Guess who voted for this....no, go ahead, I'll wait here....

[634-5789]

[Irish_Dem]

1. Self inflicted damage and pain.

[Hugin]

5. They're convinced that they have a better way.

If only everyone were doing it, we’d see it. All I see is squandered potential and exploitation.

[Irish_Dem]

28. Trump hates the same people they hate.

And he was going to make them rich(er.)

They think it is a winning formula.

[Ennui anyhow]

6. New name for Taco

Anybody here read «  Yertle the Turtle » - probably the first children’s story the dictator banned - after a while , his handlers might advise him why the people referring him to him as «  Yertle » - more effective than « Taco « 

[UpInArms]

2. Poor

and … stupid

[kerouac2]

3. Awful how Biden did this to them...

Thanks to fox news and talk radio, I'm sure they know how much worse it would have been if Kamala won...

[Johnny2X2X]

4. On every metric for quality of life

Blue states lead Red states. It's good that our side is finally starting to point out the crime, income, poverty, economies, and education in the Red States are in shambles or out of control.

[BoRaGard]

7. "Ha ha. Suckers and losers. Ha ha." - G.O.P.

[twodogsbarking]

8. I am color blind. WTF?

[littlemissmartypants]

10. I hate maps and graphs like this!!

I'm not colorblind but color challenged and I have lots of trouble with discerning colors especially when these things are shaded.

I'm sorry for the lack of sensitivity on the part of stupid graphics creation. By others, of course.





❤️

[twodogsbarking]

31. Trip to Walmart to buy summer shirts. There were two I liked but the color was heather

and I needed help. There was a young girl looking at bras and asking her would have been odd. In the children's clothing section were two ladies in their 50s, one maybe in her 60s. These were appalachian ladies not California girls. I told them I was colorblind and I didn't want to buy some crazy purple color. They grabbed the shirts and looked at them and gave me the honey/dear treatment. They were acting like excited school girls. The younger one said to me that the one was a teal color, then she looks straight in my blue eyes and says the shirt will go great with my eyes. I cracked up and said that's great. Most fun all of has that day I think. It will go great with your eyes. What a pickup line. Sorry for the length. Peace.Life.

[littlemissmartypants]

9. One reason Gow gaaaa is do ok is...

They took away bunches of $$$ of NC's multi million dollar movie industry. Thank Gawd we're holding on. But the loss of research $$$ and education $$$ and Helene $$$ hits hard.

❤️

No offense to the GA DUers. (Or any democrats who are farmers.)

[Srkdqltr]

14. What is Gow gaaa ???

[littlemissmartypants]

18. Georgia.

[OldBaldy1701E]

16. Well, to be fair, as an NC actor of over forty years...

They didn't exactly live up to their hype originally.

They build that massive studio in Wilmington. DeLaurentis said that he was doing so to tap the 'unused talent that the east coast and particularly North Carolina' well that he said existed therein.

Then, they did their first movie, 'Firestarter' and did not hire anyone locally other than the basic crews. They even brought in gaffers from L.A.. The artistic community at large were not happy with this. They continued to do this for the next few productions. Suffice to say, that entity went bankrupt in four years.

(MY personal favorite story about this was that a fellow actor, who had a decent enough career going in North Carolina as well as getting work in NYC and Florida. He was properly unionized and SAG and so on. He lived near Wilmington and often auditioned for parts at the studio. HIs claim to fame in Wilmington? In 'The Year Of The Dragon', the producers liked his car so much that they rented it for a few scenes. The man spent many years working his ass off only to be upstaged by his car. That was his Wilmington film experience in a nutshell. For the record, he had a 1969 Cutlass and it was souped up and clean as anything. He loved that car. He still loved it after this, but he also had a bit of 'pique' for it as well.)

I heard that things were getting better in the area. Let us hope so. A lot of people keep putting a lot of trust in those who keep saying that they want to locate to NC to make a place for actors and such to have at least one outlet that is somewhat local. And, we keep getting the shaft as those who preach this invariably end up

[obamanut2012]

23. The movie industry is actually collasping in GA

Like it did in NC.

Friend in the industry.

[Butterflylady]

11. Where is Delaware?

[marble falls]

13. In between Maryland and New Jersey.

[patphil]

24. Ah, you beat me to it.

[marble falls]

42. I get up early in the morning just for these opportunities!

[patphil]

44. I'm not a morning person. So, you have the advantage.

But, it's the harmonic thought processes that make it alright.

[marble falls]

46. Just for you ...

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1018&pid=2223195

[marble falls]

12. What happens when the lever breaks while leveraging, in the two states most embracing of risk.

[LeftInTX]

15. We're number one! We're number one!

I hate to say it, Republicans don't GAF.

