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On July 23 2015 13:15 GreenHorizons wrote: I'm not talking about Bernie for a while, but I am curious who people think will win the 9th/10th slots in the Republican debate?
Personally, I think the 9/10 debate slots should go to Kasich and... can't decide between Perry or Santorum. Perry for the brain fart moment factor, and Santorum because even though I hate 100% of his policy, I must admit, he entertained me during the debates last go around: for example, this gem:
Part of me hopes Kasich doesn't make the cut, because I believe he's a huge dark horse who may be the GOPs best chance in the general election.
I can't wait to see Trump destroy guys like Bush and Rubio on the debate stage. Both come across as soft, which is the opposite of what GOP voters like to see in candidates. I've barely seen Walker publicly speak, so idk how he'll fare. Honestly, the only candidates that can handle Trump's bravado are Paul, Christie and Santorum. If I were Christie, I would do my damn best to be placed next to Trump during the debate. I really believe Christie will perform very well in the debate and bump up in the polls, especially with guys like Carson and Huckabee who will never break out of their current plateau.
A panel convened by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) recommended Wednesday that the state set a minimum wage of $15 expressly for New York's fast-food workers, a novel regulatory maneuver that would impact many of the lowest earners in the state.
The proposal approved by the state wage board would raise the minimum wage for fast-food workers in New York City from its current level of $8.75 to $15 by 2018. For fast-food workers in the rest of the state, the minimum wage would rise to $15 by 2021. The wage mandate would only apply to workers at fast-food chains that have at least 30 locations around the country.
If the plan isn't blocked in court by the fast-food industry, it stands to be one the biggest policy victories to date of the union-backed Fight for $15 movement, which is advocating for a $15 minimum wage and unionization of the fast-food sector. The passage of the plan led to raucous applause by labor activists and other supporters present at Wednesday's hearing.
"We did it," Jorel Ware, a member of Fight for $15 and a McDonald's worker from the Bronx, said at a press conference after the hearing. "The Fight for $15 has shown me what's possible when workers stick together."
Of the wage board, Ware added, "I want to thank them for understanding what it's like to live in poverty."
Under pressure from progressives, Cuomo ordered the state's labor commissioner to convene the wage board earlier this year and asked its members to determine an appropriate statewide wage for the fast-food industry. In an op-ed in The New York Times, Cuomo said that the process was meant to reduce income inequality by "lifting up the bottom."
The board's three members included Mike Fishman, secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union, as a representative of labor; Kevin Ryan, founder of the online shopping site Gilt, as a representative of business; and Byron Brown, mayor of Buffalo, as a representative of the general public. The three unanimously approved the $15 measure in a vote on Wednesday, sending it to the labor commissioner for approval.
While I think a $15 minimum wage is likely appropriate for New York City; I have to disapprove of that particular action. Having it restricted only to restaurant workers is rather odd, when the issues of minimum wage are more applicable to NYC in general than to that industry; but even moreso to have it only apply to business that have 30+ locations around the country. That means that it won't apply to the numerous non-chain restaurants, who undoubtedly also have workers who need a living wage. I can find no justification to exempt those smaller restaurants from the need to pay a livable wage to their employees.
On July 23 2015 17:34 zlefin wrote: While I think a $15 minimum wage is likely appropriate for New York City; I have to disapprove of that particular action. Having it restricted only to restaurant workers is rather odd, when the issues of minimum wage are more applicable to NYC in general than to that industry; but even moreso to have it only apply to business that have 30+ locations around the country. That means that it won't apply to the numerous non-chain restaurants, who undoubtedly also have workers who need a living wage. I can find no justification to exempt those smaller restaurants from the need to pay a livable wage to their employees.
Yeah it's a little weird, but it does take some of the wind out of the sails of the fight for $15 in NYC and it will likely provide an opportunity for smaller businesses.
Seems like it's the path of least resistance. If they didn't capitulate at least a little bit soon those signs were going to quickly turn to clubs and pitchforks.
