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Messages - mirjo
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46
« on: January 10, 2015, 01:24:08 AM »
What's being discussed here is that people who choose law enforcement do exactly that--choose to do it. Some people who work for cleaning services likely do so because they need a job and possibly would rather do something else. I just think it's self serving to go on about how tough and dangerous your job is, but you still do it anyway. The point is what? To say "pat me on the back for doing this?" It's understood it's a tough & dangerous job. We all know there are loonies out there. If someone doesn't know that, they have to live under a rock. Those who do choose to clean professionally (or whatever) are not out there saying how tough their jobs are, how under appreciated they are, but they do it anyway so corporate America can have clean floors to walk on. Just because I don't agree with these things that I feel are sappy and self serving, doesn't mean I don't have any genuine appreciation for what these groups do. I get it, completely. On board all the way. I was an EMT for a number of years, up at all hours, all kinds of weather, all manner of situations. I did it because I wanted to. Period. I was on plenty of calls with grateful patients who gave lots of accolades and thank you's to us for coming out for them. The response was often: "No problem, it's what we do." It was the truth. The thanks was appreciated, certainly--but it was what we did. And did it with or w/o recognition. Everyone who does something like this, does so for a reason-- they get some thing out of it personally or they wouldn't do it. Firefighters get a charge out of fighting a fire, soldiers get the same kind of thrill, Cops & EMTs get a rush when the tones drop and they're off to the next call. There is an innate altruistic nature to people who do these things. If there wasn't a basic desire to help people, then they wouldn't do it, because they're not great jobs! They'd be wall street bankers, who are noted to be rather self serving, greedy, and rich. US presidents seem to like them a lot.  I find it very sad that ignorant crazies gun down innocent people because they think they're proving something. Regardless of the unnecessary violence and what the Ferguson police force did for cops everywhere. It would have been better w/o the last line, which is close to pure bs.
47
« on: January 09, 2015, 01:55:37 PM »
Career choices are exactly that: choices. While I completely and totally respect members of law enforcement, fire/rescue, military, teachers, healthcare workers etc, the reality is they chose their profession. Am I grateful for the things they do, that I can't, of course, but find it irritating to read these things that are meant to tug at peoples heart strings and works on many. How about a shout out to those unsung heroes who clean public restrooms--you never see them complaining about how disrespected they are or writing sappy letters for sympathy about all the nasty duty they clean in the course of a day. If anyone deserves a raise, it's these folks! You can bet They didn't CHOOSE that low paying career because it was a calling since they were 5. I'm sorry Mr. Police Officer from Wisconsin, thank you for your service, I respect your choice and agree with a lot of what you say; however when you put your uniform back on and go to work tomorrow, you are choosing to do that. When I go to work tomorrow and use the clean restroom, I know the person who did it didn't really have as much of a choice about his job, but still does it with pride, knowing the possibility of the the mess he may face later. 
48
« on: January 09, 2015, 01:12:30 PM »
The election's over, let's move forward.
49
« on: January 09, 2015, 01:10:04 PM »
Not to sound like a broken record, BUT we KNEW that info a few years ago. Was it really going to change? What's the definition of stupidity/insanity? Doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results? I'm happy to hear this, I no longer have kids in school, but I think it's important to keep up the good fight. I also think the SU needs to be held up under a better light. Not enough people (none usually) attend those meetings and I think the SI needs to get a clue that he's a public figure. It's within your rights to demand transparency in the SU practices/budget et-al. If enough people make a push something has to happen. It's like the shady bus garage deal, that kind of thing should have been out in the open up front--so what other things are being hidden.  No, I would keep my eye on that guy, attend SU meetings when possible, ask for full disclosure on budget issues and when he hedges, push a little. I saw how he behaved at the mtg I attended and wasn't impressed and have seen him at other BFA mtg. Just a suggestion to all who are actively involved.
50
« on: January 09, 2015, 12:51:53 PM »
Ok calm down ridgerunner, poor choice of words on my part, should have went for the long version explanation. What I meant by being "native" is that there is often a definitive difference from people who were born and raised in the state (i.e. native) or having lived here a long time than those who moved here from more urban areas (almost everywhere else) and continue with the same attitudes. If you take offense to that, I'm sorry. it's been my observation over time and since it's true in many cases, I believe it to be a real thing. That's not to say that native Vermonters and long term transplants can't also act like jerks, but by and large, Vermont people are friendly, down-to-earth-neighborly types. After 8 generations, I can assume you would know. 
