StrangeSox

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Aug 26, 2010 -> 01:51 PM) Different history? Is that even possible? I'm pretty sure what happened is what happened. All history is a narrative. There is no single, objective "history" to teach.

Right, this isn't just a policy disagreement.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 26, 2010 -> 08:27 AM) You have got to be kidding me. That's just flat out embarrassing. Poll after poll after poll, the "almost-inspiringly stupid" response gets about 20%. Obama's a Kenyan Muslim. Civilian control of the military is bad. Amend the constitution to remove religious freedom. Those three example categories probably happen overlap a lot, but there's a lot of stupid people out there. edit: also wonder how much Dunning-Kruger is in play here:

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Aug 24, 2010 -> 01:27 PM) you should stop sending your "anonymous" complaint emails to the admin email then. We know its you. [email protected], [email protected], strsox231@gmail stop trying to hide it damnit, I thought I was being clever enough to fool this staff!

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Aug 24, 2010 -> 10:01 AM) So apparently copy/pasting text from one website to another = stealing. If anything I figured it was copyright infringement. But since I gave credit to the website and author, I didn't think it was a problem. Obviously it's enough for a permenant ban. At least for news articles, it depends on how much of the text you post. Posting a whole article is a no-no, but posting a couple of paragraphs and a link is ok. There's another non-sports board I'm on where moderators are elected by vote and can be recalled for abusing powers and breaking rules. It seems to work much better than situations like WSI and other message boards where mods get on huge power-trips. No complaints about the moderation here, though.

His question was this: "Has any pitcher ever been perfect for 13 and two-thirds straight innings?" And the answer is "Yes." Buehrle doing it back-to-back is more impressive than "against the same bad team 2 1/2 months apart" anyway.

I love me some travel weeks. Nothing like getting paid overtime for travel and extended hours on-site. 60 hours in the field is a lot different than 60 hours at a desk.

QUOTE (bmags @ Aug 23, 2010 -> 10:18 PM) as soon as the daily show's opening segment is available I am going to post it. That was epic.

What school?

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 23, 2010 -> 01:55 PM) I had 2 majors in college and took the same amount of classes as someone with one. It's not anymore hours, it's just more specific courses. Educational programs have less class hours than typical majors because the student teaching aspects are written into the program. It's not like they go to school for 4 years, spend a year student teaching and then graduate. It's all done in 4 years, just like a typical degree. You have to fulfill all the requirements for a regular BS/BA. It's not some shortcut degree. You'll have the same BS in Biology or Math as someone who wants to go into postdoc studies. Maybe you're thinking of primary education which is a different animal than secondary.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 23, 2010 -> 01:45 PM) "I'm not talking about the 10-15 man local union, but that's hardly the majority in this country." Right. You're complaining that teachers can't be fired at will, but you can. "Where's my union," you ask. When I say, "Why not unionize?", you respond that all unions are large, corrupt bureaucracies that don't have the workers' interests in mind. I respond that many unions aren't like that, but you just hand-wave it away to keep your dishonest generalization going. At-will is clearly worse for the employees. No, it's not and it wasn't really meant to be. I wouldn't mind seeing the tenure system revamped. Oh, when did I argue that being in a union means you're guaranteed a job forever and ever? Sure. If your employer shuts their doors (and doesn't violate existing contracts in doing so in order to move to a cheaper labor pool), then you're out of a job. When did I argue that being in a union means you're guaranteed a job forever and ever? But there are still profitable companies. And they're finding that they can push a smaller workforce to work more and more instead of taking the risk of adding payroll right now. If employees have some sort of bargaining power, they won't be able to push too far without fair compensation or additional hiring.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 23, 2010 -> 01:40 PM) Which most programs in most colleges is equal to a 4 year degree. All of my teacher friends went through the same amount of undergrad I did, and all became teachers right after school. It's not anymore work. How is BS/BA + additional coursework and cert's and testing not more work than BS/BA? At U of I, you'd take your major and you'd have to minor in Teacher Education. A major + minor is more work than just a minor.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 23, 2010 -> 01:35 PM) Please show much evidence that said friends can "expect" a higher salary that isn't similiar to that of a teacher. There's no guarantees of that. Not all lawyers make a ton of money. You really need a source for the claim "average lawyer salary > average teach salary"? Right, the pensions were always a balancing point, but that's not the case any more. Costs keep rising and benefits keep dropping. Being a teacher in the Chicago suburbs isn't a poverty gig. You can actually do very well on a two-teacher household income. That was never my argument. In fact, my original comment was: government jobs tend to require more education than "all private sector jobs". If you split out the jobs based on equal educational levels, I'll bet we find private sector jobs out-pacing public sector jobs.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 23, 2010 -> 01:34 PM) How is it dishonest? Because my opinions are based on my personal experiences? Am I lying about it? You're characterizing all unions as large, corrupt bureaucracies that don't advocate for the employees. That is dishonest. I don't think they need special protection. The tenure system isn't great. At-will employment is pretty terrible, though. It doesn't. You're still missing the point. Yeah, because those employees really have an option right now. It's either work or join the ranks of the unemployed. Companies are in a great position right now wrt leverage over employees such that non-union at-will employees are powerless.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 23, 2010 -> 01:23 PM) I have 3 friends that are teachers, none of them have more than a bachelors. I don't think that's a requirement unless you want to go higher than a grade/high school teacher. But your salary always goes up with your degree. At a minimum, to be a HS teacher in IL, you need a bachelor's in your field (english, math, bio, etc.) plus another 18 or so credit hours in education plus a semester of observations and a semester of student teaching. If you want to teach middle school, that's another two or three classes. Teachers also have continuing education requirements, but that's also found in other fields.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 23, 2010 -> 01:23 PM) And a teacher's salary never increases? That sentence didn't end where you highlighted: "with the expectation of larger salary growth than is possible in most public school systems."

