Search Results for 'GG'

[pattilea]

After reading the met market rant, it made me think of the best bagger contest. Does anyone know how Andrew did?

[WSB]

What the first person is asking about is a repost of a rant they posted here a month ago, which a member (not related to the target of the rant) pointed out to us in their note flagging the repost was almost word for word a cut and paste from a month ago. (No, it was NOT the one about the establishment where they couldn’t find out who the manager was.)

Every time some establishment is mentioned, it is NOT a new opportunity for someone to repeat some gripe they’ve already brought up. Once you’ve ranted, you’ve ranted, it’s been discussed, that’s it. And if it’s a rant or rave, even if it’s new, keep it in a relevant thread, don’t append it to something that’s an event announcement or otherwise unrelated, which in this case it was. If people are doing research on that establishment, they will find your original post; this site ranks very high in search engines.

As for the critique of our rules: After we’d had rants and raves – which were implemented by reader request – going for a while, we researched best practices and found someone who does this kind of thing on the other side of the country had a policy about bringing the complaint to the attention of the establishment first. We thought about it and realized it is an easy way to be try to be semi-fair to rant targets. Otherwise, you can just make stuff up. This way, even though it’s still an honor system that you CLAIM you’ve brought it to the owner/manager’s attention, at least if it turns out you did make that up, they have the right to post a reply and say “Sorry, this is the first we’ve heard of this, who did you talk to and when?”

We also require Crime Watch report-senders, by the way, to have called the police first. Sort of a related policy. We’re not the police. If you have a situation to report, that’s where you go first. And by the way, if your rant/rave situation is so touchy that you feel you are jeopardizing your safety by going to the manager/owner, then you need to take it to police or other authorities, not just post about it and hope that’ll fix it.

Yes, this does set us apart from sites like Y@lp, and we’re proud of it. I have read threads on there about local establishments that made my jaw drop. But that’s how they choose to run their site, and they have that right, as we have the right to have tougher rules here. (We have rules for raves too. Someone recently claimed they believed those rules were being flouted by representatives of a certain business posting raves and not identifying themselves. We researched and discovered that what the complainer was CERTAIN were fakes … were comments posted by people who had been members here for at least 2 years and had all actively commented on dozens of other topics over those years. Doesn’t mean there might not be a case of astroturfing out there somewhere, but that wasn’t it.)

As for suggesting our rules are revenue-driven – that’s a little insulting. If we were fearful that rants-and-raves jeopardized our bottom line, we wouldn’t HAVE a rant-and-rave section. The last few rant threads posted here are about sponsors, in fact, fwiw. As I’ve said before, if any sponsor ever threatens to cancel her/his ad because we allowed a not-rule-breaking rant to stand, or something else they felt was unfavorable to them, then that’s a business I don’t want anything to do with anyway, because that would be an unethical threat for them to make. And a cancellation threat doesn’t strike fear into our hearts because our ad rates are so rock-bottom cheap (we haven’t EVER raised them despite traffic multiplying 8fold), we could say “OK, if you feel that way, sorry to hear it but we understand” and losing the ad won’t kill us, so we don’t EVER have to even think about compromising our ethics and integrity.

I am proud to say that while the rant-and-rave section does cause a fair amount of grief, the only time I have heard about someone complaining in relation to an alleged financial relationship is someone who had advertised with us months before a rant appeared and called us irate that we would allow the rant to stand because they had advertised here once and gosh darn it, didn’t that entitle them to demand that it be pulled? Sorry, no. And there was someone who once told us that if we pulled a rant about them, they might consider advertising with us (not that we had ever asked them to). Sorry, no. (I could spend the day going on about other threats made against us because of things that have appeared on the site, mostly the forum, or rule-breaking comments/posts we’ve deleted over the years, but I am way behind on work as it is.)

TLDNR, perhaps, but this one seemed to need some clarification. – TR

[DBP]

♫ Does anybody really know what time it is?

♫ Does anybody really care? ♪

—I don’t, personally. But some people do. And those people might just need themselves a new watch some time or other, don’t you think?

Like this new watch that was donated to Mike’s auction by a sweet little ole Rottweiler with an old-fashioned name . . .

It’s a Skagen Twisted Topring Mesh Strap Watch

http://tinyurl.com/how-cool-is-this-watch

 

 

Pssst! This baby retails for $135. But I can get it for you wholesale.