51
« on: January 08, 2015, 12:22:40 PM »
I don't recall there ever being a 2hr delay. It seems I recall a no delay policy as it was too disruptive to the school day, so it was either, open or closed, nothing in between. I seem to recall a day or two being closed because of below zero temps, for one reason or other-it may have been for issues related to the cold temps that affected the school or something. I'm fairly certain that occurred at least once when my kids were in school.
52
« on: January 08, 2015, 12:13:48 PM »
Yeah, not quite sure where he blew in from, but as someone who has been around a long time and seen a few SI's, can say with certainty, NOT impressed in any way, shape, or form. I hate to be that person, but he clearly strikes me as a non-native. And certainly, the least friendly SI this supervisory union has ever had! Even the temporary SI a few years back was far more personable and he was simply filling in until a permanent replacement could be found. Maybe someone on the the hiring committee should have shot across the bow on this one.
53
« on: January 08, 2015, 08:03:07 AM »
I can't attend, but think someone should ask if a full cost analysis between the bids/keeping local buses was done & it should be produced for all to see. If it is more expensive for the SU to have it's own buses, then so be it, but they need to prove that, as far as I'm concerned.
I'm not sure what happened, it seemed like this went out to bid after the Sept school board meeting and that's where it was at in Nov at the SU mtg. There was no discussion or anything, just a reading of the letter sent by the Sec of Ed & a statement made that the SU was waiting on bids. And a seemingly halfhearted comment by a board member to keep the concerns of Fairfax in mind, which appeared to be met with an equally half-hearted response from the SI, but no genuine interest in the subject and no one from the public there, whcih surprised me.
Has it really come down to people not willing to push for answers and accountability? Taking the emotions out of this issue: while it bites that that the state thinks it knows what's best for every town, there is a definite need for districts to save $. BFA has proven to be able to maintain a fleet of buses rather well over the years and it seems reasonable at first glance anyway, there is no reason keeping the fleet in the SU for the 3 districts would be more costly than an outside contract--however there are some logistics/costs to overcome initially, since the other two schools don't have buses. But whatever, you know? The SI sure seems opposed to the idea, even if it were fiscally sensible....
54
« on: December 11, 2014, 08:06:47 AM »
After reading this news story, I can only say that it's entirely possible that the paint is the cheaper of the two--even though it sounds outrageous. We are talking about the military and there hasn't ever been any expenditure that has made much sense in its history. I think the concept IS to over spend on everything to justify the budget. That said--I'm going with the paint being cheaper than putting up a structure of some sort.
I fully support the military; however, I never see congress saying "let's trim that bloated buget a bit and stop the unnecessary excessive spending!" Nope, it's always the elderly and disadvantaged they go after for entitlements. I think there are a few congressional entitlements that could be eliminated to level the playing feld a little.
55
« on: November 20, 2014, 10:51:18 AM »
@watchman: I attended the SU mtg last evening with the expectation there was to be discussion on the BFA bus issue--as I had been led to believe--only to discover that either the discussion took place some other time or there wasn't one, because all that was said was that bids were going out this week for the SU and the next discussion on the topic would be at the Jan mtg. There was a dispassionate request from someone (presumably Fairfax board?) to be sure to compare apples to apples, because of all that is going on with the Fairfax buses. Ned was his usual arrogant-ass self. I don't believe for a minute that the fairfax board is making any case for the buses. I was surprised to hear about the bids--I didn't realize it was there at this point--so I missed something somewhere or all the fervor on vtgrandpa has been exactly that--on vtgrandpa. ************** Thor, Thor, Thor put down your hammer man, before you hurt yourself or others...I get it--you don't like Obama. Half of all voters don't like him. Fox news, Rush Limbaugh, and congress don't like him and that's ok. You don't have to, it's still a free country. This is not an endorsement, simply an observation of fact. The only thing different about the current administration compared to previous administrations is: It's the current administration! that's it--nothing more. All this blustering here & everywhere about lies this lies that, as though Obama & friends invented it or something, I will repeat, it's as laughable as it is hypocritical. All presidents lie/deceive the public on something or other. If more people paid attention to things they would likely remember from one to the next and not be astonished all over again. It's like groundhog day with each successive administration. So your claim that What we have is the most dishonest administration we have ever had. is a blatant partisan hater comment, because it's not likely true. But since you believe it to be--there is nothing I can really say. The liberal president can only lie, to move the liberal policies forward. That should say something about the liberal agenda. In fact, perhaps the last election shows that people are waking up. Why do you make such a sweeping arrogant comment about lying to move the liberal agenda forward? Again, are you saying conservative presidents don't lie to push their agenda through? Hmmm Okay. I would counter that the last election shows that people are indeed clueless as Gruber said. This is why: 1) It's proven historically that people will vote out the controlling party every few years, thinking it will change things. But it never does. Big business owns congress and runs that show. Policy is written for the benefit of those paying for elections, not the American people. It goes across party lines. Corporations owe billions in taxes that they've wheedled out of paying through a tax loophole & congress won't/can't do anything about it--because that's where their bread is buttered. 