On July 23 2015 17:34 zlefin wrote: While I think a $15 minimum wage is likely appropriate for New York City; I have to disapprove of that particular action. Having it restricted only to restaurant workers is rather odd, when the issues of minimum wage are more applicable to NYC in general than to that industry; but even moreso to have it only apply to business that have 30+ locations around the country. That means that it won't apply to the numerous non-chain restaurants, who undoubtedly also have workers who need a living wage. I can find no justification to exempt those smaller restaurants from the need to pay a livable wage to their employees.
Yeah it's a little weird, but it does take some of the wind out of the sails of the fight for $15 in NYC and it will likely provide an opportunity for smaller businesses.
Seems like it's the path of least resistance. If they didn't capitulate at least a little bit soon those signs were going to quickly turn to clubs and pitchforks.
An opportunity for small business to exploit their workers is not a good thing.
Its still better than all businesses being able to exploit all workers? But i agree, having it only restricted to (pretty big) chains seems very weird.
And what prevents Mc Donalds New York 1 through whatever. Each being a 29 location company and still paying shit?
I hate arbitrary limitations like this. It just makes companies work around them and only screws those to small to work around it but big enough to be effected.
I suspect its not better. Its bad for the rule of law and a fair society to have such discrepancies. It also creates bad economic distortions. Whether the good outweights those bads is unclear. Especially if there's no good reason to make it so selective; the underlying laws are such they could've easily just tried to set a higher general NYC wage, rather than something so unfairly specific.
For everyone who thinks Kasich has anything remotely like clean hands.....Just talk to us Ohio folk
With two-term Ohio Gov. John Kasich joining the crowd of candidates for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, it’s a good time to look at the public education mess that has developed in his state under his leadership.
Kasich has pushed key tenets of corporate school reform:
*expanding charter schools — even though the state’s charter sector is the most troubled in the country *increasing the number of school vouchers that use public money to pay for tuition at private schools, the vast majority of them religious — even though state officials say that fewer than one-third of those available were used by families this past school year
*performance pay for teachers — even though such schemes have been shown over many years not to be useful in education
*evaluating educators by student standardized test scores in math and reading — even though assessment experts have warned that using test scores in this way is not reliable or valid.
Meanwhile, the Ohio Education Department in Kasich’s administration is in turmoil. David Hansen, his administration’s chief for school choice and charter schools resigned over this past weekend after admitting that he had unilaterally withheld failing scores of charter schools in state evaluations of the schools’ sponsor organizations so they wouldn’t look so bad. (Hansen’s wife, incidentally, is Kasich’s chief of staff, who is taking a leave from that post to work on his campaign.) There are growing calls now for the resignation of the Kasich-backed state superintendent of education, Richard Ross.
Under his watch, funding for traditional public schools — which enroll 90 percent of Ohio’s students — declined by some half a billion dollars, while funding for charter schools has increased at least 27 percent, with charters now receiving more public funds from the state per student than traditional public schools, according to the advocacy group Innovation Ohio. This despite the fact that many charters are rated lower than traditional public schools. Meanwhile, local governments have been forced to pass levies to raise millions of dollars in operating money for traditional public schools because of state budget cuts.
If Kasich’s goal for his reform efforts was to close the achievement gap, it hasn’t worked. The achievement gap in Ohio — when calculated by the Kasich-approved assessment method of using student standardized test scores in math and reading — is bigger than the national average, according to a new White House report. According to the report, Ohio has the country’s ninth-largest reading gap between its highest- and lowest-performing schools, as well as the second-largest achievement gap in math, and the fourth largest gap in high school graduation rates.
HELENA, Mont. — A fast-moving wildfire in Glacier National Park torched a car and forced tourists to abandon their rides on the Montana park's most popular roadway, while officials evacuated a hotel and campgrounds during prime tourist season.
