Public Employee Unions Must Be Crushed !

[j2k4]

You couldn't be more wrong about my "spiteful cynicism", but never mind that.

I find it ironic that your self-admitted apathy only extends to the voting booth, which is the only way for your opinion to count.

I trust any lurkers here to publish their opinion of yours (or mine, for the matter), if you are the type to care about the score, but I must tell you how impressed I am that you cared enough to favor us with any of your posts, the least of which took more time than it would to pull the voting lever.

Apropos of nothing at all, can I ask if you are leaving to study colonialism for a few years before you come back here for a presidential run?

No no no, the spiteful cynicism is mine, not yours. It was in response to the wording you used about how you misinterpreted me... nevermind.

If voting were an online activity, that'd be different. Instead we're talking about driving over, finding parking, getting voter identification ready, waiting, waiting, waiting, vote. That's not including the prerequisite of making sure you have your voting information up to date, finding out you've lost your card, etc. All that for what? To vote between one clown or another, when advertisement has already determined the outcome? To vote on a slew of issues that pretty much get a 60-75 % favor of passing regardless of what they are. The symbolism of pointlessness makes the entire experience very agitating. Purging my opinions in digital form on some server accessible to the world, that's a lot more personally satisfying.

To answer your last questions, I am leaving to escape. To escape from:
-a majority of religious nuts
-saturated superficiality and stupidity
-commercialized politics
-unpredictable taxation (fines, fees, permit costs, etc.)
-living under and hearing about the tyranny of home owner's associations
-shitty food choices in the middle of the night
-monolinguists
-muffin tops
-american football
-etc. etc. etc.

I'm just ready to start being bothered by another culture's problems. I'm fed up with this one.

Oh, ffs.

You could have just said so.

I trust you will keep us apprised of events going forward - there is a tremendous opportunity here for enlightened and entertaining postage, wouldn't you say?

This place could use a good salvaging.

[mjmacky]

This is probably the longest I've been active on any particular forum, with the exception of networkedmediatank. It still brings me back every day, I don't know what it is exactly but I love this board.

Edit: So unfortunately, yes, I'll probably be spittin around for quite awhile longer, give or take a few sporadic breaks. Comma, comma, comma.

[j2k4]

This is probably the longest I've been active on any particular forum, with the exception of networkedmediatank. It still brings me back every day, I don't know what it is exactly but I love this board.

Edit: So unfortunately, yes, I'll probably be spittin around for quite awhile longer, give or take a few sporadic breaks. Comma, comma, comma.

That's excellent, then.

[megabyteme]

Saying that propaganda is the winner of elections is akin to saying that advertising is the only reason people buy bread. There is still a demand side to politics. The masses still have to want/need to hear the messages being fed to them. However, I don't believe modern politics are driven by the masses.

What bothers me the most is that I don't see it changing- regardless of who runs/"wins" office.

But I find that analogy highly disproportionate. When's the last time you saw a bread commercial? Now a McD/BK/Wendy analogy would fit right in. In fact, I put political ads on the same level as fast food ads. I often see them and think, I don't like you're shitty food or I don't buy your shitty message. That's just me, but it apparently has major effects on the population en masse.

I believe I will accept your "fast food" analogy over mine of "bread". I am still at a point of seeking heartiness (as a good, real bread should bring), but I do realize that any messages being sold are the Wonder Bread variety- and not anything more than something to appease the hunger.

I remember arguing once with the majority of a Business 101 class that advertisements were successful at swaying "people's" opinions on which goods they purchased. No one in the room wanted to admit/believe that they were convinced to buy anything based on image, celebrity, etc. Everyone believed they were "too smart" to fall for such obvious tricks...

[999969999]

This is probably the longest I've been active on any particular forum, with the exception of networkedmediatank. It still brings me back every day, I don't know what it is exactly but I love this board.

Edit: So unfortunately, yes, I'll probably be spittin around for quite awhile longer, give or take a few sporadic breaks. Comma, comma, comma.

I agree. This has been a fun forum with lots of people to argue with and I have enjoyed that. But it has been a huge time waster for me.

After Father's Day, I am leaving for Oregon, and my life is going to become extremely busy with getting my Grandparents' guest house ready for me to live in-- it hasn't been used in years! And then when college classes start I will need all the time I can get to study and pass them. Accounting is not the most difficult subject in the world, but I want to get through in 4 years, so I will be taking a full load of credits each semester, and that will take up most of my time.

So, I won't be on here very much anymore.

But, I will pop back in from time to time and rattle your cages some more, mainly when I come back to Eagar to visit my folks for Thanksgiving or Christmas break, and whenever I get really bored.

So, have fun everyone!

Sincerely,

Hans

[mjmacky]

Everyone believed they were "too smart" to fall for such obvious tricks...

