A fair question

John Fetterman just asked the Silicon Valley Bank CEO if there should be work requirements for CEOs who crash banks and dear reader, I almost fell out of my chair.

— Adam Jentleson (@AJentleson) May 16, 2023

Republicans = Nazis

Peace,

emaycee

 

National Fucked Up League

Two men who show us every day what courage really means

While most folks are familiar with Colin Kaepernick, not nearly as many are familiar with Eric Reid.  Reid was Kaepernick's teammate on the San Francisco 49ers, and was among the first to join him in taking a knee to protest police brutality and systemic oppression of African-Americans in the United States.  After his contract with the 49ers ran out after last season, Reid was unable to secure another until reaching agreement with the Carolina Panthers four games into this season.  Rather than take the easy route and temper his protest, Reid has continued to take a knee and speak out quite eloquently about inequality in America.

For his troubles, Reid has found himself drug tested five times in the six weeks he's been back in the NFL--note that the drug tests in the NFL are random, and the odds of any player being tested five times in six weeks is less than 1/2 percent.  Can you say "harassment" boys and girls?

It's too bad ESPN has become the TMZ of sports journalism because this seems like quite a coincidence to me.

Anyway, the next time you see the NFL and their television network cohorts doing one of their support the troops spectacles, remember that the only troops they truly care about are the white ones.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Tennessee dud

Congratulation to the state of Tennessee and its republican leadership, which has joined Florida and its republican leadership (positive rate 2%) and Utah and its republican leadership (.2%) in pissing away taxpayer dollars to drug test welfare receipients and only finding a whopping .2 percent who tested positive for illegal drugs.

Apparently republicans have no problem with our tax dollars being flushed down the toilet as long as it's being done to appease the Tea Party.

Peace,
emaycee

Governor Gutless caves again

Kudos to our own Governor Rick Snyder for caving once again to the far right fringe here in Michigan and signing a bill which will convene a yearlong test program in three counties to perform drug tests on those who are receiving welfare benefits.  As the link notes, drug testing the poor has proven a colossal failure in Utah, Tennessee, and Florida--but far be it from Governor Gutless to actually do the right thing instead of kiss Tea Party asses as he wastes more and more  precious Michigan taxpayer dollars.

Actually, I'm anxiously awaiting Governor Snyder's signature on a bill that will require his corporate cronies to be drug tested for the corporate welfare they receive from Michigan's fine citizens.  There's actually a chance he'll catch more than he will of the poor--at least his corporate benefactors can afford them.

Peace,
emaycee

Now I got a job, but it don't pay

With their record on job creation about as sterling as a charcoal briquet, republicans are turning to their age old bullshit:  there's plenty of jobs out there, but no one can pass a drug test and those lavish unemployment benefits are keeping people from taking a job.  Why, they're saying, all sorts of businesses are having these problems.  Setting aside the facts that a) drugs cost money, and b) unemployment benefits are finite, here is a lesson in employment economics:

I have a "friend" who has been unemployed for some time now.  Said friend has never used drugs (doesn't drink, either) and unemployment benefits ended a couple of years ago.  My friend has given up on finding a full-time job (wise decision, they're just not offering those jobs anymore) and decided to look into a part-time position with several nearby retailers (all of which are nationally known).  My friend found that the only jobs available average fifteen to twenty hours a week, and that an open availability was required.  My friend has one child and a spouse who works in retail, as well.  The numbers for one week:

           Michigan minimum wage ($7.40) x 20 hours:          $148.00
           Taxes (conservatively @ 20%):                             -$29.60      
           Gas expense (again conservatively):                        -$15.00
           Child care expense (10 hours at $5 an hour):          -$50.00
           Net pay:                                                                  $53.40

Keep in mind that I figured my friend could get some hours when the child was at school/the spouse wasn't scheduled.  If that didn't happen, my friend would fucking lose money if you add the half-hour travel time per scheduled day.  As is, this comes to roughly $2600 a year--and for that my friend has to work nights, weekends, holidays, swallow customers bullshit, swallow management's bullshit, entrust the child's care to strangers, and receive zero benefits..all for what is effectively $2.50 an hour. It's often said that part-time minimum wage jobs are good for students, but if our national merchants had to run their stores with nothing other than students working for spending money they'd be out of business in a few weeks.  Frankly, these comapnies are run by people like my friend, but absent a living wage, it's easy to see why so many of them are saying fuck you and staying home.

One of the great early lessons my parents taught me and my siblings was that in this world, you get what you pay for.  I'm not the slightest bit surprised that many businesses are having trouble finding candidates to fill all their open positions--when you pay next to nothing, you get next to nothing.

My hunch is that the ignorant mavens who run our businesses don't care either.  They'll just make everybody who is working for them work harder to make up for the lack of help.

After all, masters can do that with slaves.

Peace,
emaycee

Reason #1258

Although we've seen it so often before (austerity measures which have actually made the deficit worse, being against unemployment and SNAP benefits even though they offer the greatest return on our tax dollars of any expenditure, refusing Medicaid as part of Obamacare on principle rather than as a matter of economics and costing their states even more money, hell, even supporting the right to continue using old-fashioned light bulbs even though they use much more energy and don't last nearly as long) the credibility republicans have on fiscal responsibility is about that of Charles Manson claiming he believes in the Golden Rule.

Another case in point:  the state of Utah has spent $30,000 since they passed a welfare reform law last year requiring welfare applicants to undergo drug testing and have caught...wait for it, wait for it...12 fucking people.

I know it's a republican wet dream that every welfare recipient is a crack-addicted mother with eleven kids, but the plain truth of the matter is that the vast majority of welfare recipients are just ordinary folks, and if they can't afford to buy food for their kids, they certainly can't afford to buy dope.

If the republicans really wanted to protect our tax dollars they'd shut the fuck up and go home.

Peace,
emaycee