Author: Michael A. Ventrella

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The new economy means you have to pay reasonable wages

I’ve seen plenty of right-wing talking points recently about lazy people not taking jobs because unemployment benefits are better.

Unemployment benefits don’t even get people out of poverty, so what does that say about the salary you’re offering?

“But I’m offering a decent wage,” the employer says. Well, obviously not, if you can’t find workers.

The economy has changed. Many workers (who you may have called “essential”) died in the pandemic, and many more have decided that if they’re essential, maybe they should get paid accordingly. There are more jobs than people who need them. (Hey, maybe all those “immigrants coming here for our jobs” isn’t a bad thing after all, hm?)

What makes me shake my head more is the realization that the ones complaining about it are the same ones who talk about how great capitalism is and how the “free market” should decide the economy. Well, the free market is now demanding that you pay your employees a decent wage.

While on one hand, I can feel sorry for those mom-and-pop neighborhood stores that have it harder, this is just a cost of business, like when your rent goes up or the cost of materials increases. People’s value should go up with inflation just like everything else.

But the main thing that bugs me about it is when I see huge corporations complaining about it. The WalMart family could pay every employee $25 an hour and still remain billionaires. There comes a point where you cannot feel sorry for the Bad Guys who put workers in slave-like conditions with as few benefits as possible when they’re so rich they could make a real difference in those people’s lives but choose not to for their own selfish reasons. There’s no way to make that admirable, in my book.

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Senator Sinema’s priorities

David Fitzsimmons

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Why we need Pride Month

I would love to live in a world where we wouldn’t need Gay Pride parades or Black Pride marches or anything like that.  But as long as there are a group of people who want to make others ashamed of what they are, then there will be people saying, “No, I am not ashamed.  I am proud.  You cannot shame me.”

If we lived in a society where it was absolutely fine to discriminate against people with blue eyes, I would encourage blue-eyed people to have their own “Blue-Eyed Pride” parades. They would need them, to establish that they will not bend to the will of those who would take away their rights for no good reason.

I admit that I’ve never paid much attention to “Italian Pride” because I don’t feel like having an Italian last name has really hurt me that much. Oh sure, there’s probably someone out there who won’t like me for that reason, but I don’t have an entire political party dedicated to destroying any rights I might have.

People who are marginalized by our society need representation. They need to see that they have worth and value.

Is there a need whatsoever for “Straight Pride”? Or “White Pride”? No, of course not. No one is preventing straight people from getting married. No one is marching with hate signs saying “whites will not replace us.”

The point of Pride months is to stand up to those who want to shame people for who they are. Don’t let others demean you. Be proud.

Pride flags hung along Main Street of my hometown of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
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Memorial Day 2021

For Memorial Day, I thought I’d just post some cartoons, and remind everyone to always remember the true purpose of the day.

memorial-day
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Groups who had a part in the mob attack

Ann Telnaes
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Things I’m tired of saying to my clients

“No, I cannot get the charges thrown out simply because the cop said your car was blue when it’s really maroon.”

“No, I can’t get the charges thrown out simply because the cop didn’t read you your rights when he arrested you. They only have to do that when you’re being interrogated. Yes, I know it’s different on television.”

“So you want to believe one of the other inmates at the jail as to what should be done in your case over me? After all, what do I know with my eight years of degrees and my 35 years of practice?”

“I am not your employee. You hired me for my knowledge and experience, not for me to file whatever frivolous motion you think you need.”

“Why did you hire me and pay me all this money if you’re just going to ignore every bit of advice I give you?”

“No, you can’t sue the cops if you’re found not guilty.”

“The fact that things are bad for you right now and people should understand what you’re going through is, amazingly enough, not a defense against the charges.”

“No, I am not interested in taking a case where you are claiming that the government doesn’t have jurisdiction over you because you’re a sovereign citizen.”

“Yes, I know I told you that this was what the law said and I know the judge ruled against me anyway. The judge is wrong.”

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From the “Jewish Space Laser” lady

Michael DeAdder

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Fake polls!

Rassmussen is known for polls that always favor Republicans to the point where legitimate pollsters consider them unreliable — but Fox News and right-wing sources constantly report them as factual despite their variance from every other poll.

So now they’re reporting Biden’s high approval rating. Suddenly, the right wing is claiming the pollster they’ve always loved is “fake news.”

Honestly, I’d be shocked if they had reacted differently. That’s always their response to any news that contradicts their already-held beliefs.

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The real thief

Clay Bennett

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What if you never could tell a person’s sex?

Sometimes I see people complaining when they see someone who is transgender or where you can’t tell if they are male or female. There was a tremendously unfunny character on Saturday Night Live named “Pat” where the entire skit was about people trying to figure out if Pat was male or female. Has that happened to you?

Imagine for a minute if everyone was like that. Imagine you couldn’t tell from someone’s looks or their name or the clothes they wore whether they were male or female.

Would that change the way you treat them?

“But I’m single and I want to find a partner,” you say. Okay, fine. So does that mean you’ll only be friends with potential partners? Maybe you should get to know the person better first. If it turns out that they are not sexually compatible with you, what’s the problem? You have a new friend!

And if you treat someone thinking they are one gender only to find they are another, does that make you reconsider how you treat that gender?

This is not easy. We’ve been ingrained to place people into categories and have certain expectations from them, and it’s a hard thing to overcome, admittedly. But it might be a good idea every once in a while to think about people you know and work with and ask yourself if you would have treated them differently had they been a different gender.

(BASED ON COMMENTS HERE AND ON FACEBOOK, LET ME CLARIFY:

This is a thought experiment about how we treat people differently whether they are women or men, and how if you didn’t know, how would you act. I’m not really talking about going somewhere like a party or a bar where sometimes the purpose is indeed finding someone you might want to be attracted to physically.

And for God’s sake, I LIKE looking at pretty women, so I don’t want that to go away. I don’t WANT everyone looking asexual, nor do I want to shame women who like to dress sexy.

I’m mostly talking about thinking about how you may treat women differently from men for things that have nothing to do with wanting them as a sexual partner. Do you treat female coworkers differently from male coworkers, for instance?)