People laughed at Pizza Punch owners John Puckett and John Soranno two years ago when they raised their minimum wage to $10 an hour for entry level employees and $13 for management. Predictions of their demise were heard from the usual sources. Of course, that didn't happen.
Instead, their company is doing quite well. In fact, they've opened two more restaurants bringing the total to 10 now in the Twin /Cities area. Puckett said the higher wages did not cause Punch to increase prices. He also said it “has had a big impact culturally in the company.” He said that retention of employees is up, which helps them save money on hiring and training. He estimates the average worker in the front — cashiers and waiters who are often students — work about three years, while the kitchen workers average five years of employment, which is very high for this transitory industry. “Our retention is light years ahead of most restaurants,” Puckett said.
“We just weren’t getting the quality of applicant before. Now we have a lot more applications that we don’t have jobs for. If you pay people more, I think you can demand more. When we did this, we got everybody together and said, we need to blow people away with our service.”
Asked about those strange, angry calls when he increased raises, Puckett laughed.
“The cynics didn’t win,” he said.
Yet this is just one example in one state. It's also a micro examination. To find a macro example, one need look now further than Seattle which, one year ago, mandated a $15 an hour minimum wage. Those same critics claimed that unemployment would skyrocket as businesses would not be able to retain employees. When the law was passed, Seattle's unemployment rate was 4.4 percent. Today it's 3.7 percent.
I think their prediction on this Labor Day 2015 was not correct:)
Monday, September 07, 2015
Sunday, September 06, 2015
More Carolina Craziness
Later this month, a North Carolina high school student will appear in a state court and face five child pornography-related charges for engaging in consensual sexting with his girlfriend.What's even crazier?
What’s strange is that of the five charges he faces, four of them are for taking and possessing nude photos of himself on his own phone—the final charge is for possessing one nude photo his girlfriend took for him. There is no evidence of coercion or further distribution of the images anywhere beyond the two teenagers’ phones.
Similarly, the young woman was originally charged with two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor—but was listed on her warrant for arrest as both perpetrator and victim. The case illustrates a bizarre legal quand[a]ry that has resulted in state law being far behind technology and unable to distinguish between predatory child pornography and innocent (if ill-advised) behavior of teenagers.
On July 21, 2015, the young woman took a plea deal whereby the felony charges were dropped, but she pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge, which will be expunged after she completes a year of probation. Over the next 11 months, she is not allowed to possess a cell phone, among other restrictions.
The two teens have to face the charges as adults.Huh? If they're adults, then this sexting is not child porn!
"You must keep in mind that juvenile court jurisdiction in North Carolina ends at age 16, so 16- and 17-year-olds, as in the Fayetteville case, will automatically be charged in adult criminal court with no option for adjudication in delinquency court," Tamar Birckhead, a law professor at the University of North Carolina, told Ars. "Another irony here is that these two teens could have legally had sex with each other in North Carolina, yet they are charged with felonies for texting sexually explicit photos of themselves to each other."
These kids are black.
The cops just took it upon themselves to search these kids' phones, and when they found nekkid pitchers they finally had a way to get 'em.
Way to go, North Carolina. Not content with harassing blacks while they drive, shop, and walk down the street, your cops now invade teenagers' privacy and appoint themselves the sex police.
Jefferson on Guns
I think Thomas Jefferson was most illuminating when he wrote...
Some men look at constitutions with sanctimonious reverence, and deem them like the arc of the covenant, too sacred to be touched. They ascribe to the men of the preceding age a wisdom more than human, and suppose what they did to be beyond amendment.
...I am certainly not an advocate for frequent and untried changes in laws and constitutions.
...But I know also, that laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths disclosed, and manners and opinions change with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also, and keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy, as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.
And lastly, let us provide in our constitution for its revision at stated periods. What these periods should be, nature herself indicates.
(Letter to Samuel Kercheval, Quotations on the Jefferson Memorial)
We are clearly at the point of revision right now when it comes to the 2nd Amendment.
We have 30K deaths a year due to gun violence. There is a mass shooting every single day in this country. Far too many people have guns that shouldn't have them.
So, it's time to reform the 2nd Amendment by focusing first on the "well regulated" part of the right. As in Israel, people should have to demonstrate a valid and rational reason as to why they want to own a gun. There should be universal background checks on EVERY SINGLE gun purchase. The law should require high amounts of liability insurance on every gun purchase. Parents of children who end up accidentally shooting themselves should have as stringent of punishments as we have with zero tolerance drug laws. Anyone with a criminal record or mental health problems should be denied gun ownership.
As Jefferson noted, we are living under a regimen of our barbarous ancestors. It's time to move on...
