TomMcGiverin's Profile

Hi Everyone!!!! I want to apologize to my Zoom Chat friends for forgetting about Sunday night.

TomMcGiverin comments on Sep 20, 2021:

I wish you the best. In my experience with online dating these last few years, it seems like the vast majority of women in my dating pool are really busy, either with work, their family, or both. So I often wonder why they are on a site like Batch, if it appears they only have time and interest for ...

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 20, 2021:

@sassygirl3869 I think you and I are fairly exceptional in the dating market, in both that we are not religious or very family-oriented, as well as that we actually are ready and willing to make a relationship with a partner the center of our lives, which it seems like few people on dating sites are willing and able to do, despite the money they pay to be on the sites. What a waste of time and money, at least in my mind, for them to be on there. I think most of them have never really thought thru what they are doing or not doing that stands in the way of them finding a partner and relationship that works.

How important is philosophy to you?

Organist1 comments on Sep 20, 2021:

For me it is as important as someone else's opinion, which I assign importance to, depending on how much sense it makes to me. That said, I am a whole lot more attracted to science.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 20, 2021:

Well said.

Campus Preacher Provokes Fight After Carrying “Women Belong in the Kitchen” Sign | Hemant Mehta ...

CuddyCruiser comments on Sep 19, 2021:

I would just love to take all these preachers and break all of them into a million little pieces.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 19, 2021:

@CuddyCruiser Understood and I generally agree with you.

Campus Preacher Provokes Fight After Carrying “Women Belong in the Kitchen” Sign | Hemant Mehta ...

CuddyCruiser comments on Sep 19, 2021:

I would just love to take all these preachers and break all of them into a million little pieces.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 19, 2021:

Now, now, just remember my comment below. Depending on your outlook, as an amused cynic, they can be quite entertaining, at least some of them are to me. It depends, I guess, on how much they are taken seriously and end up shaping other people's minds, opinions, and beliefs. I honestly think that, even to some believers, these preachers function more as entertainers than real educators or leaders. Now I admit that, this guy in the article, with the chauvinism and misogyny, is probably more of an asshole than, say, someone like Jed, so I can see why you hate him so.

Saw a profile in which the guy would have seemed reasonable, except he used this kind of language: ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Sep 18, 2021:

This is someone who obviously prefers communicating in text speak, instead of actually using full words, correct spelling and full sentences. Probably not very deep intellectually, probably also a short attention span and rather lazy, since the profile is really short. Too lazy to write a full one ...

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 19, 2021:

@Pralina1 Part of it is that you are much younger than me, so you are more into the texting method of communicating. Another part is that I am not busy, like you are. I am retired and enjoy having lots of free time, for the most part. So we live in very different realities. My reality causes me to enjoy and value the time I can take in communicating with others thru verbal phone calls and not being pressed for time, at least not on my end. You are obviously very bright, and not just on medical things, so you are being modest here about yourself. Because you are busy, brevity is your first priority in how you communicate, because time is not an issue for me, clarity of communication is my first priority, as well as depth, so my preference is for verbal communication with speaking in full sentences and full words. We are all lazy, at least on some things. As to your ?, I am doing ok. I just got back from a trip to Kansas City. I went with a friend and visited a friend while there and went to the zoo. It was a tiring weekend so far. I hope your job is not as exhausting these days. My paid membership on Match ended Friday and I will renew it again on Mon.. I am expecting that this fall and winter will be emotionally challenging, as Covid will make my life less social and active once the weather gets colder next month and there are not as many safe social and entertainment activities available for the fall and winter.

Survey: 90% of Atheists Have Been Vaccinated, But Only 57% of White Evangelicals | Hemant Mehta | ...

KKGator comments on Sep 16, 2021:

Well, in my experience, people who believe in science tend to be smarter than those who still believe that their invisible friend will protect them.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 16, 2021:

@KKGator I understand that, and of course, that lowers my odds and shrinks my local dating pool for my age group. But, at the same time, it is reasonable to assume that most or even the vast majority of the women who join a dating site like Batch (esp. the ones who pay for a membership) ARE looking for a man and an actual relationship, with, of course, the occasional exceptions who are just looking for hookups, are still secretly married and looking to cheat, looking only for the ego boost of male attention, and then, finally, the women who are too insecure to actually date and are using the dating site only to find text buddies. I honestly, even after being on Batch for close to four years now, have no idea what % these women on there who are not actually seeking a real relationship amount to out of the total active membership, but I am guessing it amounts to at least 5-10%, based on all of the weird behavior and games I have encountered on there with women who did begin messaging with me. And as far as women giving up or no longer looking for a man or a relationship, among women in their mid-50s or older, both my therapist and surveys I have read about, have borne that out. The surveys say that a huge % of women have checked out on that, maybe a third or more.

Survey: 90% of Atheists Have Been Vaccinated, But Only 57% of White Evangelicals | Hemant Mehta | ...

BDair comments on Sep 16, 2021:

Well, even atheists are sheep sometimes.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 16, 2021:

Boy are you right about that, and I used to meet lots of them at the local Unitarian church. They were totally into voting Blue No Matter Who and faithful supporters of greedy capitalism, as it seemed to be benefitting most of them, but even the ones that weren't benefitting didn't seem to give a damn about the poor or the working class, just cared about identity politics. As long as you were college educated and and had a white collar job, they accepted you, but if you didn't, they shunned you like trash, and yet still thought of themselves as caring liberals, etc. And they had no stomach for socialism, The Green Party, or even Bernie Sanders, so yes, they were establishment Dem sheeple.

Survey: 90% of Atheists Have Been Vaccinated, But Only 57% of White Evangelicals | Hemant Mehta | ...

