Re: Yep
 

I think we can agree that we completely disagree on the level of political harm (and the cause) his presence was causing.

TM

Re: Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.
 

i think I worked there. Quit after a week and went to the department of labor for advertised rate. Got it.

Re: Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.
 

Umm sure, everyone just writes a check to a lawyer that calls. No plaintiff lawyer ever has to file a complaint, do depositions and oppose summary judgment motions or anything. That would be like, work.

Re: Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.
 

I have. It’s all #s. I’ve done both sides. Pay fast, pay cheap, have a release handy.

But I doubt I’m usually dealing with dollars that’s entice you. This isn’t seven figure territory.

And I hate law. It’s all math. I’ve usually got a mouth breather with a mortgage on the other end.

Steve Bannon
 

Back to the straight-to-video camp for you.

Roy? Um, you understand your wife’s fucking that “Jewish lawyer,” right?

And now, for the first time in history, “Alabama, Fuck Yeah?”

Re: Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.
 

In defense of third party and write-in candidate voters, the write-in vote, which without any empirical information, I think we can mainly all agree was conservatives who couldn't stomach voting for Moore, tilted the race to Jones. So while Sebby's vote for Johnson may have caused Hillary to lose, conservative votes for Nick Saban tipped it to Jones. I won't be surprised if Jones loses reelection, provided (and that's a big 'if' based on recent data) that the GOP and primary voters can make better choices in 2020.

Ultimately, I think that the GOP is far better off for having lost the seat. Moore's support, even for otherwise good legislation, would make it even harder to pass, and it's not like they can accomplish much that doesn't suck as it is. Like Trump, asking Moore not to act insane or say outlandish things is like asking a scorpion not to sting.

NeverTrump twitter is alive with Shadenfreude for Bannon. This was a seat Sessions won with 97% of the vote. Flake's seat is probably going down next, and then possibly Corker's. The hilarious thing is that Bannon actually did roughly emulate the presidential election popular vote. Unfortunately that's a big L in Senate races. Exit polling showed that Trump approval was less than 50% IN ALABAMA. While 2018 is certainly shaping up to be challenging for the GOP, losing Alabama actually is less of a loss than winning it would ultimately have been.

Franken's probably pretty sad that he actually has to leave now.

Re: Yep
 

Mainly, yes.

Re: Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.
 

There's absolutely no way Jones wins if Moore wasn't a total disgrace. Heck, even as a total disgrace, Moore kept it close. Jones won't beat a barely competent GOP candidate in Alabama. The trick is finding one via the GOP primary process.

If the GOP is smart enough to stop listening to Bannon and his ilk, yes. But then again there's that primary problem.

The GOP needs to realize that it's them he's out for, not Dems. They need to find a solution for him.

Hm. Moore ran behind Trump in every Alabama county.

He was always leaving.

Re: Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.
 

But what do you think about Cruz? His numbers are through the floor, he came out of the Presidential looking like Trump's personal punching bag but keeps sucking up to him, no one likes him, and he's gotten nothing done. Could he be in trouble?

I think Dem strategists are debating adding Cruz to the list of top tier races, even though that's a wildly expensive race, along with Flake, Heller, and Corker.

The other potential open seat, and I say this as someone who has been through Glioblastoma with a close family member, is McCain's. Even if he miraculously survives this thing for the next year, it wouldn't surprise me if he decided to spend his remaining time with his family.

Re: Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.
 

I'm not convinced he's gone, though now having his successor effectively named pushes him closer to the door. What point is there to the announcement you'll resign in the future without doing it now unless you think there is a chance to reverse course?

Re: Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.
 

If you think anyone should credit people with not voting for a lunatic child molester in a two party race, your delusion is complete.

TM

Re: Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.
 

It's really a sign of how unhinged conservatives are when they pat themselves on the back for voting for a football coach with no interest in the job rather than a bigoted child molester, all because they can't possibly bring themselves to vote for a smart moderate career prosecutor.

The kids see how unhinged the whole conservative shtick is. Even in Alabama, you're seeing an overwhelming Democratic vote among the younger half of the electorate.

He told me several times that he didn’t like my kind.
 

No, your original post was correct. Sebby is engaging in a bit of hyperbole, but the scenario he describes is not as unusual as one would like to think.

If I can step out of my schtick for a moment, I often handle employment matters for certain types of companies. I generally advise them to follow the route that you and Hank described prior to termination so that it nips any potentional claims in the bud. A nice severance package - especially one with continuation of insurance coverage pre-COBRA - usually does the trick.

