57F and wet, I think. Seems possible. Matches surrounding reporting. Crazy though.
I’ve got nothing to say today. Drawing blanks. Maybe after breakfast….
n
Wed. Dec. 12, 2018 – open thread
47 Comments and discussion on "Wed. Dec. 12, 2018 – open thread"
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45f and no frost on the cars this morning.
I have 5 working days left in the year. Even with all this PTO I am loosing days. We can only carry over 40 hours and I have way more than that accrued. Once I hit 10 years service I earned an extra week PTO but with urgencies, staff shortages, and projects I just can’t take it all. When I worked in the UK 20 years ago I was getting 6 weeks off not including holidays, Boxing Day, Queens birthday, etc.
Update: Actually, once we moved to Hong Kong it was worse. We got all the UK holidays AND Chinese ones two like two days off for Chinese new year.
32º and cloudy today. Weather is “meh”, but that’s okay. Don’t want too much excitement.
Wife is home with pneumonia today. She’s been sick for a while, and they just figured it out. Seems to me they could listen to her breathing, but I am not a doctor… Antibiotics to start today and we’ll see how it goes.
The Brexit thing is interesting on many levels. The most basic is “dissolution of the Union”. Didn’t we have a war in 1860 to prevent that kind of thing? Seems the EU is handling that differently than we did. I don’t know if that’s a good thing.
Theresa May is facing a confidence vote this evening. Not being as familiar with parliamentary bodies as I am with our House & Senate, I don’t feel that the way I would an American process. Hoping she weathers it. She has a hard job, and she needs to finish it. (Not that I would meddle. It’s the UK’s problem. Not mine.)
Small earthquake about 30 miles from where I live. I felt it shake the bed, knew immediately what was happening. No big deal.
All the news stations are stumbling over themselves trying to find companies and people to interview. TVA is as the top of the list as is ORNL. Would not surprise if they interview the nephew of a deceased person that used to live in Knoxville 70 years ago but moved to Alaska for the 1964 quake. Got to find that local connection and not miss out on an event.
I was in CA for a major earthquake, 6.0, the Whittier Quake. I was on the fifth floor of a Holiday close to the IBM school I was attending (CICS). Fell out of bed. Scared me significantly as I was not certain the building would not collapse. Major damage in the area and the IBM building did not have power for a couple of days. It felt like it lasted for dozens of minutes as time slowed for me during the event. It was only a couple of minutes clock time but biological time was a couple of hours.
I was in CA for a number of earthquakes. The smallest I noticed had an epicenter right up the street and at 3.0 shook the heck out of us. The much larger, but farther away ones were plenty disconcerting….
n
“French police reveal murderer shouted ‘Allahu Akbar‘ as he opened fire
Three people killed and 13 injured when gunman opened fire at Strasbourg Christmas Market last night
Cherif Chekatt, 29, pictured in French media today, was on the security services’ ‘state threat’ watchlist
Chekatt, from Strasbourg, has a lengthy criminal record and was ‘known in local Islamist extremist circles’ ”
Of course he did.
Ray made the news!
“Magnitude 4.4 earthquake strikes Tennessee near a nuclear power plant as the tremor is felt 130 miles away in Atlanta
Earthquake struck 60 miles north of Chattanooga at 4.14am on Wednesday
Epicenter is just three miles from the Watts Bar nuclear power plant
Residents were left in a state of shock after being shaken awake by the tremor
Quake was felt as far afield as Atlanta, 130 miles south of the epicenter ”
and here’s the story on the barricaded fugitive I listened to yesterday. The cops did everything they could to get the guy in custody alive.
“Gunman injures three Texas police officers then kills himself after five-hour standoff as cops went to arrest him for battering his girlfriend
Daniel Trevino, 25, was wanted by police for allegedly battering his girlfriend
Police tried to arrest him at his Houston home around 12.50pm on Tuesday
Trevino opened fire, shooting three officers before barricading himself inside
After a five-hour standoff he shot himself dead, according to officers ”
Yes, Virginia, there are stupid questions. 9 times out of 10, when a user has a problem, it’s a software problem (or some interaction of software). That 10th time it’s the frickin’ user.
