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Journal by Azuma Hazuki

Things I've noticed happen in the general vicinity of my posts:

- Fundie nutjobs reduced to curling up in a little ball, plugging their ears, and spewing either contentless religious copypasta (Freeman) or barely-coherent amateur apologia (Bot).
- The Shitey Uzzard degenerating into mudslinging and pretending (badly) not to care when defeated in arguments...every single one of them.
- Insecure manchildren accusing me of being a transsexual (some random AC) on one hand, and on the other, an actual transwoman accusing me of being a TERF (Kurenai).
- Creeps like VLM, KHallow, JMorris, Entropy, and all their kind simply giving the hell up and abandoning ship when faced with a proper down-smacking for their fallacious sociopathy.

When you have people on the fringes everywhere angry with you, each of them accusing you of the precise opposite on the spectrum they hate, you must be doing something right. In all my time here, I've never gone in for trolling, deception, or shitposting. I've always stood for what's right, and took the fight to those who would try to spread their noetic poisons, fighting it everywhere it appears for the sake of anyone unfortunate enough to encounter it, knowing full well the originators of such poison are by their own choice irredeemable, certainly so in this lifetime.

And my approach drives them nuttier than squirrel vomit.

Well boo fucking hoo. When someone on here tells me I'm bitchy or angry, I just laugh, because what they really mean is "you're making me uncomfortable by exposing my bullshit in such direct, uncompromising, profanity-laced ways." It's pretty obvious the accusations of being a transsexual come from sheltered, misogynist little manchildren who can't handle actual women speaking the plain, unvarnished truth to them, because they have so little truck with the opposite sex they've never seen it in the real world before. No, this insult to their manly honor cannot stand! ONLY another man could POSSIBLY have the balls, literal balls, to stand up to them! (And of course the kind of person who'd make this argument lumps MtFs under the heading of "man." I don't, though I do draw an important distinction between transwomen and cisgender women because, frankly, they are never going to know what it is to have a period or risk being pregnant).

Time to put on your big-boy undies and join the adult world! The toughest people I know are all women, including my own mother and some of the nurses at work. I'm a marshmallow compared to them.

And I don't regret anything, as painful as it's been sometimes. Am I a "nice girl?" No, and haven't been for several years, and you know what? It's better this way. "Nice girls" get used and taken advantage of and thrown away and never have their needs met. "Nice girls" are the permanent victims of tone trolling by people too frightened or too weak to deal with them as the full human beings they are. In this place, at this time, as this site sinks further and further into RWNJ decay, all it means is I'll fight all the harder.

What I hope this does is encourage the people on here who still seek the light to defend it. Hit back. We're seeing on a number of scales, from the President's capitulation on his stupid bullshit shutdown right down to the examples at the head of this post, that the sociopaths are like any bully: weak, cowardly, amoral types who don't expect and can't handle sustained, principled pushback. Part of it is that evil simply can't comprehend good, but mostly it comes down to how bullies work and have always worked. Anyone who wants to join me in fighting the good fight, please do: we've seen that it works.

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The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 26 2019, @05:57PM (49 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 26 2019, @05:57PM (#792369)

    Why? Because these are random people on the internet making arguments about politics. There is nothing immoral about holding a capitalist worldview - and nothing wrong with looking out for oneself or providing for your family in a world which is fundamentally dog-eat-dog and unfair. But she recently told Sulla he was selfish and had his head up his ass because he was happy about being closer to buying a house where he could raise his children. That's not fair - that's haterism.

    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   0  
       Offtopic=1, Flamebait=1, Interesting=1, Underrated=1, Total=4
    Extra 'Interesting' Modifier   0  

    Total Score:   0  
  • (Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 26 2019, @06:30PM (17 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 26 2019, @06:30PM (#792380)

    You are wrong on pretty much all counts. Amazing how someone's emotions can cause them to lose all reading comprehension.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 26 2019, @06:33PM (16 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 26 2019, @06:33PM (#792381)

      Please, correct me then.