(Meet me round back at the Feedback Lounge on Sunday.)

[jeSSie.carterton]

Wow, you have to be kidding me!! This is my first post on WSB and after reading some of these negative comments, it inspired me to write. Apparently ms.sparkles has never been to a classy massage clinic before. That so called “dark room” is what they introduced me to as their “zen room”. Personally I think it’s a nice touch. It is very PURPOSELY dimly lit to create a relaxing calm zone as I like to think of it. It’s a room where you can sit and relax before and after your massage, I’d be upset if they didn’t have this nice room for me to sit. The staff even offered me lemon water that is readily available in this so called “dark room”, I even tried to get it myself but they insisted on me sitting back and relaxing before my massage.

I don’t want to join the rant but more so defend where I spend my money. I’ve been a member ever since my first massage at their introductory rate. My first massage was “meh” as well, but instead of being passive aggressive and ranting online, I simply mentioned it to one of the very kind young ladies at the front desk, they exceeded my expectations and made me one happy member. It’s like a hair cut people, you simply cannot sit down in the chair and expect to love the outcome. You must try out different therapist and find your perfect match! It took me two visits and I found a favorite, plus I enjoy trying new therapist every now and again. Judging from some of these posts, I get the impression that there are some people on this blog that simply resent the fact that you can get a thorough, professional massage at an affordable price.

Great staff, great customer service, great therapist, great location..could’nt ask for more! A+ La Vida I’m a big fan!!

I’ve referred many friends and family members and hope to inspire more people to try it out. I had to speak up and put in my two cents, maybe the “dark room” is too relaxing for ms.sparkles, maybe you should try waiting outside in the rain next time :)

[JV]

NYPD Says OWS Dumped Feces & Urine In ATM Vestibule And Down Stairs – CBSNews New York

“Police said that on evening of March 14, a number of Occupy demonstrators dragged large quantities of human urine and feces in containers to an open-air plaza before pouring the waste down a flight of stairs.”

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/03/21/nypd-says-ows-dumped-feces-urine-in-atm-vestibule-and-down-stairs/

Are we supposed to take these people seriously? Aren’t you local Occupiers embarrassed by this type of behavior that is reported every day?

[jtm]

We use New Roots and like them very much! You can also select substitutes on their website if you don’t like a particular item. Their West Sea delivery day is Thursday.

https://newrootsorganics.com/

[The Velvet Bulldog]

While we’re mentioning all the great auction items, such as the doggie spa/pet care basket from Furry Faces Foundation, and all the fun we’re going to have, like the Mike Stahl Trivia Challenge, we should ALSO mention that we’re going to ask people to pay mainly with cash or checks.

Our own DBP will be on hand to do some PayPal transactions, but we’re trying to limit the amount of fees that will cost. Thank you!

[JoB]

not fair to have me thinking about dipping bacon in chocolate before i even have my morning egg…

[kootchman]

We get to choose which forms of life we think are sacred, and we get to kill the rest.

Chicken McNuggets anyone?

[pattilea]

Do you have your fresh fruit, and vegetables delivered? If yes, by whom, and why?

[HunterG]

Val Vashon – there is a larger issue here. Who cares if this person can afford salami that is $20/lb? The bigger issue is if The Met truly is doing such a practice it is absolutely despicable not to mention illegal.

anonyme – There is still such an organization. They visit the TW every year and have strict regulations for how items for sale are signed, if they are signed correctly if scales weigh properly etc… If you fail a test more that three times there are serious consequences.

I find it very surprising that “The Met” (as I call them) would do something like this, of course, I don’t regularly purchase salumi so I wouldn’t know firsthand. I would have taken that salami right to a produce scale – the plastic can only add so much weight, and then you have your answer.

