steventangent

guantanamo

I'm never one to bitch when records are late from a label or distro - I still remember buying vinyl in the pre-internet days - but it's still amusing to see which labels people will be endlessly forgiving to for lateness and lack of communication, and which ones will be castigated for the exact same things.

guantanamo

guantanamo

I'm so glad I can just listen to whatever the fuck I want and go to whatever shows I feel like and wear whatever I want and not give any fucks whatsoever about anything.

This is why I openly carry a firearm.

I'm so glad I can just listen to whatever the fuck I want and go to whatever shows I feel like and wear whatever I want and not give any fucks whatsoever about anything.

I'm so glad I can just listen to whatever the fuck I want and go to whatever shows I feel like and wear whatever I want and not give any fucks whatsoever about anything.

I'm so glad I can just listen to whatever the fuck I want and go to whatever shows I feel like and wear whatever I want and not give any fucks whatsoever about anything.

RIP VC 2007-2013

I'm so glad I can just listen to whatever the fuck I want and go to whatever shows I feel like and wear whatever I want and not give any fucks whatsoever about anything.

I'm not trying to change your mind on the topic, but some people don't really have much say in the matter. A lot of people are in manual labor jobs because it's the only way they can make ends meet. A lot of them are working for bigger companies for the benefits or because it's the only game in town.
I hate wal mart with a passion, but I can't blame someone for working there if it's the biggest employer in town and they have bills to pay, mouths to feed, have to help their parents pay bills, have to get themselves through college, whatever.
Unions exist in the unskilled labor market because there is a demand. Often times those jobs are employing people that are struggling to get by for whatever reason. "You'll just take the shit we'll give you because you can't afford to say no" is not a good situation. And somebody argued with me on this forum before that those positions suck for a reason and people should be pushed out of them. But my own first hand experiences seeing those jobs and what they do to people tells me it's not always that simple.

Unions are paying a heavy price for the sins of the past. Some of them are still even living there. These days, they're going to have to work harder to engage young workers and not sully the relationships with older workers. It's a hard balance to strike, in any case.
It's easy to paint unions with a broad brush. Some of them worked very hard on the side of civil rights. Still others helped perpetuate racism in a lot of places.
As a balance against abuses from employees, and to advocate for the working class, I think they're a good thing. They are the only organized group for people at the lower end of the economic scale with any real political clout...most other interest groups are in favor of industrial or moral causes. I also believe that assaults on unions we're seeing in a lot of places are almost solely politically motivated, by the same people that have a vested interest in discrediting unions as much as possible.
I am in favor of unions, despite the bad, because I see a long term, systematic rolling back of rights for working people in this country. You're seeing all of these places making cuts to worker's comp programs, state OSHA departments, people in the federal government like Eric Cantor coming after overtime again. We're already a nation that has relatively few paid government holidays, relatively little sick time and vacation time, and count your lucky fuckin' stars if you just had a baby and you have any benefit above and beyond FMLA protection.
Maybe these kind of attacks on workers are what is going to make unions relevant again - if at all. I don't want to talk about the merits of what's happening in the fast food industry, but one thing you can't argue is that the sentiment and the frustration felt by those workers that chose to strike are valid.

Unions are paying a heavy price for the sins of the past. Some of them are still even living there. These days, they're going to have to work harder to engage young workers and not sully the relationships with older workers. It's a hard balance to strike, in any case.
It's easy to paint unions with a broad brush. Some of them worked very hard on the side of civil rights. Still others helped perpetuate racism in a lot of places.
As a balance against abuses from employees, and to advocate for the working class, I think they're a good thing. They are the only organized group for people at the lower end of the economic scale with any real political clout...most other interest groups are in favor of industrial or moral causes. I also believe that assaults on unions we're seeing in a lot of places are almost solely politically motivated, by the same people that have a vested interest in discrediting unions as much as possible.
I am in favor of unions, despite the bad, because I see a long term, systematic rolling back of rights for working people in this country. You're seeing all of these places making cuts to worker's comp programs, state OSHA departments, people in the federal government like Eric Cantor coming after overtime again. We're already a nation that has relatively few paid government holidays, relatively little sick time and vacation time, and count your lucky fuckin' stars if you just had a baby and you have any benefit above and beyond FMLA protection.
Maybe these kind of attacks on workers are what is going to make unions relevant again - if at all. I don't want to talk about the merits of what's happening in the fast food industry, but one thing you can't argue is that the sentiment and the frustration felt by those workers that chose to strike are valid.

That would be nice. I think, in particular, when you deal with corporations, they don't operate with a conscience. The work to serve investors. People are just line items to a lot of them. Even if you find someone in middle management that sees the value in treating people fairly, they're in this system where "policy" dictates what they can actually do. And the groupthink doesn't allow for it anyway. Nobody has to take responsibility for how the peons are treated.

I recently discovered that My Name Is Earl is a good show to sit back and shut my brain off to after work.

ps. are you SURE you're not a troll?

I recently discovered that My Name Is Earl is a good show to sit back and shut my brain off to after work.

I've found myself thinking about how much people hate Skyler, and how weird that is.
Tonight I saw this:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/24/opinion/i-have-a-character-issue.html
And I think it's really fucked up that people can't wrap their minds around the idea that Anna Gunn is a person playing a character. A character written by the same people who write the other characters that they like.

Spoiler alert (through episode 9...also some plausible speculation about the next 7 episodes)
http://www.buzzfeed.com/robinedds/breaking-bad-easter-eggs-that-will-blow-your-mind

Time for some Michigan lefts up in here.

I've never had that job, I'd never want that job, and I wouldn't be so callous as to presume I know what a fast food worker should be paid.
"What the market will bear" sounds good, but on the other hand, 30+ years of rising productivity but suppressing prevailing wages and benefits and labor standards sound pretty terrible as well.
Part time jobs in the junk labor market is a growing segment. They may be an aimless rabble, but I can buy that the frustration is legitimate.

They lost their loudness or...you guys lost your hearing?

Texas, consider yourself messed with.

I've found myself thinking about how much people hate Skyler, and how weird that is.
Tonight I saw this:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/24/opinion/i-have-a-character-issue.html
And I think it's really fucked up that people can't wrap their minds around the idea that Anna Gunn is a person playing a character. A character written by the same people who write the other characters that they like.