able to pass this and spread it across the state and eventually across the country.

The Austin ordinance will extend paid sick leave to at least 87,000 Austin workers, according to an analyst with the Institute for Womens Policy Research. The measure mandates that employees receive one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, capping at six or eight days annually depending on the size of the business. It takes effect for most employers on October 1, and is enforceable through fines of up to $500. Paid time-off can also be used to take care of family members and to address domestic or sexual violence. Casar pledged that the Council would soon apply the policy to city workers, too.

Supporters of the ordinance included labor leaders and rank-and-file union members, medical professionals, immigrant rights activists, socialists, policy wonks, reproductive rights advocates and a handful of business owners. About 300 people signed up to speak on the proposal. Some broke down in tears as they recounted times when they or their loved ones had to choose between accessing health care and paying rent; one woman shared her experience of losing wages after being raped. Supportive business owners said the policy would cost them little to nothing, and that it was important for sick workers to stay home, especially in the restaurant industry. Late into the night, the crowd rowdily applauded the ordinances champions and laughed and hissed at its opponents.

Bo Delp, policy director with Workers Defense Project, took aim at business owners who said they generally supported paid sick leave, but not the particular proposal. Being supportive in theory does not prevent the spread of influenza, or allow a parent to stay home to take care of a kid, Delp said. Paid sick time is an extension of so many labor rights we have fought for in this country.

Former state Senator Wendy Davis said paid sick leave was a feminist proposal. This issue is about all people, but also uniquely about women, she said, noting the issues of sexual violence, pregnancy and accessing abortion. And at least a dozen members of the Austin Democratic Socialists of America testified, a group that says it knocked on over 5,000 doors in the city since December in support of the ordinance.

On the other side of the issue, Rebecca Melancon, executive director of the Austin Independent Business Alliance, said she was appalled by a divisive and rushed process that had sidelined business owners. Prompting laughter from the audience, she said, We look at this situation and we want to know who the workers are, because we feel like we are the workers. Melancon presented a list of 137 Austin businesses she said were opposed to the ordinance, including local favorites such as Amys Ice Cream, BookPeople, Birds Barbershop and Juan in a Million.

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I don't know anyone outside of a ~50 mile radius of NYC who cares about it
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Sephiroth1288 posted...

So yeah, 2 people in the FBI shown to be deranged weirdos who hate Trump

You'd have to be a deranged weirdo to hate the game show host and sexual assaulter president?
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Not even Russia's ill-conceived troll operation thought there was value in Gamefaqs
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https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/965075589274177536
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Hold the Line is Toto's best song. Africa is just okay.
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