sexcauldron

Good to see a new format taking hold, takes a little getting used to but it's definitely a better mobile version. Seems like things are picking up a bit since last I logged in, I'm optimistic towards future growth.

I don't really visit the site all that much anymore but I'm ready to post whenever. I took pictures of almost everything that passed through me so we should be able to get a decent representation even w/o everyone posting. At this point I'm pretty sure it's just Azteka w/o a book.

If your country was "bordered" by a terrorist organization forcing itself into a state to obtain legitimacy while advocating the eradication of semitic peoples and claiming your capital city as their own you might think differently about that statement.

First thing I thought when I logged onto the new site was "welp, never coming back here again."

Sorry for the absence there guys, both books shipped out, I'll send tracking numbers via pm once I get home. Azteka, from what I gather KWG held your book thinking it was Butters' w/ the intention of sending it to Butters. However, he doesn't appear to have actually sent anything to Butters so I would think it's still in his possession. Pretty sure Aero has a contact for him so maybe he can get in touch w/ him for you. I sent you a PM w/ the info I have.

Pulz's book was sent last week, Butters' will be in the mail by Thursday at the latest, hopefully sooner. Still haven't heard from GOGP w/ an address.

Got caught up at work and haven't made it to the post office yet, shipping yours (pulz) off tomorrow afternoon though. Probably gonna need until Saturday to finish up Butters' book, but I have his address now. GOGP's is done but I haven't heard back from him w/ an address yet.

Haven't posted in here in a while, been to a Beligain Beerfest and several other beer activities since then. Some highlights: Panil Divina- who knew the Italians were capable of making delicious sours? I've been a fan of the Barriquee for a while but Divine might be taking its place: light blonde colored classic saison tartness but w/ more body than your average saison Perennial La Bohme - apparently out of Michigan, these guys can make a hell of a sour, first time trying them and on draft no less. Sour cherries and various sour yeasts, full bodied yet light w/ a good tartness and sour cherry flavor Millstone - local favorites, these guys have been blowin' up the craft cider game around here, truly fantastic meads & ciders. My favorites are Thislte (sour brett apple cyser), Funky Plum (tart plum mead), & Bonfire (apple cider w/ fish pepper chilies). Hope they get more recognition because they're definitely on the right path. Check them out here: http://www.millstonecellars.com/our-products/

Addresses guys, sent you two PMs as well. Trying to get these all shipped on Monday.

So here's a copy of their complaint (https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1175039-complaint.html. After reading the article I was confused what attorney or firm would put their name on this nonsense, low and behold the answer is none: "Plaintiffs currently represent themselves pro se because of the overwhelming costs related to paying an attorney to represent them in this complex civil rights matter." Apparently they had the help of a former civil rights attorney but I'd bet he won't be standing up to be named based on how legally erroneous some of their claims are.

Agreed. Saying this is misogynistic extremism, as I've seen some uber-feminist types attempt to claim, is patently ridiculous. This isn't what happens when someone hates women oh so much, it's what happens when someone is crazy. Since when did we start pretending we care why crazy people do things? CNN had an article the other day (http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/27/justice/california-elliot-rodger-wealth/index.html) talking about the idiot's obsession w/ his families wealth/status or lack thereof. So apparently, not only did he have a problem w/ women, but he wasn't well off enough for his own tastes either. But seriously, who gives a fuck? People like this do this kind of shit for attention, and oh look he got a whole lot of it. We shouldn't be talking about gun control or mental illness or getting up on a soap box for own personal plight, we should be asking this kid's parents where they were? I'm sorry but this level of crazy doesn't fly under the radar if you're a good parent. I've come to find that modern feminists take a very pretentious stance when arguing w/ those they perceive to be non-feminists. One of the first things they attempt to do is show how difficult it is to understand feminism, both intellectually and existentially. They then tell you that they can't even begin to explain it because you don't understand various lower tenets that supposedly form the basis of the more complex intellectually-rich doctrine. The problem w/ all of that of course is feminism isn't deeply intellectual nor is it difficult to understand existentially, but you see it has to be, because if it were easy then everyone would be capable of getting it. If everyone were capable of simply understanding feminism then their narrative falls apart because that very same narrative posits that the vast minority of people understand, or are even capable of understanding, their plight. The harsh reality is that people do understand and either disagree or don't care, but the very fabric of their narrative doesn't allow for this reality.

Yes I've got yours.

Didn't get to finish Butters and GOGP last weekend, both will be finished this weekend though. Shipping everything out either Saturday or Monday so if I don't have your address drop me a pm (pretty sure I don't have Butters or GOGP).

Pulz's book is done, should finish Butters and GOGP by the end of the weekend.