Housing and rent prices are coming down. Gas isn't too bad. Food is still super-expensive.


The 80's oil glut and foreclosure crisis hit Texas real hard. Foreclosures were everywhere. Interest rates skyrocketed. Crazy ARM's were all over the placed and guess who they all revoted for??? Texas was bad off. They didn't give a shit. They just heard Reagan say that "Baby Jessica" was "America's Baby" and that was all they cared about.... Oh and that the Dallas Cowboy's was "America's Team". Texas was truly in financial distress and who did they vote for in 1984?? Who did they vote for governor in 1986?

[littlemissmartypants]

26. Volatile compounds pollution is so bad there though.

I'd be scared to visit and breathe the air. Much less live there. The cancer rates have to be astronomical. I imagine that healthcare debt may have been factored into their metrics.

[LeftInTX]

34. Not where I live. It's illegal to pump where I live. Or even refine where I live due to groundwater.

Texas has an "oil economy", but it includes oil from other sources, including imports and investments in other sources. Most oil is pumped from rural areas and offshore areas. Houston area has refineries. Oil is also multinational investment, so refineries and sales are often in different countries.

I live near Valero International HQ but their refineries are not near here! They have a beautiful campus. They have refineries elsewhere and sell oil in the US and Mexico.


Exxon pumps, refines and sells oil all over the world.

[littlemissmartypants]

35. So the wind doesn't blow it that way? ...

Have you checked the cancer rates where you are?

I'm not just talking about oil pumping. Fracking and other industries produce volatile compounds and most are airborne. Beef factory farms are also a source, for example.

Mold from water intrusion produces them, too. It's virtually impossible to get away from the risk.

I appreciate your reply. ❤️

[LeftInTX]

36. The source of carcingens here is the military. The cancer tends to be confined to those exposed.

The Defense Department has publicly acknowledged that during the Vietnam War era it stored Agent Orange at the Naval Construction Battalion Center in Gulfport, Mississippi, and the former Kelly Air Force Base in Texas, and tested it at Florida’s Eglin Air Force Base.

https://www.afcec.af.mil/Home/BRAC/Kelly/Cleanup/

After more than 30 years of investigation and cleanup, the environmental cleanup program is in the final stage of completion at the former Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. All site investigations are complete, all decision documents have been signed, and cleanup is complete at more than 90 percent of all sites.

For the remaining sites, remedies are in place to remove contaminants from the soil and groundwater, ensuring protection of human health and the environment. More than 600 monitoring locations provide data to be sure the public is protected and the groundwater treatment systems are working properly. The Air Force is committed to this effort and environmental regulators provide oversight and certification.

During its 83 years as a military aviation, training, supply, and maintenance complex, several areas of Kelly were environmentally impacted. The contaminants found at Kelly are typical of manufacturing and maintenance facilities--primarily perchloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE), used as degreasers.

Contaminants entered the soil and groundwater at the facility through leaks, spills, and approved operating and disposal practices of the time. Over time, the contaminants migrated into the groundwater resulting in contaminant plumes in the shallow zone, about 30 feet deep.

Some areas where oil extraction and refining are prohibited and wells are far away have fairly high rates, like Real and Edwards County. In some counties where there is a lot of pumping, like Webb County, it is quite low.

Surprisingly Houston has lower cancer rates than San Antonio and Austin.
https://www.cancer-rates.com/tx/

There are numerous causes of cancer and it isn't just oil pumping and refining.

https://www.asbestos.com/cancer/state-cancer-rates/

[littlemissmartypants]

40. Poor Louisiana. It doesn't look like they can catch a break. ...

Thanks for the information! ❤️

[LeftInTX]

41. No, they seem to have the highest!

It's the refineries and production of petro based products like PVC etc.

Texas economy runs on oil (at least it used to) but it's sorta like the US economy also runs on oil. Oil prices drive secondary markets like transportation, food prices etc.

I believe during the oil glut there was an oil surplus and oil prices plunged. This affected stocks and investments. Oil wells were closed. Drilling was stopped all over the country. People who relied on the oil industry for income were laid off. (This included engineers etc) Cheap oil helped states which relied on oil, but it did not help Texas.

[littlemissmartypants]

43. It's like NC used to run on tobacco farming and cigarette manufacturers. ...

Now you never see it growing anywhere anymore. I just looked it up. We've gone from ~50,000 farms to ~800 just since 1997. China canceled its orders for 2025 recently.

Of course, it's all bad. But it used to be our claim to fame in NC. Thank Capt. John Smith in Jamestown for that, I guess.