(Quietly suppressing the urge to walk over there and choke her.) (No, SteveF, it really isn’t an option, even if it is.) (Thank God she’s not talking to me.)
4.4 Mag Earthquake in TN early this morning.
The news claims it was felt in Atlanta but it didn’t wake us up. Living here in the shadow of the strongest earthquake recorded in US history, earthquakes worry me. We are just miles from the New Madrid fault. I have been in many quakes in California including the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in SF and the 1992 Landers shake.
I was staying on an upper floor of the Riverside Marriott when the Landers quake hit. It woke me up as the bed began sliding across the floor. I waited a moment for it to subside but it just kept getting worse. So I stumbled to the dresser and grabbed my wallet, to ensure they could ID my body in the rubble, and went to the door. The room looked out onto an atrium and watching from my doorway I could see all 4 walls of the atrium moving in different directions. I fully expected the place to come down any moment. Somehow, it all held together and I survived.
If this sort of headline and thinking doesn’t fall under the heading “The Suicide of the West”, I’m not sure what would…..
“Asylum seeker, 17, suspected of killing his girlfriend, 16, in Austria had been allowed to stay in the country because he was wanted for murder in his native Afghanistan
Saber Akhondzada, 17, was not deported despite facing murder charges
His girlfriend, identified as Michelle F., was found lifeless in her bedroom
Austria does not deport people facing a death sentence in another country *
Michelle’s family described Akhondzada as very jealous and controlling ”
–snip–
“There are approximately 36,000 Afghan migrants currently living in Austria.
According to official police figures, Afghans are the highest ranked group among asylum seekers involved in sexual crimes, with 118 Afghans convinced of sex-relate crimes in the first of 2017 alone. ”
n
*seems they don’t lock them up either.
I have made the bed vibrate harder when I have farted (according to my wife). All the news stations are on full alert to interview anyone that even remotely, regardless of how distant, is involved. Can’t waste an event with visions of CNN airtime dancing in their feeble brains.
That was my big concern for the Whittier quake I experienced. There were several floors above mine and visions of a pancaking building went through my brain. It was scary to be woken up, then on the floor, several seconds to realize what was happening, then total and complete fear for what seemed like dozens of minutes.
After it was over there was no power or water. That was a major inconvenience. Took two days to get service restored. The IBM school got delayed by a day. I was unable to take a shower. The hotel had bottled water, cold food (sandwiches and such) and booze for free for the guests until service was restored.
I also experienced a quake in Victorville at my mother’s place. Generally little to no property damage as the slab foundations just slide around on the sand.
Living in LA (Venice Beach) for the better part of three years doing warehouse automation for LA Gear in LA & Riverside, I enjoied a number of minor quakes. Became used to them. A little shaking lasting only a few seconds was normal. The big one in ’92 started big and just got worse. I was in Riverside doing a warehouse automation project for Kodak using IBM OS/2 as the platform. I really enjoied working with OS/2 but IBM couldn’t market it so it died. I recall at a Comdex in Vegas where OS/2 was announced, Microsoft was givng away evaluation copies of their new Windows OS (crap) and IBM was SELLING eval coipies of OS/2 for a couple of hundred $$. Which OS do you think got the biggest application base quickly?
But back to quakes. When I showed up at the Kodak warehouse after the quake I found that the racking had collapsed taking the conveyor system with it. They were out of service for almost 6 months and I never got back to that contract.
I built a couple of trade show booths and instore displays for LA Gear. Catapult, It’s not just a SHOE, it’s a MACHINE!
Got sexually harassed on that too, “eye raped” by their designer….
n
Microsoft was givng away evaluation copies of their new Windows OS (crap) and IBM was SELLING eval coipies of OS/2 for a couple of hundred $$. Which OS do you think got the biggest application base quickly?
