StrangeSox

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 05:11 PM) That was a total crap non-ending of epic proportions, how anyone liked it is beyond me. I've simply attributed it to peoples undying love for the show, they forced themselves to love that s*** plate they were fed at the end. Comparing how great seasons 1 and 2 were to the rest of that show is like comparing Goodfellas to Mickey Blue Eyes. Seasons 1 and 2 were 4 star quality, probably the best television I've ever seen (until Breaking Bad). Season 3 was a 3 star, still great stuff. Seasons 4-6 were 1 to 1.5 stars, with a few (very few) 3-4 star episodes mixed in, with a 0 star rush job ending episode. IIRC it was only supposed to be 1-2 seasons originally. I'm not vouching for the entire series being five-star, but the ending was good. This website breaks the whole thing down in a ton of detail and leaves only one possible conclusion. http://masterofsopranos.wordpress.com/the-...ion-of-the-end/

the ending was great

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 27, 2013 -> 11:12 AM) Millions of Americans have changed their mind since 2003. For comparison, it took until the mid-90's before interracial marriages gained majority acceptance. New poll: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politic...rights/2479541/

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 08:34 AM) This is the worst thing that has ever existed.

This article from a few weeks ago covers in more depth the lawsuit against a McDonald's franchise that was mentioned in the NYT piece http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/1517...ll_debit_cards/ Another article on AOL that has a quote that highlights the reason more employers are doing this: http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2013/06/27/pa...ds-hidden-fees/ It's shifting the cost of payroll administration onto employees.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 28, 2013 -> 03:49 PM) That is right about what my entire wedding cost in 2000. Ours was a little bit more than that for ~160 guests. Granted the actual wedding was its own separate expense, but we could have had a quick ceremony at the reception without an extra cost.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 28, 2013 -> 06:01 PM) No video. You know I agree about the video. I think it is great and all, but how many times are you going to watch that? 5 times? And they want $3-4k for that kind of thing. Nuts. My grandpa has a video of our ceremony. We've never watched it.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 08:59 AM) From what I've read, it's illegal for companies to only be able to pay with those prepaid cards. They must first get approval from the employee to pay in that form, and also must offer to pay in check or cash as well. company scrip was made illegal a century ago. It sounds like these programs do need to be "optional," but in reality we're talking about low-wage workers with little or no bargaining power and the "option" gets automatically selected for them. Changing requires actually being aware that you can and then dealing with a lot of paperwork. And some states don't have clear laws and no options are given by some employers. edit: this is more along the lines of "it's expensive to be poor in this country"

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/01/business...rt-workers.html

http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/question/feb...iteracytest.pdf

that 5-6k doesn't even include video (that you'll probably never watch)??

I'd say that racists are in fact bad people but agree that it doesn't pertain to this case legally. That's an argument with people trying to justify or embrace his racism.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jun 28, 2013 -> 04:27 PM) He was with his father at his father's fiancees house. So while he was absolutely entitled to be there, he was unfamiliar with the surroundings. So, if he did look lost, instead of being a good Samaritan and a concerned citizen and helping the young man, Zimmerman assumed he was a criminal thug, called the police, followed him with a gun and ultimately shot him to death. And people still try to argue that his course of action was reasonable and that they'd happily make the same judgement.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jun 28, 2013 -> 04:28 PM) I never claimed it had no role either. It certainly did. Along with the other factors here. but you seem to think that since race was involved in any way that it just makes all the rest not matter, he is guilty. I haven't said that. I don't know that he's guilty of murder. I do believe that his course of actions should be criminal, probably manslaughter. I don't think there's any reasonable question that his judgements were racist and that he suspected Martin was a f***ing punk and an asshole based on the color of his skin. Even days

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jun 28, 2013 -> 04:09 PM) he spent 20 minutes walking around a neighborhood in the rain appearing lost. A neighborhood that isn't that big. Martin had an 18 minute phone call with the girl. We don't know that he was wandering around appearing lost or just walking around the block to get some privacy while talking on the phone. Or that he was in the neighborhood for the whole 18 minutes. Why is someone wandering around looking obviously lost suspicious? Why would you call the police on them and think they're a dangerous criminal, an asshole, a f***ing punk for looking lost? Why wouldn't the reasonable, non-racist-but-still-prudent move be to stop and ask the kid if he needs some help?