There's a tobacco barn here on the farm. It hasn't been used in years and years. I used to hand and my two cousins used to hang it. Now, it's a totally different operation.

And of course, migrant labor does most all of the farm field work now, here and everywhere, regardless of the crop. But even that's changing now. For totally different heartbreaking reasons.

From duck.ai
Query: What does handing and hanging tobacco mean
Response:
*Handing* and *hanging* tobacco refer to specific processes in the cultivation and curing of tobacco leaves.

Handing Tobacco
Handing tobacco involves the careful handling and preparation of tobacco leaves after they have been harvested. This process typically includes:

Sorting: Leaves are sorted based on size, quality, and maturity.
Bunching: Leaves are often tied together in small bundles or "hands" for easier handling and curing.
Preparation for Curing: The sorted and bunched leaves are prepared for the next stage, which is curing.

Hanging Tobacco
Hanging tobacco refers to the method of curing the tobacco leaves by suspending them in a controlled environment. This process is crucial for developing the flavor and aroma of the tobacco. Key aspects include:

Curing Barns: Tobacco leaves are hung in barns where temperature and humidity can be controlled.
Drying: The leaves are allowed to dry slowly, which helps in reducing moisture content and enhancing flavor.
Fermentation: During this process, chemical changes occur in the leaves, contributing to the final taste and quality of the tobacco.

Both handing and hanging are essential steps in the tobacco production process, ensuring that the leaves are properly prepared for use in products like cigars, cigarettes, and pipe tobacco.

What it left out is hanging back in the day, required nimble, fearless kids who climbed up into the heights of the barn carrying the sticks full of leaves to hang them above the burners on the floor of the barn.

[ProfessorGAC]

47. The Problems In Louisiana Aren't Necessarily Refining

They are loaded with under-regulated petrochemical plants in abundance.
Petroleum itself is not that volatile, so air emissions are only a modest concern.
But, many petrochemicals are highly volatile, so they get into the air far more readily.
Add to that, there are plants that make halogenated monomers, like vinyl chloride and chloroquine.
Those are still highly volatile and pretty much anything that has "chloro-", "fluoro-" or "halo-" in their names carry substantial cancer & mutagenic risks.
These are also long term environmental concerns as such compounds are highly resistant to biodegradation,biodegradation so they hang around a long, long time.
Louisiana is loaded with such facilities and their regulatory infrastructure is criminally lax.

[littlemissmartypants]

48. There's a difference between...

Being volatile and being a volatile compound ...sometimes referred to as VOC's. But I get your point. 👍

https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/technical-overview-volatile-organic-compounds#definition

Complete list of VOC’s
Here’s the complete list of VOC’s (as released by Ontario’s Ministry of Environment)
https://aqt-vru.com/emissions/complete-list-of-vocs/

[ProfessorGAC]

49. A Lesson I Don't Need

I spent 42+ years in the chemical industry as a PhD chemist.
You are misinterpreting your cites.
No, there is not a difference between volatile and volatile compound. They are synonyms.
Something cannot be a volatile compound and not be volatile or vice versa.
Volatility is the tendency of a compound (typically organic, meaning it has carbon atoms) to go from the liquid state to the vapor phase at any given temperature. It's represented by a compound's vapor-liquid equilibrium curve. Every "boilable" compound has one, including water & air.
I worked for a company awarded on several occasions by both federal & state governments for attention & responsibility to environmental, health, & safety. Bur, I've visited many sites owned by other companies who were light-years from such a status. I've seen both sides first hand.
As I said, you are misinterpreting what those websites are describing.

[littlemissmartypants]

50. It wasn't as much for you as...

It was for others who might be playing along at home. I've done extensive research on fungi and voc's. So, I don't need to research or attend a lecture on the topic at this point.

[W_HAMILTON]

38. Housing prices coming down doesn't mean much when the only people that can afford them are the investor class...

...that will happily buy them up and turn around and rent them out at higher prices.

Also, given that those everyday Americans that are lucky enough to own their own home usually have their home as their biggest financial asset, I'm not sure they would be too happy about housing prices coming down...

[Johonny]

17. Imagine how bad it would be if Texas wasnt a taker

State. Indeed, I believe it is the only taker state with a decent GDP. Texas is massively mismanaged and it was well known that it wad when I lived there, but too many people love racism more than their own livelihood and it shows.

[SpankMe]

19. Chart seems sketch

I have a lot of insight into people, places and businesses in New Mexico, and I can confirm that the number of people in "financial distress" is pretty high. Lots of paycheck-to-paycheck living, low wage work, unemployment, no or poor credit. Property crime is very high - especially in Albuquerque.