KKGator comments on Sep 16, 2021:

Well, in my experience, people who believe in science tend to be smarter than those who still believe that their invisible friend will protect them.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 16, 2021:

@KKGator Thanks for the support, but I doubt it will. The believers are big on family and, probably for reasons of their own insecurity, even most of the non-religious women in my dating pool on Batch seem to want only men with kids. This is true of both the ones with kids and and the ones without kids. My theory, as I have stated before on here, is that they are trying to hedge their bets and find a man whose kids will look after, comfort, and maybe take care of them when the woman gets older and likely ends up widowed after the man dies first. My guess is these women either don't think their own kids will step up and do that for them, or, if they don't have kids themselves, they assume the man's kids will step up for them. When you really think about it, how much difference is there between this attitude on the part of 60-something women, and the men who are looking for a nurse with a purse, or at least a nurse, to take care of them in old age? The only diff that I see is that the women are looking for it later on in the game, while the men are looking for it earlier in the process or even right now. So the only diff is in the timing, either way it seems to be about using someone or, in this case, their adult kids....

Survey: 90% of Atheists Have Been Vaccinated, But Only 57% of White Evangelicals | Hemant Mehta | ...

KKGator comments on Sep 16, 2021:

Well, in my experience, people who believe in science tend to be smarter than those who still believe that their invisible friend will protect them.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 16, 2021:

@KKGator I'm as guilty as any other non-believers, as I chose to not have kids. And boy do I seem to keep paying for it, esp. with all the believer women in my local dating pool. They about all seem to only want to date men with kids, even tho at my age that should be pretty irrelevant, but it sure isn't to them.

Relationship counseling

Deb57 comments on Sep 15, 2021:

Perhaps it depends on the problem. There are some things counseling cannot fix. I once had a counselor tell me that I should be glad I had a husband because it was so much better than just being alone. Worst advice ever.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 16, 2021:

@Deb57 That is even more messed up, shows that some women can be just as misogynistic as men. So much for sisterhood. She must have drank the whole patriarchy Kool-Aid.

Survey: 90% of Atheists Have Been Vaccinated, But Only 57% of White Evangelicals | Hemant Mehta | ...

KKGator comments on Sep 16, 2021:

Well, in my experience, people who believe in science tend to be smarter than those who still believe that their invisible friend will protect them.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 16, 2021:

No shit. Hopefully after Covid resolves in the US, if it ever does, there will be a greater proportion of us left alive than them. It would probably improve our politics, except that they tend to breed in greater numbers than us, so that will probably keep things fairly status quo.

Are vaccination passports and putting unvaccinated Covid patients to the bottom of the triage queue ...

bookofmorons comments on Sep 15, 2021:

totally dont get excusing some one for "deeply held religious beliefs" - I mean this is the 21st century

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 15, 2021:

@rainmanjr Then I'm all for helping them meet Jesus as soon as possible, in their minds, as long as the rest of us are allowed to live a normal lifespan.

Are vaccination passports and putting unvaccinated Covid patients to the bottom of the triage queue ...

SeaGreenEyez comments on Sep 15, 2021:

I feel more extreme than simply putting them to the bottom of the queue. If they refuse to vaccinate, they need to stay the fuck home if/when they feel sick. If someone doesn't trust the vaccine, they aren't entitled to professional health care providers should they become ill. PERIOD. They ...

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 15, 2021:

@SnowyOwl As someone once sarcastically said to me, "You're all heart".....

Are vaccination passports and putting unvaccinated Covid patients to the bottom of the triage queue ...

SeaGreenEyez comments on Sep 15, 2021:

I feel more extreme than simply putting them to the bottom of the queue. If they refuse to vaccinate, they need to stay the fuck home if/when they feel sick. If someone doesn't trust the vaccine, they aren't entitled to professional health care providers should they become ill. PERIOD. They ...

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 15, 2021:

@racocn8, @echosam Ah, the Libertarians begin to weigh in.. I knew it would be just a matter of time.... This is directed at echosam, BTW....

Are vaccination passports and putting unvaccinated Covid patients to the bottom of the triage queue ...

SeaGreenEyez comments on Sep 15, 2021:

I feel more extreme than simply putting them to the bottom of the queue. If they refuse to vaccinate, they need to stay the fuck home if/when they feel sick. If someone doesn't trust the vaccine, they aren't entitled to professional health care providers should they become ill. PERIOD. They ...

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 15, 2021:

@racocn8 Them and the Christian Scientists as well, I suppose.

How to care for your human

TomMcGiverin comments on Sep 15, 2021:

I've always suspected they were plotting world domination..

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 15, 2021:

@Deb57 I've seen the photo of Renfield. There's no doubt that he is..

Billboard Hailing Donald Trump As Second Coming of Jesus Appears in Georgia

LenHazell53 comments on Sep 15, 2021:

yeah he is a total "cult", but bare in mind I am dyslexic and can't spell total bunt

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 15, 2021:

If there were ever a man who deserved to be called the c-word, one that I choose not to ever use in personal conversation, it would be Trump...

Relationship counseling

Deb57 comments on Sep 15, 2021:

Perhaps it depends on the problem. There are some things counseling cannot fix. I once had a counselor tell me that I should be glad I had a husband because it was so much better than just being alone. Worst advice ever.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 15, 2021:

That advice is not only supporting dysfunction, but also seems very misogynistic and patriarchal. Was this counsellor a woman or a man? Their advice also seems to be rooted in the 1950s mindset, altho I'm sure it occurred way later than that.

Think George is trying to say something

Levelheaded comments on Sep 15, 2021:

It would still make me want to vomit to have any of those symbols on a shirt

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 15, 2021:

Good point. I would not want to publicize any of those hateful symbols, altho I do have a T-shirt that does have the pink triangle on it in memory of the Jewish Holocaust victims.

I agree with most of these-how about you all??

racocn8 comments on Sep 14, 2021:

Being kind to those who are unkind only works as a defensive strategy. It opposes ones sense of fairness and justice.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 15, 2021:

True. It irks me too much to do it. And besides, I love to confront the arrogant and cruel. It helps remind them that not everyone is a doormat or in agreement with them.

Notorious antimasker dies of covid

Beowulfsfriend comments on Sep 14, 2021:

The wicked witch of Chicago. I just had an idea - start a group that, like the fuckwads from West Baptist church, go to Covid deniers funerals and put up signs, "Darwin wins dumbasses."

