Azalin

The company I work for use our laptops to watch us, but to what extent they do so I don't know. I'm not sure how effective it is, but I have several pieces of electrical tape placed over my microphone ports and camera. Big phone is watching me....

Then it's important to remember that we're only talking about smart televisions, not regular flat screen TVs. If they have such capability, you should still be able to defeat them by turning off the TV at the power strip or by simply unplugging the power cable from the wall.

Some smart TVs have Skype capability, so that means it has a microphone and a camera, like tablets, laptops, and smartphones do. If you're online with your TV, then others have back door access capability. As long as you turn your device off there is no way - as far as I know - that anyone can either access your devices or use them to spy on you.

This.

No argument here. I guess I just get more enjoyment out of watching all the outrage coming in from all sides than most. I'm not saying it's a good thing to have happening across the nation, throughout both legislative bodies and the executive branch. I just like to point out that there's a lot more egos at stake in all this than just Trump's.

I can corroborate that. My neighbor's botany tutor swears that her son-n-law's lacrosse coach was in that barber shop and heard the same thing.

That's the nicest thing anyone's said about me in a while.... I get what you're saying, and I understand why his tweets especially have folks riled up. Personally, I enjoy seeing a lot of it - I've been critical of major news outlets (many of which are fronted by narcissists just like the White House is) for a long time, and watching them freak out every time Trump sidesteps them and sends out a twitter-blast instead of allowing them to be the filter that they're used to being, I laugh at their butt-hurt outrage. Sanctimonious egotists who are easily offended are always amusing to watch getting poked in the eye. The trouble is that they understand that's how it works with Trump, they just don't see that they're behaving the same way. All you can do is laugh.

Negan's lackey Simon on TWD was the fool in Better Call Saul that Mike disarmed in the parking garage. That scene never gets old.

But honestly, it's not just Trump and his torrent of midnight tweets. The executive branch of the federal government is spewing leaks like it was Niagara Falls, accusations of wiretaps are rampant with no apparent FISA warrants, and the major news outlets - both broadcast and print - in full-blown selective reporting mode. Add to that congressional dems offering Trump the same resistance that Obama received from the republicans regarding legislation, in addition to the organized protests/riots still happening everywhere, and it's no wonder things are in the state they are. I have to say that if I was in Trump's position, I'd be sidestepping the media too by tweeting like he does. I'd just be significantly more thoughtful in how I worded my messages.

I honestly don't think that's a possibility at this point in time. It's a shame, but I think the entire political landscape is too bitterly divided and outright antagonistic toward each other to get a majority like that.

I forgot about that. She was pissed.

That's the beauty of a right to work state - you can choose whether or not be in the union - if you're not, you don't pay dues. Of course, the down side of that is that you earn the ire of unionized coworkers, which can really suck when people won't work with you. You're also compelled to work during strikes, which only makes coworker relationships even worse. It varies considerably from company to company, union to union. I think my dues amount to 1 hour's pay/week.

That's unionist dogma. The employer/employee relationship is based on one of mutual gain, and while the intent of unions is to prevent exploitation of labor, an automatic byproduct of that is to pit hourly vs management. Unions most definitely inflate wages - not to mention the cost of health insurance, and as I've already stated I'm a beneficiary of that. But, "that dimension" will not be better for an hourly employee if they price themselves out of a job. In the end, a person should be paid what they're worth, not necessarily what they demand. Businesses, large or small, exist to provide services or products to consumers and to make money. labor is usually a company's greatest expense, so it's naturally going to be held under tight control.

Nicely done, sir.

Of course unions aren't the only ones creating tension - I'm not implying that. The labor/management relationship always has the potential for clashes. Adding unions to the mix adds another dimension to an already adversarial relationship. LA is right though - if you are unhappy in your job, and you can't change the situation, then at some point a person needs to understand that it's on them to do something about it. A union can't solve everything.

A right to work state recognizes the right to unionize. Unlike other states, you are not forced to join a union just to work. With regard to pay and benefits, there are many unions, each with their own contracts and negotiations. Some are more powerful than others. Speaking for myself, I make about 35% more in hourly wage than telecom techs make working for companies with a non-unionized workforce, and I have excellent health insurance provided to me free of charge. The drawback of a unionized workforce is that it creates a very real "us vs them" mentality between labor and management, which I believe is detrimental to the business, and ultimately to the customer.

The way I see it, if someone is triggered by the word "man", they completely deserve to suffer their inane little meltdown.

And because of that, half the time when I click a new post of yours I get a gatorboob quote, which greatly reduces the effectiveness of my blocking him. It's like he has a sponsor: This ridiculous verbiage is brought to you by.....

No. I am a union employee in a right to work state. I earn the highest non-management wage in the company - an extremely large company that everyone is familiar with. Every few years we have negotiations, we eventually get a new, good contract, and I only had to strike once - for two days. Right to work does not prevent unions from either existing or helping advocate for the employee. What right to work does is hold the union's feet to the fire to make sure the employees are well trained and keep the wages and benefits from becoming inflated to the point of being impractical. When you're a business in a right to work state, a company with a unionized workforce must still be competitive with non-union companies - ultimately that competition still works for the consumer. Another way to look at it is having the freedom to choose. Right to work does not eliminate unions, it only allows non-union companies to enter into competition. Choice is always good. Competition is always good. Everyone benefits.

It's pretty obvious that at least one white person is way overcompensating, but I don't presume to speak for all people of one color or another. You shouldn't either.

The funny thing is that whenever Trump tweets something, his opponents - the mainstream news outlets and dems primarily, come completely unglued. Every single time. It's extremely entertaining. And while they twist their collective panties in yet another daily wad, republicans, libertarians, independents, and literally everyone else laughs their collective asses off. You lefties glom onto some new news report and post it, like it's actually going to make a difference. For crying out, loud how could you have missed the fact that the vast majority of right-leaning people here DO NOT AND DID NOT vote for and/or support Trump. Were you to actually voice legitimate concerns you have regarding this presidency, you might be surprised at the common ground you'd find. But no - you're too busy being led by Trump tweets and headlines from your confirmation-bias web sites. Are you really so goddam stupid to not see how you're being manipulated? Hasn't it ever once occurred to you that nearly every single one of us with conservative or libertarian leanings wanted someone in office other than Trump? No? Then please, carry on. You have no idea how entertaining your mindless, pointless meltdown is to the rest of us. And a special thanks to all of you who have generated new user IDs to hide behind in order to stop by and provide us all with bonus entertainment. Cheers!