The key with Microsoft is that they will, in my experience, do anything to support third party developers as long as a sufficiently large check is involved. Once that check is cut, the people they will assign to work with you are very good at their jobs and willing to do whatever it takes to get the problem solved.
@Nick – Last year you did a post that generally regarded selling on eBay:
https://www.ttgnet.com/journal/2017/07/17/nick-post-quick-response-to-article-becomes-a-post-about-selling-stuff-online/
Do you have more to add?
Some additional reference material?
I was browsing the books on Amazon, but all are years old (some say they are updated).
I get the impression that selling on eBay is dynamic so how do you keep up with the changes?
And finally, it seems that there is a “class” of eBay buyer that routinely tries to scam the seller. You have mentioned this problem is some of your posts. Have you found a way to minimize the “problem buyer”?
I am asking these things because we have been going through the kids’ old toys. They have a bunch of Lego sets (circa 1980 to 1990); complete with original boxes and instructions. They took good care of their Legos, and just a quick check on eBay shows that many of them are in the “collector” category and worth some cash.
Thanks for any input you and the others have.
@dadcooks,
I reread the post and I don’t see anything I’d change…
in answer to you specific questions though, and some more general observations…
Don’t bother with the books. You are a smart person, who manages to run your life. There isn’t really going to be anything in those books you can’t figure out, or don’t already know, and reading them is a delaying tactic and COSTS money when you need to MAKE money. There are tutorials and other info on the ebay site if needed.
Selling on ebay IS dynamic. They are making changes in the interface and rules all the time, but mostly they are evolutionary not revolutionary. Sales on ebay are also dynamic. I’ve done a lot of lamenting lately that buying seems to have stopped. I don’t know if it’s buyers, or if something has happened on the ebay side. I have noticed that if I shut down all my sales for a while, it takes a month before I start seeing sales again. This means vacations cost me sales. I’ve also noticed that I sell more when I’m listing more… I think ebay rewards listings and consistent sales by steering sales toward you. They have a LOT of leeway when search results are sorted “Best match”.
I’ve had relatively few problems with buyers and fraud. I had the most issues with selling speakers. I swore off speakers for a couple years, but recently I’ve been selling them again, without issues, because I sourced them very cheaply.
My other issues are with international buyers using (without telling you) freight forwarding or packing services. The guy in china whose items got opened and stolen was SOL as soon as I figured out he had used a forwarder. That would have cost me $800 for the sale, and the loss of the items. The guy who bought the pallet of network gear from me, then asked over a month later “where’s my stuff” had also used a forwarder. When I phrased my response to let him know that I knew he used a forwarder, the stuff magically got found.
I’ve never had to initiate either a Buyer’s Protection or a Seller’s Protection claim with ebay, so I don’t know how they work.
My approach to buyer complaints is to ask for pix if they claim damage, which they usually can’t provide; ask what I can do to make a problem right, if they complain about something specific (which usually means a partial refund so they can get it fixed or because the value is reduced); or just do a cheerful and quick refund. Most of the time, once I get what I want (a picture, or they are happy with the refund) I tell them not even to bother with the return but to send me a picture of the destroyed item. No one ever has…
Still, I accept that I will have some losses. I don’t test everything extensively, and it is used stuff for the most part. MOST buyers understand what they are getting with used, but some don’t. I offer full money back on most stuff if it doesn’t work, and I do minimal testing on most. I figure I save the time testing, the customer feels protected and more willing to take a chance, and despite the offers, I get very few returns.
I am VERY careful to list as “untested” or “tested only for power on” and to list every defect I can see. Even items sold As Is or For Parts or Repair can be returned if the description isn’t accurate. If I do more testing, I list exactly what I did do.
I think buyers stay away from items that can’t be returned.
I usually list with free shipping on items I can fit in USPS flat rate boxes, I just increase the listing price to cover it. You will lose the cost of the shipping if you have to refund the buyer anyway, and buyers love free shipping.
