Colour me surprised

[Lord Jim]

I also certainly wouldn't call for them to be punished by job loss or harsh financial penalties.

So if the owner of a major company were prominently involved in the anti-abortion movement, and because of this liberal groups and activists were calling you for a boycott of his business, (which would not only punish him, but also his employees) I take it you would be opposed to that...

[Bicycle Bill]

Are there people that lose their jobs or suffer severe financial penalties for protesting at abortion clinics?

I can't prove it one way or the other, but in a country this large it wouldn't surprise me to find out that someone somewhere had been dismissed for doing so.  You've got to remember, though, that since most employment in this country is 'at will' employment a person can be told "Your services are no longer needed" and be discharged at any time for any reason ... or for no reason whatsoever, so it's not likely that something like this will be documented in black-and-white like it would be if someone had been given the heave-ho for dishonesty, chronic tardiness, or excessive absenteeism.

-"BB"-

[dales]

I also certainly wouldn't call for them to be punished by job loss or harsh financial penalties.

So if the owner of a major company were prominently involved in the anti-abortion movement, and because of this liberal groups and activists were calling you for a boycott of his business, (which would not only punish him, but also his employees) I take it you would be opposed to that...

Just think Hobby Lobby and Chick Fill-A.

[Guinevere]

In my mind, there is a big difference between a public boycott and an employer disciplining an employee because of political positions or stances.

I'm fine with the first (you will never see me in a Chikfila or a Hobby Lobby), but I'm not so thrilled with the latter (as a general rule, subject to too many disclaimers to write out here).

[Lord Jim]

In my mind, there is a big difference between a public boycott and an employer disciplining an employee because of political positions or stances.

So if people organize a boycott of companies that Kaepernick has endorsements with, or a boycott of the 49ers,or companies that the team receives revenue from, then you would be fine with that...

And I assume that means you would also be opposed to what happened to the reporter in this case:

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/white- ... spartandhp

(Which we discussed in an earlier thread)

[BoSoxGal]

I like what Kareem Abdul Jabar said, that perhaps instead of bickering over a football players absolute right to free expression, we might instead be talking about his legitimate concerns and why 50 years FIFTY YEARS after the civil rights act we are still so fucking mired in RACISM?!?!

[Lord Jim]

instead of bickering over a football players absolute right to free expression,

Who's been "bickering" over that?

Since it's being asserted yet one more time, I'll ask the question again:

WHO is it that has said this guy doesn't have the RIGHT to engage in this ignorant and disrespectful behavior?

[Guinevere]

As Oliver Wendell Holmes said (in 1892): an employee may have a constitutional right to talk politics, but does not have a constitutional right to be employed.

[rubato]

Kaepernck is not calling for the rights of other people to be curtailed.

People trying to keep women from controlling their reproduction are.

Not even a little similar.


Yrs,
Rubato

[Lord Jim]

Ah, so rube's interpretation of appropriate protest is entirely dependent on whether or not he personally supports the motivation of the protest...

Colour me surprised...

[Econoline]

Well, since you keep bringing this up, it's only fair to point out that rubato did NOT say that anti-abortion protesters don't have the same right to (peaceful & non-threatening) protest that professional football players have.

WHO is it that has said those guys don't have the RIGHT to engage in this ignorant and disrespectful behavior?

[BoSoxGal]

[Bicycle Bill]

Is this oppressions? No that is not oppression it is merely an expression of black inner-city culture. Don’t draw negative attention to it, that is racist. Everything is the way it should be:

Dwyane Wade's cousin Nykea Aldridge killed; 2 charged - CNN.com

A total of 65 people were killed murdered in Chicago in July 2016, bringing the death toll for the first seven months to nearly 400.  By comparison, the total for all of 2015 was 490.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... story.html

The fact of the matter is that if Nykea Aldridge had not been related to a member of the Chicago Bulls, she would have been nothing more than one more name on the list of the dead for the month of August.  Her killing would not even have rated two sentences on an inside page of the Chicago Tribune.

