Tag: wages

A Bucket of Shorties

Department of Education: It looks like textbook publishers have decided to call a Texas-sized bluff and print science books that only have science in them. Elsewhere, Arne Duncan has realized that insulting “white suburban moms” might not be a winning strategy.

Defiance: Apparently you have to be ready to retire from Congress to actually work for We The People. That’s funny, because I have yet to see a corporation vote!

Poor Little Prince: Apparently it’s all our fault that Blackwater oops that’s Xe wait no now it’s Academi is not wildly successful. Couldn’t have anything to do with all the bad things they did.

It will do in a pinch: Cooking with nothing more than a coffee maker.

NSA, DHS, Snowden, yadda yadda yadda: I don’t think anybody really believes that they need all that information to catch terrorists (they’re “solving” the needle in a haystack problem by collecting more hay!). There is international concern over the security of banking data (hey, if they can get it then so can a Bad Guy). But at least it is raising concern among Americans, who are flooding the NSA for FOIA requests. Even the courts are saying “hey, wait a minute” to the DHS.

Turnabout is fair play: What happened to “If you’ve done nothing wrong you have nothing to hide”? Well, Boston PD?

The Old Fashioned Way: 200 pounds down through mundane diet and exercise. Perhaps Beachbody should start making Spanish editions of P90X.

Social Security: Does not have to be cut. Period.

Low Wages, Everyday: Robert Reich on Walmart employees who can’t afford Walmart prices.

Not Down With TPP (Yeah, you know me): Why did it have to be “leaked“? Because outrage would ensue. Remember that international treaties effectively force national laws to change.

And Finally, Food for Thought: In the most well off of states, 7% of the population is on food stamps. In the worst off, it’s 1 out of every 5. Random group of 20 people, children or adults? 4 of them on food stamps. Remember, Thanksgiving is next week.

“Don’t Worry Little Lady, I Won’t Let the Democrats Kill Your Cat!”

A couple years ago, I mentioned the Sea Stone wait I mean Hotel Baja California Restaurant. Guess what? It closed.

The rather expensive building sat vacant for a while before displaying a new banner: “Coming Soon! Boca Park Animal Hospital.” Another expensive build ensued. I found this rather curious. Repurposing serially failed restaurant space with a veterinary clinic? Who had deep enough pockets for this to be a good idea? The other day we found out.

His name is John Ensign.

Remember Nevada Senator John Ensign? He’s the one that was having an affair with his administrative aide’s wife and then had to cover it up by seeing to his future employment? The one whose replies to emails told me not to worry because he wouldn’t vote with the Democrats (scroll down)? Well, before he went to the Senate, he was a veterinarian who owned the West Flamingo Animal Hospital. It’s the kind of place that will try to talk you into hundreds of dollars of tests to determine that the reason your elderly cat has lost a quarter of her body weight in the last 2 months is that she’s elderly (in the interest of disclosure, they did send me a card upon that cat’s passing). He was forced to sell, but I understand from multiple sources that they were happy to have him back after he was forced to resign his Senate seat.

Now, Sen. Dr. Ensign is not a man without money. His step/adoptive father is a gaming executive, and Dr. Ensign has done well with his own ventures — to say nothing of his Congressional pension. So it’s no problem for him to put lots of money into a swank new animal hospital “with luxury suites for pets and treadmills for hefty canines,” and a “four or five star resort” feel.

He sounds very happy about this new business, and I do wish him well. Nevertheless, I think I’ll stick with the nice vet lady on the corner who squealed with joy when she saw my kittens.

In Closing: Your latest dose of NSA, government spying, Ed Snowden, and encryption links (make no mistake, this means anything sent over the internet for any reason must be assumed to be insecure); a nice healthy set of links about the Syria situation; unemployment is only going down because the labor participation rate is going down (that is, fewer people working) and by the way most of the new jobs are low wage; I love this minifigure; how exactly is it cost effective to ship chicken to China for processing and then ship it back again??; it pays to shop around; the gluten free fad; unpaid internship; and one man’s forest.

Music Monday: An Interesting Discovery

It turns out that locally, used economy cars are much more expensive than similar used luxury cars. A 10 year old Toyota or Scion in decent condition is $2000-4000 more than a 10 year old Lexus, despite the fact that they have almost identical drivetrains. The same holds true for Honda vs. Acura.

One more thing: JP is having a rough time. If you are in a position to help (or better yet, offer him a job!), please reach out.

In Closing: on employment, unemployment, underemployment, wages, poverty, the minimum wage, and the new normal.

No Shortie Lives

Ok, just so you know, air quality in Vegas is absolutely awful today because of the massive fire on Mount Charleston. This also means that Vegas’s favorite get-out-of-the-heat spot is closed. So on with the Shorties.

A Few Words on Abortion: Don’t want one? Don’t have one. Don’t think others should have them? Support birth control or admit that what you’re really against is sluts having sex.

Insurance Companies Fixing Things: Heh, Kansas’s plan to let teachers carry guns has effectively been nixed by the insurance company. It makes me wonder if SWAT team tactics might not be fixed by enough insurance claims. Turns out Allstate and those guys have lots of lawyers on the payroll….