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 15, 2021:

Speaking of Chicago, I sure wish that prick Rahm Emanuel would die of Covid, or anything else. Isn't he going to get an ambassadorship from Biden?

Well, maybe Covid is getting worse again than I thought in my area, or maybe it's just that idiocy ...

Organist1 comments on Sep 14, 2021:

Wow...people are hoarding again. I hadn't noticed, since I order my groceries online, and pick them up outside the store. Not good.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 15, 2021:

It means the stupid and crazy are accelerating again.

Antifa.

Leetx comments on Sep 14, 2021:

I am glad you support my Aunt Tifa, Don't know how you know her but, she is nice and makes good cookies

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 14, 2021:

Always a professional smartass in every crowd. You are a master at it, sir...

A Vaccine Or This Marriage: Conspiracy Theories Are Tearing Couples Apart | HuffPost

anglophone comments on Sep 14, 2021:

The assholes who spread the misinformation of conspiracy theories and exploit the gullibility of the ill-informed are a menace to society. I note that there is at least one such person on this site, and I regard @Admin as being asleep at the wheel when it comes to discharging his obligations to ...

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 14, 2021:

I think we all know who you are referring to and, yes, there is no admin. policing that, but I think it is more a matter of them being absent rather than choosing to just let this member spread his lies about Covid.

That’s deep.

BufftonBeotch comments on Sep 14, 2021:

Well. If my last thing said to some people had been "Eat shit and die!" That would make me feel very satisfied. And I'd always wonder if they actually did.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 14, 2021:

Same here. I do enjoy having the last word with people I am arguing with and people I hate, I would probably want to say the same thing to them as you do. With people I like or love, hopefully my last words will be positive.

A Vaccine Or This Marriage: Conspiracy Theories Are Tearing Couples Apart | HuffPost

Sticks48 comments on Sep 13, 2021:

Never marry the stupid. Eventually, it will bite you in the ass.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 14, 2021:

So true, but sometimes people do, esp. if the stupid is also hot-looking at the time they marry them.

America's medical system cannot function normally with the burden of the anti-vaxxer campaign of ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Sep 13, 2021:

The second option in the poll is not really relevant, as we have had a tiered health care system for decades, where there is one tier for the uninsured and poor, another for the insured who are in the middle classes, and then finally a top tier for the rich. So the idea of discriminating against the...

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 13, 2021:

@domos You are not being alarmist to fear that the far right is the American version of the Taliban and they are serious about using violent force to achieve a theocracy here in America, since they know they can't win it thru elections. What you are seeing shows why governments in Cuba and Russia, much as they abused their power against dissidents there and curtailed freedoms to prevent opposition, were as repressive as they were, because in both cases they fought bloody revolutions to get power, and they were damned well not going to just let their opponents win it back with their own insanity and manipulations of the gullible masses.

America's medical system cannot function normally with the burden of the anti-vaxxer campaign of ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Sep 13, 2021:

The second option in the poll is not really relevant, as we have had a tiered health care system for decades, where there is one tier for the uninsured and poor, another for the insured who are in the middle classes, and then finally a top tier for the rich. So the idea of discriminating against the...

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 13, 2021:

@domos I guess you're right about me. I felt torn between whether to choose the third or fourth option. As a collective group, the anti-vaxers caused this man to die prematurely and unneccessarily far away from his family. They should all be ashamed of themselves, but they never will. To them, it's all about being a selfish individual and you have no responsibility to society or strangers, yet they are quick to demand help from strangers and society once they need it. They have the immature attitude of small children, bratty spoiled ones.

(_ucker KKKarlson is such a POS.

BitFlipper comments on Sep 13, 2021:

Didn't everybody already know this?

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 13, 2021:

I have always known this about conservatives in general. They have no empathy for those less well off or less powerful than them, all they do is punch down, as they hate those who they see as inferior to them, who they also see as a drain on society, their own wealth, and in the way of them becoming more powerful or rich. Unless those folks they see as their lessers serve a purpose for them, such as picking their cotton, so to speak, or working as their personal servants, they would just as soon that these people, once they are no longer useful to them, just go die quietly in the gutter.

@administration I can not join or reply to Progressives socialists &Black Lives Matter group.

Mooolah comments on Sep 10, 2021:

Hello? Anyone out there?

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 13, 2021:

I think we are on our own now.

The Young Turks - Fox Guest Complains: We Have To Pay A Living Wage Now! [youtube.com]

Charlene comments on Sep 12, 2021:

Fuck these pricks..pay people enough to live and not just survive..

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 12, 2021:

The thing is, without socialism, very few of these business owners are willing to pay their workers adequately. They feel that capitalism entitles them to be as greedy as they like. You cannot simply depend on capitalists to do the right and fair thing. The government, as it does under socialism, has to be there to force all of them to do the right thing by their workers.

Relationship counseling

Emerald comments on Sep 11, 2021:

If both parties have the goal of fixing what's wrong and building a better relationship, it's a good thing. Unfortunately in a lot of cases one person has already checked out and the other is basically beating a dead horse. But even in those cases there is much that can be learned.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 11, 2021:

I have talked to many divorced people over the years, and in most cases, it appears that marriage counseling, if it happened at all for them, usually came too late, just as you stated, where one party already wanted out, and the other party was either still in denial or else was wanting the marriage to continue no matter what. But you are also right in that in many cases, the party who was wanting to hang on no matter what did benefit some from the counseling, if nothing else from moving out of their denial and becoming motivated to finally move on and maybe also begin to gain some insight into their own role in the marriage failing. While relationships between adults and their kids are a whole other ball of wax, I do believe that adult relationships between couples are never entirely 100% the fault of just one person. It takes two to tango, as they say, and that in those relationships there is always at least some sharing of the blame when relationships fail. I know that many people may feel differently, maybe due to their own pride or their very strong remaining hate of the other person, but I have yet to meet a therapist that disagrees with this proposition, based on their experiences working with real people and hearing the stories of how relationships fail.

