The old conservative ethos of “we have lots of theories but no proof!”

Take those 18 states. The thesis of the video is “well, those states ought to show us what happens when republicans can’t obstruct things! But Dems are full of shit because they say they want more equality, better health care, blah blah blah, and those states are shitholes.”

But for those 18 states:

• how does their life expectancy compare to the red/mixed states?

• how does their median income compare?

• how does their teen pregnancy rates compare?

• how does their auto fatality and overdose rates compare?

• what about women’s rights?

• voting rights?

• LGBTQ rights?

• Legalized weed?

• how does any other public health metric compare?

Because it isn’t really a burn to say “hey…these BLUE states that have their act together…hmmm, everyone seems to have higher incomes, folks live longer, they do better…and woah - what’s this - the land and houses cost more because MORE folks wants to live there than the shitty Red states…”

There’s a reason the video skimps on data.

Because it wouldn’t support any thesis that California, NY, NJ, CT, or MA is “worse off” or “promotes inequality” more than Texas, Louisiana, Missouri, West Virginia, or Alabama. Those states have shit tons of broke ass sick people who are suffering and dying of very preventable causes at ages far younger than they should be.

Thats all true.

I still think he will get indicted. I think he will get prosecuted.

But like you say…he will fight every little thing on appeal and tie up the system for the rest of his life.

1. You didn’t answer the question. We both know why.

2. while you might not like CEO pay going up 20% last yer…reality says hello:

> S&P 500 CEO pay rose 18.2% in 2021, far outpacing the U.S. inflation rate of 7.1% last year. But the AFL-CIO says worker wages have made far smaller gains, only growing 4.7% in 2021.

https://fortune.com/2022/07/18/ceo-pay-beats-inflation

Well that’s certainly the baseless talking point that Tucker Carlson screams about all day.

Let’s see what Dems did.

And let’s see what Republicans did.

Dems voted to give the rail workers a raise that their union agreed to with the Biden administration.

And then President Biden signed into law the contract agreement brokered by his administration back in September. It’s a deal that gives workers:

• a 24% raise over five years,

• caps on health care premiums, and

• one additional personal day.

“but the deal is shit because it didn’t give the paid sick days the workers wanted!!!”

Yes. That’s correct. Yes indeed. You got me there.

And why is that? Why don’t rail workers have the sick time they deserve?

Well…because virtually EVERY Republican (all but 6) in the senate was opposed to giving railroad workers sick leave.

> Ultimately, six Republican lawmakers — Sens. Cruz (R-TX), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Mike Braun (R-IN), John Kennedy (R-LA), and Marco Rubio (R-FL) — joined every Democrat except for Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) in voting to approve the paid sick leave measure.

> But it wasn’t enough. Now unions will have to accept the agreement negotiated in September, averting a potential strike, but leaving one of their key demands unmet.

And so, because the Republicans wouldn’t be willing to pass a cloture vote to end debate…the paid sick leave bill never got past these bullshit and obstructionist filibuster rules in the senate.

And the filibuster allows for minority rule by Republicans and blocks key Dem legislation like “paid sick leave for rail workers” (that the rail workers desperately need) time and time again.

So….if you actually support rail workers and want to vote for their best interests - if you want them to have the paid sick leave they wanted….as I said before, voting for the Republican candidates sends a big “fuck you” to them and stands in the way of that.

But vote how you’d like. And if you vote R, well, keep complaining at the sky and internet strangers using debunked and false talking points when Republicans block bill after bill that would help small business owners and hard working people.

Oh god…the old “Dems are greedy bastards who don’t care about the working man and minimum wage hasn’t gone up in 15 years.”

Cool.

Well, first, as to governor compensation:

• How much do you think the executive in charge of 80,000+ employees and $52 Billion+ budget ought to be paid?

• How does that compare to executive compensation at companies that have 80,000 employees and $52B of revenue?

Second, as to mimimim wage:

15 years ago, in 2007, the MA minimum wage was $7.50. It is currently $14.25. That’s a hell of a lot more than $1. It’s almost double.

But…if you really want to dig into minimum wage history, let’s do that. Let’s see what that debate has been for 15 years. Because 15 years ago, we had a Republican pro-business Governor (Mitt Romney).

Here’s what happened in 2006 when the democratic state legislature wanted to increase the minimum wage to $8.00. (Yes, 8 huge fucking dollars an hour.)

• In July 2006, the legislature passed a bill increasing the minimum wage to $8.00 an hour, and Romney vetoed it.

Here’s what his dumb ass said:

> “I have spent hours reading a wide array of reviews on the minimum wage and its impact on the economy, and there's no question raising the minimum wage excessively causes a loss of jobs, and the loss of jobs is at the entry level," said Romney when he vetoed the bill.

What did Romney do in response?

• He proposed an increase to $7.00/hour (which represented a 25 cents an hour increase over the existing rate.)

What did the Democratic legislature do?

• The legislature voted on July 31, 2006 to override his veto (unanimously in the Senate) thus setting the minimum wage at the higher amount.

Make no mistake about it. If you are a working man and vote R, you vote against your interest.

The Dems have been trying to help folks get better wages and a more affordable lifestyle for decades.

Mitt’s “I did my own research and paying folks more than $8 an hour will kill jobs” statement is laughably false and has never been supported by any evidence.

But by all means, if you disagree, vote for dipshits like Geoff Diehl.

> According to the lawsuit, Birchmore was three months pregnant at the time of her death, and one of the officers was the father of her baby.

> "Birchmore's death was the culmination of a near decade-long scheme of grooming and repeated sexual assaults from a young age by certain police officers," the lawsuit alleges.

The fuck?!? I hope all these guys rot in jail.

And sadly, becoming pregnant is an often deadly thing when someone is in a relationship that has domestic violence:

Homicide leading cause of death for pregnant women in U.S.