Get accurate sizes and weights BEFORE listing. If you offer free shipping and don’t know what it will cost, you won’t be able to price correctly.
WRT shipping-
USPS Flat Rate is awesome. Get an account online, order all the free shipping boxes from the website, and list USPS Priority as the shipping method. Ebay gives significant discounts on USPS postage when you ship with their tool. USPS also has other Priority boxes available free to account holders besides the flat rate boxes. GET SOME! There are two styles of each flat rate, a mostly square style and a mostly rectangular flat style. get some of each. Regional A and B might save money, always check before buying the postage in ebay.
Sign up for a UPS account and use it for some packages. UPS offers significant discounts off retail when you ship with their online service. UPS is SUPPOSED to be integrated into ebay’s shipping service, but it took me several calls to ebay to get my account number properly linked.
In general, if it can’t go flat rate, the breakeven is about 4-6 pounds for USPS Priority, vs UPS ground. Less than that, or heavy but fits in Flat Rate, go with USPS. ALWAYS look out for “Dimensional weight” charges. These are add on pounds to make up for something being big but light. They can really catch you out….UPS is the big user, but USPS will hide them in postage rates too. UPS will also add $3 to $5 for residential delivery. There will be items that high shipping costs make VERY difficult to sell.
Ebay’s shipping calculator is always high on multiple items. I usually mention in my listing that I refund excessive ebay shipping costs if that happens.
I use the ebay Global Shipping option for international sales. It costs the buyer more than postage, because they collect taxes and import duties, but it is the only way to go for a seller. I don’t generally ship international to countries that ebay global doesn’t cover. Every time I’ve compared rates, ebay was competitive with other options.
Pack your items well. I double box most things. I use excessive padding and tape. Find a source for free boxes, either dumpster diving, reused amazon boxes, or the free ones from USPS. My gun store saves me the bubble wrap and packing pillows they get every day. I go by and grab a big trash bag full whenever I run out. A quick cruise behind most any strip development will get you enough boxes to last months. If you have something specific, or high value, or fragile, it pays to buy a heavy duty box if needed. I cut boxes down all the time, especially to save on dimensional weight. Good boxes cost $3-8, so it’s worth saving them or getting them free. Use good tape, only 3M. Buy it in bulk at costco when it goes on sale. Buy the half page labels for shipping. UPS and USPS are both sized to use half page sticky labels. Buy the laser printer ones, and use your laser to print them. If you don’t have a laser, put clear tape over the ADDRESS, not postage codes, so it can still get there if the package gets rained on.
Man this is getting long, maybe I should promote it to the top of the page….
n
WRT your listings, good photos make a difference.
Use a plain, clean background. A sheet or towel is good. Make your picture BRIGHT. Brighter sells better. Make your camera settings good, in other words, you don’t want to have to edit every pic. Get your framing, brightness, and color balance right in the camera. Make sure you have an attractive ‘overall’ pic, and then close up pics of relevant areas, like defects. you only get 12 pics per listing, only take 12! I also take one of the shipping dimensions, and the weight, written on note paper and next to the item. That way I have the info when I go to list, just don’t put that pic on the listing.
Keep in mind that a lot of people will browse on their phones, and might not see every pic. List dims and defects, even if they are in the pix.
ALWAYS start from a search on the item, and click “sell one like this”. LOOK at the categories listed and check that they makes sense to you. This will save you time, and give you an idea of good pricing. Always look at both “sold” items, and current listings. If there are a bunch of current listings, and no sales- it’s not usually worth the effort, but you can try undercutting the price dramatically. Lots of listings will have high prices, but “sold” will give you what buyers are actually paying. If you don’t get ANY hits, try searching in google. Ebay’s search tool only goes back a limited time. Weird or rare items may not come up within the timeframe.
If you have no clue what good pricing is, you can list as an auction with a starting price that you find acceptable as a sale price, even if you just get one bid. DON”T do auctions with a hidden reserve. Buyers hate that.
