Zorral Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 Quote And again, there is a growing evidence that immigrants don't directly compete with natives in many occupations. Immigrants don't tend to become bus drivers, but end up being something more like bus driver helpers, allowing bus drivers to focus on driving buses becoming more productive bus drivers. Anecdotal, personal observation only here, but where I live, this is what I have seen and experienced ever since moving here. Whatever country or region the US is bombing or having other catastrophic problems that interfere with leading life, a wave of the people from there arrive. How can one tell? Suddenly there are restaurants and street vendors selling the food and the trinkets from there everywhere, though usually with density in particular places where small numbers of their country people had already arrived. Also, the taxis. The taxi drivers are all from those places. (Uber, etc. have destroyed that entry point into the city's economy now.) Out in the midwest with the first big waves of Mexican agricultural workers when sugar beets were for a time the big new product, one saw Mexican restaurants for the first time. Everybody loved them, not just Mexican families. Did those restaurant replace the A&Ws, Dairy Queens, steak houses and so on? No. But they provided another food - recreational option for a very under served community without diversity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deadlines? What Deadlines? Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 1 hour ago, Zorral said: Anecdotal, personal observation only here, but where I live, this is what I have seen and experienced ever since moving here. Whatever country or region the US is bombing or having other catastrophic problems that interfere with leading life, a wave of the people from there arrive. One of my best friends in the US came from Laos in the mid 70s. His mother was pregnant with him when they fled. He was born in a Thai refugee camp and spent the first 3 years of his life there. Laos coincidentally is one of the most heavily bombed countries in history. 40 years later, they still have several casualties every year from unexploded cluster bombs. Why they were bombed, who knows? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Which Tyler Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 2 hours ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said: Some thoughts while my mind is not so nimble. 1) Nike still has stuff to answer for regarding offshoring and working conditions. Once the right wing outrage media figures out a way to link that Kaepernick’s protest that: a) doesn’t make them look like total hypocrites. Since when has the right given a damn about that? They LOVE hypocrisy - it makes no difference to them, but pisses liberals right off - win/win Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lokisnow Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 On 9/7/2018 at 9:37 AM, Ser Scot A Ellison said: California had a public initiative that created non-partisan redistricting. I seem to remember it was Schwartenegger who initiated that with resistance from the Democratic controlled legislature. I’m operating from memory so please correct me if I’m wrong. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/amp/Editorial-Arnold-Schwarzenegger-s-fight-for-12184324.php From the article: Democrat voters loved this and democrat party leaders hated it. Here is why. Democrat leaders gifted a lot of safe seats to republicans in the 2000 redistricting, far more than Republicans could possibly earn in the state. This was because democrat party leaders and Republican Party leaders had an elitist anti voter agreement that in principle no politician should be subjected to a competitive election ever. Therefore Democrats agreed they would take fewer seats but every seat would be a safe seat, which all the individual politicians in those seats thought was fine and wonderful. so Democrats gerrymandered not to give themselves a federal advantage but to give themselves a disadvantage! Voters HATED this, they were unable to elect people to represent them and incumbents were virtually unremovable. Why else did democrats do this? Because it was the first redistricting in forever with Democrats in control of California, and all the people who were in power still thought of California as an inherently republican state, and the only way to preserve their current control was to take this approach of guaranteeing themselves fewer seats but enough seats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deadlines? What Deadlines? Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 56 minutes ago, Which Tyler said: Since when has the right given a damn about that? They LOVE hypocrisy - it makes no difference to them, but pisses liberals right off - win/win Fair point. Although it’s the people closer to the center who are “up for grabs”. They might care a little. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 1 hour ago, lokisnow said: Democrat voters loved this and democrat party leaders hated it. Here is why. Democrat leaders gifted a lot of safe seats to republicans in the 2000 redistricting, far more than Republicans could possibly earn in the state. This was because democrat party leaders and Republican Party leaders had an elitist anti voter agreement that in principle no politician should be subjected to a competitive election ever. Therefore Democrats agreed they would take fewer seats but every seat would be a safe seat, which all the individual politicians in those seats thought was fine and wonderful. so Democrats gerrymandered not to give themselves a federal advantage but to give themselves a disadvantage! Voters HATED this, they were unable to elect people to represent them and incumbents were virtually unremovable. Why else did democrats do this? Because it was the first redistricting in forever with Democrats in control of California, and all the people who were in power still thought of California as an inherently republican state, and the only way to preserve their current control was to take this approach of guaranteeing themselves fewer seats but enough seats. Was this a written agreement or the back room “quiet” kind? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Horse Named Stranger Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 3 hours ago, Triskjavikson said: The fact that Obama came out finally filled me both with some hope and with some dread. On the one hand, I do think he's still got a lot of influence and that this might be a nudge in the right direction for the November elections. On the other hand, I don't think he would jump into the fray like this unless he believed the stakes really were that high. It worries me that descending into authoritarianism is still very much on the table. I have other worries about Obama jumping in. Democratic voters are already energized, so they don't need him going out to campaign for them. As much fun as it is to have him back and kinda remember the times when POTUS was an actual sane person. Republican voters on the other hand, you know, they just hate that black communist Arab from Kenia. So this might actually backfire and give the Republicans a boost to get their votes out. I was perfectly fine with them getting disengaged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMC Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 3 hours ago, Triskjavikson said: The fact that Obama came out finally filled me both with some hope and with some dread. On the one hand, I do think he's still got a lot of influence and that this might be a nudge in the right direction for the November elections. I don't see anything wrong with Obama hitting the trail - he just stumped in Anaheim, btw. Is it breaking norms? You bet -- against a guy that has broken every norm, attacked everything Obama did and stood for, has essentially accused Obama of being a traitor while in office, and came on the national political scene in the form of stirring up racists by claiming Obama wasn't a citizen. So, yeah, hard to hand-wring about the breaking of norms. Happy to have him back, hope he continues to do so (in small doses) down the stretch. 