Vote. (Includes information about allowable time off)

 

October 31, 2024

 

If you've ever waited in line for concert tickets, or for the after-Thanksgiving Christmas sales, or anything else, don't be deterred from voting just because the lines will be long.

 

Wear your best weatherproof gear, grab a camp chair and a book (or phone), and settle in.

 

Here are some guidelines about what employers are required to allow in terms of time off for voting and, in some states, paid time. The information comes from the site Fisher Phillips, but you can find your own sources.

https://www.fisherphillips.com/en/news-insights/do-your-employees-get-time-off-to-vote-a-state-by-state-guide-for-employers.html

Missouri

• Leave: Eligible employees are entitled to take up to three hours of voting leave if they don’t have three consecutive nonwork hours available while the polls are open. You may designate the hours when employees can take such leave.
• Pay: You can’t dock an employee’s pay for taking allowable leave.
• Employee Notice: Employees must request such leave prior to Election Day.
• Employer Notice: You are not required to post a notice about employees’ right to take voting leave.
• Learn More: Click here to review the statute.

Illinois

• Leave: Eligible employees are entitled to two hours of voting leave. You can designate the hours for employees to take such leave, but you must allow a two-hour absence if an employee’s shift starts less than two hours after the polls open and ends less than two hours before the polls close.
• Pay: You can’t dock an employee’s pay for taking entitled voting leave.
• Employee Notice: Employees must apply for such leave prior to Election Day.
• Employer Notice: You are not required to post a notice about employees’ right to take voting leave.

Learn More: Click here to review the statute. 

They’re Taking the Long View—But Not Really

 

October 27, 2024

 

Some people might think that a lower teen birth rate is a good thing. But the attorneys general of Idaho, Missouri, and Kansas are not keen on it happening in their states. If teens are allowed access to the abortion drug mifepristone they won’t have as many babies, which would cause a population decline, say the humanitarian guardians of the people.

 

If the population declined, there would be fewer people to pay taxes. The lower population would also result in less federal representation for the affected states. Also, if the teens are on Medicaid, it could cost the states money, if the bill came to more than what Medicaid would reimburse the hospital, because then the hospital would have to eat the difference and, one way or another, the state coffers would take the hit.

 

If you stooped to their level, you could argue that if the teens were on Medicaid, very likely their babies would be on Medicaid, and how much would that cost the state in the long run?

 

Or, you could stop trying to reason with people who are not only heartless but crazy, and just vote them out of office.

 

 

 

Vote for Your Right to Vote

 Rerunning a previous post

 

 

August 6, 2024

 

 

Primary Day in Missouri.

 

If you hate waiting in lines to vote, just think:

 

According to Donald Trump, if he wins the presidential election, you’ll never have to vote again.

 

So, vote while you still can.

 

 

 

Harris as Jezebel? Read Isaac Asimov

 

October 22, 2024

 

Some religious leaders are saying that Kamala Harris has a “Jezebel spirit.” They mean that she is under the influence of demons. Jezebel is also used as a term for a sexually promiscuous woman.

 

I never thought about Jezebel much until I read The Caves of Steel, by Isaac Asimov. The main character points out that Jezebel was a faithful wife, devoted to her husband’s interests. In Asimov’s Guide to the Bible, he points out that she was politically savvy as well. Furthermore, when she painted her face, it was to hide any sign of grief and to look regal, not to entice the conquering king. She wouldn’t have won Neighbor of the Year, and I would never have crossed her, but she wasn’t demonic.

 

So, on the bad side, we have sketchy legal practices (Naboth’s vineyard), and cruelty to prophets (and to Naboth).

 

On the plus side we have religious fervor and devotion to her husband’s interests. You’d think that the preachers would really go for that.