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XR4ticlone

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Everything posted by XR4ticlone

  1. I forgot to add last time....I agree that distracted driving is also a major issue. The problem is how do you determine 'radio fiddling'? Or putting on makeup? From just random fuck up? Was looking the other way? Or whatever? But yes, I see it, I get it, and I know that too many people are out there living their lives while going down the road when they should be driving. It turned out this was the case I was on panel for. Double Manslaughter She plead guilty to two counts intoxicated manslaughter, two counts intoxicated assault with deadly for the other two in the car. She wanted jury sentencing...I think she or family had hopes of her age, first offense, and other things (I'm 95% sure she has a young kid from another article) that she'd get little or no time. When we came back from lunch they told us there was more work to be done before going ahead on the legal side. I'm pretty sure her attorneys told her that the State's offer of (I don't know jail time offered) was a good deal. Then after the prosecution questioned the panel I think it was clear that her fantasy wasn't a reality. I won't lie, I helped shine some reality on that panel. A. I didn't want to spend 5 days there. B. I was never getting selected anyway being a big ass German. C. I figured I could ensure my departure and do more to get justice by grandstanding that morning than I'd ever get done trying to get on it. So I made every statement, argument, and case of how asinine and offensive it even was to have probation as an option. And look...I fuck up too. I'm no where near perfect. But I 'eat' my fuck ups. That's how I roll. The idea that you kill two people and walk with probation? That's not even putting on the napkin. You'll never be able to eat that elephant...but you should spend at least 15-60 years working at it.
  2. It's not so much that they were over charging...they were charging to cover their insane building leases / purchase costs, air conditioning showrooms, & employee overhead. I heard podcast of a comedian talking about cutting out their booking agent now that they're big enough to draw their own crowds to fill an auditorium. They talked about getting 'ripped off' by all the fees and charges their booker would charge. They're not wrong...BUT when (it was Bert Kriesher) and others were unknown talent, just starting out, the same bookers were getting them gigs & promoting them. You kill the easy money for big names and there is no one to help book and start careers. Point being the 'fat money' in one thing pays for the other stuff. As the internet makes the world smaller and cheaper...it's harder and harder to make money.
  3. No. First offense a week in jail. Second offense a month in jail. Third offense...if we catch you driving a car drunk we're pulling your ass out and shooting you on the spot. And yea, I get it. It's there because most of our legislatures are alcoholics & probably did or do drive drunk. I understand alcoholism all too well as it's in my family. Yes, I have uncles and a cousin or two that probably drunk drove home 80% of their lives. They should have been arrested, but in small town Iowa it was let go as they were 5-10 blocks from home. Thankfully they never killed anyone & no we never hid our frustration with them for doing it. If you want to go get drunk or high...or whatever. Fine. Go with God. But you put other people's lives in danger...then fuck you, pay the price. I'm a hard ass on this...I know it. I don't really care what you think...if this causes you to feel guilt or change your behavior. GOOD. No, actually.... GREAT! I pray you do before you kill someone.
  4. As long as people don't have to accept any responsibility for their irresponsible behavior...then it's not going to change. Giving them probation for it...isn't changing shit. : ( A tire blows out on a truck after hitting something that was on the road and kills a family. We got 55 'lawyers' on tv ready and willing to bankrupt the company that owns the truck. That's an accident. Getting fucking clobbered and then getting behind the wheel...that's NOT an accident. It's irresponsible...and probation should never be an option.
  5. I just got done doing a jury panel...the option for intoxicated manslaughter...probation to 20 years per count. Probation??? Are you fucking kidding me? How is that even an option? I understand that's State of Texas. And there might well be over sentencing for some things...but that was a rude awakening for me as a tax payer.
  6. Unless a gun company dumps the NRA....this is going to be the 'high water mark' for stupid. The best part is they waited...found out that in the Hogg vs Ingram debate Americans told Hogg & his ilk to GFT by upping her ratings 20%. Then after seeing that YETI still decided to jump on the bandwagon. The right doesn't make a huge deal about things...they don't turn up to march or whatever. They just fuck up or reward your financials. IE Target vs Chick-fil-a. I you or anyone you care about are depending on Yeti money from a job or sales...you're going to want to get a resume out. Things are about to get really fucking tough over there.
  7. That bull hates Mexicans...or underwear...possibly both.
  8. Wow...no one expects uppity 'red dot' Indians! This might restrict his MD options...it's gonna be hard to get in to a good Gyno program with that in your google search.
