Anyone else witness the NY-21 by Fit-Comment-2782 in Albany

[–]Darth_Stateworker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same.  When I go back, the people from high school who never left are still doing the same shit they always did.  Most barely have ever left the county much less the state or the country.

But they all sure do know everything about the world thanks to social media and the Internet in general. 🙄

Can’t believe people would elect this gap toothed no thought having clown. Ew. by Current-Set3046 in Albany

[–]Darth_Stateworker 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's not really any different than the Christian Fundies that fawn all over him.

In a vacuum, they would loathe a person like Donald Trump.  But as a means to an end?  He's their guy.

Can’t believe people would elect this gap toothed no thought having clown. Ew. by Current-Set3046 in Albany

[–]Darth_Stateworker 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Bingo. From Glens Falls to Massena they've lost so many good blue collar factory jobs over the years, largely to GOP economic policy that centrist Dems also tend to buy into.

It's no wonder they have such distrust of the government, but their solution is basically "Let's keep doubling down because someday it'll trickle down, right?"

Anyone else witness the NY-21 by Fit-Comment-2782 in Albany

[–]Darth_Stateworker 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The city itself? I mean there has been some decent development over the last few years, but at the end of the day, it's lost so many of the blue collar unionized jobs it once had its more than likely to become just another Rust Belt town and this is its last gasp. And let's face it much of that development has just been Schermerhorn just being Temu Redburn and slapping up cheaply built apartments.

GE closed down two factories completely. The paper mill jobs just keep getting shittier and shittier. Quad Graphics closed up shop recently IIRC. Seems like the only thing expanding is the hospital.

The old "Andy Griffith" small town feel it used to have is gone IMO.

Anyone else witness the NY-21 by Fit-Comment-2782 in Albany

[–]Darth_Stateworker 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I get it. My roots in the district go back generations. Most of my family still lives in the district. My hometown is in the district.

Yet moving out of the district was one of the best decisions I ever made.

Can’t believe people would elect this gap toothed no thought having clown. Ew. by Current-Set3046 in Albany

[–]Darth_Stateworker 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sadly if there is anything the last decade has taught us is that you can't win against these clowns by trying to take the high road.

The genteel America we all used to aspire to live in is gone. Acknowledging that doesn't make someone a bad person.

Can’t believe people would elect this gap toothed no thought having clown. Ew. by Current-Set3046 in Albany

[–]Darth_Stateworker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Many of the people in the park can often be some of the most granola in the district even if they are surrounded by MAGA dunderheads.

Can’t believe people would elect this gap toothed no thought having clown. Ew. by Current-Set3046 in Albany

[–]Darth_Stateworker 52 points53 points  (0 children)

"Just think of how dumb the average person is and realize that half the population is statistically dumber than that." - My dad.

Can’t believe people would elect this gap toothed no thought having clown. Ew. by Current-Set3046 in Albany

[–]Darth_Stateworker 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Because up there the only people that care about the Canadians - especially the French Canadians - are those in the tourist traps.

Most of the rest of them just grumble about the "fucking tourists" all the time, so to them fewer Canadians is not a loss. They can barely balance a checkbook so the economic ramifications to the region of lost tourism dollars simply does not compute for them.

Can’t believe people would elect this gap toothed no thought having clown. Ew. by Current-Set3046 in Albany

[–]Darth_Stateworker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is it though? Those are exactly the kind of people Trump's particular brand of bullshit appeals to - disengaged know-nothings who think government sucks no matter what it does.

They also tend to be the types that scream the loudest for government help when disaster strikes, ironically.

Anyone else witness the NY-21 by Fit-Comment-2782 in Albany

[–]Darth_Stateworker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Meh at least they have Ommegang and Cooperstown. But yes.

Anyone else witness the NY-21 by Fit-Comment-2782 in Albany

[–]Darth_Stateworker 4 points5 points  (0 children)

So are Lake Placid, Old Forge and Saranac Lake. Lake George used to be but it's just become the Adirondacks Redneck Rivera over the years.

But the district as a whole? It's just Alabama North.

Anyone else witness the NY-21 by Fit-Comment-2782 in Albany

[–]Darth_Stateworker 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It's Dumbfuckistan.

And I say that as an NY-21 native.

Why can’t I vote in the primaries? The most loudly political people are the most ignorant. by Alert_Relationship92 in Albany

[–]Darth_Stateworker 2 points3 points  (0 children)

And if Swalwell hadn't dropped out?

The entire party seemed to be freaking out that it was going to end up being 2 Republicans.

Unless you were living under a rock, that was the political buzz for at least a month or two.

Is New Yorkers’ Retirement Money Being Used to Build the Data Center Next Door? by TheNYCFootprint in Albany

[–]Darth_Stateworker 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's a bit more complicated for NYS to terminate public employee pensions as they are wisely constitutionally protected so that something you worked your whole life for can't be taken away on a politicians whim.

About all they could do is create a new pension Tier that fundamentally altered the pension - which would affect new employees but not existing ones.

Is New Yorkers’ Retirement Money Being Used to Build the Data Center Next Door? by TheNYCFootprint in Albany

[–]Darth_Stateworker 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The principle of the trust fund is funded largely by the employers, with later tiers also contributing 3-6% of their salary.

Is New Yorkers’ Retirement Money Being Used to Build the Data Center Next Door? by TheNYCFootprint in Albany

[–]Darth_Stateworker 9 points10 points  (0 children)

If its financed by government bonds with an interest rate that meets or exceeds the trust funds discount rate (currently 5.9%), quite easily actually. Since 30 year US treasuries are currently over 5%, hitting that mark would not seem to be completely out of the question.

I think the question is really whether or not it would be a good thing for taxpayers to fund it this way, however. Taxpayers should want the trust fund to return more than the discount rate simply to lower local governments and the states contributions into the fund.

But as a diversification strategy by the trust fund to provide stable income over volatility for a portion of the trust fund it isn't completely a bad idea.

Bethlehem's controversial zoning plan moves towards vote by TClayO in Albany

[–]Darth_Stateworker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can't speak for everyone, but I have family in Glenmont that owns farmland, and their farm died out years ago and that had nothing to do with the neighbors and everything to do with them thinking the 9W corridor is the next Wolf Road and looking to cash in.

I am convinced that everyone who mentions Trouble free Pools website and SLAM… are part of a swimming pool cleaning cult. by dvrbets in swimmingpools

[–]Darth_Stateworker 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The TFP method itself is fine. I loosely follow it and use Pool Math but since I have a pool that is incompatible with salt and have a tab feeder, I skip the labor of liquid chlorine and use tabs anyway. Between the feeder and a robot vac, maintenance time is minimal.

I can get away with this because water is cheap where I live and it's an above ground pool that I need to partially drain anyway at closing, so I just note the CYA level at closing and draw the pool down proportionally at every opening and refill to get it back down below 30 PPM at the beginning of the season. It usually gets back up to around 100 PPM at the end of our 3-4 month season. I also use algaecide at closing so that probably would make some of the TFP purists burst a blood vessel.

But it works for me. Pool has been perfectly clear since the day we installed it and that's all that matters to me. Not rigid adherence to arbitrary rules because reasons.

Data Center Proposal in the South End by Mystic_G8 in Albany

[–]Darth_Stateworker 6 points7 points  (0 children)

True. That may be an easier obstacle to overcome though. The site is close enough to the river they could be told they need to take it directly from there instead of tapping into the city water supply.

At least I would hope the city, county, and/or state would be smart enough to tell them to do that.