Posts by MeanMrMustard

105

Another School Shooting: The Gun Violence/Mental Illness Debate Continues

by jp1692 in

in the aftermath of the valentine's day school shooting in florida, i have read quite a number of articles, blogs and posts about the event.

it is disturbing--and i think inexcusable--that many people take the opportunity to use horrible tragedies such as this to push their own particular agenda.. in particularly insensitive and tone-deaf tweet, conservative political commentator tomi lahren wrote: "can the left let the families grieve for even 24 hours before they push their anti-gun and anti-gunowner agenda?

my goodness.

MeanMrMustard

the call for gun control is NOT intrinsically "anti-gun" or an "anti-gunowner" agenda. It just isn't. Get over it.

These debates go off the rails because of lack of clear meaning. If by “gun control” you mean “keeping guns out of the hands of people who would like to shoot up schools or movie theatres, etc.”, then everyone is on board. Period. Everyone wants this.

But that is the easy part. Now, how should we do that? The argument gets heated. And always for the same damn reasons. Someone throws out “gun control”. Then someone else says, “ok well, what do you mean by that?” Now what follows is usually an unclear definition, or something that would equate to a ban. So the argument goes on and on.

Even talking about “mental illness” and guns - which everyone agrees is a bad mix - we should really define what we mean by “mental illness”. Who gets to decide? How? What process?

These are not obfuscating questions. They are real questions, especially for those who want another law. Law runs on specific language with specific meaning.

So how about this. What gun control law would you propose? Write it out below. Just say it. And if someone asks, “what do you mean by <insert term here>”, don’t take it as being in favor of kids getting shot up.

48

Trump and the MEMO

by ducatijoe in

those of us here wasting our time trying to show who trump really is .... it's like trying to reason with all those still in the organization.

they have found a new person to fill their heads with lies and control they way they think.

in many ways this ts amazing to me.. i am out of the wbts and free.

MeanMrMustard

@ducatijoe: You’re welcome.

48

Trump and the MEMO

by ducatijoe in

those of us here wasting our time trying to show who trump really is .... it's like trying to reason with all those still in the organization.

they have found a new person to fill their heads with lies and control they way they think.

in many ways this ts amazing to me.. i am out of the wbts and free.

MeanMrMustard

@ducatijoe: I fixed it for you (not counting stuff like you’re vs your):

Those of us here wasting our time trying to reason with people who hate Trump .... it's like trying to reason with all those still in the Organization.

They have found dishonest news outlets to fill their heads with lies and control they way they think. In many ways this ts amazing to me.

I am out of the WBTS and free. No one will ever tell me how to think.

And ducatijoe, For you sake Of tryin to invalidate the election of this man ..... I hope YOU are armed.... I am.

If you are not.... your fucked

53

Which is better minimum wage or minimum income?

by hoser in

jw
friends

we were having this discussion in the office the other day and we came to the conclusion minimum wage is better because it still adds to the economy vs minimum income which someone could potentially stay at home and do nothing and still get paid without producing a thing for the greater economy.. thoughts?.

MeanMrMustard

@hoser:

I agree a combination of things is likely to happen. Prices could adjust up, or employment can adjust down, or both. In most minimum wage hikes, I think it’s some combination.

But the point of proposing a massive hike, to say $1,000,000/hr, is to force those in favor of a minimum wage to acknowledge the effects beneath the surface. It is not the case that law makers establish or raise a minimum wage, and the only thing effects are wonderful.

If you require a minimum wage of $1,000,000/hr, and the business didn’t shutter its doors immediately, then prices would have to go up. Firing all the employees and retaining just one wouldn’t cover the losses. If all employees are retained, then prices would have to rise even more. Of course, if automation can help, that might come into play over time too. Employment would fall from it. But it wouldn’t be cheap. After all, some entrepreneur would have front the capital, the risk, and employee people at the higher rate too. So even simple machines would cost millions.

Not to mention input costs along the supply chain of everything, just for raw materials.

At this point, the superficial boon from the minimum wage vanishes. The poor have millions of dollars, but are still poor.

