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I expend a lot of hot air trashing the Bee’s comment feature, but today I have to eat my words. (It appears I must also attend mixed metaphor college.) From today’s Bee story about two library branches no longer accepting cash after the branches have experienced thefts.
Commenter “kevinakin1950” smartly questions the legality of refusing to accept American currency, and goes on to point out that a no-cash policy would discriminate against the poor, who presumably don’t have credit cards. (Let’s not get started on all the people out there who are poor because of their credit cards…)
I agree with this commenter that the policy is hopelessly ill-conceived and should be repealed immediately. That being said, I do sympathize with folks who have to handle cash at closing time. Just the other night I saw a story about a robbery at a mobile phone store in North Natomas (cannot find it anywhere now–sadly, I think that’s because there have been several even scarier armed robberies in the last few days). I sympathize with folks who have to handle cash in general. But the library needs to find a better way to secure its small cash deposits.
Not to mention — Sac Public Library has only recently lost more than $1 million due to criminals in leadership positions, as we all know. It would be funny — not funny ha-ha, sure — if that kind of large scale theft could pass unnoticed, but the board would allow branches to stop accepting U.S. currency to prevent a theft of $300.
(It’s sad, but it has probably been a long time since the tags “Local Idiots” and “Local Gub’mint” were not most commonly applied in tandem…)
The Sac Rag 
kevinakin1950 forgets that the poor don’t read (lotto tickets and the label on the back of a ’40 don’t count). Ergo, they don’t borrow books, and therefore don’t incur late fees at the library. Alternatively, RETURN THE FREAKIN BOOK ON TIME! Bam– No fines!
Give the librarian a gun (or at least a taser?) to shoot loud talkers and cash thieves.
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Another reason I should not heap so much abuse on the Sac Bee’s comments feature.
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Save some abuse for the Sacrag commenters 😉
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That’s what I meant. I had a hunch that I wasn’t being crystal clear.
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Upset that the truth is not something we can think or say out loud?
If I’m wrong, MD and CDMZ take the position that socioeconomic status has nothing to do with reading behavour. So we can stop funding Head Start and all those other “do gooder” programs for the “economically disadvantaged.”
On the other hand, the poor don’t read. I have official govt stats! http://www.nea.gov/news/news04/ReadingAtRisk.Html
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>>>lotto tickets and the label on the back of a ‘40 don’t count
That kind of generalizing and insult prevents people from taking you seriously. I know a number of poor people and none of them play the lottery or drink a ’40’. If you want people to take you seriously you have to use your grown-up words.
But I do agree with “return the book on time”.
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Nothing cements a point like 4 year old data.
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All the money poured down years of wastefull and needless “social programs” is money well spent, huh, Melly? That’s MY tax dollars, you know- they gotta come from somewhere. Money doesn’t just grow on trees.
So why did you have a kid if you were so poor? And where was the husband? Calling me names does nothing to refute my position. And since you are using yourself as the poster child for head start, lets hear the WHOLE story!
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TS…happy new year. Hope you get well soon.
See..I got sucked in and said a bad word…and got deleted. I shall refrain from spouting off in the future. My bad.
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Funny, I was going to come back and suggest that if Melly wants to be taken seriously she needs to use her grown up words as well but I see the issue was already handled. I’m not defending TS but I think we’re all supposed to at try and be nice. 🙂
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For the record — plain old F bomb is OK in small doses, mild good-natured namecalling is OK, but more intense namecalling/ad hominem attacks are not OK. If any contributors think that is an untenable position please let me know.
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You’re right. Especially about the small doses thing. Ad hominem attacks can be amusing when done well.
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Yesterday, I talked with the head librarian of my local branch who said that this issue has not been decided and may not be implemented. I think it does a disservice to anyone who uses the library who may not have change for copy machines also. While I understand the motivation, a better choice would be having more security guards who are actually trained well enough to deter criminal attacks. I know how big a problem this can be, as one of my friends who worked at the downtown branch once had to disarm a madman after a shooting.
TS: you are so delightfully neoconservative! Thanks for contributing so I can understand how people like you think. Has it ever occurred to you that people can become “poor” through disability or acts of violence or plain bad luck? I really enjoy watching people such as yourself denigrate others from a narrow worldview so you can feel better about your bitter self. And according to the powers that be, money DOES grow on trees and in fields (flax) because the Fed is now printing banknotes out of thin air to keep up with the total mess the neoconservatives made of the economy. I’m “poor” but read the Economist, the Financial Times and the WSJ.
