The Goat Pen

They'd have to be officers to afford those.

Eh. Retirees who milk the VA system and get plush government jobs can afford them too...

You sound jealous.

I don't know what the situation is in other industries but the tariffs on newsprint have caused costs to skyrocket.

Our GM told me today there are only 5 paper Mills in the US and 3 are owned by Canadian companies. With a greater demand in China for newsprint, we may be facing a shortage here in the US.

Buy American is great but there ain't much American to buy at least in the short term.

The US is the second largest producer of paper after China (25% of worldwide production vs 20%) and 2 of the three largest paper companies in the world are based here as well. I suspect that the majority of all that pulpwood comes from trees owned and controlled by the Canadian government though.

My second favorite is that if you are a military retiree (ie you have done at least twenty years), you’re guaranteed a fifty percent rating right off of the bat for...wait for it...mother fucking sleep apnea.

almost makes me want to file a claim

I went the cigar/scotch/golf route myself minus the cigars for the last month

I gotta tell ya though its awful tempting to go get a sleep study when the latest trump proposals pretty much eleiminate a lot of the federal pension and place it on your ira instead
https://federalnewsradio.com/retirement ... -retirees/

20 years with the federal govt means I get 22% or about 1750 a month pension as it stands now. certsinly could be worse--especially if you retire as a GS 9 or less your likely getting a grand if your lucky a month

Put in 20 in the military and never filed a claim for anything I doubt I ever will but this shit makes me more likely to work til im 70 instead of retiring int the next 7 years

aTm wrote:The US is the second largest producer of paper after China (25% of worldwide production vs 20%) and 2 of the three largest paper companies in the world are based here as well. I suspect that the majority of all that pulpwood comes from trees owned and controlled by the Canadian government though.

So you're saying my boss was lying when he said our newsprint costs are projected to be $75,000 more this year than last? That fucker!

I would assume your boss knows more about the cost of buying newsprint than I do, me never having cared how much it costs and him having it as a critical component of the business he works in. Of course, he probably doesn't trust you with too much of the finer details. I know I wouldn't.

You don't need the QB to know how to change the light bulbs in the locker room!

I used to work for International Paper - back in the mid 90's they were the largest land owner in the U.S. - they just kept all those trees in reserve in case they needed them

"So you're saying my boss was lying when he said our newsprint costs are projected to be $75,000 more this year than last?"

I'd say it was more of a preemptive strike against you asking for a raise...

Is it me, or is this a bit short sided on their part.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/connecticut- ... 53194.html

I mean, a Republican hasn't won the state since 1988. The Democrats can only hurt themselves with this.

Connecticut can decide to do whatever they want with their electoral votes, at least as originally intended in Article 2.

However, every time I hear about this, I can't imagine how this could be put into effect without someone trying to get it thrown out as a violation of Article 1 of the constitution which forbids states from entering into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation. I'm sure this isn't so broad as prevent states from working together generally, but something which is effectively multiple states entering into a political alliance to all vote the same way? That seems pretty fucking sketchy.

What if, for example, instead of agreeing to all vote for the national popular vote, a block of states with a majority all decided that the other peon states dont have to matter, they can just decide to vote based on the popular vote within only their own populations?

Lets say the people residing in the largest cities pushed such a thing through in California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, and New Jersey. The rest of the country wouldn't even need to have a vote. There is no way such an agreement would be looked at with anything other than outrage by the rest of the country, and I can't see any way it would be allowed to stand even if it meant huge constitutional crisis.

Theres also a couple other problems. What if electors from a state in the compact, doesnt actually end up voting with the compact? Can Connecticut sue California if California votes the wrong way? What happens politically the first time a state like California casts their electoral votes for a Donald Trump type who lost California because he won the popular vote, or whatever? And if, even worse California's votes would have actually tipped it the old way? People would get their legislatures to throw out that shit immediately.

Even Bush Jr. was corrupt. Saw it first hand.

When you mooned W he said you only have 2 balls?

20 years with the federal govt means I get 22% or about 1750 a month pension as it stands now. certsinly could be worse--especially if you retire as a GS 9 or less your likely getting a grand if your lucky a month

Similar here. I did 20 years federal time and bought back my 9 years of active duty time. So I get 29% of a GS-12 salary starting at age 57 (LEO rules). The best parts are you can’t outlive it, it's COLA'd, and you keep your health care plan.

Hey, didja year this one?

Q: Who’s paying Stormy Daniels lawyer?
A: Nobody. He’s working pro-boner.

Except the whole class is not scoring 90%. A large part of the class is doing things that are virtually guaranteed to score an F - dropping out of high school, never even trying to gain a marketable skill, earning a criminal record, having multiple children without getting married... That's a recipe for personal disaster no matter what your race is.

You guys are missing the point. Why would you want a system that will not permit everyone to succeed at the same time. Even if hypothetically everyone works hard and makes good decisions you're still going to have millions and millions in poverty. One of many things that point to horrible system design.

Tree wrote:

Except the whole class is not scoring 90%. A large part of the class is doing things that are virtually guaranteed to score an F - dropping out of high school, never even trying to gain a marketable skill, earning a criminal record, having multiple children without getting married... That's a recipe for personal disaster no matter what your race is.

You guys are missing the point. Why would you want a system that will not permit everyone to succeed at the same time. Even if hypothetically everyone works hard and makes good decisions you're still going to have millions and millions in poverty. One of many things that point to horrible system design.

I think you're missing the point. You're hypothetical isn't a reality therefore the system works

Why would you want a system that will not permit everyone to succeed at the same time. Even if hypothetically everyone works hard and makes good decisions you're still going to have millions and millions in poverty.

If you have a job, a way to get to and from work, eat three meals a day, have a roof over your head, can afford a couple of beers on Saturday night with your friends, and can go someplace to go when you get sick, you are doing okay. Thanks to some very good things liberals put in place along time ago, all these things are within the reach of any able-bodied American. If you lose your job, there are government offices to help you find a new one and unemployment insurance to help you out until you do. But you DO have to get one. If you need a ride to work, there is public transportation. If you need food and have no money, there are food stamps, which can also pay for a couple of beers on Saturday night. If you need a place to live, and nobody you know will let you crash on their couch, there is public housing. If you are broke and get sick, there is medicaid. America provides you with a floor of basic necessities. If you want more than that, you have to go out and earn it on your own., which brings us to...

"Works hard" is very relative. You seem to think everybody works equally hard, but they don't. Immigrants from Mexico, who replace roof shingles all day in July in Houston, work hard. They usually wind up doing pretty well after awhile, and their kids often go to college. A young person with no money, but works a full time job and goes to college at night studying nursing or engineering, works hard. They will do very well. Doctors who endure med school and then residency working 100+ hours a week, work hard. They eventually to very, very well. None of these people commit crimes. None of these people get pregnant before they have a spouse to help raise the kid. They recognize that doing so is economic suicide and not in their own long-term interest, so they don't do it.

America has always economically rewarded people who work hard, get the best education or job skills they can, don't earn criminal records, and don't procreate out of wedlock. That is why they still come here by the millions. But America does not reward people who drop out of school, never bother to learn a marketable skill, turn their noses up at entry-level jobs because such work is beneath them, spend all day watching tv and playing video games, feeling sorry for themselves, and blaming others for all their problems, and wondering why they don't have a pot to piss in.