2) A few years ago Mitch McConnell publicly said their agenda was to make sure Obama was a one term president--that shouldn't EVER be the agenda of congress regardless of political party! Yet he was voted back in for another term AND voted to be majority leader. Others have said/done ridiculous things that make rational people wonder why they're in office, but it goes unnoticed in their home state apparently, because they get re-elected and shouldn't. We might be better off to add a few rides, a gate, and charge admission to visitors. Maybe change the name to Disney DC. We would make money then. Keep the same schedule with a new CEO every few years like big corps do. I doubt anyone would notice. 3) All the religion & politics mixing and the general belief--being proliferated by republicans in congress--that the country was founded on Christian principles, when it was, in fact, not is more than a little scary. One's religious ideology is personal and doesn't belong in policy making or business. Now that the republicans have control of congress they're all about working together, which they haven't been for 6 years. It's not ALL Obama's fault, despite what some want people to believe. Again, an observation, not an endorsement *For Obama's entire presidency congress has obstructed many things--initially, change maker that he believed he was, he thought he could ride into Washington and make friends and influence people. He tried to "work across the aisle" repeatedly, to no avail. Of course that's not how it was reported by the "other side." He didn't ever have enough cojones to put his foot down where he should have. Then when he started to, he's dinged for being the obstructionist. *Bush tax cuts were to expire after 10 years--when the time came congress bullied hard to keep them going, by using extreme tactics and catch phases like "job creators" and such. And speaking of lies: when all that Bush tax cuts business got mired in other business it never should have (thanks republicans-it's not just "the liberals" who are PITAs, believe me) and became a huge mess as the president attempted to make cuts for some people, the haters in congress came out saying he was raising taxes--when in fact it was a matter of letting temporary tax cuts expire as they were designed to do. While I didn't agree that incomes in the 250,000 range were all that high as far as tax increases go, I also felt that the tax cuts should have expired as designed and maybe that whole fiasco wouldn't have happened, but...(as you say) liberals must lie to get their way and (so) conservatives must lie to keep their wealth in play. *The AHA was pushed through with a great deal of problems--that's a fact, but it didn't take effect for several years--it's my belief that was built in to allow time to work on it, but instead of taking the four years to fix the problems, congress spent the entire time pissing & moaning about all that was wrong and did absolutely nothing with that particular bit of legislation that they supposedly hated nor did they come up with anything to replace it--they just bitched about it, like they've bitched about the president. and blamed him for everything that's gone wrong, whether it's deserved or not. I think healthcare is a broken system that needs many fixes in many areas. I think the AHA is a good jump off point, but is far from affordable (how can millionaires define what's affordable for the average person earning 40K or less?) and needs a lot of work. I fail to see what's fixed really. There are still ins companies involved that have huge deductibles on every plan (I've looked at a few) and from what I see, people are paying high premiums and getting major medical coverage for a catastrophic event, because most people are still paying out of pocket for every doc visit. It's really no change from what currently exists privately, which means there is no improvement, so what the hell is the point? I just renewed my insurance, as it's open enrollment right now and premiums went up, as expected, but in making my yearly plan/premium comparison etc. The bottom line is: It's impossible to meet a 12K deductible, so it's pay it forward (in the premium) or as you go along (out of pocket) that's the real choice. Obamacare is the same from what I can tell. *Even when Obama has agreed or attempted to agree with congress for some reason they can't abide like adults should. I recall one budget that Boehner and Obama were in agreement on and Boehner shot it down in the end--his own budget. And these are the people we should be happy to have leading congress? I've gone above and beyond, of course. But...you should know by the roundtable discussions in the past that general comments like 'liberals lie' and 'this is the most dishonest administration ever' are going to cause me to turn on the faucets. I also know that those are just your opinions and this is what I have observed and believe to be correct. So... Other than a way to blow off a little political steam, it really doesn't matter at all does it? Kind of ironic.