[waynster]

Kootch that is what you said…you have NO clue on womens health let alone healthcare….. you foot over loads your mouth if you want I’m sure we can look up all those foot prints on you chin…want to see your good tea baggers tuck tail on womens issues read and injoy kootch…“War on Women” — GOP in strategic retreat?

http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/

[shopper-ws]

Rip-off at the Metropolitan Market:

The photo link below shows how dishonest and deceiving the store is with their prices. All Salumi salami is 19.99 p/lb at the Metropolitan Market. The Metropolitan sells what they call “stubs” which are the leftover end cuts of salami sticks. They mark these as 1 LB and price them at $15.99 p/lb. However, they only weigh about ½ pound which bumps the price to roughly $32 a pound. The packaging is marked as “1 lb” (the first and biggest rip-off because it is not 1 lb!!) or even just “lb” for $15.99 (the second rip-off because they are implying it is 1 lb when it is not). If you have them cut the salami for you, you can get the $19.99 price sliced, or in half sticks, just like they sell for $32 a pound in “stubs” to those who don’t know they are being taken. I mentioned this to the store manager who actually argued with me that it was not improper to mark something 1 lb and have it weigh only ½ 1b. I was told they wouldn’t change anything – I couldn’t have been more shocked. I even showed these three salami’s in the photo to the manager and he refused to do anything about it.

Moreover, and this is where they get really slimy…if you ask for a sample of Salumi, they open one of the pre-measured and pre-priced tubs and hand you a slice or two (nice right – this is the third rip-off). Once you leave, they just put the tub back out on the counter without re-weighing it and re-pricing it for the next poor sucker to buy it thinking they get the weight the package was marked. If they are so willing to blatantly lie about the weight of what they sell, then I have a difficult time trusting any of their weighed products and you should too.

See the photo of how they price at http://www.flickr.com/photos/76375414@N03/6858124912/in/photostream

(FYI: Salumi is only $17 a pound if you purchase directly from the Salumi shop downtown or online at http://www.salumicuredmeats.com/). Admiral

[luckymom30]

How old is your dog? Have you tried anxiety reducing drugs? Maybe a retired person would be best as they would stay home longer during the day than a SAHM. Best of luck to you! What about doggie daycare?

[tom kelley]

I was at Pet Pros in Westwood Village this afternoon and noticed a flyer for an up-coming adoption event. As I’m not in the adoption mode the day and time didn’t register. Their # 932 2206. Someone who has the contact info should suggest Furry Faces.

[kootchman]

redblack… and what happened to Japan? eh? Where are they today? Still digging out of their real estate collapse. How’s that currency doing?

This is one of your better ones !!!

Reagan left on his present 25-day trip, the 17th stopover at his ranch since his election.

Obama has over 132 fund raisers in the last 6 months… he makes RR look like a workaholic.

[DBP]

Message for Ben:

Traveling companion with wet clothes?

W. W. J. D. ?   —Dump the guy on the beach?

I don’t think so.

Yah, there are worse places to be stranded than Seaside, but still . . .

***********************************************************************************

No, I kid.

What Jesus would really do, obviously, is first dry out His companion’s clothes with a wave of His magical hand.

And then, with another wave, He’d turn those two clunky old bikes into

          A BRAND NEW RV !!!

       

 

[Luckie]

Ducks: found! Secret hole in fence: plugged!

[kootchman]

jamminj.. re: 260.. it doesn’t and shouldn’t. However, you are asking for others to pay for your belief system. R v. W. is the law of the land… your beliefs “trumped” the beliefs of others who think it is flawed. They are I assume as ticked off about it as you are. It is not a frictionless debate. It’s your body… to do with as you please. When you drag the population at large into your body issues..expect the debate.

redblack I have… cited lots and lots of stats and statisitcs regarding household demographics…you don’t look at em’ when they are linked. WC.. to YOU they are wedge issues…. but the kool-aid always tastes better when served by those who think alike. 16 Trillion deficits are not wedge issues… but can ya get the average citizen to comb through a 2400 page bill, and the 24,000 pages of follow-up administrative rules? No.

Conservatives have people who believe Hussein is a Muslim… but we’ll take em. Liberals have some who believe increasing marginal tax rates on the top 1%or 10% or even top 20% will actually make a dent in our fiscal issues..but they are your base..sloganeering voters.. Both parties rely on astonishing levels of ignorance and “wedge” issues. Obamacre being the biggest in our history. It’s one big wedge. Yea,… all those republicans are all men. More republican women serve as state governors than democratic women. We added 9 women to congress last election… 4 staunch conservative too I might add.

And the domestic violence bill has bi-partisan support… except .. the Democrats attached riders to the bill…. ones they knew the House would reject… it was on its way to approval until Boxer decided to try and make political hay… whose the obstructionists? If it was a straight up and down bill… it would pass today. BTY is is a “reauthorization” bill… both parties have passed it on previous occassions… see? See how that works?