Even on their death beds, some COVID-19 patients in Idaho still reject vaccination ...

zeuser comments on Sep 11, 2021:

I'm just angry at these assholes now.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 11, 2021:

@anglophone That's my beef, that they get in the way of treatment for other people who are more deserving of the help and the hospital bed, at least in my mind. They already made their choice to risk a very preventable illness.

Even on their death beds, some COVID-19 patients in Idaho still reject vaccination ...

DenoPenno comments on Sep 11, 2021:

I agree with Tom, but dying is no time to be vaccinated.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 11, 2021:

@anglophone Either way, doesn't matter.

Even on their death beds, some COVID-19 patients in Idaho still reject vaccination ...

DenoPenno comments on Sep 11, 2021:

I agree with Tom, but dying is no time to be vaccinated.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 11, 2021:

Agreed. It's too fucking late by the time they get to the hospital.

Relationship counseling

Emerald comments on Sep 11, 2021:

If both parties have the goal of fixing what's wrong and building a better relationship, it's a good thing. Unfortunately in a lot of cases one person has already checked out and the other is basically beating a dead horse. But even in those cases there is much that can be learned.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 11, 2021:

Well said. In my opinion, everybody who goes thru a divorce should get therapy of some type, both during and after the divorce. I run across so many divorced women in my online dating experiences that appear to have never gotten any therapy regarding their divorce, and it really makes a difference, I think, in their attitudes towards men, future relationships and dating in general. I think that's why the divorced women I meet tend to be so much more bitter and negative towards men compared to the few widowed women I have met from dating sites. I'm not saying that therapy always works, or that some people who get divorced don't move on or end up emotionally healthy without therapy, but I think it usually makes a big and positive difference compared to those who don't take advantage of it. Like you said, it only works if you really want it to and invest yourself in it. What I see with so many women in the online dating thing with divorced women, is that they attend a divorce support group, or attend classes for divorced people, that are not run by a trained therapist. And these are no substitute for therapy with a licensed professional. Same as when they get counselling from a clergy person for their divorce. But that is what most people seem to settle for and it is not adequate, in my observation. Esp. the support groups and classes, because in those settings it is likely that the experience just reinforces or encourages an attitude of blaming the other spouse and resenting the other gender, joining the bandwagon attitude, from what I have heard from people who have attended them. If I had my way, everybody who uses dating sites would have to provide proof of recent therapy to be able to join one, lol.

Valor Christian High School Colorado, Certainly lives up to its name Very Christian indeed ...

Charles1971 comments on Sep 10, 2021:

Homosexuality is never mentioned by Jesus and only eluded to in the bible yet Christians love to bully, oppress, and discriminate against gays. Meanwhile, Jesus and the bible mention divorce multiple times and states that its basically adultery (which is one of the ten commandments) yet ...

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 10, 2021:

Neither is abortion, mentioned, but it doesn't stop the Bible thumpers from trying to impose their theocracy on us on that issue either. They have more in common with the Taliban than with patriotism for America, but they will never see it, much less admit it.

Hi everyone.

nicknotes comments on Sep 5, 2021:

If you are pregnant you might feel differently.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 10, 2021:

@Ello You do have a point there. Our society seems to fail miserably in teaching men not to rape women or to not have unprotected sex, so that sort of puts most of the burden for unwanted pregnancies on women, don't you think? So if that is the case, don't you think the law should side more with women than with men on who controls the decision-making on whether to abort the pregnancy or give birth, esp. since men can't get pregnant and the woman is the one who has to endure nine months of pregnancy and the birth? Lastly, I will finally feel like giving respect and take seriously the anti-abortion folks on being sincerely pro-life once and only after they show me they actually are consistent and pro-life in the rest of their social and political policies, such as the death penalty, support for child care, public education, anti-poverty programs, etc. Until then, they are, to me, nothing but hypocrites who worship the womb and care only about controlling women and pushing their theocratic ambitions on the rest of society. So until then, they and I have nothing to talk about regarding abortion and they and I can talk after they change their hypocritical policies on life after birth. Until then, they should shut up and fuck off, esp. the men in their tribe.

In the Middle of the Great Resignation, Employers Are Rejecting Millions of Qualified Workers, New ...

Buttercup comments on Sep 10, 2021:

It's kind of ridiculous to consider workers as a "resource" and also expect them to have a positive view of your company. Companies that share the wealth and have humane expectations are thriving, Costco and Rei come to mind.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 10, 2021:

@CuddyCruiser So true. I hated most of the jobs I had while I was working, so I was always eager to retire once I inherited enough money to afford to retire, which I did three years ago. So I don't relate that well to people who refuse to retire and want to work until their health gives out, even tho they can afford to retire. I respect their choice, but it's not for people like me. I enjoy the freedom of never having to work, answer to other people like bosses or co-workers, make my own schedule, not have to deal with work politics, etc. In my experience, those who truly like their jobs are a minority in America, same as the line from Office Space uttered by the Jennifer Aniston character, that most people hate their jobs. To me, it seems like a lot of those that do like their jobs are very smug and judgmental of the rest of us that don't.. Besides work, or the lack of it, the other few things that can make life very unpleasant are poor health, poverty, or being in a terrible primary relationship, whether that is marriage or any LTR with a partner.

In the Middle of the Great Resignation, Employers Are Rejecting Millions of Qualified Workers, New ...

Buttercup comments on Sep 10, 2021:

It's kind of ridiculous to consider workers as a "resource" and also expect them to have a positive view of your company. Companies that share the wealth and have humane expectations are thriving, Costco and Rei come to mind.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 10, 2021:

@Holysocks No shit. Employers who really care about getting quality workers will be willing to go back to putting up Help Wanted signs, and actually talking to those who apply in person, instead of doing it all online. Time for them to experience some of the inconvenience they put us workers thru all those years when they held all the cards.

In the Middle of the Great Resignation, Employers Are Rejecting Millions of Qualified Workers, New ...