Some men look at constitutions with sanctimonious reverence, and deem them like the arc of the covenant, too sacred to be touched. They ascribe to the men of the preceding age a wisdom more than human, and suppose what they did to be beyond amendment.
...I am certainly not an advocate for frequent and untried changes in laws and constitutions.
...But I know also, that laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths disclosed, and manners and opinions change with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also, and keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy, as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.
And lastly, let us provide in our constitution for its revision at stated periods. What these periods should be, nature herself indicates.
(Letter to Samuel Kercheval, Quotations on the Jefferson Memorial)
We are clearly at the point of revision right now when it comes to the 2nd Amendment.
We have 30K deaths a year due to gun violence. There is a mass shooting every single day in this country. Far too many people have guns that shouldn't have them.
So, it's time to reform the 2nd Amendment by focusing first on the "well regulated" part of the right. As in Israel, people should have to demonstrate a valid and rational reason as to why they want to own a gun. There should be universal background checks on EVERY SINGLE gun purchase. The law should require high amounts of liability insurance on every gun purchase. Parents of children who end up accidentally shooting themselves should have as stringent of punishments as we have with zero tolerance drug laws. Anyone with a criminal record or mental health problems should be denied gun ownership.
As Jefferson noted, we are living under a regimen of our barbarous ancestors. It's time to move on...
Saturday, September 05, 2015
Friday, September 04, 2015
The Donald's People
A new poll of people that support Donald Trump isn't really as surprising as the media is making it out to be.
Our new poll finds that Trump is benefiting from a GOP electorate that thinks Barack Obama is a Muslim and was born in another country, and that immigrant children should be deported. 66% of Trump's supporters believe that Obama is a Muslim to just 12% that grant he's a Christian. 61% think Obama was not born in the United States to only 21% who accept that he was. And 63% want to amend the Constitution to eliminate birthright citizenship, to only 20% who want to keep things the way they are.
So, at least now we know what happened to the Tea Party. This sort of severe xenophobia, one of the key traits of the American Taliban, simply can't win a general election any longer. Their demographics are shrinking which explains why they behave as they do. They are old and afraid. They are bitter about life and see the country progressing without them. Rather than embrace the change, they are pitching a fit.
And The Donald is tapping into that rage...
Our new poll finds that Trump is benefiting from a GOP electorate that thinks Barack Obama is a Muslim and was born in another country, and that immigrant children should be deported. 66% of Trump's supporters believe that Obama is a Muslim to just 12% that grant he's a Christian. 61% think Obama was not born in the United States to only 21% who accept that he was. And 63% want to amend the Constitution to eliminate birthright citizenship, to only 20% who want to keep things the way they are.
So, at least now we know what happened to the Tea Party. This sort of severe xenophobia, one of the key traits of the American Taliban, simply can't win a general election any longer. Their demographics are shrinking which explains why they behave as they do. They are old and afraid. They are bitter about life and see the country progressing without them. Rather than embrace the change, they are pitching a fit.
And The Donald is tapping into that rage...
Thursday, September 03, 2015
If She Can't Do the Job She Should Just Get Fired
Though it makes utterly no sense, the clerk in Kentucky is going to jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.
This is just a stupid stunt on her part, the city's part and the judge's part. They're making a mountain out of a molehill: she's simply refusing to do her job. When people refuse to do their jobs, they should quit or be fired, not thrown in jail.
Her boss should have fired her the day the Supreme Court ruled against her. She shouldn't be in jail, she should be out on the street looking for a new job. If her religious beliefs make it impossible for her to fulfill her duties, then she should quit.
This same issue has come up innumerable times in the past. When Muslim clerks at Target refuse to ring up bacon for customers because they think pork is haram, they should be fired or quit their jobs. When Muslim cab drivers refuse to give rides to people bringing home alcohol from the airport because Islam forbids the consumption of alcohol, they should quit or be fired. When pharmacy clerks refuse to sell birth control pills to unmarried women, they should quit or be fired. It's pretty simple.
And this isn't the first time this exact issue has come up. When miscegenation laws, which forbade interracial marriages, were ruled unconstitutional in the 1960s by Loving vs. Virginia all the county clerks across the country who swore the Bible forbade racial mixing had to either quit or suck it up and do their jobs.
This is exactly the same thing. Issuing a marriage license doesn't mean you approve of or condone the wedding. It's just filling out some government paperwork.
This is just a stupid stunt on her part, the city's part and the judge's part. They're making a mountain out of a molehill: she's simply refusing to do her job. When people refuse to do their jobs, they should quit or be fired, not thrown in jail.
Her boss should have fired her the day the Supreme Court ruled against her. She shouldn't be in jail, she should be out on the street looking for a new job. If her religious beliefs make it impossible for her to fulfill her duties, then she should quit.