Methinks these "9 financial distress metrics" may have been engineered to make these high profile red states look specially bad. Not that red states need much to make them look bad. But I don't want to fall for contrived statistics like conservatives do.

[LeftInTX]

37. They may reflect "changes". I've heard about NM, but maybe it hasn't gotten worse in NM. Whereas in Texas things are

getting worse?

Who knows?

[W_HAMILTON]

39. Except your anecdotes aren't data.

And Moneywise -- where this map and related article came from (https://moneywise.com/managing-money/debt/florida-is-now-one-of-the-most-financially-distressed-states-2nd-only-to-this-1-southern-state-where-people-are-most-likely-to-google-these-2-words) -- ain't exactly known as some leftwing-biased organization.

But bless your heart for giving Republicans the benefit of the doubt -- hope springs eternal!

[SpankMe]

51. Anecdotal is different from long term, durable experience

My family has heritage in NM as well as business interests in both the service sector and the medical sector there. I spend several weeks a year there, mostly in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Cruces and the Alamogordo area. And I drive between all those places, so I see lots of different people and observe lots of different circumstances in all the little towns I stop at. I have connections with people in NM government, mostly the legislature and people in the city offices in Albuquerque.

I know the vibe. I have a LOT of contact with the Indian pueblos there, and - trust me - financial distress is one of their defining conditions. These aren't anecdotes. This is observation based on cultural and economic immersion.

I'm not saying the data from Moneywise isn't accurate, I'm saying it doesn't comport with my observations - which are a lot heartier than mere anecdotal experience. If Moneywise had selected different personal finance metrics to describe "financial distress", then different states could come out on top and bottom.

If Republicans find that any of my posts provide them with comfort or benefit, they can take that post and stuff it straight up their ass. My intent isn't to give them fuel, but to offer a potentially contrary opinion for my fellow liberals to read or ignore as they see fit.

[radical noodle]

20. DeSantis and Abbott are so busy

trying to out-maga each other that they ignore critical issues of their own citizens.

[Bristlecone]

21. And they would do it again unfortunately

[Old Crank]

22. Just wait until the rest of the policies kick in

When they start losing hospitals. When they can't get insurance for houses and the health insurance costs sky rocket.

[TygrBright]

25. The bullshittery of using "averages" to calculate this stuff.

I live in New Mexico and I'm here to tell you that in the fantasy world where statistically valid analyses are used to parse economic data, my state would easily be in the bottom 10 for "most people (as a percentage of total state residents) experiencing financial distress."

Why are we, instead, in the "top five?"

Because they used statistically bullshit analysis that relies on averages, and New Mexico contains one (1) county that ranks in the top three, nationally, for wealth.

Los Alamos County. Population (approximately) 20,000 residents. The cost of living in Los Alamos County (geographically quite small and with the majority of its land area unavailable for residential development) is so high that only the middle, upper-middle, and top-tier of employees and contractors at the Los Alamos National Laboratory can AFFORD to live in the towns of Los Alamos and White Rock. The people who toil in the coffee shops and the grocery checkouts and the lab cleaning staff, etc. all live in cheaper areas in Rio Arriba County such as Espanola.

But those 20,000 Los Alamos inhabitants have a median income over $83,000.

Here's another thing that skews the results: The wealth divide between the uber-rich in a few enclaves around Santa Fe and Albuquerque (Sandia Labs is just outside ABQ.)

So there's a small percentage of New Mexico's 2.13 million residents who are extremely well off. But once you get outside those enclaves of wealth, the median income in NM is $32,500, which is less than Texas' median of $38,600. And a very high number of our neighbors are on public assistance - more than 21%, compared to Texas' 11%. We are a poor, rural, highly diverse state fighting a constant battle to ensure the necessities for all of our residents, and bullshit statistics do NOT help people understand what we're up against.

disgustedly,
Bright

[SWBTATTReg]

33. Thanks for clarifying, this helps a lot, and I appreciate your input!

[Scrivener7]

27. And soon Florida will have Polio too!

[live love laugh]

29. Friend in NV says jobs are gone, casinos empty.

[SWBTATTReg]

32. Thanks for the status...I had some friends (four of them) that all moved to Vegas several years give-or-take, ago.

I hope that they are doing Aok. I don't know, I kinda of expect to see them all back here in STLMO, should Vegas gets worse. Perhaps the four of them will weather the storm together in Vegas, although it's been a while since we've been to Vegas...

[Vinca]

30. When you vote to "own the libs" you also vote to own yourself.

[Skittles]

45. big surprise

NOT