      • (Score: 5, Informative) by aristarchus on Saturday January 26 2019, @07:55PM (15 children)

        by aristarchus (2645) on Saturday January 26 2019, @07:55PM (#792415) Journal

        The strategy, as I see it, is to sneak in fascist viewpoints by claiming they are nothing more than "disagreements", and claiming the alt-right is just standing up for free speech. But allowing such ideology to be a matter of "disagreement" normalizes what are in fact plain wrong and evil ideas. And as usual, there are some, like perhaps yourself, dear and squishy AC, that do not know that this is the strategy and end up supporting the normalization of fascism unwittingly. Do you understand, now? You are being used. Or, alternatively, well, we don't have to actually say it, do we?

        • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 26 2019, @08:53PM (12 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 26 2019, @08:53PM (#792433)

          The strategy, as I see it, is to sneak in fascist viewpoints by claiming they are nothing more than "disagreements", and claiming the alt-right is just standing up for free speech.

          Authoritarians like the Alt-right or the SJWs are not in favor of free speech.

          But allowing such ideology to be a matter of "disagreement" normalizes what are in fact plain wrong and evil ideas. And as usual, there are some, like perhaps yourself, dear and squishy AC, that do not know that this is the strategy and end up supporting the normalization of fascism unwittingly. Do you understand, now? You are being used. Or, alternatively, well, we don't have to actually say it, do we?

          People are being used and manipulated so they should just do what you say or they'll be branded "alt-right" and unpersoned? Can't have any of those "plain wrong and evil ideas" like freedom distracting from your worldview can we?

          • (Score: 3, Flamebait) by aristarchus on Saturday January 26 2019, @10:23PM (2 children)

            by aristarchus (2645) on Saturday January 26 2019, @10:23PM (#792457) Journal

            Ideas like freedom to be racist, xenophobic, misogynist, and a dick? The Power of the SJW compels you! The Power of all SJWs compells you! We will unperson you, you toady to fascists! We will force to to post on marginal news aggregation sites as an Anonymous Coward! Oh, mission accomplished. Now just shut up, before we taunt you another tyme! (Bloody Brexiters!)

            • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 27 2019, @12:49AM (1 child)

              by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 27 2019, @12:49AM (#792496)

              Ideas like freedom to be racist, xenophobic, misogynist, and a dick?

              Yes, you conform to the latter so it would be hypocritical of you to object to the others without practicing what you preach and shutting the fuck up!

          • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 26 2019, @11:05PM (8 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 26 2019, @11:05PM (#792471)

            So now you demand that people not judge you for your shitty viewpoints?

            I'd laugh but its getting boring how childish you "freedom" types are. You have the freedom to believe what you want, and we have the freedom to call you a fascist racist worm if we want. The irony is now at such levels that we are in danger of hemochromatosis.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 27 2019, @12:55AM (7 children)

              by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 27 2019, @12:55AM (#792498)

              You have the freedom to believe what you want, and we have the freedom to call you a fascist racist worm if we want.

              Yes, even deluded bigots like yourself have freedom of speech.

              The irony is now at such levels that we are in danger of hemochromatosis.

              You fools set the iron to steam and now complain about burns when it's pushed back into your faces.

              • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 27 2019, @01:58AM (6 children)

                by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 27 2019, @01:58AM (#792513)

                Trollolololol

                Your metaphor sucks balls btw, maybe refine it on the chanboards before trying it here? Nazis are bad, is that really such a tough concept for you? Also, for the crowd that complains about snowflake feefees you sure do exhibit the symptoms all the fucking time!

                • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 27 2019, @02:07AM (5 children)

                  by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 27 2019, @02:07AM (#792515)

                  Nazis are bad

                  Yes they are. So what? That doesn't give anybody the right to censor their speech, or obstruct those that want to hear them! And fuck your incitement bullshit! People choose to respond with violence.

                  • (Score: 0, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 27 2019, @05:02PM (4 children)

                    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 27 2019, @05:02PM (#792650)

                    Well, of course the nazi censors would mod this as "Flamebait"! For them it is! They expect absolute devotion to the cause!

                    Remember kids, censorship is always evil. There is no other word for it. Don't let the real flamers around here convince you otherwise. Censorship must be crushed by whatever means available!

                    • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 27 2019, @06:37PM (3 children)

                      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 27 2019, @06:37PM (#792692)

                      Haha nice strawman modded insightful. Tell me again, where was the censorship? Just trying to ride the persecution flag to freedom? #DumbAss

                      • (Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 27 2019, @09:07PM (2 children)

                        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 27 2019, @09:07PM (#792738)

                        You have to look at the score. It was modded flamebait first by some pro censorship dickhead, and is still there, just not in front anymore.

