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3in9th

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Posts posted by 3in9th

  1. I've been struggling with this for so long, it's not even funny. Great suggestions here and after going through the high school Biology thread above and suggestions for Great Courses Biology, I've finally settled on something that's nearly completely ready for my kids to do without my husband or me doing excessive leg work. And it's free.

     

    http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/biology/7-012-introduction-to-biology-fall-2004/

    • Like 5
  2. So wait a minute, it's OK to pay low wages if you're a small business owner, but not OK to pay the same person the same $ for the same work if you're a larger corporation?

     

    Is this about unskilled workers' needs / value or not?

     

    I've worked for small and large businesses, and I assure you that the "charm" of working for a small business does not inspire a willingness to be underpaid.

     

    There is a difference between the Feds setting a minimum wage and companies choosing to pay their employees a livable wage.

     

    If you live in a place where $8 an hour full-time is enough to live on and the employers in the area recognize and support that, no problems. If the Feds set the minimum wage to $10 an hour, then those LCOL employers are going to get hit big time.

     

    If I had my druthers, the employers would pay a living wage wherever they are located. Since so often they choose not to, the Feds might come in and force an across the board minimum wage that will harm some employers.

     

    Lesser of two evils here.

    • Like 3
  3. This seems more an issue for the government to take on the form of a higher minimum wage if it is that much of a problem (and I do think your points are valid and it is a problem).  But Wal-Mart isn't doing anything different than any other company that employs unskilled labor, nor is what they are doing illegal.  I don't get why Wal-Mart has some moral obligation to take on the role of charitable employer and pay more than market rate when other employers are not held to the same standard (says she, a Wal-Mart hater from way back).  Their job, as a corporation, is to make money, not provide charity for their employees.  The change has to be forced from somewhere other than Wal-Mart (such as a higher mandated minimum wage).

     

    I think Wal-Mart will ruin it for everyone. There are probably enough small businesses that will be hurt by a massive increase in the minimum wage. Wal-Mart won't be hurt. But because they don't bother, it's going to play out poorly nationwide, at least IMO.

     

    That's one reason I'm picking on them.

     

    Oh, and I looked it up. Even for FULL-TIME Wal-Mart employees where I live, they make $0.40 an hour below a livable wage for a single adult. These aren't just your part-timers who are suffering. Add in any kids, and the situation becomes dire.

    • Like 1
  4. Hang on, BC pills are supposed to be safe after 35 if you don't smoke and is especially fine if you have low blood pressure and no history of cardiovascular disease.

     

     

    Whoops: forgot to quote. Here's the post I'm referring to :

     

    "Seriously! Someone very close to me was on the pill well into her 40s and only got off it because she had a stroke. The fact that your Ob/Gyn was okay with you being on the pill after 35 is appalling and then to also say you're too young to be in perimenopause sounds even worse."

     

    Friend didn't smoke, didn't have high blood pressure, didn't have history of CVD.

     

    It's been a decade or more since I was on the pill, but I remember it wasn't an either or situation. Not recommended for womaen over 35 AND not recommended for woman who smoke/had high blood pressure no matter their age.

     

    Seeing how this friend couldn't walk, struggled talking, cognitive function severely impaired in her 40s because her doctor was stupid enough to refill her prescriptions every year, I'm glad dh had a V way back. Even then, I wouldn't be on the pill. Not only for the stroke factor, but I always seemed to have bad Paps when I was on it.

     

    I wouldn't want my daughters on the pill after 35 no matter their health and I would recommend the same to anybody. I feel it's too risky.

    • Like 1
  5. But the one that upsets and frustrates me the most is the ignorance of language and vocabulary. I'm dumbstruck over and over again not only by the words these kids don't know but by the fact that they seem to have no clue how to attack an unfamiliar word. All of the books that are used in prepping for the SAT/ACT have lists of the most commonly tested words in the last five years. The number of words and which words varies a bit from book to book, but it's usually somewhere between 50 and 100 words that the books suggest students study. Just for fun, we pulled up a few of those lists online one night while all four of us were home and tested ourselves. Each of us knew the overwhelming majority of those words off the tops of our respective heads. Meanwhile, I have students who might kind of know 10 of them. And these are not dumb kids. These are, for the most part, middle and upper-middle class kids attending private or very good public schools and who have parents who value education enough to seek out (and can afford to foot the bills for) private tutoring. They are getting good grades, joining honor societies, planning to apply to selective colleges . . . but they don't know any words and have no clue how to use context to decode them.