> October 21, 2022 – Women in the U.S. who are pregnant or who have recently given birth are more likely to be murdered than to die from obstetric causes—and these homicides are linked to a deadly mix of intimate partner violence and firearms, according to researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

They’ve already done a search warrant at Mar a Lago. A federal judge has already ruled that Trump and Eastman committed crimes. It’s coming.

You are 100% correct that it’s ridiculously low for the severity of the crime he committed. It should be 20+ years.

But based on what I’m seeing other Jan 6 seditionist get (and keep in mind this is all somewhat based off of federal sentencing guidelines and DOJ recommendations by the line prosecutors in these cases) my guess is he gets 4-7 years if he takes a plea deal and 5-8 if he goes to trial.

So, two things:

> A Kentucky man was arrested in Miami almost two years after the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Two fucking years. The feds are gonna find every one of these assholes. No matter how long it takes. As they should.

> This arrest came from the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force meant to investigate national security threats.

Oooh shit. FBI ain’t fuckin around. Right-wing assholes and hate groups are now on the terror task force radar. Finally.

Edit: and one more thing:

> Officers made the arrest in Miami and charged Easterday with eight criminal counts, including assaulting an officer with a dangerous weapon, an act of physical violence at the Capitol, entering a restricted area with a dangerous weapon and others.

He can have fun with at least 4-5 years in jail with those charges.

My favorite two cars of all time were a pair of manual Dodge Omni’s I owned. (I bought the second when the first one died).

They were the cosmic predecessor to the Honda Fit.

So fun to drive. Like a sporty go-kart. Great mileage too.

I feel your pain.

I missed the article where Chelsea was the second most expensive city. It has a median income of $28k. What drugs (other than being a conservative) are you on?

Once plows can’t operate…things get fucked in a hurry.

I’m a big fan of boxed stuffing. It never disappoints.

This was a tough read. But it seems very much in-line with what folks who work in schools are saying.

I agree that the school systems need help. What do you think would make a positive impact? What is needed to change things for the better at this point?

What property is that? Are you talking about the Dalton parcel? The church sold that for $20m to the Pritzkers years ago.

Did it have some bullshit convenants that govern lower-floor activities and any hotel built there? Sure. But the millionaire residents who live there can act without restriction. (Because even the wacky Christian scientists know that forcing their teachings on alcohol sales, pornography and, to a limited extent, medical practices means any development would be worthless. And they love money just like anyone else does.)

The church properties are nowhere near the most expensive in Boston.

The Prudential is easily over $500m. Owned by Boston Properties. Boston Properties also owns the Hancock building. Paid $930m for it a decade ago.

What does the church own that even comes close to the value of the any of the commercial towers in Boston?

Interesting.

Do you think the pandemic and isolation/home-schooling made kids less able to navigate social conflict?

Number one killer of cops the past three years has been Covid. Nothing else comes remotely close.

And yet cops actively resist keeping themselves safe and healthy. And supporters like you cheer that ethos on.

If you truly cared about the well-being of cops, you’d be imploring them to get vaccinated…not defending their right to be a menace to themselves.

I’m gonna have to agree with you.

Stabbing/shooting someone is a line that everyone knows you don’t cross.

It’s not a push, a shove, or even a punch.

You stab someone, or you pull a gun in school…that ought to always be your last day in any public school setting.

Yes this does cost money.

And yes, lots of folks are misers and losers who aren’t willing to find schools properly to deal with the problem kids.

But - Mass did just vote for a 9% surtax on incomes over $1m to raise a few billion for more education funding.

I’m just curious - who is causing the fights every day where you work?

• Is it random kids who are otherwise great students with no behavior issues?

• or is it a small subset of problem kids who are difficult to manage?

What are you talking about? Which towns?

For instance Natick, Framingham, Wayland and many other metrowest burbs have just had MASSIVE water main/roadway/sidewalk improvements. Like multi-year projects. Huge money spent.

Also, many burbs see shit tons of one-off development from tear-down homes where the builder is going to cut into the roadway to increase the size or replace the service to the houses for water or gas. That leads to asphalt patches that can look like shit over time until the roadway is resurfaced.

All those big box stores in the burbs? They are filled up by huge trucks that do a number on the roadways.

Any town that has permanently crappy main roads is likely doing poorly in terms of real estate tax revenue/income per capita. That’s not a suburb/city thing, it’s an income thing. And if you want to see some janky-ass sidewalks…go wander around Harvard and Back Bay/Beacon hill. There are some brick sidewalks that are so root-heaved in those neighborhoods they are nearly un-walkable.

I think you might be familiar with a struggling town you frequent or live in and thinking all suburbs look like that. They don’t. And not all sidewalks in Boston are 10/10. (Beyond the brick sidewalks that are lumpy as shot…go Google the number of gas main leaks under sidewalks as well as the electrified manhole covers that kill dogs in the city).

100% the system and the judges involved failed her and her child. This wasn’t an unforeseeable event. It was highly predictable.

Jerry Remy’s kid? That was awful. What a scumbag he was. And a super long record of horrific domestic violence arrests prior to killing her. Something like 19 different arrests for violence…

How is he not in jail for life? I’m sorry, but he should never be allowed to walk as a free man in public again.

The energy in your post is so depressing and defeatist.

• everyone in Boston fits into 5 stereotypical buckets.

• been here 11 years have made no friends

• “so over” introductory small talk and meeting people.

• got married but it went to hell and now divorced.

• claims to make good money but one trip to Killington “nearly bankrupts” you?

The problem isn’t Boston. It’s you. Change your energy and approach and you’ll have a different result. But if you have convinced yourself Boston sucks and is full of losers and unavailable people…then do everyone a favor and move away.