                        • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 28 2019, @12:02AM (1 child)

                          by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 28 2019, @12:02AM (#792780)

                          Another downmod. See? I offended the dickhead again. Sorry. Being pro censorship makes you a dickhead, by default. The downmods don't make it any less so.

                          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 28 2019, @05:13PM

                            by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 28 2019, @05:13PM (#793091)

                            You do realize that down modding is not actual censorship yes? Also, freedom of speech refers to government restrictions. Someone saying "this post is trash" is not the same as removing the post and preventing people from ever seeing it.

                            Melt harder

        • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday January 26 2019, @09:11PM

          by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Saturday January 26 2019, @09:11PM (#792440) Journal

          You nailed it, Ari. It's the same thing the GOP has been doing since Reagan and the same thing FOX News pulls: pretend that their complete whackadoodle bullshit is simply at one end of the spectrum, rather than way off in the next dimension somewhere, then invoke "fairness" to make sure it gets heard no matter how ridiculous and destructive it is.

          In this way, the Overton Window, the notional political center, has been pulled incredibly far rightward; meanwhile, the people doing this, knowing full well what they're doing, are LAUGHING at the rest of us for being the kind of basically decent human being who entertains the idea of giving all views a fair hearing in the first place.

          It's fucking sickening. Words like justice, fairness, perspective, and so forth lose all meaning in these peoples' mouths. They become twisted, blasphemous, zombified parodies of themselves, hollowed out and corrupted like an ant in the terminal stages of Cordyceps infection, turned into an undead army by their soulless necromancer overlords to attack and undermine their very origins and the very people who stand up for them.

          THIS is why I use the word "sociopath" so much. I know exactly what they're doing, and am trying to wake up as many people as possible. It's beyond "too late," but I hope I can at least make some people realize the scale and breadth of the con job that's been pulled on them for the last 40 years...

          --
          I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
        • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 26 2019, @11:02PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 26 2019, @11:02PM (#792469)

          The alt-right, amusingly the most safe-space needing snowflakes around. Projection really is their Achille's Heel.

  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday January 26 2019, @07:06PM (6 children)

    by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Saturday January 26 2019, @07:06PM (#792403) Journal

    I told Sulla he had his head up his ass, and specifically that he was being shortsighted, because he specifically credited this administration's disastrous tax policy with shaving off a mere 6 months of his mortgage payments. This is, in short, the kind of person who's well off enough to assume "a rising tide lifts all boats" and not think for an instant that people without boats will tread water if they're lucky, or otherwise simply drown.

    6 months of mortgage payments, in exchange for...what, precisely? What are we all going to suffer for his freedom from six months of mortgage payments? How selfish can a person get? THAT is why I went off on him, because that sort of blind, self-seeking thinking is what lead to this garbage in the first place. He's not even thinking about how later down the road he may not be able to maintain the house, or what the knock-on effects of this trillion-dollar trickle-up scam will be on his finances.

    And most of all, he is sparing not a single thought for any of the poorer people who are, as always, the ones to be hurt by these transparent upward-redistribution schemes. People suffer and go hungry and homeless because of a shutdown, but as long as Sulla has a few months' less mortgage to pay that's fine. The tax cuts on the back of the poor and middle class will drag the economy down for years or even decades, but as long as Sulla doesn't have to pay his mortgage for half a year, all is well.

    I don't place him in the same category of sociopathic evil as, for example, VLM or JMorris. He seems like a mostly decent person; I can sense a human heart and most of a conscience still working in there. It's more ignorance than maliciousness.

    --
    I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 26 2019, @08:18PM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 26 2019, @08:18PM (#792423)

      If he gets money back from the government, he's not all that well off. I haven't made more than 25k/y in the last 5, and getting rid of the Obama BS where I made too much for free healthcare and too little to buy my own has helped me personally a lot. Still no healthcare, but also no stress about possibly owing money that I don't have once a year.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 29 2019, @09:36PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 29 2019, @09:36PM (#793763)

        If you make 25k a year then you can get obamacare and probably tons of other benefits.
        The problem with these programs is that most needy disadvantaged people are usually too stupid to take advantage of them.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 29 2019, @10:05PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 29 2019, @10:05PM (#793787)

          Nope. I applied, got denied. I would have had to make 19k a year. Maybe in your state things are different...