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Oh, and yes, that was definitely an ad hominen attack. For further guidance, especially logically challenged types like TS see: http://www.theskepticsguide.org/logicalfallacies.asp
I have never once bought a lottery ticket or a “40” by the way. Since I am so “poor” I actually read 3-4 actual books a week! This week it’s “From Dawn to Decadance” by J. Barzun, “The Culture of Narcissism” by C.Lasch, “Jung in Context” by P.Homan, and for diversion, “The Corner” by D.Simon and E.Burns.
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Leslie…
That’s what I meant but you said it like a grown-up. Thank you so much.
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Calling Turty Squip an anything-“conservative” is needlessly cruel to well-intentioned anything-conservatives, no matter your opinion of them.
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Except Leslie doesn’t seem to be breeding and foisting the additional expense off on others.
Yes: People CAN become “poor†through disability or violence or bad luck. These are the deserving poor. I’m all for helping them (unless they demonstrate a pattern of bad luck after bad luck after bad luck- then its a matter of bad decision-making).
People can also be poor by choice, laziness, stupidity, etc. These are the UNdeserving poor. Until society is willing to discriminate between the two, I’d rather my labor (/money/earnings/taxes/whatever you want to call it) be for my benefit, and not those who play lotto and drink 40s all instead of working.*
I say that because I’ve not presented myself or my offspring to society for support, I am entitled to not support others. Particularly those who continue to have offspring despite ALREADY accepting “social assistance”– i.e.; they can’t support themselves yet continue to further burden others.
Leslie and Melly are as unwilling to allow me to keep the fruits of my labor for myself, as I am unwilling to pay for others’ stupidity/selfishness/greed. My postion forces people to take responsability for their OWN decisions. Leslie and Melly’s position forces ME to shoulder the burden of others’ decisions.
As for “the total mess the neoconservatives made of the economy”- I didn’t see “neoconservatives” demanding that banks lend to underqualified people to buy homes/cars/tvs. It wasn’t a “neoconservative” (unless B.Clinton is one?) that signed the repeal of Glass-Steagall, deregulating the banking/mortgage industry. And if the mess was made by neoconservatives, Obamma should be able to clean it up pretty quick, no?
This isn’t a policital issue kids: It’s a social issue. The society is getting to the point where to FEW people produce (work/create/invent/build), and too MANY people do not produce. Society can bear that burden for a little while, but soon it breaks down. And Obama (bless his heart and political career) knows that, and will be the poor sap stuck with telling generations of leeches that they have to get off the dole, and get to work.
* Disclosure, I’m taking the day off to go drink/etc. after I finish this post. But I’m taking earned vacation, and not foisting the cost of my drinking/etc. off onto anyone by using food stamps, welfare, govt. cheese, etc.
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TS is just pretending to be that big of a jerk because it makes him feel clever and he’s bored at work. If he was really as passionate about his opinions as he pretends to be he would not be going under that lame fake name. I suggest we agree to collectively ignore his so-called points. 🙂
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Nah- I know I’m pretty clever. And who says my parents weren’t lame hippys (or weirdo foriegners) with the last name Squip? The Squips could have a long and proud history from when they started working as Squips to the King back in the middle ages.
HeyMeg just can’t think of anything to say to refute that there really are some people out there who don’t deserve assistance, and take advantage of others. But I suggest we ignore her lack of logic, and concentrate on WHY ARE OUR TAXES SO HIGH!?!?
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Yes, clearly our taxes are so high because of poor people. It’s right in the Constitution, poor people are the only group with the power to levy taxes.
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No- they aren’t carrying their wieght. The poor pay practically NO taxes! That’s INSANE! If you raised taxes on being poor, there would be less incentive to be poor! Maybe all them poor would even move to another state!
The solution to high taxes for the non-poor is more taxes (and/or less services) from the poor. Going the more taxes route, because the only group that pays relatively little (other than the billionare types) in taxes is the poor, I propose a “poor tax.” Get them to pay their share! If they can’t pay, take their boxes and shopping carts, yank that ’40 outta their hands, and make ’em move!
Now obviously, the poor don’t have to pay with money. If you are poor and not working (unemployed/disabled, etc.), you can always donate plasma (I know a specially-abled guy who supports himself this way, so don’t say a quadraplegic coma victim can’t work), dig ditches, make license plates, etc. All the while, gaining skills to go out in the community and offer your professional plasma/ditch/license plate services on the free market, and get outta the cycle of poverty! Sounds like a win-win-win to me!
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A mind is a terrible thing to waste…
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And a terrible mind is a waste of a thing.
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And a wasted thing sometimes minds terribly.
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