56
« on: November 16, 2014, 01:12:11 AM »
What are you saying Thor, no one in the history of the US GOV. has EVER deceived the public before? That implication in itself is as laughable as it is hypocritical
Gruber may not be very bright, but he's at least honest and certainly isn't wrong in his assessment of the American public; however, ignorant would have been a better word choice. Most people are uneducated about politics; economics, world affairs, and what's going on in the rest of the country in general. A poll of random people on the street in any city in the US would reveal very few know who the VP is or that there are three branches of the government, or how many senators there are. and some are hopelessly clueless about what is/isn't a state, plus any number of other general things that should be common knowledge for any HS student or graduate.
Even though you're calling foul, because your sensibilities have been insulted--you can't possibly deny that overall the majority of people don't have a clue about economics or a lot of other things pertaining to government, business, or politics. Maybe you do, maybe your acquaintances do, but you are not a majority. There is a lot I don't know about the things I mentioned and would fail if asked and I know more than a lot of other people out there do. His comments, are a reflection of politics as it's always been, at least in our time and therefore I don't see any reason to be insulted by them.
I think the 50s and (maybe) 60s were the last time there were politicians in office who actually cared about the American public as they're supposed to. It's a sad state of affairs we have going and not because Jonathan Gruber has loose lips. :/
57
« on: November 13, 2014, 12:52:46 PM »
Is there some reason the BFA buses couldn't be used (contracted-whatever) by the SU to serve its distrricts? I understand there are logistics involved that need to be worked out, but if they're spending money already...
58
« on: November 05, 2014, 04:32:35 PM »
I am late getting to this party, but have to ask--now that the big day is over and all (maybe just some) are expecting sweeping changes to occur--I have to ask and maybe some day will receive an answer from the cosmos: Does anyone realize that the complaint is the same over & over & over again? Or am I the only one in my own personal Ground Hog Day hell?? I keep looking for Bill Murray, so I can let him know I get what's going on, but I don't see him anywhere.
It's always, taxes are too high, insurance premiums are too high, spending is too high, we need a change in Montpelier/Washington, because those who are there aren't doing anything right, blah blah blah and blah.
Just change the date and it could be any year, any party, any and all of the above. I don't recall insurance premiums ever decreasing in the last 30 years, not once has anyone that I know or saw on TV said: "Wow look, BCBS is charging $50 less per month come January for my current coverage, we'll save $600 a year!"
While, I don't agree with the transfer of budgeted money in a government budget, I am sure more than one household has had to transfer money to something it wasn't allocated for; however, if this sort of thing is a regular occurrence, then there is a budget-establishing problem that needs to be fixed. Though, I can't see how an increase in insurance premiums is anything new and has absolutely nothing to do with who's in charge now or at any other point in time, since it's something that occurs annually and is set by the insurance company. I don't see how the state or any employer can say they will do a smaller increase over time? What am I missing? There is a problem with the process that everyone, including ALL elected officials are missing-- until that's fixed, nothing will change. We have a choice to live here or not.
@trussell: New Zealand
59
« on: October 26, 2014, 07:00:04 AM »
The process is the same there as it is out here, vote for what you believe and the majority rules. Some walk away pleased, others not so much.
60
« on: October 26, 2014, 06:54:11 AM »
@kpplus2: To be clear and that is important, I asked if you knew a candidate with a plan, which you didn't actually answer, because as MK pointed out, none so far has come forward on this forum to outline one. Also, I wasn't suggesting that you personally were guns blazing or even disgruntled, I was speaking about candidates/legislators with the former & the popluation overall with the latter.
As I've stated before, it's great to have an agenda and to want to get things done; however, other than voting one's conscience, work on bills/laws is done in committees before being presented to the house. Legislators are assigned to committees, they don't choose which ones they want to be on.
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