Buttercup comments on Sep 10, 2021:

It's kind of ridiculous to consider workers as a "resource" and also expect them to have a positive view of your company. Companies that share the wealth and have humane expectations are thriving, Costco and Rei come to mind.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 10, 2021:

A friend of mine who is in his 60s and coasting towards retirement works for REI in Iowa and really likes that job.

In the Middle of the Great Resignation, Employers Are Rejecting Millions of Qualified Workers, New ...

snytiger6 comments on Sep 10, 2021:

And conservatives were blaming the job seekers, when it turns out that employers are at fault for not beign able to fill positions.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 10, 2021:

Of course, and do you notice how the media coverage only includes input from employers and economists who are business-friendly, never any interviews with union reps or workers themselves? The only media coverage I ever see that puts any blame on the employers are ones like this, where it is based on academic research, rather than corporate media reporting, which is all biased towards business and employers, who are their advertisers, and share their corporate-friendly perspective, rather than those of workers and unions.

At last they never deserved to be there

mischl comments on Sep 9, 2021:

Trump furthered the whole notion of nepotism.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 10, 2021:

Nepotism, incest, as long as it's all in the family.... (sarcasm).

At last they never deserved to be there

TomMcGiverin comments on Sep 9, 2021:

If only Biden would get rid of De Joy and restore the postal service. Won't hold my breath on that one...

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 10, 2021:

@BufftonBeotch It will only get worse, and they people I really fear for are rural Americans depending on the postal service for their meds..

At last they never deserved to be there

TomMcGiverin comments on Sep 9, 2021:

If only Biden would get rid of De Joy and restore the postal service. Won't hold my breath on that one...

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 9, 2021:

@BufftonBeotch I hope you are wrong about that, but if you are right, that may be part of why Biden will not go to the mat for it. Believe me tho, people will care, if it gets privatized and we all get monthly bills in the future from Fed Ex and UPS for our delivered mail, as well as people in remote rural areas who those two companies will refuse to deliver to, forcing them to come into town to pick up any mail.

At last they never deserved to be there

TomMcGiverin comments on Sep 9, 2021:

If only Biden would get rid of De Joy and restore the postal service. Won't hold my breath on that one...

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 9, 2021:

@BufftonBeotch I stamp several bill payments each month. I admit I don't send paper letters anymore, but there are many other people besides me who really want the postal service to be saved, mostly Dems, and we were counting on or urging Biden to save the postal service when he was running for prez, and I believe he did say he would do so, but it's just another lie from him about his campaign promises, including a $15/hr. living wage.

Anti abortion is anti equality.

Druvius comments on Sep 9, 2021:

The anti-choice crowd has never been about preventing abortions, if they were they'd be pro sex education and pro birth control. They are about forcing women to obey their sick interpretation of Biblical morality where women are simply breeding stock controlled by men.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 9, 2021:

It's been clear for generations that women can never have social equality with men unless they have absolute control over their own reproduction choices.

Anti abortion is anti equality.

Fernapple comments on Sep 9, 2021:

Yes obviously, no disagreement for this man. But then I don't live in Texas or suffer from Texan culture.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 9, 2021:

@Deb57 I often think the same things, Deb, glad that I didn't reproduce and that the sweet embrace of death awaits me possibly before things turn completely to shit.

At last they never deserved to be there

TomMcGiverin comments on Sep 9, 2021:

If only Biden would get rid of De Joy and restore the postal service. Won't hold my breath on that one...

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 9, 2021:

@BufftonBeotch he could fire members of the board for just cause, regarding the destruction of equipment, among other things, that happened under De Joy. You are being naive about Biden and I am not going to debate this further with you.

At last they never deserved to be there

TomMcGiverin comments on Sep 9, 2021:

If only Biden would get rid of De Joy and restore the postal service. Won't hold my breath on that one...

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 9, 2021:

@BufftonBeotch He can and could make it happen, thru the postal Board Of Governors, but he is just as much in favor of privatizing it as Trump was, so he won't do anything. Privatization of the postal service is a bipartisan goal that has been in motion for over a decade.

Taliban Parade Shows-Off Plundered U.S. Weapons of War | NewsMo - YouTube

creative51 comments on Sep 7, 2021:

They would have never gotten the military hardware and equipment if we had never invaded in the first place. We were WRONG to have ever gone in.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 9, 2021:

@WilliamCharles I guess I wouldn't feel that way to hear that, as nowadays little surprises me when it comes to the arrogance of the warmongers.

Mom Beats Up Catholic Preschool Teacher After Seeing Her Son Physically Abused | Hemant Mehta | ...

Beowulfsfriend comments on Sep 8, 2021:

I understand her actions. I can't say it was the best choice of action; yet, when my kids were younger, I strongly believe I may have killed such a person. The woman needs to sue the school, as well, for their harboring such an individual - things like that are seldom first happenings. I can ...

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 8, 2021:

@Beowulfsfriend She obviously loved her power trips and playing games with other. Glad you had the balls and smarts to see she was blowing you off on the appt. and walked in to confront her. I love confrontation when I am in equal or greater power than my opponent, and live for it, unlike most other Midwestern people, who don't do conflict and run away from it. I have suffered a lot of flack and ostracism for it from my fellow Midwesterners, but I don't give a damn, as someone has got to do it and buck the cultural mainstream, otherwise problems with organizations never get dealt with in this part of the country, so I will take the heat. I am proud to have more guts than most Midwesterners and to also be more honest and morally superior, in my eyes.

Why Won’t People Take Low-Paying Jobs?

BufftonBeotch comments on Sep 8, 2021:

Maybe the question should be "Why do people sometimes stay in a low paying job?" One of the jobs I have held is an overnight manager of a stock crew in a train track town in GA. If you show people that you see and appreciate that they are putting in an effort and praise them openly? I ...

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 8, 2021:

@BufftonBeotch Suit yourself. I have not found the effort to be worth it, so I will stick to my tribe culturally and socially, yet continue to advocate politically for multiculturalism and equality. I've debated you enough. I am a cultural and music snob and proud of it. If you choose to be different than that, fine for you, but you will not change my mind or browbeat me into apologizing for my choices and preferences.