     

     

    Here's an example list, by the way: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/eduadv/kaplan/kart_ug_sat100.html

     

    What gets me about the vocab thing is that most research shows kids learn language mostly by being talked to when they are young and then by reading. So, what on earth are these kids doing with their lives that leave them with such limited vocabularies? I know most of them aren't reading, but is no one talking to them? Honestly, I would think even watching most decent children's TV programming would introduce more challenging vocabulary than these kids seem to know. 

     

    I will try to stop ranting now, but I'm honestly flabbergasted by how often I see these issues.

     

    Yeah, they don't read. One of my dh's students was complaining about her grade to another. The good student says to the failing student, "You HAVE to read the book." The failing student replies, "Well, I'm not gonna do that..."

     

    Maybe one of the other things is that they kids aren't talked to once they get to school age. How many kids just seem over committed to afterschool activities. How many parents are driving them around in SUVs with screens on the back of the head rests? How many kids have devices in their hands while waiting for sissy's dance class to end instead of talking with their parent or playing with other kids?

    • Like 3
  6. So if they have a job and they get gap assistance to help them meet their basic needs, I really don't see the problem. 

     

    The problem is really simple- Wal-Mart and the Walton heirs have enough capital to pay their workers a living wage; they choose not to. American taxpayers foot the bill so that their company will have increased profits and the Walton heirs will become bigger billionaires.

     

    I think that's wrong.

    • Like 14
  7. GET A NEW GYNO!

     

    Seriously! Someone very close to me was on the pill well into her 40s and only got off it because she had a stroke. The fact that your Ob/Gyn was okay with you being on the pill after 35 is appalling and then to also say you're too young to be in perimenopause sounds even worse.

     

    The average age for menopause is 51. Normal menopause can occur within a 9 year window on either side of that age, so 42-60. Perimenopause can start as early as 10 years before menopause, so it's still considered normal for a 32 to be in perimenopause.

     

    But I'm not a doctor, just a lay expert.

     

    In the meantime, exercise will do wonders for your symptoms. I was having the same sort of symptoms as you and they have stopped with both regular exercise and a multivitamin plus extra Vitamin D.

    • Like 5
  8. No, I don't see how that is anything to be angry about.

    I just want to double check that you are okey-dokey, a-okay with paying taxes (assuming you are paying them and not evading or rollling them all back into your business) to support the Waltons' billions. They choose not to pay the majority of their workers a living wage and thus, those very workers rely on Uncle Sam for assistance.

     

    Also, how does this gel with your previous statement of, "Why blame them for the fact that some other people are in low-wage jobs and have gaps in certain benefits/entitlements?"

     

    Who are we to blame if Wal-Mart heirs are among the wealthiest in the world, multibillionaires and yet their company chooses not to pay the majority of their workers a livable wage? Should we blame Obama, instead?

    • Like 5
  9.  It's not like they have all these stacks of hundred dollar bills lying around, wondering how to spend it.

     

    Apparently one Wal-Mart heir knew exactly what to do with a stack of 200 $100 bills.

     

    "Then, last week, Paige Laurie's freshman roommate at the University of Southern California, Elena Martinez, said in an interview on ABC's "20/20" that Laurie paid her about $20,000 over 3½ years to write papers and complete other assignments for her."

     

    http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=1931214

    • Like 1
  10. FWIW- Wal-Mart

     

    "Christy Walton: $41.3 billion

    Christy Walton married into the Wal-Mart family fortune. Her husband, John Walton, was one of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton’s four children. John died in a private plane crash in 2005, leaving his stake in the company to his wife, according to CBS Money Watch. She’s not only the wealthiest Walton and the wealthiest woman in the United States, but the wealthiest woman in the world, Forbes reported."

     

    "Alice Walton: $38.5 billion

    Christy Walton’s sister-in-law, Alice Walton, is the second wealthiest woman in the world. However, she seems less interested in the family business and more interested in art. In 2011, she founded the Crystal Bridges Art Museum in Bentonville, Ark., and recently said she plans to purchase a house in New Jersey designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and move it there."