I sell mostly fixed price. Most of the stuff I sell doesn’t have enough buyers to make for a good auction. Vintage radios were the exception to that, you are looking for the guy who really needs or wants your item.
Look at the ‘sold’ listings for the item. Many times you will see that auctions go for much less than fixed price for the same item. Rarely do you see the opposite. If you think there might be hidden desireable-ness (or collectibility you can’t confirm) in your item, an auction can be a good way to get the extra money.
Finally, I always use the “Let buyers make an offer” option. You can always say no, and your idea of pricing can be way off. Just don’t take low ball offers within an hour or so of your listing. Those offers are from guys who have searches running for the item, and they are looking to “steal” it for no money… If the offer is close to your asking, SELL IT! That’s the goal!
added- in my experience, buyers rarely accept a counteroffer without a good reason. They made their offer at what they wanted to pay. The only time I’ve sold with counter offers is if I say something like “I’ve got more than that into the item, but if you can come up to X, I’ll get it shipped out today….”
n
The idiot Castro brother surfaces (okay, they’re both idiots):
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/12/julian-castro-2020-presidential-run-latino-community
One thing you quickly learn living in Texas is that the Castro brothers, scions of the co-founder of La Raza, do not speak Spanish fluently. Certainly, neither brother had enough ability with the language to take on Senor Rafael Edward Cruz for the Texas US Senate seat in the last election.
Kinda disappointing — the Univision debate would have been fun.
Neither brother tried for TX Governor this time around for the same reason. Greg Abbott also speaks Spanish fluently.
Forgot to add, there are some items with high fraud on ebay. If it has a component that fails regularly, or has expensive or easily lost accessories, there is a whole category of fraud where the buyer will swap out the part he needs from your item, with his bad part, then file a ‘not as listed’ claim against you. Sometimes they just swap their whole broken thing for your running item.
Photos of case seal stickers, and serial numbers, are about the only way to have a chance combating this. Even then ebay will almost always side with the buyer in a dispute.
n
Forgot to add, there are some items with high fraud on ebay. If it has a component that fails regularly, or has expensive or easily lost accessories, there is a whole category of fraud where the buyer will swap out the part he needs from your item, with his bad part, then file a ‘not as listed’ claim against you. Sometimes they just swap their whole broken thing for your running item.
Photos of case seal stickers, and serial numbers, are about the only way to have a chance combating this. Even then ebay will almost always side with the buyer in a dispute.
I have a few old laptops around which I don’t list for that reason.
“Not as listed” claims get investigated on the Subcontinent as of late. I find it is a wildcard as to which side has the advantage, but concise language is essential with the typical “fresher” when defending yourself as either the buyer or seller.
@DadCooks — I’d suggest being really careful about selling a Lego model kit which is no longer in production and/or contains minifigs which are not available separately for purchase, especially geek-interest collectibles like Harry Potter or Star Wars.
The Latest on the Double-Dynamo Solar Model, and Dr. Zharkova’s Predictions of a Grand Minimum By Stephanie Osborn
https://accordingtohoyt.com/2018/12/12/the-latest-on-the-double-dynamo-solar-model-and-dr-zharkovas-predictions-of-a-grand-minimum/?fbclid=IwAR3DwNdhV9BbTwVzrfrMN_DMsWFoRkNtUyq_9tp1qIfAUMPY4xLMJp9vK9I
OR – why we can expect ~35 years of Global Cooling – so be prepared.
Now if Yellowstone (or any other super volcano) blows, things will go from bad to REALLY BAD globaly. Imagine Ice Age trigger. Or am I being an alarmist? Fear sells. Time to buy cheap land in Mexico?
Harry Potter lego is worth more?
There were two fliptop bins full of Harry Potter lego at teh Goodwill. I though $70 each was too much…. but they were gone when I went back.
n
Dilbert: Write Your Own Review
https://dilbert.com/strip/2018-12-12
Heh.