I have been brought into situations after they terminate someone who is in a protected class and who suggested that the stated reason for termination was a pretext for illegal discrimination. Depending upon the situation, we’d usually try to work something out - two weeks salary and soothing words from Not Bob often worked.

Re: Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.
 

There is nothing particularly new or unique about Bannon. The GOP is the party of reaction, and much of it is in perpetual reaction against its own establishment. Today's Bannon is yesterday's Gingrich. There is no solution for this -- it is integral to what motivates conservatism. There is always the urge to move to the right, not to be anywhere in particular.

Re: Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.
 

I feel embarrassed for Cruz, frankly. But I don't see Alabama happening here. It seems that the prominent Texas Ds aren't looking to blow their political capital on a loss. I don't really think he's open to a primary challenge, though, because it would be pretty difficult to primary him from the right, and a moderate wouldn't beat him either. I would like to think that Alabama was the vomiting up of the nationalist ipecac so that a Trumpist challenger would shake out in the primary. If they could find a non-kooky Texas Independence/Separatist candidate, it would be game on, though.

Re: He told me several times that he didn’t like my kind.
 

I'm going to ask this as nicely as possible. Are you telling me that in each of these cases you knew that the stated reason was not a pretext? Or, was there enough there that the company did not want to even have the discussion (or more likely, have it made public)?

And to bring this back to the original point, you're telling me that the danger of not having clear objective standards as to what constitutes harassment (or, as it seems based on your response, discrimination) that we are in danger of people of a protected class gaming the system for that sweet, sweet two-weeks worth of salary severance cash?

TM

Re: Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.
 

The point was that it takes time to transition, leaves him as a player in the behind the scenes negotiation over who will be appointed to replace him and lets him vote until there's someone else in place to vote. He was always going.

Re: Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.
 

While it seems odd to be so happy that a pro-slavery, homophobic child molester was narrowly defeated for a U.S. Senate seat, in a dark dark world, you need to treasure the occasional rays of light, which my wife and I did with a freshly-opened bottle of Oban 14 as we watched Jones' speech. Let this be this last thing we ever see about Moore or his campaign:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFYRkzznsc0

Re: He told me several times that he didn’t like my kind.
 

Absolutely not saying that. I can think of one example off the top of my head where there was discrimation on race and over-40 status. That guy went to the state and later reached a settlement with the firm’s EPL carrier. More common is the situation where there’s an open question about discrimination and whether it’s enough to get past a motion to dismiss (I’ve also handled cases for employees who were victims of discrimination, and won a six figure award for one).

Nope. I don’t think anyone is intentionally gaming the system. I think there are objective standards for harassment and discrimination - we all learned about the reasonable person test in first year torts. What I am saying is that discrimination claims - valid and frivolous- often come up for the first time when an employee is let go.

And I think the test many lawyers use in looking at the validity of these claims is not whether discrimination or some sort took place, but whether the claim will satisfy what appears to becoming a higher standard under federal law. Heck, in the case I won, the employee was (among other things) “encouraged” to attend swinging parties with her boss. And that wasnt viewed as a valid claim, but his cutting her bonus for an arguable drop in production was. Go figure.

Re: Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.
 

I bet he runs again in 2020. He is like the Energizer Bunny of Alabama politics. Or Lazarus, if you prefer that sort of thing.

Re: Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.
 

Bannon is Heath Ledger's Joker. “...some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.”

Re: He told me several times that he didn’t like my kind.
 

I wish it were two weeks. The requests are usually 3-6 months.

I used a threat of a qui tam claim to grab a six month deal for someone a few years back. That was strange.

Re: He told me several times that he didn’t like my kind.
 

When I became a shareholder, I was (forced to be) the Director of HR for my last firm (under 30 lawyers). Holy shit what a nightmare. Until you've done it you don't realize all of the insane shit that people complain about.

Re: He told me several times that he didn’t like my kind.
 

He may not be, but I will. Because it's not just two weeks.

These things tend to come up where people are fired for cause (doing something willfully wrong, or being seriously incompetent). The person's first concern is whether the employer will challenge an unemployment claim, as people fired for gross job failures or willful behavior can be barred from collecting unemployment benefits.

A good HR person almost always agrees not to challenge. But sometimes, they will (or management will make them do so). That's often the catalyst for the fired person to get a lawyer. Once that happens, the discussion shifts from unemployment to whatever facts the lawyer can suggest offer enough to file a claim.

The issue of whether there's really a claim, or that the termination was based on a pretext, which is almost never the case with people fired for cause, never arises. As you'd expect, the negotiation is about whether there's enough to cause embarrassment to the employer and possibly get an EEOC investigation initiated.