This same issue has come up innumerable times in the past. When Muslim clerks at Target refuse to ring up bacon for customers because they think pork is haram, they should be fired or quit their jobs. When Muslim cab drivers refuse to give rides to people bringing home alcohol from the airport because Islam forbids the consumption of alcohol, they should quit or be fired. When pharmacy clerks refuse to sell birth control pills to unmarried women, they should quit or be fired. It's pretty simple.
And this isn't the first time this exact issue has come up. When miscegenation laws, which forbade interracial marriages, were ruled unconstitutional in the 1960s by Loving vs. Virginia all the county clerks across the country who swore the Bible forbade racial mixing had to either quit or suck it up and do their jobs.
This is exactly the same thing. Issuing a marriage license doesn't mean you approve of or condone the wedding. It's just filling out some government paperwork.
Wednesday, September 02, 2015
Tuesday, September 01, 2015
Monday, August 31, 2015
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Debt Is Good
Remember all that talk about the debt and deficit and how it was going to be the end of us?
Yeah...still not happening.
Paul Krugman is wondering that as well and he's got some hilarious points in his pondering.
Wags quickly noted that the U.S. economy has, on the whole, done pretty well these past 180 years, suggesting that having the government owe the private sector money might not be all that bad a thing. The British government, by the way, has been in debt for more than three centuries, an era spanning the Industrial Revolution, victory over Napoleon, and more.
Any day now...
After all, we’ve spent much of the past five or six years in a state of fiscal panic, with all the Very Serious People declaring that we must slash deficits and reduce debt now now now or we’ll turn into Greece, Greece I tell you.
Does anyone take them seriously anymore? Ron Paul is now setting up his retirement by fear peddling but that's about it.
So, is debt good?
I’ve already mentioned that having at least some government debt outstanding helps the economy function better. How so? The answer, according to M.I.T.’s Ricardo Caballero and others, is that the debt of stable, reliable governments provides “safe assets” that help investors manage risks, make transactions easier and avoid a destructive scramble for cash.
Yep.
Yeah...still not happening.
Paul Krugman is wondering that as well and he's got some hilarious points in his pondering.
Wags quickly noted that the U.S. economy has, on the whole, done pretty well these past 180 years, suggesting that having the government owe the private sector money might not be all that bad a thing. The British government, by the way, has been in debt for more than three centuries, an era spanning the Industrial Revolution, victory over Napoleon, and more.
Any day now...
After all, we’ve spent much of the past five or six years in a state of fiscal panic, with all the Very Serious People declaring that we must slash deficits and reduce debt now now now or we’ll turn into Greece, Greece I tell you.
Does anyone take them seriously anymore? Ron Paul is now setting up his retirement by fear peddling but that's about it.
So, is debt good?
I’ve already mentioned that having at least some government debt outstanding helps the economy function better. How so? The answer, according to M.I.T.’s Ricardo Caballero and others, is that the debt of stable, reliable governments provides “safe assets” that help investors manage risks, make transactions easier and avoid a destructive scramble for cash.
Yep.
Saturday, August 29, 2015
Friday, August 28, 2015
Thursday, August 27, 2015
I Rest My Case
From a recent conversation on Quora...
I don't know how anyone who has ever played a videogame in their life can look someone else in the eye with a straight face and say a gun can't have saved you. While a game is not reality, the basic concept of being able to end a threat with deadly force remains the same. It's obvious to most 10 year olds.
Pretty much sums up everything I have ever said about the Gun Cult.
I don't know how anyone who has ever played a videogame in their life can look someone else in the eye with a straight face and say a gun can't have saved you. While a game is not reality, the basic concept of being able to end a threat with deadly force remains the same. It's obvious to most 10 year olds.
Pretty much sums up everything I have ever said about the Gun Cult.
Trump Pulls A Palin
Donald Trump loves the Bible. It's his favorite book!!
But can he name his favorite passage or testament?
Nope.
And he's leading among evangelicals? I guess it shows how full of shit they really are...
But can he name his favorite passage or testament?
Nope.
And he's leading among evangelicals? I guess it shows how full of shit they really are...
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
We're #1!!!
A new study by sociologist Adam Lankford of the University of Alabama shows that the United States is #1 in mass shootings since 1966. I don't think we needed a study to figure that one out. This information stands in stark contrast to the declining levels of violence seen here and around the world. I think it's nice that there is less violence but it means bupkis if we have 10 or more mass shootings every fucking month.
America's "gun culture," wrote Lankford, is deeply rooted in the idea that broad gun-ownership is a bulwark against the emergence of tyranny. And those roots continue to lie close to the surface, he wrote: A national survey conducted in 2013 found that 65% of Americans believe that the purpose of their right to bear arms remains "to make sure that people are able to protect themselves from tyranny."