Gun Owners of America (GOA): “Take Action to Pass Concealed Carry Reciprocity!”
https://cqrcengage.com/gunowners/app/write-a-letter?7&engagementId=493373
“The establishment is making an all-out push to increase the number of anti-gun “blue” voters before the next election.”
“And they’re trying their best to leave concealed carry reciprocity in the dust.”
Our senior senator in Texas, John Cornyn, is not pushing the gun concealed carry reciprocity act whatsoever. I may not vote for him in 2020 because of this and let Robert Francis take his seat.
“DuckDuckGo Acquires Duck.com from Google”
https://www.pcmag.com/news/365436/duckduckgo-acquires-duck-com-from-google
“From one search engine to another, visiting http://www.duck.com will now take you directly to the privacy-focused search engine rather than Google’s homepage. We don’t know how much this cost DuckDuckGo, if it cost anything at all.”
Weird ?
“From one search engine to another, visiting http://www.duck.com will now take you directly to the privacy-focused search engine rather than Google’s homepage. We don’t know how much this cost DuckDuckGo, if it cost anything at all.”
Weird ?
It is in Google’s best interest to have some competition. Plus, I’m sure that the Google founders see a bit of themselves in the upstart’s management.
Search has stagnated in the last 20 years whereas there used to be at least half a dozen major philosophies for indexing the web.
Harry Potter lego is worth more?
Go price a “Fluffy” minifig.
Our senior senator in Texas, John Cornyn, is not pushing the gun concealed carry reciprocity act whatsoever. I may not vote for him in 2020 because of this and let Robert Francis take his seat.
I don’t see the Hispanic prog groups in Texas being happy with the Castros out of power beyond 2020. One will run for President while the other takes on Cornyn.
The Presidency isn’t going to happen. Trump would clean the floor with either one of the brothers, but Cornyn is vulnerable. The Senior Senator also doesn’t si habla like Senor Rafael Edward, Gov. Abbott, or George Bush 3.0.
I don’t see the Hispanic prog groups in Texas being happy with the Castros out of power beyond 2020. One will run for President while the other takes on Cornyn.
The big question for 2020 is what is Robert Francis going to do ?
https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/beto-orourke-presidential-update-11410687
@nick, and others:
Thanks for the advice on eBay. Common sense, I’m good at that.
Now to get to work…
The concealed carry thing doesn’t bother me. If I’m traveling, the Glock is in the trunk. With hollow points. What? You expect me to be like a ninja with a tire iron?
The big question for 2020 is what is Robert Francis going to do ?
If Hillary doesn’t run, Robert Francis is VP on the ticket.
Hillary needs a Midwest governor. I’d say Tony Evers, but he’s got a history of cancer and looks even closer to death than Cankles.
Er… Yeah. Sign up with phone service with us, your ISP.
Er … Yeah. But we gonna turn our stuff off at quarter of five. Neener neener!!! You can’t call to complain.
Not a fan of typing on the phone.
The concealed carry thing doesn’t bother me. If I’m traveling, the Glock is in the trunk. With hollow points. What? You expect me to be like a ninja with a tire iron?
A Glock in the trunk is illegal (felony level !) in at least a dozen states: NJ, NY, DC, IL, CA, etc., unless you are specifically licensed for that weapon in that state. To get a carry license in those states requires an act of God because you sure aren’t going to get it from the state.
Dead on the side of the road vs the risk of a of a pig finding a gun in my trunk…. Under the floor, nestled in next to the spare.
I’m good.
Better if your carry license was honored by every state, just like your driving license, or marriage license. Didn’t the gays fight that battle specifically because once one state issued a marriage license, all the states would have to honor it?
But a RIGHT, spelled out in the Constitution, confirmed by the Supreme Court as an individual right, is licensed (unnecessarily, but one battle at a time) by the state, but that license is the only one that isn’t respected by the other states. With NO mechanism for it to be recognized, while doctors and INSURANCE SALESMEN can get their license acknowledged by taking a test. Drivers and Doctors kill far more people every year than CHL holders.
