DP Blogs

Suppose you want a minimum wage law of say, $20 per hour. You need to ask yourself, does a $20 minimum wage law mean every worker is worth at least $20 per hour? If no, then the law is creating artificial unemployment. If a person is only worth $15 per hour, it is now illegal to hire them, so they remain unemployed or they must work off the books. The point is, the law doesn't benefit anyone. If you are worth at least $20 per hour, then the law doesn't effect you at all. If you are not worth at least $20 per hour, then the law prohibits you from being hired, which makes you, and by extension society, worse off. Remember, a minimum wage law does not and cannot change the value of anyone's labor.

As we are on the cusp of Thanksgiving Day, I would like to take this time to wish all my fellow DP Turkey-eatin' Americans (and whoever else celebrates) a Happy Thanksgiving, and a wonderful time with their loved ones. Stuff your stomachs or else! This will be my first time hosting for Thanksgiving! It's going to be a crowded townhouse over here, as both my wife and I's family will be over, along with some friends. I am hoping it all ends up going smoothly, as I have put a good amount of planning into it, and I'm getting help from the 'rents and my in-laws. It's really nice that I have a place of my own, so I can do nice things like this more often. Plus, it's pretty darn awesome being independent. And as Mariah Carey has already...

Relevant lore. With more of a growing feeling of existential dread than anything I've increasingly felt that I'm transfem. Pretty not ideal to be honest. I HATE standing out in public in any way I worry I'll never have the courage to present in a more feminine way. Kinda just want to cry and/or explode into atoms and return to the fabric of the universe anytime I think about it too hard. Oh well. And I still have like 4 years left in my commission? ****. The last thing I want to deal with is military bullshit side of things on top of everything else. Should probably think about leaving Florida too...fun. One day you buy thigh high socks as a joke and the next thing you know you're looking at dresses and aren't even sure why 💃 oops.

Hey folks, I know some of you are aware I'm graduating from college in April and have been working a low-pay retail job while I completed my studies, but I found myself without work recently and decided I was so close to graduating, it would be unfair to start working another job only to seek better opportunities once I graduated. So I took a deep breath and started applying for a job in the field I chose to get my degree in (criminal justice) and landed a super-duper amazing opportunity today to work with Volunteers of America in an outreach program!! Whoot!!! Starting wage is 21 an hour (I was making 17 an hour) and now I'll have benefits and PTO as well! YAY! Starting on day 1!!! I'm so super excited, I can hardly breathe! No more...

As the blog title indicated, I've been increasingly getting tired of American politics. The whole thing just seems like a massive carnival. And the main culprit? Republicans. It seems like Congress is just a daycare for them. I remember a quote that describes the situation perfectly. "Democrats come to work to do their jobs, Republicans come to work to go on Fox News after". It's actually a caricature. The party is a mess, constant backstabbing and bickering, endless culture wars, and stunning incompetence. Literally. There's been what seems to be a billion candidates for Speake. The latest one just dropped out today. What an absolute shitshow of a party. There's just been constant political controversies and dysfunction. At this point...

About a month ago my wife and I were flying out of JFK to visit our daughter who lives outside of Portland Oregon. The day after the flight happened to be my dad's birthday - he died in on Valentine's Day in 2014. I'm a pilot, have been for most of my life, though I haven't flown in several years, and the combination of the trip and dad's birthday led me to remember a flight I took with him, sadly the only one we shared, many many years ago. I wrote the following essay in my head during the trip to Portland and then finally got around to committing it to paper recently. ------------ I’m sitting in an Alaska Air jet about to depart JFK for the west coast to visit my daughter in Oregon. Tomorrow is my father’s birthday and the...

Relevant: Hey DP folks, hitting you all again with another blog! It's my birthday tomorrow! I'm turning the big ol' 25! It's a bit of a milestone in my life, so I just wanted to take some time to briefly reflect. I don't think I would have believed where I'd be now, if I could talk to myself five years ago. Life just blazes  by like crazy, doesn't it? It doesn't feel like college was that long ago, but it really is getting distant. Not that I mourn that part of my life; I went through my trials and tribulations, but it's the past, and that's where it stays. Glad I never got too deep within the partying life as well; perhaps would have hurt my studies in the end. I actually quite enjoy getting older. I have some friends that are...

https://nypost.com/2023/10/04/media-lynch-mob-was-way-off-in-ex-mlb-star-trevor-bauers-rape-case/ Trevor Bauer was an MLB star pitcher banished from the United States due to allegations he sexually assaulted a woman named Lindsey Hill. On Monday, Hill withdrew her lawsuit. Trevor Bauer was never found guilty of any crime. He did not settle or lose civilly with his accuser. Bauer released damning proof that makes Hill look like a fraud: “Next victim. Star pitcher for the dodgers,” she texts a friend before meeting Bauer. “What should I steal?” she asks another friend before visiting his house for the first time. The answer: “Take his money.” Trevor Bauer can never get his reputation back. Will the Dodgers or MLB apologize for...

As a 'PoliSci' data nerd I was curious about classifications and groupings,... so for shits and giggles took 'the political compass' survey https://www.politicalcompass.org/test https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Political_Compass AND then overlaid a normalized 'Noland diagram' (from wiki) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nolan_Chart and came up with,... Since I attended various Catholic schools before going to a public university, was curious to see if I could over lay a 'religious classification' survey (could not find one,... so anyone have any suggestions?) Also was wondering if anyone could share (or know of a liberal vs conservative spectrum that classifies various religions??) FWIW was inspired to look into the topic...