Your understanding of economics & politics is about as developed as that of a 16 year old who ran away from home to join Occupy Wallstreet for the weekend. While the number is up from 10 years ago, the percentage of people working minimum wage jobs has actually been declining since 2010. This doesn't make any sense. The only contestable point I made was advocating for the states to manage minimum wage w/o the involvement of the federal government, i.e. no federal minimum. I like Washington's model which uses an algorithm based on cost of living to determine whether or not an increase is needed on a yearly basis. Guess what, there is no low wage employment problem in Washington, in fact they have the lowest percentage of people on minimum wage in the whole country. My original point was merely that the federal government shouldn't use Washington as an example for raising the federal minimum because doing so undermines the process and circumstances that have made Washington's system successful. Lastly, the "vast majority" can definitely afford to live, we're not talking about Ethiopia; in fact, the vast minority of the work force are paid minimum wage. It's no fun arguing w/ you, all you do is push a narrative. The link you posted actually posits that the average CEO earns about 350 times more than the average worker. No one needs to make $100million a year, but I don't want anyone saying someone can't make that much either. Legislating these kinds of things is a slippery slope regardless of one's personal opinions and I for one am not willing to open that door. I wonder how many of the firms used for that article even have minimum wage jobs though, I'd wager it's less than you think. The stat I posted was only accounting for a federal minimum wage increase, companies like Walmart could obviously make internal adjustments to keep afloat but my point was just to show how many people they employ and how financially significant a federal minimum increase of that size would be. As an aside, the article you posted should be taken w/ a grain of salt. Unfortunately the author does not cite where he comes up w/ the average worker's salary; in fact, in googling the amount it only comes up w/ his article and various other articles quoting or just directly copying his information. That's troublesome because "average worker" doesn't really mean anything. The stats from the Census Bureau leave a lot of room for interpretation, but if you look per state, per industry, per household, etc... the number the author chose is definitely on the lower end of the spectrum with the true average appearing to be closer to $50k. In case you're interested you can thumb through these tables: https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/labor_force_employment_earnings.html. Even if you use the average hourly amount the author mentions ($20), the full time yearly is closer to $40k. However, again the BLS, which for some reason he cites despite the fact that it doesn't support his number, puts the average hourly wage closer to $24 which would then raise the yearly closer to $50k. You can look at this table if you're interested: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t19.htm. Moreover, crunching his numbers on the average CEO hourly rate, I come up with $5,913 per hour bringing his ratio from 350 all the way down to 246. These numbers are obviously not exact, but the author is clearly playing fast and loose w/ the stats for the purpose of getting his point across.

I agree in part. Personally, I feel that good jobs are easier to find than good people, look up the countless studies on the experience gap if you disagree. I'm not saying it isn't difficult to find a good job, but if you're an educated and skilled individual you should be able to earn above minimum wage, plain and simple. The problem is we aren't interested in educating the underprivileged masses in this country. Our education system breeds ditch diggers and there are only so many ditches to dig, especially when someone in another country will do it for half the cost. So that's how wages should be measured? How much the company can pay before it impacts the consumer? FYI: http://247wallst.com/retail/2013/12/05/can-walmart-and-mcdonalds-afford-a-15-minimum-wage/ "Here is some simple but not entirely accurate math about what each company would pay if its hourly minimum wage rose to $15. If 75% of the workers at both companies make $8 and the number rose to $15, Walmart’s expense increase would be $18 billion a year. McDonald’s would be $4.5 billion. In the case of McDonald’s, profits would be cut in half. Walmart’s profit would be cut by 80%." McDonalds employs approximately 300k and Walmart employs approximately 1.4 million people in the US. Imparting labels to people seems to be about 99% of your argumentative ability. Nothing I said should have given you the impression that I'm a libertarian unless you have a faulty understanding of that political philosophy; in fact, libertarians would take issue w/ my minimum wage philosophy. True libertarianism would argue for no minimum wage whatsoever, I stated that I felt the minimum wage requirements should be solely vested w/ the states w/o a federal binding. Go ahead and google libertarian minimum wage, it shouldn't be hard to find dozens of articles disagreeing w/ my position on this matter. Everything else I said is true and has nothing to do w/ any political philosophy. Your arguments can basically be summed up as such: apply label + attack what label represents to you + disregard actual post. Nothing I said was based on a libertarian economic theory.

I do and fret not you won't be disappointed when you get it back, some serious work in there. Gonna try and finish up everyone's this week/weekend.

No idea why he did that, but I've got your book and can send it back to ya asap or drop another piece in it. The only book you haven't hit in the package I got is GOGP's, if he wants I'll send it to you after I hit it.

Alright folks, I got three books in the mail yesterday but there appears to have been a mix-up somewhere along the line. I received GOGP's book and two books I already hit: Pulz and Butters (which was originally Kwik's). This means that I do NOT have Azteka's book. Not too sure how this happened but my guess is KWG kept Azteka's book, thinking it was Butters', when he moved the books onto Aero.

