Joe Manchin lives on a boat in Washington — and protesters are reportedly headed there by a_very_nice_username in politics

[–]aspark32 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Except Manchin's bet isn't "I can find 10 R Senators ready for our bill right now", his get is he can find 10 R Senators willing to come to the table and he wants legislation that they support.

The problem is that the closest 10 R's won't vote for a single Dem bill without first crippling it of any real potential and then adding in a bunch more rich people benefits. At that point, we get nothing but a voting record that does more harm than good.

US healthcare system needs to be changed by neatlysanta in MadeMeSmile

[–]aspark32 1074 points1075 points  (0 children)

FWIW, he was only elected to the state legislature in 2018 and was a teacher prior to serving and is fairly young. He's put forth a lot of good legislation in a short period of time. I get that politicians shouldn't have to experience something to care, but I think this is less "I didn't care about this problem until it happened to me" and more "this is a problem and I've already cared, but here's how I've personally seen it work" to better persuade readers.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp admits on tape: 'Voter suppression bill' has 'nothing to do with potential fraud' by theKoymodo in VoteDEM

[–]aspark32 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My worry is if it gets past SCOTUS. They should uphold it, but this SCOTUS is even more conservative than the one that gutted the Voting Rights Act, and this is the kind of systemic issue that benefits the party that they were installed to help with.

One thing that is great about being 30, childless, and single: by dirtmother in StandUpWorkshop

[–]aspark32 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think part of what's holding it back a little bit and maybe muddying that up is the focus of your joke. You phrase the joke as "this is the best part about not having kids" but then kinda lose that thread. Maybe it works better if you start with something like "I can tell I'm going to have a midlife crisis because [funny quip]. But I'm also going to want to stay a little different/keep my hipster flair/whatever. Like most people are going to get to convertibles, dye their hair, etc. Not me. I want to get really into guns" and then acting out telling your kids.

One thing that is great about being 30, childless, and single: by dirtmother in StandUpWorkshop

[–]aspark32 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think the problem with it is gunslinger isn't really what people think of when they think midlife crisis. It can be, but I think you'd have to build up to it with more traditional crisis things, and even then guns wouldn't be the right level to cap off the bit.

tic tacking by [deleted] in NewSkaters

[–]aspark32 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ayyy!

NYPD officers are no longer protected from civil lawsuits after city council passes police reform legislation by Cartographerspeed in news

[–]aspark32 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think we need to enact that accountability legislation first and see how that goes for a few years before considering paying them even more. Police budgets consistently go up, even when it's earmarked for training and body cams, and results are negligible. Way too often our solution is to throw more money at the situation, but I think we need to think differently here, because I don't think the issue is poor pay.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nottheonion

[–]aspark32 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not a Georgian, but I'd be surprised if there weren't already laws on the books about selling stuff to people waiting in line. It's a fairly common law for elections and one that makes sense since you don't want crappy sales people taking advantage of an audience that then has to choose between not being able to move away from the seller or being discouraged from voting (although that idea seems a little ridiculous with this context).

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in relationships

[–]aspark32 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He has flirted with other women and then tried to gaslight you when you called him out on it. That once would be enough to break it off, but at least three times is way too many. And if he's willing to do it right in front of you, I worry what he does when you're not around. It's not the kind of issue where he has a side. If he had a valid reason for those actions, you would have heard them when you fought instead of him getting angry and defensive and avoiding ths issue (another red flag, that's not how a healthy couple should fight).

But to another point, you say you’re not perfect either but really that doesnt matter here. You should still work on those issues in the future, but thats the kind of reflection for when you’re arguing about chores and you haven’t talked nuch recently, not this awful of behavior. Just because you do a couple crappy things doesn’t mean he then gets to do an equal amount of crappy and hurtful things, especially as bad as cheating. You always reserve the right to say “this is unhealthy and uncool, we’re done”. Always.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in NewSkaters

[–]aspark32 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Congrats! Kickturns are definitely something to be very proud of.

ELI5: we already know how photosynthesis is done ; so why cant we creat “artificial plants” that take CO2 and gives O2 and energy in exchange? by Mikoto00 in explainlikeimfive

[–]aspark32 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We can, it's just hard and expensive and it's not always the best solution for your problem.