     

     

    I don't think it's wrong to be angry that the Walton heirs are so wealthy and mistreat their employees so egregiously.

    • Like 1
  11. Wild guess?

     

    Because:

     

    a. Students are going into college without appropriate preparation.

    b. College isn't job training.

     

    My dh teaches problem-solving skills in his classes. He regularly fails half the class. Those that fail are often times unwilling to do anything 1- challenging 2- time-consuming or 3- that requires sit-in-chair study/work.

     

    I don't know if it's worse than 20 years ago when we were in college, but since he's been teaching, the students have gotten progressively 1- less prepared 2- lazy 3- whiny 4- unable to think 5- unable to manage their time.

    • Like 7
  12. But people can only work with what they have.

    And it's ridiculous how little many have to work with. And more often than not, it has nothing to do with their character or choices.

     

    I always think of Wal-Mart workers when these inequality issues come up. They are paid so little they qualify for government assistance. The US pays out billions to Wal-Mart employees as a result.

     

    Seems wrong that the Walton heirs are all billionaires, yet they won't pay their employees enough to live off of. Instead, they'll allow the American taxpayers to fill in the gaps, a unique form of corporate welfare.

    • Like 9
  13. Withou diving too much into politics, I do find it interesting that the true elite have done a masterful job of 1.) purchasing influence in both major political parties, and 2.) convincingly "othering" certain group in an effort to get certain segments of the population to vote against their own interests.

     

    Would love to hear how the left gets certain segments of the population to vote against their own interests. I'm not being facetious, I just haven't seen that and feel ignorant as to how it's happening.

    • Like 1
  14. Hmm.

     

    I have not seen a denial that wealth and income inequality exisit. It has always existed. And it always will. I have seen a few deny that it's really all that bad for the bottom 80% bc well at least we aren't in a third world country. (Uh. 'Kay. Talk about low bars for social goals. Damn us for expecting more I guess?)

     

    However, I'm not sure what you mean by double down and blame liberalism.

     

    I live in the Midwest. I don't see a denial of the disappearing middle class. I see a huge disconnect and frustration with feeling like (Tho it is not always actually the case) the coastal states to the east and west get to make laws that are culturally and politically and sometimes physically at odds with the states in the middle.

     

    You lump a lot into your post. Immigrants, religion in history, and gay marriage... All of which is rather off topic.

     

    Civil war and Revolution are the same thing. For example, the American Revolution was actually a civil war. The colonist were British citizens.

     

    I don't see any arguments from the right (both those in power and those who vote conservative (at least that I personally know)) that lay the blame for the massive inequality and diminishing middle class on the economic and political policies of the past 4-5 decades. Instead, they argue it's because of entitlements- "some of the entitlements require people to NOT try to better themselves.  But this isn't the doing of successful business owners.  Why would business owners want to keep paying taxes into a system that discourages the development of a competent work force?" or because of Obama or because of the liberal media.

     

    I made the point about the legislation/judge rulings regarding immigration, AP American History, and gay marriage because I see it as a sign of very conservative states breaking away from national laws.

     

    Agreed civil war and revolution, in a way, are one in the same. However, I once believed in a revolution in that the 99% would fight to topple the government policies that favor the Kochs and Gates and Adelsons and Waltons and the PACs and what have you. Now, however, I believe conservatives will be fighting against liberals, Wisconsin right wingers and Vermont hippies shooting it out, for instance.

     

    • Like 1
  15.  

    I think it's pretty inevitable that we'll end up with continued extremism and eventual revolutions if all this doesn't change.

     

    You know, I thought this, too, until very, very recently.

     

    Now I think it'll be more of a civil war because of the sort of extremism I see from some of my Facebook friends and the state legislations and ignoring of Obama's executive orders- Alabama's judge refusing to allow gay marriage, Texas refusing to recognize Obama's immigrant order, Oklahoma making laws regarding AP American History.

     

    We've seen on this thread what links some will do to deny that wealth and income inequality even exist and the more the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, and far West move toward progressive action to address this, the more the rest of the country will double down and blame liberalism.

     

    • Like 2
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