I initiated an EEOC claim way back when that ultimately resulted in a seven figure settlement. It was not a valid claim. There was no discrimination. But the defense would've had to prove a complex set of coincidences to defend the case. The reality was, yes, those coincidences had aligned, and had created what looked like ironclad discrimination. I didn't even spot the coincidences until after the filing.

But no one would ever believe the defense. So the employer wrote a check.

Re: Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.
 

Some Alabama Republican strategist on NPR this morning says that he's always on the ballot. He never wins government seats, but he does judicial.

Re: He told me several times that he didn’t like my kind.
 

It is the worst job in the world. Proves the adage "hell is other people."

Our workplace laws, state and fed, are a hideous patchwork of inefficient rules. They create a system in which jailhouse lawyers abuse the shit out their "rights" at cost to decent workers. You'll never see the 80/20 rule more luridly and depressingly exhibited.

If you wonder why lawyers should never be given control of any business or organization or governmental entity with rule-making power, look no further than the HR department's costs and expansion. Rules run amuck in every direction, 70% of them mindless.

Re: Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.
 

I know more about the SNL version of Jake Tapper than the real thing, but based on the look on his face alone, I am guessing the words that ran through his mind during the interminable slack-jawed silence by the drooling moron that run's Moore's campaign are as follows:

"How has my life come to this point, where I sit on national television and attempt to have coherent and informative exchanges with demented hillbillies. When I was a child, I respected the men on the news, and saw them as important people with important jobs, informing the American public about the critical issues of the days. Damn you Ted Turner and damn you CNN for creating the 24 hour news cycle, the logical result of which is that I have to sit here and listen to this mouth-breathing, bible-thumping neanderthal lecture me on the intricacies of Constitutional politics based on the made-up Constitution that exists only in his tiny little meth-addled brain."

Re: Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.
 

Putting aside the groping, which was not part of my hypothetical, there must be some form of waiver. I repeat - how do strip clubs operate?

Re: Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.
 

The compromise tax bill is somewhat better for me. Mortgage deduction reduced to $750,000 instead of $500,000. SALT, including property taxes, deduction capped at $10,000.

Re: Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.
 

Aren't dancers independent contractors, not employees? I don't think independent contractors have the same rights to non-hostile work environment that employees do -- they bargain on commercial terms to provide their services because it's not a master-servant relationship. I think there was some case law on this a while back and I'm mostly talking out of my ass here because I'm not an employment lawyer, but if they are independent contractors, then they do waive rights they would otherwise have as employees.

Re: Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.
 

https://thinkprogress.org/strip-club...-fb3a204bcc5a/

But what about the waitresses? I'm sure they get some shit too.

Re: Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.
 

The waitresses have claims, if they want to bring them. They just don't, likely because it's not worth the hassle -- do you think they would get hired in the business if they have a reputation for bringing claims? Although the tide may be turning, who knows.

Again, pretty much talking out of my ass, but fairly certain I'm mainly correct.

They want to touch me, I never let them.
 

If it’s a bona fide occupational qualification, Less would be able to limit his staff to women who strip and dance. That’s why Hooters can hire cute girls and make them wear Dolfin shorts - they were able to establish that was a BFOQ when a dude sued them for not hiring him as a waiter.

That doesn’t mean the Hooters’ manager can pat a waitress on her ass, or allow a customer to do that. Same for strippers (the independent contoractor versus employee battle has been going on for years). You can make stripping a requirement, but you still can’t sexually harass your employees.

Re: Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.
 

Jake Tapper has blocked me on Twitter, and I have no idea why.

Re: Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.
 

Lots of companies get away with violating lots of laws by doing it to people who they don't think will complain or seek redress. You can a hypothesize a strip club with fantastic legal compliance, but I'm not sure you can visit one.

Re: Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.
 

Really? Intriguing. I assume you tried to figure out what you were posting just prior to being blocked? Any leads as to what the offending tweet might have been? Did you interact with him by replying to or commenting on one of his tweets or however one interacts on Twitter? Of course, it is possible that, after interview upon interview with frothing ideologues and drooling morons in order to fill 24 hours every day with something that someone might want to watch and that might somehow arguably be related to "news," he decided to block everyone. Hell is other people indeed.

Re: Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.
 

Can we deduct up to $10k in state income taxes AND up to $10k in property taxes? Or is $10k the cap for both total?

Re: Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.
 

Both total.

Idiocy. Sheer idiocy.

Prepay your property taxes if you can. Maximize deduction this year.

Re: Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.
 

Eric Erickson has blocked me on twitter, but it's because he is a little snowflake who can't handle someone owning him in public when he's a dumbass.

Re: Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.
 

I've got no idea. Shut 'em the hell down.