The First Church of the Wrath of Baby Jesus and Open Bar™

[LMNO]

I can neither confirm nor deny that.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

It's that time of year again, when Adult and Family Services threatens to take away SNAP unless I prove I'm still poor. I thought they were going to network this shit so I don't have to gather together all the documents the state already has so I can show them to the state.

You may ask, "what is the big deal, it's free money, what's a few hours of your time?" and the answer is, I'm only on the fucking things because I'm in college, and jumping through unnecessary hoops takes away time I would otherwise spend studying. They KNOW how much child support I receive, they KNOW I'm in school full time, they KNOW how much my tax return is; having to spend an afternoon or two gathering documents and going down there to interview in person is purely punitive, to make sure I'm properly chastised for being poor.

[Faust]

Meanwhile, some fucking construction machinery up the street beeps incessantly from 8am to noon.

Could be worse.  It could play "What does the Fox say?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vmn9asN-8AE

[The Good Reverend Roger]

You may ask, "what is the big deal, it's free money, what's a few hours of your time?"

But I don't, because I've seen the system, and it is designed to punish you for not being rich.

Usually, it's the rules handed to the GAO department that monitors the programs, as a sop to the GOP who feel that poor people need to be reminded that they're on sufferance.

Which is part & parcel with what's wrong with our entire culture.

From the end of your post, it's quite clear that you see this, of course, not sure how you could miss it, but I hear all the time from otherwise intelligent people about how "those people with their smart phones and their diet of lobster and filet mignon" are "abusing the system".

Fuckers should try being dirt-ass poor for a bit.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

It's that time of year again, when Adult and Family Services threatens to take away SNAP unless I prove I'm still poor. I thought they were going to network this shit so I don't have to gather together all the documents the state already has so I can show them to the state.

You may ask, "what is the big deal, it's free money, what's a few hours of your time?" and the answer is, I'm only on the fucking things because I'm in college, and jumping through unnecessary hoops takes away time I would otherwise spend studying. They KNOW how much child support I receive, they KNOW I'm in school full time, they KNOW how much my tax return is; having to spend an afternoon or two gathering documents and going down there to interview in person is purely punitive, to make sure I'm properly chastised for being poor.

Exactly.

I can imagine their "job training": "All these people are crackheads and slugs trying to freeload, your job is to MAKE THEM WORK. Don't let them get COMFORTABLE."

Really, I'd like to see the fucking training manuals. I'd probably have some kind of rage aneurysm, but I'd like to see them anyway.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

You may ask, "what is the big deal, it's free money, what's a few hours of your time?"

But I don't, because I've seen the system, and it is designed to punish you for not being rich.

Usually, it's the rules handed to the GAO department that monitors the programs, as a sop to the GOP who feel that poor people need to be reminded that they're on sufferance.

Which is part & parcel with what's wrong with our entire culture.

From the end of your post, it's quite clear that you see this, of course, not sure how you could miss it, but I hear all the time from otherwise intelligent people about how "those people with their smart phones and their diet of lobster and filet mignon" are "abusing the system".

Fuckers should try being dirt-ass poor for a bit.

Very well said. Thank you.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

You may ask, "what is the big deal, it's free money, what's a few hours of your time?"

But I don't, because I've seen the system, and it is designed to punish you for not being rich.

Usually, it's the rules handed to the GAO department that monitors the programs, as a sop to the GOP who feel that poor people need to be reminded that they're on sufferance.

Which is part & parcel with what's wrong with our entire culture.

From the end of your post, it's quite clear that you see this, of course, not sure how you could miss it, but I hear all the time from otherwise intelligent people about how "those people with their smart phones and their diet of lobster and filet mignon" are "abusing the system".

Fuckers should try being dirt-ass poor for a bit.

Very well said. Thank you.

Been there, done that, back in the 90s, when the kids were still tiny.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

You may ask, "what is the big deal, it's free money, what's a few hours of your time?"

But I don't, because I've seen the system, and it is designed to punish you for not being rich.

Usually, it's the rules handed to the GAO department that monitors the programs, as a sop to the GOP who feel that poor people need to be reminded that they're on sufferance.

Which is part & parcel with what's wrong with our entire culture.

From the end of your post, it's quite clear that you see this, of course, not sure how you could miss it, but I hear all the time from otherwise intelligent people about how "those people with their smart phones and their diet of lobster and filet mignon" are "abusing the system".

Fuckers should try being dirt-ass poor for a bit.

Yeah, all the apocryphal stories of people "abusing the system". I'm 99% sure that most of them are MADE UP; you know, the kind of bullshit stories that people with an agenda use to illustrate the point they WANT to make. I have bought steak on SNAP: sometimes steak is on sale. Sometimes it's a kid's birthday. Sometimes I just want to eat something NICE instead of an unremitting diet of beans, rice, and cabbage. Bottom line, though, is that if I do splurge I have to be careful, because it's a fixed amount and if I run out before the end of the month, it's back to rice and beans. Which are fine for keeping costs down, but not fine EVERY GODDAMN DAY.