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 30 2019, @06:37PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 30 2019, @06:37PM (#794172)

            In my state the most expensive plan on the exchange was $300/mo when I checked years ago.
            This would be about 3600/year but I'm a low risk to insure.
            If you make under 50k you get a hefty subsidy to help pay that premium.
            I know all this varies from state to state but it's pretty accurate to say you were too lazy to follow the process and not that you couldn't afford healthcare.

            As a poor person there are few things that you can do that will pay as much per hour as time spent navigating bureaucracies. By design there is a subsidized middle class lifestyle available to you if you bother to take it.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 26 2019, @08:25PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 26 2019, @08:25PM (#792426)

      Probably should do your taxes. The poor and the lower middle class are the primary beneficiaries of the recent tax plan. All my coworkers who are actually well off (making 80k+ a year) had their taxes go up pretty significantly.

    • (Score: 0, Offtopic) by Runaway1956 on Sunday January 27 2019, @01:35PM

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday January 27 2019, @01:35PM (#792610) Homepage Journal

      What are we all going to suffer for his freedom from six months of mortgage payments?

      Windblown hair?

      Herpes?

      A speeding ticket?

      Food poisoning?

      Faded housepaint?

      A blown tire?

      Maybe faster growing grass, so that you have to mow the lawn more often?

      Tougher weeds?

      An extra eclipse?

      Two hours of daylight savings time?

      Roaches, locusts, fleas?

      Global warming?

      Maybe an ice age?

      The return of the jedi?

      --
      Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Sulla on Saturday January 26 2019, @08:45PM (23 children)

    by Sulla (5173) on Saturday January 26 2019, @08:45PM (#792432) Journal

    I don't know, that was a pretty mild comment from AH. AH recently told me that my kids should die because I didn't want support universal healthcare.

    You better be fucking glad your God Emperor hasn't gotten rid of what little in the way of healthcare assistance remains yet. You'd be singing a different tune if this were 2024 rather than 2018. Yes, I made this political, because when your politics would lead to the deaths of others' children, yours are fair game.

    Hopefully Trump finishes off the ACA so Oregon can go back to the Oregon Health Plan that we had to get rid of when the ACA went into effect. ACA raised rates several hundred times over the old OHP plan and slashed benefits. Low income residents of Oregon were able to qualify for OHP if they made less than around 40k/year, now the cheapest plans available costs 556-1660/year for less coverage. People retired and on Social Security used to be able to use that OHP plan, the ACA replacement is 1680-3532/year for a plan with less coverage. How is someone on a fixed income supposed to survive now? Because of the changes a lot of folks here in Oregon were forced to give up healthcare entirely and instead pay the ~700 tax. So for the really poor, instead of paying zero and getting healthcare, now they are forced to pay 700 and get nothing. The ACA is actually killing people, and she thinks its fair if my kids die because I don't want the ACA to kill any more.

    --
    Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
    • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday January 26 2019, @09:02PM (22 children)

      by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Saturday January 26 2019, @09:02PM (#792439) Journal

      You, again, have no idea how lucky you've been. Your children would have been dead a dozen times over had you been in West Virginia or Alabama or Mississippi or any of hundreds of other places that didn't have Oregon's approach. Of course "Obama"care (hint: it's Romneycare, fucking look it up) SHOULDN'T have lead to prices going up ANYWHERE, but it did...in places that had something better already. Considering it was basically a regulatory-capture handout to the insurance companies with a Republican originator, this is not a surprise; blame the GOP, in whose effective if not literal ranks I count Obama and the Clinton dynasty.

      I sympathize somewhat, though not having children myself leaves a bit of a reality gap here. And I stand by the earlier statement: when you support policies that lead to the death of other peoples' children, yours are fair game. They are not special. You are not special. You, and they, are simply lucky.