Everyone also thinks they're special and unique and that everyone else are sheep. It really does underplay the sentiment, but I live that narrative by action. I've dismissed the insincere claims as people wear their badges of hypocrisy. As far as a commercial's success goes, I think I'd only ever be swayed if Natalie Portman told me to buy something, and only if she addressed me by name, and if she told me she wants me but in order to be with her I have to buy that thing.

[mjmacky]

But, I will pop back in from time to time and rattle your cages some more

Thanks for being that voice of someone lacking a voice. Sometimes we just need to take a few swings at the speedbag after hearing some of the dumb shit we're unfortunately exposed to on the outside. You personified those types pretty accurately. However, I should correct you about rattling the cage. That assumes the individuals are tame, and you introduce a catalyst to get them riled up. How many of these people are tame otherwise?

Unfortunately, with the style of trolling you used, you'll be easily forgotten. For I've never really seen you make a statement for which I can attach a personality to. So if you ever plan on coming back, perhaps reinvent the troll style you will use, and perhaps we'll all forget about the current persona.

[megabyteme]

Unfortunately, with the style of trolling you used, you'll be easily forgotten. For I've never really seen you make a statement for which I can attach a personality to. So if you ever plan on coming back, perhaps reinvent the troll style you will use, and perhaps we'll all forget about the current persona.

Yeah, we've already replaced him with Oleg. How "memorable" can anyone be if they can be replaced by Oleg?

[mjmacky]

Yeah, we've already replaced him with Oleg. How "memorable" can anyone be if they can be replaced by Oleg?

I remember thinking he was Oleg at one point, and that the introduction of both of them into one thread would end up a chalice-cunt situation just on an entirely lower level

[999969999]

Another domino falls in the struggle to destroy organized crime, errrrm....wait, I mean, organized labor...

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/07/us...d-to-pass.html

INDIANAPOLIS — House Democrats brought state lawmaking to a halt in Indiana for much of this week, refusing for a third straight day on Friday to come out to their chamber floor in a procedural effort to stop “right to work” legislation at the center of a mounting battle over unions here.

But by Friday afternoon Republicans in the Senate succeeded in moving the measure out of a committee to the full Senate, where passage is likely next week. And by the end of the day, even Democrats in the House — who could face steep fines for not attending the session in the coming days — seemed to hint that there was only so much they could do to stop the provision from eventual adoption.

“We know we can’t stay out forever,” Representative B. Patrick Bauer, the Democrats’ leader, said after emerging Friday afternoon from a room in the Statehouse where the Democrats had been meeting privately and using the Internet to watch the floor proceedings they were missing.

Republicans have solid majorities in both the State House and Senate. But only in the Senate do they have such a big advantage that Democrats cannot avoid a quorum or stop votes on issues — an option House Democrats have enough seats for.

If approved, Indiana would become the first state in a decade to prohibit union contracts at private-sector businesses from requiring workers who choose not to be union members to pay dues or fees to the union. Twenty-two other states already have such laws, but Indiana would be the first in the Great Lakes manufacturing region, and passage here seems likely to encourage similar efforts already under consideration elsewhere.

While fights last year over union power and collective bargaining rights in places like Wisconsin and Ohio were relatively straightforward, one of the complications of the debate here is that “right to work” laws are somewhat more complicated to explain to the public. Even along the streets here, several passers-by acknowledged that they were not exactly sure — in spite of a fierce advertising war on the airwaves in Indiana — what such a law would mean.

Supporters say that Indiana’s measure is simply a matter of giving workers choices, and that it would help the state attract more businesses. Opponents say it would allow workers to benefit from the work of unions without paying for them and, more broadly, weaken collective bargaining, ultimately lowering wages and benefits.

In a city that is excitedly preparing to host the Super Bowl next month, the N.F.L. Players Association on Friday issued a sharp critique of the proposal, which the association deemed “a political ploy designed to destroy basic workers’ rights.”

As scores of union members gathered in the Statehouse halls, their cheers (and groans) sometimes echoing into a five-hour committee hearing on the question, Representative Jerry Torr, a Republican and a sponsor of the bill, said, “It’s not union-busting; it strengthens the union.” He added, “This is tremendous for Indiana.”

A year ago, the same issue arose here. At that time, the “right to work” proposal by Republicans, along with a series of other proposals the Democrats deemed anti-union, led to a standoff in which House Democrats fled Indianapolis for weeks, staying at a motel in Illinois to block a quorum.

Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican, said last year that the measure was not his top priority, but more recently he has voiced strong support for its passage.

This time a disappearance by the Democrats to some other state was not under consideration, though no one was sure what would occur on Monday, when lawmakers are called back to work. Signs of tension had emerged within the Democratic caucus (including the resignation of one member in the leadership).

And by Friday afternoon, 5 of the state’s 40 House Democrats appeared to have parted ways with their colleagues and come to the floor.

To meet the House rules that 67 members be present to call for a vote, only 7 Democrats are needed.