It’s an important battle.
n
The meltdown of this mess can’t come soon enough for me.
https://www.vox.com/2018/12/12/18134945/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-aoc-president
JHC, that article made me throw up in my mouth.
It wouldn’t have been out of place in the Onion.
“hat her win didn’t, in the final analysis, launch a wave of leftist primary victories only goes to show what a phenomenon she personally is. ”
“because of her incredible wit, charisma, social media savvy, and basic political smarts. ”
“There’s nothing wrong with old people per se, but essentially everyone has lost a step or two both mentally and physically by their mid-70s. ”
“You might worry that a new youthful president is underexperienced (but then again, which president hasn’t been a little underexperienced), but lack of experience is guaranteed to improve with time. Things are as bad as they’ll ever be during the campaign,”
OMFG.
n
Whew. The writer wrote that with intent. [shudder]
No, the constitution doesn’t need to be changed. Further, I would argue that, barring the Bill of Rights, the 12th, 13th, 19th, and the 25th, none of the others were even good ideas. (I expect some to disagree with that list.)
The 19th??? Mmmmm….. goes a long way to explaining the current hysteria.
I just knew someone would pick up on that.
Well when your non-working life revolves around around your wife, daughter, mother, and MIL. Let’s go ahead and add in wife’s sister and her daughter. I have two sisters and no brothers. My only help is my son-in-law. I may have some bias.
The 19th??? Mmmmm….. goes a long way to explaining the current hysteria.
I totally agree. And if I wanted the wife to know that, I would tell her. The son has and she has beaten him.
I maintain only property owners should be allowed to vote. Property owners have a stake in the future, everyone else is along for the ride.
That should get me a few thumbs down.
No downvotes here. Skin in the game. No skin? No say.
No, the constitution doesn’t need to be changed. Further, I would argue that, barring the Bill of Rights, the 12th, 13th, 19th, and the 25th, none of the others were even good ideas. (I expect some to disagree with that list.)
I saw a story on one of the news channels within the last month talking about how a couple of states have reversed their votes calling for a Constitutional Convention out of fear that one may actually happen.
The story touched on some of the horsetrading which is being discussed in academic circles for such an event, notably conservatives giving up the Electoral College in return for a balanced budget amendment and revoking the direct election of Senators.
The story touched on some of the horsetrading which is being discussed in academic circles for such an event, notably conservatives giving up the Electoral College in return for a balanced budget amendment and revoking the direct election of Senators.
Huh, the resulting mob rule would just ignore the Constitution then. We would look like Venezuela in 10 to 20 years. Of course, we are going to look like Venezuela in 10 to 20 years anyway.
We will get a balanced budget amendment after the financial apocalypse in the USA. It will be forced on us by the world at large.
Huh, the resulting mob rule would just ignore the Constitution then. We would look like Venezuela in 10 to 20 years. Of course, we are going to look like Venezuela in 10 to 20 years anyway.
The Senate would go back to being selected by the states according to their own rules, as originally intended, prior to the 17th amendment.
I’m not endorsing the trade off, just passing along what I saw in the story. Getting rid of the Electoral College at this point would mean never electing a Republican President again.
I maintain only property owners should be allowed to vote.
What about spouses?
I would expand that a bit…. if you pay taxes you can vote. Actually pay.
Getting a “refund” of more than you paid because “gots 14 chilruns” doesn’t count.
I maintain only property owners should be allowed to vote.
What about spouses?
I would expand that a bit…. if you pay taxes you can vote. Actually pay.
Getting a “refund” of more than you paid because “gots 14 chilruns” doesn’t count.
Here in the community property state of Texas, spouses of property owners are property owners themselves.
And I am ok with only allowing actual taxpayers to vote. Only those people with skin in the game should be allowed to vote.
Life after the financial apocalypse in the USA will be difficult for many people. Those living off the federal government will have to find some income quickly. I am not even sure that Social Security and Medicare will survive the financial apocalypse in the USA.