Men, it's not that hard.

lerlo comments on Sep 7, 2021:

For the sake of argument, and I've mentioned it before to the delight (not) of many. What if we had consensual sex, and both being adults and understanding the possible outcomes, she gets pregnant and I want my kid? The kid doesn't exist without my half and I can't have a kid any other way. If she...

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 8, 2021:

@lerlo You are being unbelieveably legalistic here.

Why Won’t People Take Low-Paying Jobs?

BufftonBeotch comments on Sep 8, 2021:

Maybe the question should be "Why do people sometimes stay in a low paying job?" One of the jobs I have held is an overnight manager of a stock crew in a train track town in GA. If you show people that you see and appreciate that they are putting in an effort and praise them openly? I ...

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 8, 2021:

@BufftonBeotch We differ on that first point, but on the second one, I agree, I have met both good people and jerks, wherever I have lived, whether rural towns, college towns or the Des Moines area. I guess what makes a town a hellhole to me, is when there is little diversity, few college-educated people, lots of narrow-mindedness, and a very boring lack of arts, entertainment (besides country music), lots of churches, and very conservative politics being the norm. I would almost rather do prison time than live in such a stifling, empty environment. To people like me, both environments would be equally damaging to my mental health. And that is also why, in my experience, most people like me, as well as probably most of us here on Agnostic, cope with living in places like that with lots of self-medication, thru either street drugs or alcohol, as well as making road trips as often as possible to places that are more stimulating and comfortable.

Why Won’t People Take Low-Paying Jobs?

BufftonBeotch comments on Sep 8, 2021:

Maybe the question should be "Why do people sometimes stay in a low paying job?" One of the jobs I have held is an overnight manager of a stock crew in a train track town in GA. If you show people that you see and appreciate that they are putting in an effort and praise them openly? I ...

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 8, 2021:

@BufftonBeotch Yup, that explains a lot. I grew up in a town where the major employer was a meatpacking plant. And nowadays, it still is. So most people who lived there and didn't move there from somewhere else for one of the few good jobs there, would put up with just about any other job to stay out of the packing plant. That sort of town is a hellhole to live in and is a lot like most prison towns in America, where there is no other industry. It kind of beats down everyone who lives there emotionally.

Why Won’t People Take Low-Paying Jobs?

Lauren comments on Sep 7, 2021:

I would never have expected Graham to give a damn about people, whether they're the general public or his followers, so throwing them to the virus for his own benefit is no surprise. Why should people work in jobs that are driving them further into debt? It makes no sense, yet too many Americans...

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 8, 2021:

@JonnaBononna Same here. They flip out because it turns their whole belief system on its head. They so desperately need to believe that Dems are the good guys and on their side in the class war, instead of a fake opposition party that colludes all the time with the Repubs because, for the most part, they are funded by the same people. It takes moral courage and a tough mind to allow oneself to realize that the two party system is rigged and that no help from it is ever coming to save the working class or average Americans from being crushed or pauperized. Most people can't handle living with such limited hope and such harsh reality for the future. It takes courage to recognize that we are likely doomed and that there is no savior coming. So instead they just get angry at us for challenging their delusions and treat us as the crazy ones. The still believe that all that needs to happen to save America and make things great again is to elect Dems, any Dems, and things will be alright. Not going to happen as long as almost all the Dems are corporate Dems. With them all we get is happy talk and identity politics. And if you tell them to vote third party instead of for Dems, they parrot the same tired old lines about wasting your vote and that third parties can't win, etc. Well of course they can't if most people believe that and vote accordingly, but as long as we have elections, for the time being, a majority voting for third party candidates WOULD win, all it would take is for people to quit believing the propaganda from the corporate media and the major parties. People would need to ignore the propaganda and vote their conscience, then it would happen, that's all it would take.

Why Won’t People Take Low-Paying Jobs?

BufftonBeotch comments on Sep 8, 2021:

Maybe the question should be "Why do people sometimes stay in a low paying job?" One of the jobs I have held is an overnight manager of a stock crew in a train track town in GA. If you show people that you see and appreciate that they are putting in an effort and praise them openly? I ...

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 8, 2021:

@BufftonBeotch True, the owner is responsible for worker's getting paid and, ultimately, how much.. Your employer's business, for that manager job, sounds like it was more like a prison than a normal business, probably similar to how I hear Wal-Mart stores are run these days. The managers there act more like cops or prison officers. You had more success because you acted more like the good cop than the bad cop, but either way, it sounds like a shitty, exploitive situation, where the workers were more like prisoners doing time than normal workers, so no wonder they would leave as soon as they had another job to escape to.

Why Won’t People Take Low-Paying Jobs?

BufftonBeotch comments on Sep 8, 2021:

Maybe the question should be "Why do people sometimes stay in a low paying job?" One of the jobs I have held is an overnight manager of a stock crew in a train track town in GA. If you show people that you see and appreciate that they are putting in an effort and praise them openly? I ...

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 8, 2021:

Treating workers nicely will often work in the short term for keeping them there, but in the long term, most people will leave as soon as they can find jobs with much better pay and benefits, because most people are not content with always being poor, struggling to meet their expenses and bills, and having no economic security. Nor should they be content with that.

Why Won’t People Take Low-Paying Jobs?

Lauren comments on Sep 7, 2021:

I would never have expected Graham to give a damn about people, whether they're the general public or his followers, so throwing them to the virus for his own benefit is no surprise. Why should people work in jobs that are driving them further into debt? It makes no sense, yet too many Americans...

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 8, 2021:

@JonnaBononna I've been wanting to see general strikes for decades. Until the Dem Party is supporting general strikes, I will never believe they are really on the side of workers anymore, no matter how much lip service they still give to unions.