  9. Iowa's still more liberal than what you're painting. King is in the NW corner which is very conservative Dutch. But Branstedt and Earnst are more the results of Dems running just abysmal candidates. I don't care for Brandstedt...but the Dem Gov & candidates since his first election to Iowa Gov are a non stop dumpster fire of out of touch, morons with no personality or ability. One of the last elected Gov on the Dem side, Culver I think (I was gone for his reign) has been helplessly mucking around from one failed job to another since loosing his re-election. Even the YMCA fired him in less than 3 months. I wouldn't be shocked if he's an assistant manager at a Jiffy Lube before it's over. Grassley is solid...or has been IMHO. My SIL came out of UNI a rabid Democrat after graduation. Republicans were evil and wanted kids to be uneducated & starve. Her wake up call was when they tried to get her to join the union and the worst, laziest teachers were the union leadership who sat down in the teachers lounge bitching about the kids as they drank coffee & smoked. We've talked about it and she's told me that it was an endless Republican bashing during her time at UNI (she graduated in 98?) from almost every professor she had. Of course 85% + of college professors are admitted Democrats...but if you'd like to argue that colleges are not liberal bastions...by all means waste your time. (I know that's because they're smart...you have to be a moron to be a conservative. And with socialism's stunning historical successes who can argue?). I agree, I'd love to see the Gov out of farming...hell out of everything quite frankly. But like everything else they touch & subsequently fuck up...getting out would be disastrous (I'd still be ok with it) because they've created such a false economy for land prices, equipment prices, rent, seed & fertilizer prices...and on and on, that when they left it'd devastate current farmers and land owners. Same as the Gov has done with their educational spending and GSL's when it comes to college prices. FTR...if the Gov got out of farming I'd go back and farm. There would be money in it. OPM will be squandered. Guaranteed. 100% of the time. Limitless OPM even more so. Hiding behind the shield of Gov bureaucratic unaccountably...there is seemingly endless waste.
  10. Much of the control has moved to State & Federal levels. It's not...but for a lot of reasons. 1. The people in N Iowa have changed. There are very few small farmers like my folks left, almost none with kids school age. Most of my peers don't live in N Iowa...hardly any remain. We were all told there was no future in AG and to get an education and move somewhere to get better jobs. The people left or that have moved in don't hold those same values. 2. Iowa does have tenure. When we moved back for two years when our kids were in 1st-4th grades we had 2 of the 4 teachers who were very poor teachers, and had been for years as it turned out. But they were tenured in and there was nothing the district could do about it. It's part of the reason we left to come back to Texas as there were not other better options for education in the area any more. I think a lot of the people up there assume the education levels are the same...but they're not. Testing shows that. Iowa was always one or two in the nation in basic skills testing...it isn't like that any more. The University of Northern Iowa has been a teachers college for years, they've went hard core PC / Leftist as well and it's showing in the teachers they're turning out. We, as a society, are lowering our standards. You can argue it all you'd like, but that's what is happening. It's part of the reason the wealth gap is growing. You have people still holding those standards and values...and those not. Just like in manufacturing...you cannot buy sub quality parts, use sub quality production methods and still build the same quality product. I don't care if you're building the same identical plans...the two products are going to have a wide variance in quality. I'm not saying people are sub quality...but each generation that is raised with lower standards turns out the next generation that has lower standards, the job of building them up is tougher. I see it in my own family. I've got a couple cousins that had every opportunity in the world, their parents were not involved in their lives and it turned out badly. Their kids are even bigger disasters, I don't even want to think what their kids will be like by the time they're 20. The one took their kids on a cruise (no idea how they paid for it) the 3rd week of school...and then decided that it didn't make sense to send the kids for the first two weeks of school since they'd miss the 3rd. Ironically they had my SIL as one of their teachers. And yes, that's a parents issue. But I'd argue that we've failed as schools to end up at this point as well. The whole point of throwing all this money at education is to teach up those types of kids. We're not doing that...and most of it is because we're not teaching values and standards any more. The reality is that whatever you allow, you embrace.