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 23, 2010 -> 01:20 PM) I studied labor law, have been exposed to unions and how they operate in a corporate setting as part of my litigation background, and have semi-personal experience of trying to get business in the city of Chicago that is over run with unions to the point where the market is practically closed. So, no, I do have a little bit of knowledge about how they work. Union chapters still have national union associates which give them directives. I'm not talking about the 10-15 man local union, but that's hardly the majority in this country. Then your sweeping generalizations are dishonest and not ignorant. No, you've missed the point. Don't fault one group of workers for earning some amount of power and say over their employment just because others don't have it. Fight for it. Unless, of course, your boss doesn't like you. Or you he needs to trim payroll to keep his bonus. Or they want to replace you with someone younger and cheaper. Etc. etc. etc. And you have a lot of businesses looking to screw workers over at every turn. Unions give employees some amount of power when they typically have little or none. They get in the way of employers doing whatever they want and employees owing them sort of gratitude for having a job. This is becoming even more true as companies keep payrolls low even as things start to recover and have existing employees work more and more and more hours. I said "some places" because there are honest, decent employers out there. I wasn't referring to a specific career field. Also, for accountants, the IRS is unionized.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 23, 2010 -> 01:13 PM) Most teachers get paid that for 10 months worth of work, so factor that in. I did. Given self-reported overtime hours worked during the school year, they work a full 40h/52w year in 10 months. Sure, it's not horrible. But it's not overpaid, either, and as Balta pointed out, there typically isn't as much room for salary growth as in other careers. A nice pension was always a make-up factor for that, but those are going away.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 23, 2010 -> 12:48 PM) So that I can pay a corrupt bueraucracy whose interests lie with its leaders and not me? No thanks. You obviously have very little familiarity with unions. Many union chapters are run by local members who are out on the job every day, not some big union boss. Also, maybe you could get some employment protection from them. You know, the exact thing you were b****ing that "no one else has, so why do teachers!" just a few posts ago. Unions are needed to give employees power. There are still labor abuses in this country even if they aren't as bad as they used to be. There are large, corrupt, harmful unions but there are also many, many unions that benefit and are run by typical workers. edit: You can't say this: and then say unions aren't needed at least in some places to keep employers honest.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 23, 2010 -> 12:44 PM) Please. 30-50k for a Bachelor's + additional coursework and regular 50-60 hour weeks isn't all that much, even if they receive a lot of time off.

Tennessee: Still not far enough from Ground Zero

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 23, 2010 -> 10:46 AM) What makes them different than any other employee out there? I can get fired simply because my boss doesn't like me. Where's my union? Where's my guaranteed job? The tenure system is a bunch of bulls***. Fight to unionize, then.

There's also a lot less McJobs with little or no education and skills required in government work, so the "government workers earn twice as much as private sector!" thing is a canard.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 20, 2010 -> 04:03 PM) Where are you seeing the bolded? "FOX Chicago News reported that it is likely to be juror Jo Ann Chiakulas of Willowbrook, after a second-hand acquaintance said that she has been saying since early july that she would find Blagojevich not guilty." Unnamed "second-hand acquaintance"

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 20, 2010 -> 04:01 PM) It is in drug cases, because often times you don't have the money to use wiretaps. Here, it was pretty easy if not for the one juror. Speaking of: "Chiakulas is a retired director from the Illinois Department of Public Health. She was juror 106, college educated, is active in the Urban League and other politics, and listens to NPR." Somehow that description doesn't surprise me. And reportedly she's been saying since July she'd find him not guilty. http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro...-trial-20100818 So what? That doesn't mean someone is incapable of being objective. Blago was pretty strongly disliked by just about everyone. Also, from the article: "FOX Chicago News reported that it is likely to be juror Jo Ann Chiakulas of Willowbrook, after a second-hand acquaintance said that she has been saying since early july that she would find Blagojevich not guilty." Reliable information right there.