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Jun 28, 2013 -> 04:18 PM) I don't think he did live there. He was staying with someone. Correct, he was staying with his dad at his dad's girlfriend's (or maybe fiancee's?) house. The only evidence that he was "wandering around looking lost" is Zimmerman's assessment that he 'looked like he was on drugs' and was 'looking at houses.' Looking at houses as you're walking seems pretty normal, and we know that Zimmerman's judgement is deeply flawed.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jun 28, 2013 -> 04:14 PM) Do you have evidence that George did that? or just that he did it this once? We know he has called the cops, but no mention of race in any of those other calls. otherwise your throwing 'every time' in there is just creating a condition that doesn't exist. I don't claim that Zimmerman called the cops on every single person he saw in his neighborhood that he didn't know, but he did do it on multiple occasions as was noted in the various reports/records and these people just happened to be black. I claim that the idea that Martin's being black played no role in Zimmerman's suspicion, that it was based entirely on him walking down the sidewalk at 8PM and looking around, is laughable.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jun 28, 2013 -> 04:01 PM) Since I was outgunned, your damn right. That was meant 100% as a compliment. That was the right course of action every time.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jun 28, 2013 -> 04:00 PM) If I see kids I don't know checking out that empty house, or walking up the driveway, I sure keep my eye on them. When they disappeared around the side, I walked a bit to see that the side door was open, so I called. Yeah. And like Jenks said, you just love to ignore context. recent breakins, unknown person, all that adds into perceptions. But you just look at race, it seems. So you don't call the cops on every single person walking around your neighborhood at 8PM because that's not exactly suspicious activity.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 28, 2013 -> 03:58 PM) He also grabs his gun and chases them. That's the only way people will learn. No, Alpha gets his family into the basement, grabs his gun, but stays his ass inside after calling the police.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jun 28, 2013 -> 03:57 PM) He was wandering around as if lost or looking for something. Not suspicious at ALL for someone who lived there. So instead of asking if he could help the guy, he calls the police. This doesn't happen if he's not a young black male.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jun 28, 2013 -> 03:53 PM) If he is UNKNOWN, then yes, why not? I have an empty house across the street from me. When I see kids walking by checking it out, I get suspicious of them. It has been broken into before. And I did call the cops on one group and 3 of them got busted while inside the garage. They were 2 white guys and a hispanic, btw. You call the cops on every single individual you don't recognize in your neighborhood who's walking on the sidewalk at 8PM? You think that the simple act of being outside and not being known by you warrants being harassed by the police?

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jun 28, 2013 -> 03:41 PM) Well, if he started his call 'there's some guilty looking black kid walking down the street...', it would be worse than 'there is a suspicious kid walking down the street'. Race shouldn't matter in most of your arguments you have used throughout here. The kid was suspicious regardless of his color. Unrecognized, looking lost, recent break ins, dark, raining, all enough to warrant a closer look. lol, sure, Zimmerman would have called any random person he didn't immediately recognize in as a 'suspicious' person. He was targeted because he was black. Somebody walking on the sidewalk at 8PM in light rain doesn't warrant "a closer look" unless that person happens to be black.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jun 28, 2013 -> 03:32 PM) Also, if I recall the full conversation, when Zimmerman called the cops, he never mentioned the kid might be black until he was prompted by the dispatcher for a description. http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/326...-zimmerman.html It was the first thing the dispatcher asked him. Why is it supposed to matter if he mentioned it in his first two sentences or his third? And of course a dispatcher would ask for a description if you're calling in a 'suspicious' person.

Trying to 'play cop' resulted in an innocent person being shot to death. Zimmerman shot 1 time and killed a child who had been doing absolutely nothing wrong.