Had to bring this to the top.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/wounded-woma ... 21288.html
Depending on your source, over the just-concluded Labor Day weekend anywhere between 43 and 75 people were shot in the city of Chicago, 13 of them fatally.  This brings the total death toll in Chicago to 488 and tops the total of 481 murdered (the Chicago PD last week announced a recalculation of the number of fatal shootings in 2015 from 490 to 481) in the city during all of last year.....and there's still almost four full months to go in 2016.   

I remember when we counted, and were understandably aghast at, the death toll on the highways over a holiday weekend.  We as a society got fed up with the carnage and took steps to reduce it through laws against drunken driving, better highways, safer vehicles, mandatory seat belt laws, and better enforcement of speed limits and other regulations.

Now, we tally up the deaths due to gun violence the same way they used to update the tote board on the Jerry Lewis telethon.  We decry the senseless loss of life, but absolutely, positively refuse to do something about it because of the Second Amendment and the 'sacred cow' status that it conveys onto all firearms, including those designed specifically and exclusively as weapons of war.

And then we wonder why the beat goes on.

-"BB"-

[Burning Petard]

I have been boycotting Chikfila for years. After church every Sunday, I and my family go 'out' to eat. When a Captain Dee seafood opened near church thirty years ago, we usually went there. It was cheap for a family of four and it was decent food. Now it is just my wife and me and we go several franchise places, in sort of a rotation. Last Sunday at church somebody told us about a place called El Salvadorito.
We tried it. Turned out to be a tiny place in a local strip mall, run by a husband and wife. We like it. The food was sort of like Tex-Mex, but different. I had a 'soft drink' that was cream colored, described on the menu as made from the juice of some 'coconut like' seed, and tasted slightly of coconut and chocolate and was very sweet. It included fried plantains that tasted to me like potatoes. Total cost was more than we usually pay, but the quality was better too.

We NEVER go to Chikfila.

snailgate.

[MajGenl.Meade]

I go to Chick-fil-A as often as possible - well, actually that's never but not because I boycott them. I just don't go to eating places like that (except for McDonald's #11 breakfast meal as a take-away).

But Chick-fil-A provides the lunch for many church functions in various places and I happily eat their sandwich. Semi-happily - it's not my lunch of choice.

However, perhaps boycotters need to catch up to the alleged facts from (er) 3 years ago.... (not that this always interests people)

If nothing else, Cathy has listened. In 2012, Cathy not only heard from some unhappy consumers about his comments against gay marriage, but also from some store operators and employees. Now, he says, "I'm going to leave it to politicians and others to discuss social issues."

That's precisely what experts are advising. "He should put this as far behind him as fast as he possibly can," says Gary Stibel, CEO of New England Consulting Group.

One past critic has even become an unlikely fan. "Dan and I have an ongoing friendship," says Shane Windmeyer, executive director of the gay rights advocacy group Campus Pride. "I am appreciative for the common ground we have established in treating all people with dignity and respect — including LGBT people."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/bus ... y/7250871/

[rubato]

Yet anther article in the Chroncle about how Kaepernicks stature as a leader has grown recently. Both within the team and now across the NFL.

Steph Curry and Obama have both expressed admiration and support.

See Scott Ostlers column today. He closes with the thought that it would be interesting if "lummoxes in shoulder pads" led us to a more perfect union. Good writer.

Yrs,
Rubato

[rubato]

Kaepernicks standing with his teammates is higher than it has ever been

Gee rube, I wasn't aware that you had the kind of insider knowledge about the 49er players to be able to make that claim...(since very few of them have said anything publicly about it)

Come to think of it, I'm still not aware of that...

It was in the newspaper.

You are no less ignorant then usual. Facts must hurt you terribly for you to avoid them so carefully.


Yrs,
Rubato

[Guinevere]

4500 gun deaths in the US while Congress was in recess 9a seven week period). Yes, this includes suicides. No matter what you think about gun control, this is a shocking statistic.

http://thehill.com/regulation/294591-re ... ust-recess

[rubato]

California is funding the research on gun deaths that the GOP has made it illegal for the federal government to do.

Go Jerry! The best governor since his dad, twice.



Yrs,
Rubato

[Econoline]

Go Jerry! The best governor since his dad, twice.

I'm proud to say I voted for him (against Clinton) in the 1992 Democratic primary.