2 hours ago, lokisnow said: Democrat voters loved this and democrat party leaders hated it. Here is why. Democrat leaders gifted a lot of safe seats to republicans in the 2000 redistricting, far more than Republicans could possibly earn in the state. Oh yeah, since we're talking about California redistricting, thought I'd detail and compare the number of seats and the Democratic advantage/bias - measured by subtracting the vote share from their seat share - before and after instituting their "independent" commission (starting in 2012): 2006: 34 seats, 5.12% advantage 2008: 34, 2.1% 2010: 34, 8.06% 2012: 38, 11.31% 2014: 39, 15.76% 2016: 39, 10.45% God bless independence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martell Spy Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 Obama Reminisces About Getting Kicked Out of Disneyland for Smoking http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/09/obama-reminisces-about-getting-kicked-out-of-disneyland.html Quote His tale involved Kool and the Gang, smoking, and gondolas — all the necessary ingredients for a captivating narrative. Watch below, and reflect on the days when a president’s personal life was relatable in any way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martell Spy Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 Quote “What’s really happening is that our judicial system is getting privatized,” said David Gottlieb, an employment attorney in New York who often represents workers in arbitration. “It’s being privatized in a way that really only favors one side, the employer.” There’s a good chance you’ve waived the right to sue your boss And you probably agreed to it without knowing. https://www.vox.com/2018/8/1/16992362/sexual-harassment-mandatory-arbitration Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martell Spy Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 Ben Shapiro’s revealing explanation for Donald Trump’s rise: it’s all Obama’s fault There’s a reason the right wants to blame Obama for Trump. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/9/7/17832104/barack-obama-donald-trump-ben-shapiro-speech Quote More interesting, I think, is the way both Obama and Shapiro implicitly absolve voters of responsibility for the choices they made. Obama’s basic argument is that too much change, too fast, made right-leaning voters susceptible to a demagogue’s charms; Shapiro’s basic argument is that too much of Obama’s liberal provocations, for too long, made right-leaning voters long for a strongman of their own. The term “white fragility” is overused in politics right now, but it is relevant here: The unwillingness to state the obvious — a critical proportion of Republican primary voters enthusiastically supported the candidate who promised to turn back the demographic clock — might be politically wise, but it’s analytically disastrous. Black voters who supported Louis Farrakhan would never be treated with such delicacy. Trump, for all his flaws, ran a campaign based on clear positions and aspirations. He promised to build a wall; he said that our country was being weakened by louche, violent, parasitic immigrants; he said Obama was an illegitimate president with a forged birth certificate; he vowed to stop Muslims from traveling to the country; and in every speech, at every turn, he promised to turn back the clock, to make America great again. That a crucial portion of the Republican electorate agreed with him in all of this is undeniable. What it says about them is often treated as if it is unspeakable — either because to state their beliefs clearly is insulting or because it just makes a bad political situation worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGimletEye Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 1 hour ago, Martell Spy said: Ben Shapiro’s revealing explanation for Donald Trump’s rise: it’s all Obama’s fault There’s a reason the right wants to blame Obama for Trump. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/9/7/17832104/barack-obama-donald-trump-ben-shapiro-speech Once again, we see another sorry ass conservative trying to blame liberals for their conservative bullshit. If they've got a point to make, then make it. But you know, people like Ben Shapiro, hero of the college assholes, oops, I meant the college republican crowd, really need to take ownership of their bullshit and basically be told in no uncertain terms that they need to take that garbage and go jump in fuckin' lake. I thought this was the "personal responsibility" crowd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnot OG Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 10 hours ago, Triskjavikson said: The fact that Obama came out finally filled me both with some hope and with some dread. On the one hand, I do think he's still got a lot of influence and that this might be a nudge in the right direction for the November elections. On the other hand, I don't think he would jump into the fray like this unless he believed the stakes really were that high. It worries me that descending into authoritarianism is still very much on the table. We are already there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martell Spy Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 Collins’s office received 3,000 coat hangers protesting Kavanaugh http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/405704-collins-office-received-3000-coat-hangers-protesting-kavanaugh Quote Activists have sent Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) 3,000 coat hangers, referencing back-alley abortions, in their efforts to persuade her to vote against the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. The mail-ins accompany TV ads aimed at swaying the senator’s vote and pledges to fund her Senate opponent in 2020 if she votes to confirm Kavanaugh, The Associated Press reports Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martell Spy Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 Just another shining example of American meritocracy. Eric Trump’s Tweet About Hatred Is Just Too Ironic For Folks Online “Does your dad know you are talking about him?” one person replied to Donald Trump’s son on Twitter. https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5b936fb8e4b0162f472d4917 Quote Eric Trump got himself into yet another Twitter pickle on Friday, when he mused that “hatred makes people blind to facts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davos Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 *mod hat* time for a new thread. */mod hat* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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