Visitors left their vehicles along the Going-to-the-Sun Road and were shuttled out by officials Tuesday, park spokeswoman Denise Germann said. The two-lane road that carries thousands of vehicles daily during peak days in July and August was shut down for 21 of its 50 miles.
Park officials were helping tourists retrieve their cars Wednesday, while rangers searched the backcountry for any remaining hikers after the blaze doubled in size overnight to more than 3 square miles.
Officials also were evacuating a small community at the park's eastern entrance and homes along a lakeshore.
Wind gusts and low humidity were expected to move through drought-parched northwestern Montana, increasing the risk of the fire spreading even more quickly, and park officials were preparing for more evacuations.
"These conditions may create explosive fire growth potential," Germann said in a statement.
That dangerous fire weather extended to Washington state, which is also struggling with drought. About 600 firefighters on the ground and in the air attacked a wildfire that has burned one home and nearly 6 square miles in the southeastern part of the state. It was likely human-caused, officials said.
With two-term Ohio Gov. John Kasich joining the crowd of candidates for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, it’s a good time to look at the public education mess that has developed in his state under his leadership.
Kasich has pushed key tenets of corporate school reform:
*expanding charter schools — even though the state’s charter sector is the most troubled in the country *increasing the number of school vouchers that use public money to pay for tuition at private schools, the vast majority of them religious — even though state officials say that fewer than one-third of those available were used by families this past school year
*performance pay for teachers — even though such schemes have been shown over many years not to be useful in education
*evaluating educators by student standardized test scores in math and reading — even though assessment experts have warned that using test scores in this way is not reliable or valid.
Meanwhile, the Ohio Education Department in Kasich’s administration is in turmoil. David Hansen, his administration’s chief for school choice and charter schools resigned over this past weekend after admitting that he had unilaterally withheld failing scores of charter schools in state evaluations of the schools’ sponsor organizations so they wouldn’t look so bad. (Hansen’s wife, incidentally, is Kasich’s chief of staff, who is taking a leave from that post to work on his campaign.) There are growing calls now for the resignation of the Kasich-backed state superintendent of education, Richard Ross.
Under his watch, funding for traditional public schools — which enroll 90 percent of Ohio’s students — declined by some half a billion dollars, while funding for charter schools has increased at least 27 percent, with charters now receiving more public funds from the state per student than traditional public schools, according to the advocacy group Innovation Ohio. This despite the fact that many charters are rated lower than traditional public schools. Meanwhile, local governments have been forced to pass levies to raise millions of dollars in operating money for traditional public schools because of state budget cuts.
If Kasich’s goal for his reform efforts was to close the achievement gap, it hasn’t worked. The achievement gap in Ohio — when calculated by the Kasich-approved assessment method of using student standardized test scores in math and reading — is bigger than the national average, according to a new White House report. According to the report, Ohio has the country’s ninth-largest reading gap between its highest- and lowest-performing schools, as well as the second-largest achievement gap in math, and the fourth largest gap in high school graduation rates.
Except by ask you mean interpret shitty polling data, and yes, said shitty polling data would agree with you. The same can be said for a multitude of flawed premises.
Two months ahead of his first trip to the U.S., Pope Francis' approval rating among Americans has plummeted, driven mostly by a decline among political conservatives and Roman Catholics, according to a new Gallup poll released Wednesday.
Fifty-nine percent of Americans said this month they had a favorable view of the pope, compared to 76 percent in February 2014, Gallup reported. The share of Americans who disapproved of the pope increased from 9 percent to 16 percent in the same period. The changes were most dramatic among political conservatives, whose opinion of Francis nosedived by 27 percentage points to 45 percent. Among Catholics, Francis' approval dropped by 18 percentage points to 71 percent.
The survey was conducted from July 8 to 12, three weeks after the pope released his bombshell teaching document proclaiming climate change largely product of human activities and excoriating an economic system he said drives global warming and exploits the poor. The survey of more than 1,000 adults had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
When the poll was under way, Francis, the first Latin American pope, was on a homecoming tour through South America that especially unsettled conservatives.