These effects are still there, but to a lesser extent, with small hikes. With small hikes, employers do the math and might think: “Well, if I have to pay $15/hr then I would rather take the college student then the uneducated guy just out of high school...” So over time the demographics of employees shift, and prices might go up a little. The port have to pay the higher prices, but with less jobs.

It is just a mess.

9

computer question

by Jerryh in

i have the 2015 watchtower library working fine and have started to enter some book marks.. i have the library program on a flash drive to pass around to some other folks so they can show .

witnesses at their door what they are supposed to believe.

getting the book marks transferred is .

MeanMrMustard

Note: you can transfer them to another user by copying the files into another users profile space under the WT folder. However, you probably can’t force the WT to read the bookmarks from a flash drive.

9

computer question

by Jerryh in

i have the 2015 watchtower library working fine and have started to enter some book marks.. i have the library program on a flash drive to pass around to some other folks so they can show .

witnesses at their door what they are supposed to believe.

getting the book marks transferred is .

MeanMrMustard

Notice the path. It is in your profile space. In other words, the WT library uses the space set aside for application settings specific to the user. You seem to have a roaming profile - are you running it at work?

In any case, you are out of luck in this regard. The WT has programmed it to specifically use this space.

4

My big fat fabulous life....

by silentbuddha in

seriously, is this what society has come too?

how can there be a problem in this country with morbid obesity and you promote it on a tv show?.

maybe i just don't get it, but i was in a doctor's office and it was on the tv and i literally wanted to hit this woman in the face with a shoe.

MeanMrMustard

Yeah, well ... have you seen the “little wives” series. Good effing lord. IQ of about 15 shared among them. There are several versions now. And then all the teen mom shows. Gigantic cultural rot.

53

Which is better minimum wage or minimum income?

by hoser in

jw
friends

we were having this discussion in the office the other day and we came to the conclusion minimum wage is better because it still adds to the economy vs minimum income which someone could potentially stay at home and do nothing and still get paid without producing a thing for the greater economy.. thoughts?.

MeanMrMustard

I don't think people actually understand how market forces work and how trying to distort the market inevitably doesn't (but may win votes in the short term).

THIS!

Right now, in the U.S. minimum wage law, there are exemptions for the mentally handicapped. Why? Those are the most vulnerable. Shouldn’t it be in place especially for them? The reason is clear: if you require an employer to pay more than the value of the labor, the employer refrains from hiring. Just like if you set the price of an apple to $100 by law, nobody would buy apples anymore.

But a politician can go to apple growers and give them a load of crap about how much more revenue they would get if only they would vote said politician into office.

Those that vote this way can’t see just a few steps down the chain of causation.

53

Which is better minimum wage or minimum income?

by hoser in

jw
friends

we were having this discussion in the office the other day and we came to the conclusion minimum wage is better because it still adds to the economy vs minimum income which someone could potentially stay at home and do nothing and still get paid without producing a thing for the greater economy.. thoughts?.

MeanMrMustard

@sparky1:

I agree with all your numbered points, except 1 & 5.

Concerning #1: If you give everyone a basic minimum income, what do you think will happen to prices?

Concerning #5: To supply any product, you have productions costs. There are entire supply chains, with consumption along the way. Production will increase in cost, what do you think will then happen to prices?

53

Which is better minimum wage or minimum income?

by hoser in

jw
friends

we were having this discussion in the office the other day and we came to the conclusion minimum wage is better because it still adds to the economy vs minimum income which someone could potentially stay at home and do nothing and still get paid without producing a thing for the greater economy.. thoughts?.

MeanMrMustard

Minimum wage does serve a purpose, which is to protect the folks that are the least skilled and have the least options.

It does the exact opposite. It causes unemployment. It literally reduces options to nothing for many unskilled laborers. Well, unless you count welfare... it makes that option very compelling.

If it was not for minimum wage, employers would off jobs at $3 dollars an hour, and the folks who have no other option would have to take them.

So? If that is what your labor is worth, then you need to take it and learn more skills. Find anything you can and take it, or else you will never get anywhere.

If your labor is worth more than $3, then employers won’t be able to get away with offering that to you. Your labor is valuable and you will be bid away by competitors, and through that mechanism, your wages will rise to meet their value.