The Senate takes a one issue reauthorization and puts a poison pill in it so it won’t pass. Then they scream obstructionists. Call your liberal Democratic Senators, tell them to decouple the bill and pass it on a straight up or down vote… Both the House and Senate republican leadership have said they will pass it. You guys are just too easy to fool…they know you won’t get past a one sentence press release.

[redblack]

Boy if choices were around like that… why liberals don’t understand .. it’s not the public’s “right” to tromp over first amendment rights.

see, that’s your interpretation, and you still haven’t proven that your first amendment rights are being violated because you’re paying into an insurance pool that pays for something to which you have a moral objection.

i fail to see the correlation between this:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

and

i don’t want my dollars paying for no birth control pills!!!!11!1!

hell, man. if anyone’s first amendment rights are being trampled here, it’s the right of women to seek the health care of their choice – and republicans and christians are doing the trampling.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.

now, you need to tell me how paying into a health care insurance pool that covers contraception prohibits the free exercise of your religion.

see?

i’ll do you one better. i assert that in most cases, a woman’s husband doesn’t even have the right to know what a woman and her gynecologist are discussing unless she chooses to divulge it to him.

so i certainly don’t see why a bunch of strangers, busy bodies, religious nuts, and politicians should be in that exam room.

ahh. then there’s medicare – and medicaid – whose funding was slashed so severely by republicans that hospitals nationwide are being forced to lay off tens of thousands of health care workers. meanwhile, patients are not returning for follow-ups with their health care providers because they have no medicare or medicaid funds.

why? because, unlike willard romney – and rck santorum, with his pension and cadillac health care for life that i’m paying for – most people are poor.

way to go, teabaggers.

[Kelly]

I need to get something monogrammed this week. Any suggestions for where to go? thanks!

[dyn99]

JoB –

The tax free plan wasn’t an issue. Anyone who wanted could put health care dollars in an HSA account under HSA rules as far as I’m concerned. I just don’t think most people who were struggling to survive would have the means (financial or inherent capabilities) of managing this responsibly. Redblack didn’t really seem concerned with the tax treatment.

The idea was creating the art of a compromise. I gave on the single-payer option for the poor, working poor, and middle class. I would guess that most upper-middle and upper class would opt-out to the private plans. But a fair number of middle class people would too. There are plenty of middle-class families that would prefer to manage their health choices themselves.

Plus my tax proposal on how to pay for it was VERY reasonable. Especially since people with income solely from capital gains & dividends would have to pay for it. And since I subsidized the out of pocket max for people who couldn’t afford it…I was really being fair.

There are some really good conservative ideas that would make the world a better place. But you guys have to be willing to compromise too.

This country needs to be the freeist country in the world at the end of the day. Anything less that will just drive us to be the party of “NO”.

[waterworld]

JV: The data does not really support the claim that many convicted murderers go on to kill again if given a second chance. While I don’t know what you mean by “many” in this context, what the data shows is that the recidivism rate among people convicted of murder and later released is lower than that for any other category of crime.

Also, I think it’s important not to conflate the different degrees of murder in a discussion of capital punishment and alternative sentences. There is no state that authorizes capital punishment for every level of murder; statutes distinguish between premeditated, intentional killings and those that are not premeditated or are not intentional. Capital punishment is generally reserved only for those murders that are not only premeditated and intentional, but that also have one or more aggravating factors, such as murder to cover up some other crime, or multiple murders, or murder combined with a sex crime. And even in the case of aggravated, premeditated, intentional killing, the jury can choose to not impose the death penalty. In this state, the automatic sentence for these most serious homicides is life without parole, unless the jury unanimously agrees to impose death. All the other murders — meaning the vast majority of them — are punished with sentences that are less than the remainder of the offender’s life.