  11. I guess that's why we DON'T have a democracy. We have a Republic. I'm 46 and went to public school in a very German part of Northern Iowa. We had slightly higher than normal taxes there and an excellent school system. My dad was on school board for 12 years during that time. Of the 24 of us in my class 22 have 4 year college degrees or greater. But at that point in time schools were basically controlled by the local community. Even then, Iowa gave parents the right to open enroll to another school system if that was their choice. No one wants to address the real problems with schools. We have a very outdated, top down, inefficient methods of teaching. We're not spending enough time on critical thinking, reading, writing, math, and science. And yes, we've turned the schools into big social experiments. I have zero faith that Gov can fix schools. Common Core from all I've read and seen is really being driven by the book companies and testing companies. So this 'XR wants to turn over education to greedy corporations!' is pretty fucking laughable. That whole thing pisses me off more than you can imagine. But once again we see that Big Gov doesn't limit Corp greed or corruption...it ENABLES it! Look...I've got a choice for my kids. You're not fucking me. You are however fucking the poorest among us who can't pay for private schools, can't afford to move to a better district, and can't afford the time or money (loss) to home school. Yes. I want to turn it over to the parents. Let them pick a school that meets their expectations, fits their child's needs, and has to earn their continued business. Regardless of your party affiliation...there are endless assholes, crooks, and liars that will fuck up everything they touch....including education. Unless you have choices.
  12. So the correct answer is...throw endless money at it? I agree that the system is too big and too unaccountable for success. That's why it has no business being Gov run. Because nothing is bigger or more unaccountable than Gov.
  13. Except in 1960 only 6% of women got college degrees. Today it's over 1/3. Men 10% vs 1/3. There are a lot more college grads to pick from. Unless you want to tell me that the educational system is broken and 1960's college grads are much better than college grads of today? Finally...when I look at what's going on at most college campus' today it's clear were not teaching fundamentals unless it's fundamental Marxism. I'm not rewarding that. It's time to give choice back to people. I'm willing to pay for education...not indoctrination or failure. I want BETTER CHOICES for poor people. I've got options. It's costing me $15k a year on top of my taxes to do it...but I can do it. Poor people can't afford to move out of failing school systems...and they can't afford private schools. A report released Tuesday by an educational advocacy group founded by retired general and former Bush administration Secretary of State Colin Powell finds that almost half of all public high school students in the US’ fifty largest cities fail to graduate. System is Broken I don't believe Gov fixes anything. And it's always easy to say raise taxes...because everyone thinks it'll just be raising taxes on other people that are 'rich' or businesses. Another product of shitty educational system that's not taught economics, finance, or common sense in a long time. Taxes are already too damn high. Performance of the Gov is already too damn low. It's time for accountability for our tax money...I know I'm not the only one that thinks it. The problem is fighting the perception that you're anti-kid if you don't want teachers paid is more...or more money spent on schools. We've spent the money...it's not being utilized correctly. We're still running an education system that's the same as 1960's in 2018. It's BROKEN...it's OBSOLETE...it's FAILING...and the NEA & Teachers Unions are fighting fixing it. Worst of all they're using our tax dollars to do it. If schools were a private business we'd be up in arms about their performance and the monopoly they have...rightfully so! FINALLY....I don't think this is all the teachers fault. There are tons of great teachers out there. My MIL, SIL, and several good friends are teachers and I have no doubt they're doing all they can to turn out the best possible results. But even they'll tell you how broken the system is from within...from putting kids in classrooms that have no business in there...to all the bureaucratic bs that keeps them from helping kids.
  14. No...I get it. But lets be honest...our education system is broken. The results speak for themselves. And real honestly my beef isn't with the average teacher...it's with the system that's broken and producing high cost, low quality results. Throwing more money at it isn't going to change anything. Should teachers get more of the money currently allotted to schools? Yep.
  15. The average college graduate will not see a pension. They will not retire at 55 or whatever. They will not have summers and 4 weeks Christmas vacations. They will not have tenure as many teachers do. I'll tell you what I told my cousin when she was in college. They only pay for your time or your knowledge. And frankly unless you're in a really specialized field where few have your knowledge & lots of people need it...they're probably wanting both.
  16. First off, you spelled "reality" wrong. I just read the post from the teacher, I didn't see it as I responded to the post that replayed to me. Yes, Texas doesn't have tenure but many states do. My MIL is a retired Texas teacher, and it was a good living for her and the family. Teaching contracts in Texas...still not a slavery contracts. HC is eating everyone's lunch. We paid $1800 a month out of pocket for almost a year...now we are only paying $1200 through my wife's work. That's not Texas' fault...blame our dip shits in DC for Obamacare. I've been in sales my whole life. It's had plenty of highs...but also no shortage of lows. I've changed jobs and industries several times along the way and lived 5 different states along the way. It's been my choice. When my last employer changed their pay plan, I left and started my own business. It's supply and demand. As a tax payer who also pays for private schools for my kids...I not willing to pay more. Sorry...not sorry.