      --
      I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
      • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Sulla on Saturday January 26 2019, @09:36PM (13 children)

        by Sulla (5173) on Saturday January 26 2019, @09:36PM (#792448) Journal

        I was fortunate to live in a state that had OHP when my youngest kids were born because i had to quit my job and move to a different state to take care of my grandmother with alzheimers. There was no "luck" involved with quitting my job to take care of family. I like and support safety nets because they are beneficial to all inolved. But then the Democrats unanimously passed the ACA without accepting any input from the opposition (such as the inclusion of tort reform that would have caused a few republicans to switch sides). The ACA and all its failings, price hikes, and insurance bailouts is 100% the fault of the Democrats and the Democrats alone. Arizona saw 300% hikes a few years ago, i dont exactly imagine Arizona as having had something better. Rates went up everywhere regardless of the system that existed before.

        Everyone has shit happen to them, but they deal with it. The democrats ripped the rug out from under everyone with the ACA. A good buddy of mine with type 1 diabetes went from OHP (0/year) to 2400 a year cheapest ACA plan. Sure was considerate of the Democrats to take an additional 200/month from him he did not have.

        Policies that i support are having safety nets but forcing people to find work instead of living on it forever. Policies i support would lower the unemployment rate so people can actually take care of themselves. Policies i would support would end government bailouts to insurance companies (and defence contractors). Policies i support would lower taxes on low income and lower middle class folks because 100/month makes a huge difference in the family budget.

        Yet you wish death upon me and mine for simply trying to live.

        --
        Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
        • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday January 26 2019, @09:56PM (12 children)

          by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Saturday January 26 2019, @09:56PM (#792452) Journal

          Yeah? Obamacare, awful as it is, saved my life. In early 2015 I ended up out of the blue with a massive blood clot in my right lung, known in the business as "pulmonary embolism." I had JUST gotten insurance not a month before. Were it not for that, I'd be dead or worse. To this day no one knows how the hell it happened, as I had no DVT, my leg veins look perfect, and I'm not a carrier of any thrombophilia mutations like Factor V Leiden. They thought it was pneumonia at first, and until I forced them to do an EKG and they noticed every few heartbeats looked weird, they insisted I was being a hypochondriac.

          I don't wish death on you and yours, Sulla. But I DO want you to know how precariously close to death they were, how easily the kids COULD have died if not for plain luck. You having to care for your mother might have been what eventually saved them. You, and they, could have ended up much worse off had you not had to care for her.

          You have far less control over your life than you think you do, Sulla. And I find that when people understand this, they start thinking more about other people and less selfishly. I'm trying to grow the remaining conscience and humanity I see left in you. If you are serious about supporting policy that lowers cost of living and cuts out the parasitic middlemen, PUT YOURSELF OUT THERE. I pay my dues in anti-human-trafficking work and homeless outreach, this despite being on the brink of homelessness myself constantly. What do you do to pay it forward? Are you all talk, or do you actually fight?

          --
          I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
          • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 27 2019, @12:58AM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 27 2019, @12:58AM (#792501)

            I'd be dead or worse.

            Ahh, tell us more about the hell dimension?

            • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday January 27 2019, @04:17AM

              by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Sunday January 27 2019, @04:17AM (#792533) Journal

              Maybe you'll find out :) In all seriousness, though, this is all you need to know: the saying "hell is other people" is completely 100% wrong. There's no specific place or location. You carry potential Hell within you.

              --
              I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
          • (Score: 1) by Sulla on Sunday January 27 2019, @05:42AM (5 children)

            by Sulla (5173) on Sunday January 27 2019, @05:42AM (#792563) Journal

            We aren't going to agree so I'm not going to continue on the healthcare topic. But was planning on responding to the second part.

            I am just a simple government worker in the finance department who makes sure that I make my position pay for itself through cost savings for the organization. When at the state of Oregon I found a series of improvements that one of the departments implemented that saved ten hours a week labor for one/two employees (depending on location) for each branch location. Eliminated the need for overtime for these employees and the excessive costs of bringing in temp workers for double the normal rate. My boss estimated the ongoing savings to be in the 400k/year range. I am no longer with the state but in my current position I haven't been able to make as drastic improvements, but I have paid for my position and then some.

            --
            Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
            • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday January 27 2019, @05:40PM (4 children)

              by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Sunday January 27 2019, @05:40PM (#792665) Journal

              Notice how everything you did was about trimming labor costs? You may have actually cost people jobs with that one. This is exactly what I mean: people have to come before profits. What you need to do to keep food on the table is one thing--hell, I'm basically shuttling Big Pharma's output all over a hospital all day, I'm a bit complicit with them by definition--but try and think outside the cubicle in your spare time.