Taliban Parade Shows-Off Plundered U.S. Weapons of War | NewsMo - YouTube

KKGator comments on Sep 7, 2021:

There was never any doubt this would happen. If anyone is surprised, they haven't been paying attention.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 8, 2021:

@WilliamCharles I'm sure that will happen the same time hell freezes over. Right now, the corporate media is too busy putting on the same retired generals and think tank experts that were pro war from twenty years ago to have time to put on any peace activists or any true progressives who opposed the war.

Gov.

mcgeo52 comments on Sep 7, 2021:

He didn't say where they planned on spending their eternal life, but I guess that after Mississippi even hell would be an improvement.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 8, 2021:

To me, being forced to live in MI would be experiencing hell without dying first.

Schools become political 'battlefield' in culture wars Trump cultivated

linxminx comments on Sep 7, 2021:

Education has been a battle ground for politicians for decades. If I had a dollar for every political speech I've heard over the years that included, "...it's time for our kids to be #1 in the world! It's time for public education to be reformed and lead the world in math and technology! It's ...

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 8, 2021:

@linxminx Same here. We have a handful of cities, college towns in most cases, where there is sanity and blue voters, but the vast majority of the state is rural areas full of rednecks who never went to college-not that you have to do so to be or become intelligent, but in most cases you need to in order to escape the brainwashing of rural life- and conservative Christians. As some have said, those Iowans who are part of the minority who live in those cities are surrounded by "150 square miles of reality". I would not be able to live in NE outside of Omaha or Lincoln, and in Iowa there are only a few cities that I consider to be liveable, at least not without heavy use of booze or drugs...

Taliban Parade Shows-Off Plundered U.S. Weapons of War | NewsMo - YouTube

creative51 comments on Sep 7, 2021:

They would have never gotten the military hardware and equipment if we had never invaded in the first place. We were WRONG to have ever gone in.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 7, 2021:

It's why they call it blowback.....

Schools become political 'battlefield' in culture wars Trump cultivated

linxminx comments on Sep 7, 2021:

Education has been a battle ground for politicians for decades. If I had a dollar for every political speech I've heard over the years that included, "...it's time for our kids to be #1 in the world! It's time for public education to be reformed and lead the world in math and technology! It's ...

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 7, 2021:

My state is so firmly red that I have serious reason to believe the legislature and governor intend to limit the curriculum to only fit what the religious conservatives want taught, as well as the further de-funding of the public schools and state universities in favor of continued vouchers and the transfer of funding from public K-12 schools to private schools for children. They have already prohibited local mask orders by school boards and banned teaching of critical race theory.

Why Won’t People Take Low-Paying Jobs?

JonnaBononna comments on Sep 7, 2021:

People have no obligation to supplement one's desire to own a business with their life. If you can't afford to pay a living wage, you can't afford to own a business.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 7, 2021:

What I said above. What really kills me, also, is how many small business owners, who are wannabe rich types, who dream of becoming a big business, drink the Repub Kool-Aid and actually identify with all the Repub donors who are fat cats and corporations, as if the Repub Party actually cares about small businesses. They don't, and in fact, classwise, the small business owner has more in common with blue collar and middle class workers, in the class war, than they do with the top1% that the Repubs serve. But you can never get them to drop their delusions of grandeur and their worship of their betters. Suckers....

I would never encourage anyone to attack a site that had to change its server because of past ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Sep 7, 2021:

As Monty Python would say, " Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, know what I mean?, say no more"......

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 7, 2021:

@glennlab And we wouldn't want to encourage law-breaking in the already lawless state of Texas.... You know that you are speaking just like a good Repub, or maybe even a minion of Cheney during W.'s reign....

Does anyone do charity or community service with a group not affiliated with religious ...

Organist1 comments on Sep 6, 2021:

How about Habitat for Humanity? I'm not sure if there are religious connections, but I haven't heard of any.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 6, 2021:

I think there are some, but it's probably very low key or soft-pedaled.

Does anyone do charity or community service with a group not affiliated with religious ...

HankSherman comments on Sep 6, 2021:

I support the ACLU

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 6, 2021:

I would suggest that or Planned Parenthood.

Plans for $400-billion new city in the American desert unveiled

TomMcGiverin comments on Sep 6, 2021:

Probably hopes that he and other rich fucks will live there in the future and be able to escape the apocalypse that engulfs the rest of America.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 6, 2021:

@Charlene Well, we can always hope for that, as they'll surely deserve it.

We may never know.

OldGoat43 comments on Sep 6, 2021:

Operating in stealth mode.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 6, 2021:

They are always in stealth mode.

Recently I met a woman on a dating site and this progressed to the point of her coming to visit me ...

BitFlipper comments on Sep 5, 2021:

Good for you! That deal started to stink as soon as the niece was mentioned.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 6, 2021:

@BitFlipper The first person I met face to face from Our Time, four years ago, was a transexual. I met them at a movie theater and I still saw the movie with them, but then told them as we parted ways I was not interested in further contact. Looking back, I should have been more critical and skeptical about the few profile photos this person had, but at the time, the photos did appear to be that of a woman. If I had done a phone call before meeting them, I probably would have immediately picked up that it was a tran person, as the voice was very low and masculine, sounded a lot like Harvey Fierstein, in fact. I didn't come away upset, just wary about ever meeting anyone again that seemed at all sketchy on their gender identity, and if I ever had doubts about any future members, that I would insist on a phone call first.

Hi everyone.

DenoPenno comments on Sep 5, 2021:

Abortion is not birth control and only a rich lunatic would be trying to use it as such. The entire argument is posed as a religious thing but is really about having total control over women.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 5, 2021:

Well put. As Emma Goldman said long ago, if men could get pregnant, abortion would not only be legal, it would be a sacrament, which would shoot the whole religious argument against it, as it really is all about controlling women and keeping them in their place as inferior and subordinate to men.

Don't say yes, when you can say no by constitutional law and human rights.

dkp93 comments on Sep 4, 2021:

Lol that you feel citizens having obligations and responsibilities is part of some new "warped reality."

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 5, 2021:

He is a combination of the usual Libertarian bullshit combined with ant-vaxer conspiracy theories.