How exactly does that fucking work when the federal government has drones, tanks, battleships, and even bigger guns? Some fucking protection...
Of course, these same people who believe their guns are protecting themselves from "tyranny" also vociferously support increased defense spending. At least we are in agreement there. I want the government to spend a ton of money on defense in case we have to put down the Gun Cult.
This new study confirms the reality of the US today. It's become the very dystopia that the Gun Cult claims to want to avoid.
America's "gun culture," wrote Lankford, is deeply rooted in the idea that broad gun-ownership is a bulwark against the emergence of tyranny. And those roots continue to lie close to the surface, he wrote: A national survey conducted in 2013 found that 65% of Americans believe that the purpose of their right to bear arms remains "to make sure that people are able to protect themselves from tyranny."
How exactly does that fucking work when the federal government has drones, tanks, battleships, and even bigger guns? Some fucking protection...
Of course, these same people who believe their guns are protecting themselves from "tyranny" also vociferously support increased defense spending. At least we are in agreement there. I want the government to spend a ton of money on defense in case we have to put down the Gun Cult.
This new study confirms the reality of the US today. It's become the very dystopia that the Gun Cult claims to want to avoid.
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
My Advice For Hillary Clinton
Hillary has been under fire a lot from the media over yet another "scandal." I say "scandal" because I liken this to movie casting. If you wanted to make a good Western (back when they still actually made them), you cast John Wayne or Clint Eastwood. If you want to tell a scandal story, nothing sells more like the Clintons.
The thing is...Hilz plays the part so well and the media knows this. She'll say and do all the things she always says and does and the media will foam at the mouth, engage in consistent fallacy, and predict a Clinton imminent demise. We've seen this film many times and everyone is pretty sick of it. But that's the point, right? The media have decided that they don't want a Hillary Clinton presidency. When she is found (once again) to have done nothing wrong, they won't report it and they will move on to something else. They are very firmly in the tank now for Donald Trump because he gets ratings. So, what should Hillary do? Here's my advice...
1. Embrace a Joe Biden run. When he announces his expected candidacy, welcome him with open arms and say you want the competition. Praise him for his experience, service and knowledge. You will be a better candidate with him in the race.
2. Lose your top advisers-YESTERDAY! Has anyone ever seen Huma Abedin smile? A google search does have a few images of her looking happy but they mostly look like this...
The thing is...Hilz plays the part so well and the media knows this. She'll say and do all the things she always says and does and the media will foam at the mouth, engage in consistent fallacy, and predict a Clinton imminent demise. We've seen this film many times and everyone is pretty sick of it. But that's the point, right? The media have decided that they don't want a Hillary Clinton presidency. When she is found (once again) to have done nothing wrong, they won't report it and they will move on to something else. They are very firmly in the tank now for Donald Trump because he gets ratings. So, what should Hillary do? Here's my advice...
1. Embrace a Joe Biden run. When he announces his expected candidacy, welcome him with open arms and say you want the competition. Praise him for his experience, service and knowledge. You will be a better candidate with him in the race.
2. Lose your top advisers-YESTERDAY! Has anyone ever seen Huma Abedin smile? A google search does have a few images of her looking happy but they mostly look like this...
Always looking like she's at a funeral...really?
And every time Jennifer Palmieri opens her mouth, she makes Hillary seem like DB fucking Cooper. With the exception of John Podesta, everyone on her campaign should be considered on the chopping block. What they are doing simply isn't working. Time for some new advisers.
3. Call a press conference. In fact, call so many that the press get sick of you. Take away the talking point that you are being elusive to the press. Take away the Trump coverage. And have them be at a circular table. That way everyone is equal. When they ask you the inevitable "how long have you been beating your wife" questions, call them on it. Be an asshole like Donald Trump. Give them the facts. Reality is on your side.
Don't prepare any statements. They make you sound guilty when you aren't. I'd also consider having some actual voters along with you who want to talk about the issues and not the email scandal. Have them chime in on what they want to hear. Show the press what is really on the mind of the American voters.
4. Be yourself. I hear all the time about how their is the Hillary that her friends love...honest, tough, compassionate, driven...and then the Hillary that the media says...controlled, evasive, prepared. Lose the second one forever and just be the first one. That's what will win you the White House.
Which is still yours to lose...
Go, Mr. President, Go!
Obama Feeling 'Feisty,' Ready to Take on the 'Crazies'
Yeah, he's not going to go gently into that good night, is he? Hee hee...
Yeah, he's not going to go gently into that good night, is he? Hee hee...
Monday, August 24, 2015
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