In his July 9 speech in Bolivia — an address that the Rev. Jim Martin, editor at large of the Jesuit magazine America, called Francis' most revolutionary so far — the pope called for radical reform of the global economy and solidarity with the poor, while naming labor, lodging and land as "sacred rights."
Mark Gray, polling director for the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, said the poll reflects that "many American Catholics are more closely affiliated with their political party than their faith."
Several Catholics competing for the Republican presidential nomination have criticized or distanced themselves from the pope over his role in the historic thaw in U.S.-Cuba relations and his insistence that unfettered capitalism has hurt the poorest and most vulnerable.
Catholic conservatives have also expressed discomfort with Francis' style and emphasis. Carl Olson, editor of the conservative Catholic World Report, last week wrote that while he agreed with the pope's criticisms of consumerism and overreliance on technology as a cure for society's ills, Olson also found a "weariness" among some Catholics over the tone of many of Francis' sermons and statements, which Olson described as often "haranguing, harping, exhorting, lecturing" and "grating."
Apparently the Iran hearings have started and opened with a Republican senator explaining EMP weapons to a nuclear physicist and why they are real. I am excited to hear further reports of Republicans trying to see how can be the most pro-war profiteering, I mean security.
On July 24 2015 02:44 Plansix wrote: Apparently the Iran hearings have started and opened with a Republican senator explaining EMP weapons to a nuclear physicist and why they are real. I am excited to hear further reports of Republicans trying to see how can be the most pro-war profiteering, I mean security.
I would love to hear how the existence of EMP weapons has anything to do with the Iran nuclear treaty Oo
On July 24 2015 02:44 Plansix wrote: Apparently the Iran hearings have started and opened with a Republican senator explaining EMP weapons to a nuclear physicist and why they are real. I am excited to hear further reports of Republicans trying to see how can be the most pro-war profiteering, I mean security.
I would love to hear how the existence of EMP weapons has anything to do with the Iran nuclear treaty Oo
You see, if you want to show that your pro security, you think about things like fictional, sci-fi weapons that even we can’t develop because the science is bunk. Then you ask a nuclear physicist if Iran can develop weapons we can’t and how the sanctions would allow them to create these sci-fi weapons.
Apparently is a real clown show. The main thing is the deal is bad, but reasons why the deal is bad are in short order because then people could argue against them. But it’s clearly bad and bad for America. Of course, not having a deal is apparently good, even though no one is willing to take military action again Iran.
And reading up on it, EMP weapons seem to be a favorite boogie man for a lot of Republicans. The terrorist could destroy our Iphones and we have no defense!. Please send R&D funding for anti-EMP weapons to my state.
On July 24 2015 02:44 Plansix wrote: Apparently the Iran hearings have started and opened with a Republican senator explaining EMP weapons to a nuclear physicist and why they are real. I am excited to hear further reports of Republicans trying to see how can be the most pro-war profiteering, I mean security.
I would love to hear how the existence of EMP weapons has anything to do with the Iran nuclear treaty Oo
You see, if you want to show that your pro security, you think about things like fictional, sci-fi weapons that even we can’t develop because the science is bunk. Then you ask a nuclear physicist if Iran can develop weapons we can’t and how the sanctions would allow them to create these sci-fi weapons.
Apparently is a real clown show. The main thing is the deal is bad, but reasons why the deal is bad are in short order because then people could argue against them. But it’s clearly bad and bad for America. Of course, not having a deal is apparently good, even though no one is willing to take military action again Iran.
And reading up on it, EMP weapons seem to be a favorite boogie man for a lot of Republicans. The terrorist could destroy our Iphones and we have no defense!. Please send R&D funding for anti-EMP weapons to my state.
Sigh, obstructionism at its finest. I honest don't expect it to get through congress. The Republicans are way to jealous of Obama to give him a success like this.
EPT