              "We're never going to agree" is code for "you made me uncomfortable and I have no good response to this" based on the surroundings that snippet finds itself in. With all due respect...good. The intention is to unsettle you and get you to think. Especially about how little control you, or any of us, truly have over our lives. Your children survived by mere luck; hundreds of thousands are not so lucky. And yet, they are no more or less worthy or special than yours. When you look at your child as he is ill, think about all the ones who cannot afford care or have no one to care for them, and pray to whatever you believe in that your luck holds.

              --
              I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
              • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Sulla on Sunday January 27 2019, @06:13PM (3 children)

                by Sulla (5173) on Sunday January 27 2019, @06:13PM (#792676) Journal

                No, you are so wrong its not worth looking up the sources anymore. Its easier to agree to disagree than waste more time finding citations. I spend too much time doing that already.

                The budget for the department doesn't change because of the additional labor costs. That means additional labor costs in accounting are taking resources away from case work. Ten hours a week across some 20 locations for a whole year is some odd 10k worth of hours that could be spent by case workers doing case work instead of bean counting. That 10k hours is an extra 5 case workers of FTE. Case workers helping battered women, child abuse and neglegance, assisting with nutritional programs and training, etc.

                --
                Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
                • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday January 27 2019, @06:23PM (2 children)

                  by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Sunday January 27 2019, @06:23PM (#792678) Journal

                  Okay, you should have mentioned that then. I apologize for assuming you were just some bureaucrat somewhere, not actually involved in things that help people. Mea maxima culpa; it seems you actually *do* do useful work, which makes you the first who does who also holds some of the opinions you do. The contrast is still jarring; please try and integrate it all.

                  --
                  I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
                  • (Score: 3, Informative) by Sulla on Sunday January 27 2019, @07:58PM (1 child)

                    by Sulla (5173) on Sunday January 27 2019, @07:58PM (#792713) Journal

                    The thing I hate most in life is inefficiency. I have a problem with conservatives who hate programs but won't offer solutions. On one side you have the liberals who want more expansive programs to help people and (as conservatives see it) damn the fiscal costs, on the conservative side they are afraid that the ever increasing funding will break the bank (although hypocritically not when it applies to the military) and damn the current social costs. The point I make everyday as I work is that if we are actually efficient with our work we can cut spending and achieve more than we were able to do previously without needing to screw over workers. Its not difficult, you just need dedicated workers. I'm one of those people who chooses to fight it from the inside instead of just whine about it from the outside.

                    My first job with the state was a simple contract payment processor. My position had to be added because the other workers in the unit were so slow they were unable to meet the state's constitutional requirements for turnaround period. I was averaging 50 a day but the next highest average in the unit was around 20, with three barely managing 10 a day (same contracts, no difference in difficulty). They would whine endlessly about how they needed (and were granted) overtime so they could get their numbers to 11 or 12 a day. Being a government institution where you can't reprimand or fire someone you just have to wait them out, but for each slow person you have to maintain the rest of the operation can grind to a halt. Nonprofits who rely on that contract money to feed abused or beaten children go without funding and people don't eat. I managed to find enough efficiencies that the slow people could stay slow but still get more work done. I move on and the position did not have to be filled again by the unit so funding was able to be shifted elsewhere.

                    In the current world we live in the primary way we judge the success of a program is how much money is being spent. I went to a human services presentation by upper management several years ago and they had tons of metrics about how they are achieving more because their budget is higher, but didn't have any metrics on numbers of kids helped, how less kids are being helped every year because incidents are lower, etc. I exist to show that the amount of money you spend is not linked to the quality of the service you provide. There is going to be a limit but its necessary to actually find that limit. A increase in budget of the cost of living and stuff like that makes some sense, but there is no logic in 10-12% increases per year with the only changes being additional money wasted in overhead.

                    Anyways. I'm done with this thread, I'm sure we will cross paths somewhere else. Because that is what soylent is, endless circles of people disagreeing and never coming to any resolution, and we pretend its tech related.

                    --
                    Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
                    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 29 2019, @07:07AM

                      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 29 2019, @07:07AM (#793454)

                      The ever present problem of power and corruption. I've heard the complaints from conservatives, I've heard and seen such stories. Inefficiency sucks, lazy bastards sitting around while others do the work SUCKS.