The fraud rate with SNAP is under 1%. It's so low that it costs more to investigate than it would save in preventing some asshole from trading benefits for cigarettes. And I am not selling all the nice things I bought when I had money for $20 on eBay just so the douche in line behind me won't judge me for paying with food stamps while I'm carrying a Coach bag, checking my iPhone, and wearing Frye's. All nice things that will help me make a positive impression when meeting with future colleagues and prospective employers.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Yeah, all the apocryphal stories of people "abusing the system". I'm 99% sure that most of them are MADE UP; you know, the kind of bullshit stories that people with an agenda use to illustrate the point they WANT to make. I have bought steak on SNAP: sometimes steak is on sale. Sometimes it's a kid's birthday. Sometimes I just want to eat something NICE instead of an unremitting diet of beans, rice, and cabbage. Bottom line, though, is that if I do splurge I have to be careful, because it's a fixed amount and if I run out before the end of the month, it's back to rice and beans. Which are fine for keeping costs down, but not fine EVERY GODDAMN DAY.

The fraud rate with SNAP is under 1%. It's so low that it costs more to investigate than it would save in preventing some asshole from trading benefits for cigarettes. And I am not selling all the nice things I bought when I had money for $20 on eBay just so the douche in line behind me won't judge me for paying with food stamps while I'm carrying a Coach bag, checking my iPhone, and wearing Frye's. All nice things that will help me make a positive impression when meeting with future colleagues and prospective employers.

This all goes back to Reagan's "welfare queen" comment, which he later admitted he made up.

But it's a great meme for dragging the teabuckers around with.  It isn't aimed at anyone with any skill in, or desire for, critical thinking.

It's a creation of The Other, using the usual targets...Those that have little or no voice or means to fight back.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

You may ask, "what is the big deal, it's free money, what's a few hours of your time?"

But I don't, because I've seen the system, and it is designed to punish you for not being rich.

Usually, it's the rules handed to the GAO department that monitors the programs, as a sop to the GOP who feel that poor people need to be reminded that they're on sufferance.

Which is part & parcel with what's wrong with our entire culture.

From the end of your post, it's quite clear that you see this, of course, not sure how you could miss it, but I hear all the time from otherwise intelligent people about how "those people with their smart phones and their diet of lobster and filet mignon" are "abusing the system".

Fuckers should try being dirt-ass poor for a bit.

Yeah, all the apocryphal stories of people "abusing the system". I'm 99% sure that most of them are MADE UP; you know, the kind of bullshit stories that people with an agenda use to illustrate the point they WANT to make. I have bought steak on SNAP: sometimes steak is on sale. Sometimes it's a kid's birthday. Sometimes I just want to eat something NICE instead of an unremitting diet of beans, rice, and cabbage. Bottom line, though, is that if I do splurge I have to be careful, because it's a fixed amount and if I run out before the end of the month, it's back to rice and beans. Which are fine for keeping costs down, but not fine EVERY GODDAMN DAY.

The fraud rate with SNAP is under 1%. It's so low that it costs more to investigate than it would save in preventing some asshole from trading benefits for cigarettes. And I am not selling all the nice things I bought when I had money for $20 on eBay just so the douche in line behind me won't judge me for paying with food stamps while I'm carrying a Coach bag, checking my iPhone, and wearing Frye's. All nice things that will help me make a positive impression when meeting with future colleagues and prospective employers.

Exactly this. They want everybody to get to work and get off benefits, but they want them to do it in rags, or at best a ten dollar pair of new jeans. Try getting an office gig in that.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

On another note, I am damn fucking proud of myself right now because with no other info besides a periodic table I just solved for the identity of M where M is a mystery metal in MF_6 and a 15.327-gram sample is found to contain 10.363 grams of M.

I know it's basic but I'm still proud.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

On another note, I am damn fucking proud of myself right now because with no other info besides a periodic table I just solved for the identity of M where M is a mystery metal in MF_6 and a 15.327-gram sample is found to contain 10.363 grams of M.

I know it's basic but I'm still proud.

I can't remember any of that shit, so it's not so basic.

[Suu]

On another note, I am damn fucking proud of myself right now because with no other info besides a periodic table I just solved for the identity of M where M is a mystery metal in MF_6 and a 15.327-gram sample is found to contain 10.363 grams of M.

I know it's basic but I'm still proud.

I can't remember any of that shit, so it's not so basic.

She had to isolate the atomic weights to satisfy M by figuring out how much six F molecules weigh. Or something. Maybe.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

On another note, I am damn fucking proud of myself right now because with no other info besides a periodic table I just solved for the identity of M where M is a mystery metal in MF_6 and a 15.327-gram sample is found to contain 10.363 grams of M.

I know it's basic but I'm still proud.

I can't remember any of that shit, so it's not so basic.

She had to isolate the atomic weights to satisfy M by figuring out how much six F molecules weigh. Or something. Maybe.

Sort of. I had to convert F from grams to moles, and then from moles to atoms, then divide by six to find out how many atoms of M I had, then convert to moles and divide mass by moles to get the atomic weight. The reason I'm proud is because I didn't have instructions or conversion units, I just relied on memory for unit conversions and muddling things out for the logic, and it worked! Yay!

I was also proud earlier today because I figured out the length of one side of a cube of ice in feet knowing only that the cube contained 4.45x10^23 atoms and that the density of ice at 15 degrees is 918.7kg/m^3. I worked out the formula in my head on the walk home and lo and behold, when I got home and tried it, success!

It isn't complicated algebra, it just has a lot of steps and conversion units.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

So an Irish Jew walks into an Ethiopian bar and gets tanked with a bunch of Somalian Muslims....

And asks himself, wut....

Twid,
gave Abdul his phone number.