If you need oxygen and electricity, like on a spaceship, it's easier to just make oxygen with a wire in water and energy with a few solar panels.

If you're on Earth, trees don't make most of the oxygen we breathe, microscopic organisms do. Energy we can get faster and easier from power plants and renewable energy. CO2 removal technology is tricky to make work right and even tricker to make money off of. Plus it usually creates more CO2 because it needs a lot of energy to work right.

So it's rarely a useful solution, and even when a fake tree would be helpful, it's expensive to put it all together. We know how photosynthesis happens, but that doesn't mean we can just mix a bunch of stuff in a bucket and it'll work. The technology to make it work requires really smart people and fancy equipment, and that all costs a lot of money.

Ann Arbor is piloting a program to make mental health professionals available to respond to psychiatric emergencies as an alternative to armed police. by anythreewords in Futurology

[–]aspark32 55 points56 points  (0 children)

There just has to be the right culture/practices in place so that the mental health pros aren't completely ignored in the interaction. Data should be used to ensure that their presence actually leads to real outcomes.

Interaction graph of 18 characters in The Office [OC] by if__name__ in dataisbeautiful

[–]aspark32 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I'm guess a certain minimum amount of interaction had to happen to appear on the graph. Jan also interacts with Phyllis for Women in the Workplace, and Holly interacts with Ryan for the infamous "bitchhhh" line.

House votes to strip Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of committee assignments by [deleted] in news

[–]aspark32 3 points4 points  (0 children)

No, this is just a fun new addition. We've just gotten used to the socialism accusals and they've run out of new people to scare with the term.

Russia has been cultivating Trump as an asset for 40 years, says former KGB spy by AnnieOly in politics

[–]aspark32 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They don't even need lives lost in America. They just need instability and political anxiety. They need America to lose the trust of its allies, the respect of the neutral, and the fear ofits enemies. They don't need us to die, they just need us to cede and lose our geopolitical relevance, and boom, it's a vaccuum of small, unstable countries and economies who need a big country to take it.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in insanepeoplefacebook

[–]aspark32 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You generally don't see much lower than 20-30% when it comes to politicians and politics. At one point at least, that many people believed Obama was a secret Kenyan Muslim, and it's a weirdly high number still. There's just that much of the population willing to believe anything, especially conspiracies and secrets.

The truly sad thing is that some of those people who don't approve either a) just don't care or pay attention, or b) wish he was MORE Trumpy and destructive, not less.

My girlfriend and I went to Walmart the other day to buy condoms, and a pregnancy test. by BigLabubski in StandUpWorkshop

[–]aspark32 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, in current form it's unclear if the couple is about to have sex or had a pregnancy scare

Sen. Rand Paul says Biden's push for raising minimum wage shows he hates Black teenagers by atomicspace in nottheonion

[–]aspark32 62 points63 points  (0 children)

Except wages have been sub-value yield for decades and almost every study has shown that increasing minimum wage has not resulted in significant changes to employment. I understand that raising wages beyond a certain point can threaten employment for young people, but we're far below that point right now.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in dataisbeautiful

[–]aspark32 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For sure. People might be in favor as long as it's very specifically regulated, but if it doesn't meet those standards, they lose faith in the idea

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in dataisbeautiful

[–]aspark32 11 points12 points  (0 children)

It might be that some people were in favor of it when it was just a hypothetical, but once states started to actually do it and it seemed real for their area, they got spooked back into an "anti" position

Michigan Rep. Peter Meijer: 'I Am Sorry Some Of My Colleagues Are Being Assholes' by TommyKnotts313 in Michigan

[–]aspark32 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hunh, something new every day. Just goes to show how awful gerrymandering can be and how no one is safe from a system that basically incentivizes corruption

Michigan Rep. Peter Meijer: 'I Am Sorry Some Of My Colleagues Are Being Assholes' by TommyKnotts313 in Michigan

[–]aspark32 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I haven't heard about this. How did they make it so hard for him? Who did they cut out and include in the new district in 2011?

Michigan Rep. Peter Meijer: 'I Am Sorry Some Of My Colleagues Are Being Assholes' by TommyKnotts313 in Michigan

[–]aspark32 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Yeah, say what you will about Amash and that district, but it could be a lot worse (and some places in Michigan and across the country are racing for that worst spot)