Recently I met a woman on a dating site and this progressed to the point of her coming to visit me ...

racocn8 comments on Sep 4, 2021:

If they won't talk to you live, they're probably a guy trying to scam you. I've encountered that dozens of times on various dating sites. Some of the sites actually have women working phones to keep you on the sites, and they always send you a bunch of "I'm interested in you" when your membership ...

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 4, 2021:

I agree with you and that is not paranoid. I have also experienced lots more interest from women soon before my paid subscription was due to run out. I trust the dating sites about as far as I can throw them, but there are no better options in my situation. Maybe it would be different if I were in the mainstream for my local area in culture and lifestyle, as it leaves me with a very small dating pool around here of compatible single women.

Where is the best place to meet members of the opposite sex?

ClassicalRebel comments on Sep 4, 2021:

It's easy to meet people, they are all over the place, finding one you can have a relationship with is the problem.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 4, 2021:

Ta Dum.... there's always a smartass with a clever answer to the ?

If it works a good idea

JonnaBononna comments on Sep 3, 2021:

I say again, Evangeliban.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 3, 2021:

True, they want the same kind of Sharia law here as there is in Islamic countries, only theirs is under the religion of Christianity, same misogyny.

I’m becoming increasingly concerned at what damage to the long term health of large numbers of ...

MichelleGar1 comments on Sep 3, 2021:

One of my dearest friends barely survived COVID-19, he didn't have any underlying conditions, now he does. He was in a coma for 6 months and had to learn how to walk again, he's depends on an oxygen tank and his doctor's give him 3-5 year's more to live. I saw him and his wife last week and he seems...

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 3, 2021:

@Castlepaloma There's some truth in that. I have no doubt that some of Trump's motivation for letting Covid run wild was that his rich donors wanted Covid to kill many seniors and reduce the payments that would otherwise by made by Social Security. While the Dem Party is also not really that friendly to SS, the Repubs have always been against it and want to eliminate it completely.

i really am surprised how satisfying it can be to block persistent stupidity.

TomMcGiverin comments on Sep 1, 2021:

I am approaching near five dozen total blocked, but I suspect many of them have left the site, so it may actually be much smaller than that on active members. But I have enjoyed every block I make. I call it customizing my site experience.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 3, 2021:

@Gwendolyn2018 Fair enough. It's interesting that nobody else weighed in. I guess they were enjoying their popcorn and watching too much to intervene....

i really am surprised how satisfying it can be to block persistent stupidity.

TomMcGiverin comments on Sep 1, 2021:

I am approaching near five dozen total blocked, but I suspect many of them have left the site, so it may actually be much smaller than that on active members. But I have enjoyed every block I make. I call it customizing my site experience.

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 3, 2021:

@Gwendolyn2018 I will have to disagree with you on some of this. Women constantly tell me on dating sites that they want to be treated with respect from men on there, so are you saying they are entitled to a one-way street on that? I don't think so, I have as much a right to respect as they do, and it should not have to be earned over some long period of time by proving it to them individually. Sorry, Gwen, that is unfair and I will not agree to that double standard. Maybe it fits for your individual experience, but it is not a fair norm to impose. I also have the right to suggest how a woman can make their profile consistent with what they are telling me when they reject me, after that they can take it or leave it, but I do have the right to make the suggestion. And the dating site must agree, as they have never scolded me for doing it. I think I owe women on dating sites respect, until they individually prove that they don't deserve it. If everyone on dating sites followed your standards and practices, the sites would be even worse than they already are in behavior. To me, it's not very impressive that you had only several men decline to reply to your messages to them. Try my experience instead, where I get no reply to probably 85% of my first messages to them. There's no comparison, but since you are female, you aren't put in the position like I am of having to do almost all the pursuing, or else have to accept not connecting with anyone on a dating site. As far as looks, it goes without saying, but that still doesn't stop many women on my dating site from saying it in their profile essay how " there has to be chemistry, some kind of physical attraction, etc.". Well, fucking duh, how dumb do they think we are? Both genders feel that way and those that deny it are lying. But there is an unspoken agreement by about everybody that we're not supposed to be blunt and tell someone we reject on a dating site that it is due to their looks. So some people, not me tho, dress up or hide their rejection of someone on looks by pinning it on some other lame excuse or reason. If a woman asks me why I am not interested in her, I simply say I don't think we're a match or not compatible enough. If they insist on me being more specific, I tell them it's about looks, because I treat adults as adults, and if they ask for the truth, then I trust them to be sincere in the request and able to handle the truth. If they turn out to be lying about that, unable to handle it, or get upset about it, that's on them, not me. As for religious preference, you are probably right in that most of the women who answer the religious preference part of their profile with "No preference" instead of something more accurate like " Christian, Catholic", etc are probably unthinking about ...

I’m becoming increasingly concerned at what damage to the long term health of large numbers of ...

MichelleGar1 comments on Sep 3, 2021:

One of my dearest friends barely survived COVID-19, he didn't have any underlying conditions, now he does. He was in a coma for 6 months and had to learn how to walk again, he's depends on an oxygen tank and his doctor's give him 3-5 year's more to live. I saw him and his wife last week and he seems...

TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 3, 2021:

Only in America is someone who gets seriously ill and needs lots of expensive care and hospital stays forced to pawn their dignity and rely on fundraising efforts from friends and neighbors to pay their bills, often even in cases where the patient had good health insurance. They have to beg from their neighbors when it should be covered by the government, but the private drug companies and the private healthcare system are solely about sucking every dollar they can out of people before they die, rather than about making them well or serving the public. The only country in the developed world where medical bankruptcies are common. That by itself should be enough to make most Americans open to trying socialism, but too many are still brainwashed against it and the corporate media is too powerful in preaching against it.

OF COURSE IT'S UNAPPROVED FOR FIGHTING COVID!!! IT"S A FUCKING HORSE DEWORMER!!! Joe Rogan tests...

MrDragon comments on Sep 2, 2021:

Good. Instead of Herd immunity they'll end up with herd and gene pool thinning. Very good, very good indeed.