Thought or Rant of the day!!!

[MelloYell]

oops.

[Chris]

mello, glad to hear the good news.

I don't know about the US, but UK unions are very militant still, and very aggressive in their pursuit of injustice (This, no doubt is why some are mistrustful of them), but they are still 'your' representative, and have to listen to how you wish to proceed.

Union membership in the US is very low, ~12%. One of the two major parties is rabidly anti-union, and the other gives lip service to unions but is largely a creature of corporations. The US has always been behind Europe in workers' rights, and the weakness of US unions is probably a major reason.

[Doug R.]

I wouldn't call the US unions weak. Their demands over the last several decades drove the automakers into bankruptcy.

[curious]

I think that's a common strategy; that they (unions) try and drive production down in order to be heard. UK unions would generally act for a membership 'en mass' but also just crash about creating unrest, and a kind of 'civil war' amongst competing members, and other unions. They sit of the back of a moral agenda, and just basically fuck up by crashing around like uneducated idiots.

In areas where there is a broader membership, they are more successful, but also more limited, such as in heath, where the main union has members of all staff groups,,, in essence, when there is a grievance against say... the treatment of nurses, other staff groups can be called upon to act out, rather then nurses themselves be called to act, and bear the brunt of the moral high ground of the general public.

I may have mentioned this, but generally, people in the Uk join a union in order to get the insurance benefits, that is things like a hefty legal cover, in case they do something wrong in their jobs, and get sued. Yes... in that sense... the UK is becoming more like the USA in terms of a litigious nature.
The last time I voted on a union matter, I voted for one thing, and was then asked to boycott my job on a different matter altogther, which actually made me very angry at the time.

I don't think any unions are 'weak' per se... but many seem to be like a scud missile... full of 'let's go' but uncertain where they are going to.

[Joshuamonkey]

From what I've heard, the teachers unions in the US have had a significant effect as well. I don't think unions help the overall economy much. Companies, and the government, don't just have unlimited amounts of many to give. If they do..well that's inflation. The US does seem to have a relatively decent minimum wage as far as I know.

Today was my last day of work! But I'm still super busy..part of that is things to do for Cantr.
Leaving normal life for two years takes some work!

[Snickie]

Unions were originally made to protect workers from overly harsh conditions (think coal mining -- women and children were used to drag carts through narrow tunnels, and they were underpaid, often physically inhibited by this later in life, and often raped; unions were created to prevent this). Now, in the U.S. anyway, unions have become a major political influence and have been working to add benefits to people who are a part of them, and are heavily involved in the government, so many of them get these benefits, especially for jobs which don't require an education, which seems unfair to the non-union workers, especially those who have to have had years and years of expensive schooling and internships before they could even really apply for their job. I could go on with examples (whose statistics I'd have to do a bit of research on), but I don't really want to discuss politics at the moment. And I'd probably get shot down anyway since from what I've seen a lot of people here are more liberal than me, and also a good bit older than me. Well, you know what they say. If you're under 30 and not a liberal then you have no heart. If you're over 30 and not a conservative then you have no brain.




Well, this is an interesting development. I can now go on doing my own daily business without my head being stuck in the green Cantr cloud. I'm learning stuff in school, getting decent grades... it's amazing!
Oh, but here's something odd. My test grades in AP Calculus have gone down ever since I started paying attention and taking notes in class.

[gejyspa]

The other day we were playing with our dogs, the 75 lb'er, and the 150lb dumb-as-toast guy, having them jump over a stick placed between two chairs. Well, that is, we tried to do so. The little one could clear it at about a height of 3 feet, no problem. The big guy only wanted to go under it. Even when we placed it down as low as ONE INCH from the ground, he wouldn't step over it, but tried to go under it. His NOSE wouldn't even fit under it. Like I say, not the sharpest tack in the drawer.

Also, the other day, I was going to one synagogue, and my sons, he 14yo [Y] and 16yo [R] were going to a different synagogue. I asked my 8yo daughter if she wanted to go with me or with R. She replied, "Is it okay if I go with Y instead? He seems more mature." (she's right, btw, but it still made me laugh at her insight).

[Indigo]

I woke up today with this feeling that I can't hear well. My ears are buzzing, and that's making my head feel... weird. Sometimes it happens to me when I get up, because my blood pressure is always very low, but it usually goes away some minutes after I stand up. This time it isn't gone. Coffee is making it a bit better, but the buzz is stubbornly staying with me.

Did I just rant about a buzz? My... I'm getting old.

[Theda]

I have a joke with a friend. When someone bends over to pick something up and says: "Aughs...!", is that she/he is getting old, so don't worry, the buzz isn't important.

Note: Since we realized of that, I bend down to pick things up with an absolute silence.

[Indigo]

I have that joke too. But the "getting old" thing wasn't about the buzz... it was about "ranting" about a buzz!

[Comy]

I was chattering at my brother about Skyrim yesterday and mentioned that I'd had to stop reading the hands-on previews and such because they were making me all vibrate-y and "wantitwantitwantit." He was completely silent for 30-40 seconds and I thought I'd done something awkward because I do that sometimes, but then he said, sounding all stunned like every time this happens, "I'm sorry...but that's just really hot. Like when you look up the entire history of comic book characters and don't even read comics.... I think you'll need to train my future girlfriend." Of course, he managed to say that last just as I was taking a drink. xD

(At this point, I feel I should note that I am not actually related to the guy I call my brother.)

Rant: I keep slacking in my slacker class and it's getting me terrible grades. I've gotten an 88 on both tests so far. Totally my own fault, I take full responsibility, but EFF my history and theory class and its unfair grading where the words "frontal lobes" were worth HALF the points in a section. 6 points out of 248, but it's the principle of the thing. He breaks down Descartes' critics (two sentences, three max) into 8 points each for their name, school of thought, and explanation, but then breaks down a long paragraph so that ONE detail is worth half the points? Not cool.

[Aurora]

This has been the worst day of my life. I just need to escape, and the sweet world of Cantr is the perfect location... Thank you so much to those who created it.

[Chroma Key]

It's 3pm and my Monday has been going exceptionally well.
Let's see if I jinxed it by saying that.
3 hours to go.

[Aurora]

I've been crying all day. I just feel so weak. Even Cantr doesn't pick me up. Dammit.

[Sunni Daez]

I've been crying all day. I just feel so weak. Even Cantr doesn't pick me up. Dammit.

*hugglez*