Considering that people convicted of murder, along with virtually every other kind of crime, are very likely to be released at some point in their lives, it is at least worth discussing whether it is in our best interests to ensure that offenders have access to some means of improving or rehabilitating themselves. The single greatest predictor of recidivism across all categories of crime other than sex offenses is the availability of work. A person who is released after serving a sentence for a violent crime, a drug crime, a financial crime, or a property crime is less likely to reoffend if he or she can get a job. So I don’t begrudge prisoners who are trying to earn their high school equivalents or degrees. It adds very little to the expense of incarceration to provide education and work training, it reduces the numbers of infractions committed in prison, and the cost-savings to society in terms of future harm avoided is enormous. When we get caught up in imagining how luxurious prison must be if inmates are able to learn a trade or get some education, we miss the boat entirely: our own interests in being safe in the future, affordably so, are served by these programs. (Besides, no one who has spent time in prison will say it compares favorably to your “college days.” That’s just nuts.)

Also, FWIW, inmates on death row or in maximum security settings are not eligible for conjugal visits in this state. Actually, it is not easy to qualify for what the Department of Corrections calls “extended family visits.” While we tend to think of these solely as visits for the purpose of married prisoners hooking up with their spouses, in reality, as often as not, the visits are used by inmates who are parents to spend private time with their children. And sexually explicit materials are prohibited in all state prisons, to the best of my knowledge. If an offender receives explicit pornography in the mail, it does not get delivered to him.

[JoB]

dyn99

“name a state law that provides reduced legal rights for women vs. men. I’d love to research it.”

check tonight’s news:)

any state that passes laws that pertain only to women’s health is discriminating against women.

heck.. Arizona is well on it’s way to requiring a woman to disclose to her employer exactly what medical condition she has that has caused her doctor to prescribe medications that are also used as birth control.

don’t you find that just a tad discriminatory?

if legislators were suggesting we invade your personal medical privacy on the basis of your sex i am pretty sure you would find that discriminatory…

[dyn99]

JoB – you missed my point. “Marriage” is a religious concept that pre-dates the state or really any form of modern government.

The government’s job should be to provide any two people a legal framework to have all the rights you mentioned. This should not be discriminated upon based on sex or sexual orientation. But it should be limited to two people.

“Marriage” can be done by the church for those who believe in a religious marriage. Whatever “church” you choose to participate in.

The government would provide any two people who want it a “civil union” but would cease to conduct or regulate “marriages”. Any partnership of two consenting adults could receive the status of the “union”. Someone who chooses to get “married” would still have to get the state’s “union” separately.

“Marriage” would simply be left to whatever religious institution you chose to participate in on an optional basis. And it would simply be a title, and would not be given any different legal rights. If you don’t want to get married by a church (whatever church that may be), then don’t. It provides no benefit other than the traditional religious title, ceremony, and rights in a church.

A church could then choose to marry or not marry whoever it wants, based on its chosen criteria. That way people like me who want to get married in a church in a religious ceremony could do so in accordance with the tradition of their faith.

And churches could choose not to marry people based on sexual orientation if they want, so the government is not telling them how to practice their religion.

That would be a true separation of church and state.

JV – convicted murderers should sit in an uncomfortable dark cell where society is protected from them for the rest of their lives, but have the legal right to appeal, so if they were wrongly convicted, they can be freed.

They should have a right to physical exercise, nutrition, education and entertainment within reason. In my opinion, they should also have the right to work and receive a minimal wage for prison jobs. Maybe their prison job wages could “buy” their access to entertainment and educational materials. Maybe even better quality food. Then the system partially funds itself, while reducing the cost to provide necessary services to the prison.

I’m not sure about conjugal visits or porn on taxpayer dollars. I can tell you that I don’t think that I should have to pay for those. But I suppose if they want to use their prison wages to pay for those things, as long as it doesn’t further negatively impact their ability to be rehabilitated, then I don’t think it’s really the state’s job to prevent them from buying that. But I sure as hell don’t want to pay for it.

In some respects, I’m sure it’s functional to allow conjugal visits and porn. Otherwise there is no outlet for the sexual energy, which would undoubtedly cause greater problems (think sexually frustrated 16 year old), so there would need to be some way of letting that energy out in a way that doesn’t harm others or cost the state more money.

And yes, we would pay for all of that as a society. That would be the cost to keep society “safe”. If we didn’t think someone needed to be locked up to keep society “safe”, then we should release them, as we’d just be wasting society’s money.

But paying for that for the rest of their lives is still less expensive than killing them. And killing them provides no benefit to society. Rehabilitating them does – if that is possible. For those that commit aggravated first degree murder, I really don’t think that the possibility of release should exist.