                      However, that is a human problem. There will always be such people. All we can do is try our best, and try and put good people into management. When your anger over inefficiency becomes a political platform you end up crusading against innocent people because a spreadsheet can't handle human existence.

                      We need transparency in government so we can find the sources of corruption and wasted resources, but we also need a supportive humane approach.

                      A massive part of the problem is our economic system. It has grown and adapted over the years, but the fundamental idea remains that a limited AND infinite resource has massive control over our lives. Money is a human construct and is manipulated in order to control humans. I'm not sure how we can grow beyond it, but if we're talking politics then

                      Between liberals and conservatives there is WAY more common ground than people are used to. Race is THE dividing issue. Gender is next. Then comes all the bullshit we usually argue about.

                      Liberals need conservatives to keep them safe, conservatives need liberals to find better futures. We will get there together, and contrary to popular media we are actually slowly getting there, but the propaganda is constantly trying to keep people divided by pushing bullshit that sounds so very exciting. We would have plenty of time to yell at each other over the internet if it wasn't for madmen ACTUALLY FUCKING CONTEMPLATING nuclear annihilation over economic and political systems.

                      The plebeians are being manipulated by the patricians, age old game taken to STUPID fucking levels. We are at the point where millions of people are believing lies and turning their best allies into enemies, and sadly this is occurring on both sides. Trump was right about one thing, there are fine people on both sides. I prefer to believe it was his dementia talking and he didn't realize he was talking about Charlottesville. Woops, I think I'm beginning to understand how people go mad!

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 29 2019, @07:30PM (3 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 29 2019, @07:30PM (#793690)

            I pay my dues in anti-human-trafficking work and homeless outreach, this despite being on the brink of homelessness myself constantly.

            If this is true why don't you get an actual tech job? Then you could stop being homeless and if you actually have some all consuming need to help other people you could literally fund an entire salary at a livable wage, for someone to do what you do now.... and still have enough left over that near-homelessness is no longer a concern.

            Whatever work you're doing is going to be of a lower quality than someone who doesn't have to hustle up a hundred dollars here and there when crisis enters their life. I am curious though. I was homeless/at risk of homelessness for a period of my life. It was relatively easy for me since the entire thing was planned well in advance. Identifying the things that you need to sustain a comfortable lifestyle. A safe place to sleep. A shower. Clean water. Identifying sources and having backup plans well in advance.

            The worst part was other homeless people. I'd make friends at the food bank or waiting in line for some other handout. The second I was on my feet.. the minute I had the smallest set of resources to borrow. All of them suddenly have a crisis where they will LITERALLY DIE WITHOUT MY HELP PLEASE GOD.
            Well as far as I know all of them are sadly still alive. I donate to the mission and to a food bank still but I believe nothing a homeless person tells me and I am not interested in interacting with them in any way. I would never be so cold hearted but it's my firsthand knowledge of the homeless community that made me this way.

            I honestly don't believe you do much for the homeless. You don't act much like the volunteers I saw, you act more like someone nobody wants to live with.

            • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday January 29 2019, @10:11PM (2 children)

              by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Tuesday January 29 2019, @10:11PM (#793793) Journal

              I did do tech until recently, upon getting hired as a pharmacy technician. To be honest I've had enough of tech work as a culture; it's only going to get worse, what with MS's obvious leanings toward "Windows as a service" and Google and Apple tightening the screws, as wave after wave of worse malware and hacking washes up and more and more critical infrastructure is found wanting...to say nothing of the actual culture aspect of "the culture." Women are still not welcome in tech.

              You may believe what you wish as far as the rest goes. Even when i have nothing to donate, which is too often, I can at least listen to them. You'd be amazed what a difference that makes.

              --
              I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
              • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 30 2019, @07:51PM (1 child)

                by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 30 2019, @07:51PM (#794215)

                1) It's obvious that you've lived most of your life as a socially awkward man.
                2) You could be training to become a LPN or a dental tech and have a stable middle class life in like a year.
                3) I doubt you talk to the homeless much. They lie constantly and they're deliberately emotionally draining because it helps them spange.

                  If you're mentally unwell it might be wise to eliminate all shitheads from your life.

