thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 15/10/2026His gig with GE taught him how to deal with crowds and individuals from different classes - and gave him an idea of the size the US economy. GE made everything - and made it well - not true anymore. 020 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 12/10/2026On the Brightside of life - I had never heard of Rosalía and she was excellent - and reminded me of Kate Bush. 130 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 12/10/2026pretty sure this will backfire, dare I say bigly. 080 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 12/10/2026how about we agree “a largely rural region with significant urban areas.” 000 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 11/10/2026it was lots of summer classes, I pulled it off, eventually a graduate engineering degree. 010 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 11/10/2026I graduated in the 70s without taking a foreign language or geometry. There were no requirements. It took a bit of work to get my math skills up, to get an engineering degree. 210 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 11/10/202610th Before the requirement was repealed by voters in November 2024, public school students in Massachusetts were required to pass the 10th-grade MCAS exams in English Language Arts (ELA), Mathematics, and Science & Technology/Engineering to earn a high school diploma. 110 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 11/10/2026the deal was we dump money in we and expect results, same as the MBTA reforms in the 1970s, but in both cases the unions capture the legislature and slowly remove the reforms but keep the money. 100 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 11/10/2026the tests are really easy, I believe meant for those in 9th grade 100 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 11/10/2026anecdotal, I know a bunch of indiviuals from NYC who have Western MA homes 100 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 11/10/2026but look at western ma voting, it's not conservative 100 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 11/10/2026the hill towns? like where Bill Crosby used to live? 100 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 11/10/2026In Massachusetts the teacher's union spent millions getting rid of them 100 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 11/10/2026money well spent like the urban school in NY or Massachusetts? 100 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 11/10/2026in my state MA - the teacher's unions have killed all the standards - when the democrats take power - you want that to happen at the national level? 100 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 11/10/2026Magnet school in western ma - plus the colonization of those from NYC - the area around Chillicothe, Missouri is what I call rural. 100 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 10/10/2026the small amount of rural areas are all surrounded by ex-mill towns, universities or small and large cities - the connecticut river valley manufacturing base went from connecticut to southern vermont. Granted some of the communities are not doing well - North Adams? but better than S/W Vermont. 100 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 10/10/2026not in the sense of midwest rural, lots of colleges, private schools, artistic venues and colonization by New Yorkers. 100 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 10/10/2026I bet where you grew up they could do the same at the jute factory? before your time... 000 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 10/10/2026MA, rural isn't really rural - and the big cities school systems are just as bad in MA as in red states. The top school system in our state have parents who either highly educated or believe in education. 100 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 10/10/2026which version - the version in the UK where private firms offer supplemental health care to the government system to attract employees? 000 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 07/10/2026maybe fix their licensing system next. 010 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 07/10/2026add in $6.00+ heating oil, from Trump's Epstein Fury (or was it Tuberville's furry - oh different story) and he might win. 010 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 23/09/2026the architect should NOT stamp the drawings. 010 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 19/09/2026Reagan lowered marginal tax rates, but the 1986 reform also closed many of the tax shelters that had allowed wealthy taxpayers to avoid those nominally high rates. Wealth inequality subsequently increased, but it cannot be explained simply as the result of taxes being shifted onto the middle class. 010 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 18/09/2026tax revenue went up, prior to tax reform there were huge loopholes. 110 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 18/09/2026The U.S. economy has done remarkably well since Reagan—partly because of Reagan’s common-sense tax reforms and Carter’s free-market deregulation of trucking and airlines. BTW- Reagan lowered tax rates - BUT got rid of huge loopholes. 120 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 18/09/2026the trump bill mostly prevent tax increases - but other than that I mostly agree. 000 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 18/09/2026the energy shock that caused a good deal of inflation during Carter's term was not due to him - this energy shock is due to Trump 160 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 18/09/2026I voted for Reagan—and even Massachusetts went for him, which seems amazing now. But inflation was crazy: my first car loan was at 21%, and at times you couldn’t buy gasoline at any price. Still, Carter appointed Volcker and deregulated airlines and trucking—genuinely free-market reforms. 050 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Our Military was still really recovering from Vietnam. 000 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 14/09/2026though we are really badly gerrymandered in MA 000 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 14/09/2026one of my best adjunct professors in graduate school, only had a BS in math, through from MIT. Though he had a day job as a researcher for MITRE. 010 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 08/09/2026as a small business Office 365 licensing authorization is miserable - it can take hours to get a workstation to properly authenticate with our domain and office 365 - and it requires registry hacks - in what world would I continue to use their products? 020 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 08/09/2026Reagan won Massachusetts, imagine that? Still remember running out of gas in my truck in Belchertown, a farmer gave me a gallon to get back to campus. 010 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 08/09/2026More efficient, perhaps—but limited by line of sight. AM radio travels an extraordinary distance. I still remember listening to David Brudnoy on WBZ while driving through Indiana. 010 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 29/08/2026but sadly it becomes a talking point for MAGA 000 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 27/08/2026I remember Nightline began during the Iran hostage crisis, opening each broadcast with the number of days the Americans had been held. Maybe it’s time for a new show counting the number of days since Mitch McConnell was last seen. 110 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 12/08/2026they already are over at the Wall Street Journal. 030 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 06/08/2026I think the D's will not get the Senate - they had a chance - MI and ME should have been easy pickups - I doubt it. 000 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 06/08/2026no the far left will say he wasn't far left enough :( 100 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 06/08/2026Most voters don't have the time—or the interest—to dig into the details. Many in my town don't even know we have a Select Board. Most political information is absorbed peripherally and filtered through preconceived beliefs rather than careful examination. 000 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 06/08/2026Reminds me of communists saying the failure of it as a system was that it just wasn't done right. 000 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 04/08/2026nothing about the Rat, me thinks Tom spent some time there? the ceiling in the men's room was the proper height for Ross Perot. 110 0
thomaserb.bsky.social @thomaserb.bsky.social · 31/07/2026as someone who occasionally does this, it's so thin there is no value. The problem is it will last 15 years at most and have to be redone at huge expense. The underling bronze looked fine and ages well. 000 0