Always Low Wages: Walmart threatens to leave DC if they are forced to pay a living wage. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

Speaking of Wages and the Mood of the American People: liberty vs security, where’s the outrage, I’m not sure it’s capitalism to blame.

On Health Insurance Reform: “The politicians’ consensus is that health care reform shouldn’t alter or disrupt the way the majority of Americans get their insurance today…. The policy consensus, though, is that the status quo is actually the problem and that it deserves to be threatened, undermined and replaced as expeditiously as possible.” Further, it turns out that when real people are forced to hold their noses and select coverage, they choose the plan that costs the least every paycheck and still pray they don’t get sick because the coverage sucks. I concede that means I was wrong about where cash-pay clinics are headed; we’re gonna need more, not less.

How about Lowering the Danger, then?: Pentagon wants to cut danger pay.

On the Millenials: Matt Bors. Thank heaven we have a better name for them than “Generation Y”.

Miscellany: Banks, Choirs, Sinners, Poor Little Pageant Queen, Cats, Planes, and freakin hipsters.

 

Same Love, or SCOTUS revisited

Exactly 10 years ago today, the second post ever on ShortWoman.com was about the Supreme Court. On that auspicious occasion, they struck down a Texas law on “deviant” (read, GAY) sex.

Now here we are a decade later, and the Supremes have struck down the Defense of Marriage Act. Now the Federal government is allowed to recognize same-sex marriages, and theoretically states can craft their own legislation allowing those marriages. In the words of one expert, “Today’s Supreme Court rulings will ensure that the debate about marriage continues.”

Not everyone is as happy as these people. Justice Scalia seemed to think it was overturning the will of the democratic process (and never mind what he did the other day). Some are calling this an “abomination.” They are of course ignoring that the same source calls cotton-poly blends and bacon “abominations.” Let them remove the plank from their own eye before removing the speck from another’s eye. I’l take them seriously after they clean out their closets and start eating kosher.

Don’t want a same-sex marriage? Don’t have one. Otherwise, mind your own damn business.

So, seeing as I missed Music Monday, here’s an appropriate track:

 

In Closing: Looks like the Duhpartment of Research has been hard at work; perspective; submarines; more NSA stuff; 15,000 square feet and only 2 bedrooms?; what?; top US landmarks; and Wendy! If I had stayed in Fort Worth, I might have had the chance to vote for her.

Too Late

Great. Swell news. Twinkies will theoretically be back on the shelves next month.

Whatever, nobody cares anymore.

Go ahead. Visit a grocery store or a quickie mart. That shelf that used to have Hostess products is full of knock-off baked goods: Little Debbie; TastyKake, Mrs. Freshly’s; Bimbo Bakeries; even Krispy Kreme. Some of it even tastes better than what it replaced. That space is gone, taken over probably forever. That means no more room for Twinkies.

Stick a fork in Twinkie the Kid, he’s done.

In Closing: Paula Deen; a couple items on climate change; malicious prosecution; and falling wages.

Would You Shorties

What is Problem?: Putin sees no problems whatsoever with Prism.

Interesting Statistic: Young children with guns have killed more people than terrorism in the United States this year. Maybe we need a law prohibiting little kids from owning guns… um, yeah never mind.

Wake Up Call: Boomers, this is the future calling.

He swears he doesn’t know where his son could possibly have learned such language: Sure Dr. Heck. Stick with that story.

A Few Items Buried in the Immigration “Reform” Bill: No health benefits (as someone who has heard about multiple reports of tuberculosis in the community in the last 6 months, this strikes me as a recipe for an epidemic); Real ID back from the dead with a side order of a government list of people allowed to work (right, what could possibly go wrong).

A Few Items on Wages, Wage Inequality, and Wealth Inequality: Gatsby Curve; temps; wages for normal people are dropping; and wages vs tuition.

Food Myths: the truth about salt; and 7 other things.

Let me fix that for you, hun: before…

These girls can’t get their ears pierced, they can’t take an Advil at school without parental permission. Yet, they can go into a pharmacy in this Brave New World of women’s equality and — quote — reproductive health and get a morning after pill.

Corrected…

These girls can’t get their ears pierced without a parent’s consent, they can’t take an Advil at school without parental permission without risking expulsion under zero tolerance policies. Yet, they can go into a pharmacy in this Brave New World of women’s equality and — quote — reproductive health and get a morning after pill that will keep them from having a baby they can’t take care of and that their body isn’t really mature enough to give birth to.

It’s not a boon for pedophiles. It’s a boon for girls who are mature enough to realize that babies having babies is a bad idea. And yeah, I think maybe schools ought to revisit policies for high schoolers on OTC meds such as Advil and Maalox. But that’s another issue.

Ides of March

Pi Day is over. Today is the anniversary of the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC.  To the best of my knowledge, Caesars Palace is not planning any memorial events. A friend has suggested not celebrating with a salad.

In Closing: three political cartoons (render unto Caesar, eh?); oops, turns out the samples from Lake Vostok were contaminated; Yay! Vegas is not number one!; on the interpretation of study data; grumble; double a small number is still pretty small; wow; comfortable workers work harder (attention, Yahoo); hard to save anything when there’s nothing left; totally bombed; cord cutting; when there is no market, market forces don’t act.