                Stop 'fighting the good fight' in various internet comment sections. Half the people you're fighting are paid russians who want to upset you. You seek out and allow yourself to suck down negative energy.
                Stop talking to homeless people. We're talking about a community that obtains "spange" animals so they can emotionally blackmail strangers into giving them money. One time I had a friend who had a dope fiend for a roommate. The guy was always late with rent, always a new set of reasons. He had to wreck his own credit and walk away from the lease so the landlord could evict the fucker. See it was his original plan to just wait out the remainder of the lease and leave. But the fiend 'borrowed' the guy's turtles so he could sit on the corner with a sign "homeless and hungry please feed my turtles" and get money for drugs.
                We're not sure what happened but a few days later the turtles both died.

                Yeah just about anyone becomes a wreck when they deal with the homeless. Go take care of yourself and stop looking for trouble. Stop pretending to be a martyr.

                • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday January 31 2019, @07:30AM

                  by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Thursday January 31 2019, @07:30AM (#794440) Journal

                  Noooot even gonna dignify this with a proper response. You're a perfect example of the "insecure manchild" I specifically mentioned in the journal entry itself. Sorry if being blunt and rude offends you, cupcake.

                  --
                  I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
      • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday January 27 2019, @01:41PM (7 children)

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday January 27 2019, @01:41PM (#792611) Homepage Journal

        SHOULDN'T have lead to prices going up ANYWHERE

        Maybe now you begin to understand that you were sold a single-payer system, but it was all bullshit. Leftist-care was all about enriching the insurance companies. Yes, of course they had to give some meaningful improvements to a few thousand people here and there, to "prove" the success of the program. Rescue some crackheads, some homeless, some prostitutes, some desperately poor single mothers. Meanwhile, increase the costs that everyone else pays by an order of magnitude.

        And, EVERYONE ignored that little bit about "you qualify for an 80% subsidy this year" but the subsidies were going to run out in two years.

        --
        Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
        • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday January 27 2019, @05:36PM (6 children)

          by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Sunday January 27 2019, @05:36PM (#792664) Journal

          You actually think I didn't do the research? For me it was "this or nothing." I knew from the start that this was Romneycare (so shove your stupid "leftist-care" bullshit, it was a GOP plan from the start), but it was the only game in town for me. And I hope to fuck the Dems run on a real universal healthcare platform in 2020, but I'm not counting on it.

          You have a serious problem with assuming everyone who isn't you is an unthinking moron incapable of doing their own research. I mean, you have serious problems in general, but this is a particular sore point that makes attempting to discuss virtually anything with you a chore.

          --
          I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
          • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday January 27 2019, @06:29PM (5 children)

            by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday January 27 2019, @06:29PM (#792684) Homepage Journal

            "this or nothing"

            Nothing would have been better. You know it, I know it, anyone with an IQ larger than their shoe size knows it. Did you say "unthinking moron"? Well, that is almost synonymous with Romney/Obama/Clinton/whatevercare supporters. "You've got to pass the bill to see what is in it!" Christ on a crutch. No matter how you look at it, you were sold a pig in a poke.

            --
            Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
            • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday January 27 2019, @06:34PM (4 children)

              by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Sunday January 27 2019, @06:34PM (#792688) Journal

              Without that pig in a poke, I would have died in 2015.

              --
              I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
              • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday January 27 2019, @06:37PM (3 children)

                by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday January 27 2019, @06:37PM (#792690) Homepage Journal

                The Grim Reaper lurks around, and he'll get all of us in time. What can I say?

                --
                Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
                • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday January 27 2019, @06:40PM (2 children)

                  by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Sunday January 27 2019, @06:40PM (#792693) Journal

                  For starters, you can say something like "We may as well not make her job easier."

                  --
                  I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
                  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday January 27 2019, @06:47PM (1 child)

                    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday January 27 2019, @06:47PM (#792696) Homepage Journal

                    Actually, I'd kinda like his job. Maybe he's due for a promotion or something, and we can make a deal.

                    It just crossed my mind: what do you suppose the prerequisites are for the job? Yeah - seriously - assuming that the job has to be done, what do you think that any creator would require of an applicant for the job?

                    --
                    Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
                    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 27 2019, @07:50PM

                      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 27 2019, @07:50PM (#792709)

                      Shut up, Runaway! You are embarrassing yourself, again.