You know that's a two way street, for people to be making more money, employers have to be paying more money. If employers can't pay more money, people get laid off, hours get cut, etc... That's what I mean by what the market can bear, i.e. the amount the minimum wage can be raised before employers have to start laying off people. If the world worked the way your ideology suggests, we should just raise the minimum wage to $100 an hour because then everyone would have more money, right? When we're talking about raising the federal minimum wage it's a very delicate dollars and cents game, that was my point. So you're suggesting that people making the minimum wage don't have enough money to buy things and that's bad for the market? Two initial purchasing distinctions I see: necessities and luxury goods. People making minimum wage may not be able to afford luxury goods but I'd like to think they can afford necessities, maybe not for their family of x kids but that's a separate issue. It doesn't really matter though because if you had read the Bureau of Labor and Statistics link I posted you'd know that only 4.7% of all hourly wage earners make at or below minimum wage. Now like the Bureau says, that's definitely an under-representation, but there is simply no denying that minimum wage earners contribute the least to the economy. Thus, what minimum wage earners can afford to purchase is all but irrelevant to the economy and what the market can bear. Using divisive rhetoric like the "greedy 1%" cheapens whatever argument or point you may be trying to push. I suggest you watch this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi8clPrg7kc. Moreover, where is the logic in your train of thought that suggests giving people more money means they'll spend more but if you give the "greedy 1%" more money they'll just hoard it? Not only does your statement suggest an unwarranted demonization of successful people, it also seems to suggest that successful people aren't the main contributors to the economy (both in terms of actual purchases and in terms of employment). So in your world, the big bad 1% just collect capital (through what means might I ask? surely illicit in your opinion or at least in some way undeserved) and hoard it to the detriment of everyone else while plotting ways to skirt the tax code. In the real world, successful people tend to put their earnings back into the economy via old-fashioned spending or employing other people while plotting ways to skirt the tax code. Of course there's a disconnect here because what you actually mean by the "greedy 1%" are people that you perceive to be part of a ruling class, likely tied to big business. Sure those people exist, but the specter of what they represent has been synthesized, distilled, and pre-packaged for your consumption. It comes neatly bundled w/ all economic issues so that the uneducated masses can recognize and relate to it in regards to an otherwise amorphous topic. Both sides do this, you've just chosen the liberal flavor which is designed to breed and foster division between the working class and the rich.

Maryland just passed a law to gradually increase the minimum wage to $10.10 by 2018. I find it interesting that people reference Washington state when advocating for a higher minimum wage though. As you can see here: http://lni.wa.gov/WorkplaceRights/Wages/Minimum/History/default.asp, Washington uses an algorithm based on cost of living research data to calculate their minimum wage on a yearly basis. I actually think that's a pretty great idea, and a better way to determine what the market will bear than a blanket increase in the minimum wage. Washington passed their minimum wage referendum in 1998, prior to that their minimum wage was $5.15, by '99 it was $5.70 and in '00 it was $6.50. What does that mean? Well to me it means that Washington is not the be all end all example of why the country can bear a higher minimum wage, far from it in fact. I see a very gradual increase of roughly 20 cents per year on average, MD on the other hand will increase by roughly 75 cents each year until hitting $10.10. I know that seems like a trivial amount, 55 cents difference, but it's not. As you can see here: http://www.bls.gov/cps/minwage2012.htm, in 2012 3.6 million people employed in the US made minimum wage or below. Keep in mind that the footnote for that statistic states: "the actual number of workers with earnings at or below the prevailing federal minimum is undoubtedly understated." Point being, a blanket increase in the minimum wage would be a ridiculous cost to employers and it's disingenuous to point to Washington and say "see, higher minimum wages won't cripple the economy." Washington has built a system over a decade in the making, pointing to their end result as a justification for raising the federal minimum belies the process that made it effective in that state. Moreover, even a gradual cost increase should be done gently w/ an eye towards what specific states and geographic markets can actually bear. I'm cool w/ them tying all that in to cost of living, but it has to be at least state specific; ideally, I'd argue it should be more specific than that but that would turn into an argument for vesting minimum wage decisions w/ the states w/o involvement from the federal government.

Nah wait until everyone get's theirs back imo, we've waited this long. Butters, you get in contact w/ KWG/find out what's up w/ your book? Don't want you to miss out man, you put too much work in.

Ha I didn't even see that, carry on. Wish Netlfix would've gotten the HBO shows.

Where'd you see that? I'm pretty sure the HBO stuff isn't coming to Netflix anytime soon; Amazon Prime just announced an exclusive deal w/ HBO a few weeks ago.

So......?