  17. Reading some of the posts...it appears you're over confident in the lack of need.
  18. The $55k average for college graduates is ALL college graduates...regardless of experience level. Yes, there are some college educated professionals that make big money. But there are also many more that don't ever reach those levels. For example, it took my wife 8-10 years before she earned more than a teacher out of college. She, ironically has gotten her teaching license, but is now in HR and makes better money doing that. The other thing that is left out is that becoming a teacher is NOT a slavery contract. They are all free to leave at any point and pursue other opportunities. And yes, it's what they love. I've got a lot of jobs that I loved that I no longer do because they didn't provide the income I needed to live. It's called LIFE...it's a bitch.
  19. I've been seeing a lot about teacher pay lately, so I did some research. The Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2013 said the average college graduate made $55,432. The Texas Classroom Teachers Association says that in 2013 the average US teacher made $56,383. 🤔 That would appear to be higher than the average college graduate. NY teachers were at $75,000 a year & South Dakota was at a low of $39,500, but I would (I'm sure correctly) assume that the same type of pattern holds for non teacher pay in those states as well. One thing that isn't taken into consideration...for those college educated people working outside of Gov and education, there is no early retirement or pension plan. IF teachers want more money...then they've got to also step up and give up guaranteed employment. I'm not paying top wages for teachers that suck just because you've achieved 2 years of tenure. That said, both our kids are in private school. Because not matter what your thoughts on teachers pay, our education system sucks.
  20. The problem is the US Gov is in bed and relies on FB, Google, and countless other tech giants to spy on us. It's hard for them to do much to reign in tech companies when they can turn around and say 'hey...isn't the NSA and other agencies using our IT tools? Aren't we a major source of your data collection? Aren't we partners in a lot of these ventures? I'm also pretty sure you bought some of that data from us last election cycle...right?' I had this conversation with a customer Friday. Every electronic piece of data is basically an open liability...regardless of where its located. If you use Yahoo mail or Gmail or whatever, bet the farm it's been scanned for information. As much as FB is a bunch of pricks...Google is IMHO 1000x's more ruthless and scary. All the people thinking about the information they put on FB don't really consider all the info in their Gmail, Android devices, or Google searches. Google's interaction with the US Gov is much larger than FB's...I don't think anyone fully knows how deep Google's relationship runs with the Feds. Clearly don't forget Apple & Microsoft as well...I'm sure they've got plenty of dirt on us as well. I'm pretty sure the reason no one is coming down too hard on all these data losses is because their being committed with the NSA's tool kit they've admittedly lost. I used to tell customers that nothing is impossible with time and money. That's something the NSA & Fed Gov have in spades.
  21. It's NOT race.... It's CULTURE... My son's were adopted from Southern Russia...the Caucasus Mountains region. These are literally the whitest mother fuckers on the planet. I wouldn't want 1.5 million, 150,000, 15,000, or even 1500 of them mass immigrating to the US because their culture is a disaster. A society without shared values is headed towards ruin. A society where many of the people have no vested interest in it is also doomed. If America financially bankrupted & and it was no longer beneficial for them to be here vs their country of origin...how many of our 20 million uninvited guests would stay?
  22. I'm fine not funding those either. I'm in construction and there are no shortage of asinine, never needed, projects there...most funded with Fed grants. If there is value in it, it should be paid for at the State & local level. There will never be more OPM than what other people can piss away. It's how we got $21 Trillion in debt.
  23. Frankly I wish all of them would be like that. When the Gov spends money it's usually a complete waste. And any private 'project' that needs millions, much less billions of Fed money shouldn't happen. It's not an example of what's wrong with Cruz...it's what's wrong with our Fed Gov.
  24. I think the Dems should dump billions into Beto... He's your Wendi Davis...if Davis had no name recognition or national hype. I've never understood the Cruz hate. In a profession where most are just flat out liars with no rudder, Cruz is pretty damn consistent about who he is and what he'll do. Not perfect...but he bats way above the average in DC. The fact that he's not liked by most of the swamp critters tells me he's doing the Lords work. If I went to DC for 2+ years and spent most of my time with our elected officials, and at the end of that time they didn't hate me...I think I'd shoot myself.
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