LOL, I guess the Supreme Court is going to make you have to pay back your student loans, huh?

If I was young and single, I would consider it.

I might talk to my nephew about it, though. He is 19 and college wasn't for him (he went one semester). He likes working in a warehouse and the hours are good (M-F 7:30am-4:00 pm). I might ask him about the railroad, though.

Thank you.

If it was such a slam dunk, why would the government permit a settlement?

Not a cop. Just an admirer of Henry Frick and a person who believes in private property rights and law and order.

You obviously don't have experience with juries of your peers. The vast majority are of lower income (and usually lower intelligence). It makes them feel important to give away money that is not theirs. They almost always sympathize with anyone who is suing a corporation of someone else with deep pockets. You can only exclude/strike so many jurors from a trial. A majority of those on a jury like this will be people with an axe to grind and who have nothing better to do (ie. retired, not working, etc).

They see no problem with handing out ridiculous jury awards to people.

When ambulance chasers want to certify a class action, they engage in something called Docket Shopping. They find one "victim" in some bumf--k West Virginia county and file the suit on that person's behalf in that county. All other "victims" nationwide are then added to that class, which will go to trial in that county.

Naturally, those with deep pockets will settle, as some county juries routinely award $100 million here, $300 million there.

No.

For the same reason that Apprentice Plumbers do most of the work on your bathroom but you pay the Company's labor rate. Overhead.

For what you earning, you are making more than 90% of college graduates will ever see. You made a good choice.

This is from a Norfolk-Southern ad for Conductors:

"The conductor position can often mean a significant lifestyle change as the work schedule is often non-traditional and requires many to be available to work on a 90-minute to 2-hour notice
Individuals are responsible for providing their own transportation to the area
A CT will expect to work a schedule similar to that of a regular conductor
As a conductor you will most likely be assigned to a conductors' extra board
Conductor extra boards have schedules with a minimum of two rest days for every six consecutive working days
While not on your rest days, you are subject to be called to work 24 hours a day, on an as-needed basis
Extra board work schedules are irregular and are determined by business needs
You will be required to report to your work location within a 90-minute to 2-hour notice
A conductor should expect to work outdoors in all types of weather conditions
This may mean working in poor weather conditions day or night"
During training a Conductor Trainee (CT) will earn $25 per hour, with a minimum $200 in earnings per shift

Additionally, CTs are eligible for an on-the-job training incentive of $300 per bi-weekly pay period

After training, conductors earn an average of $70,000 in their first year"

Here is the pay info for Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad (admittedly, not a Class I railroad):

"Wages
Brakeman: $22.12/hr
Conductor: $24.35/hr
Engineer: $26.52/hr
The annual earnings potential ranges from the low $50k to mid $80K depending upon the number of hours worked"

You are hired on in the $45,000-$55,000 a year range assuming you work a full schedule. BUT....you are not guaranteed any minimum number of hours. Unless you are specifically scheduled off, you are on call. If you get the call, you have to drive to any point on the line (could be 50-100 miles) at your expense, within 2 hours. You might be gone one day or three days. You can't sleep on the train. The work requires concentration and physical effort in all weather. You generally don't get sick days. You cannot plan vacations.

The railroads are trying to get rid of the conductor but they haven't been able to do it so far.

If you want to put in the time, have no life and have an understanding spouse that you will almost never see, and work 25-30 years like that, good luck.

The due date is likely the 1st. You usually have until the 6th before you incur a late fee. So, if the payment clears on the 5th, you are, technically, late, but within the allowable time.

We had a blizzard in April, either in 1993 or 1995/96?

I don't breathe easy until May 1st, though we did get light snow in early May last year.

Why don't private entities invest in places like Homewood? Surely there's a huge underserved area with massive profit potential.

Those guys didn't even know where they were going or what they were doing until they were literally on the barges in the river, parked offshore from the plant. They took the jobs because they needed work. They didn't know they were coming to battle 4,000 insane militants who had illegally seized private property.

Honest John? Supposedly not.

If this is your private property, put up Private Parking and No Trespassing signs. Also, put up the No Parking-Violators will be towed at their own expense signs. Take pictures after you put them up. If the scooters are parked there for 3 days (after taking photos every day), call a tow company to have them towed/taken away at the owner's expense. Not your fault. The scooters get moved and the idiots who don't care about your property pay the cost.

They settled because if this went to a jury, it would most likely be composed of Reddit poster-types, who hate UPMC and other big corporations and love playing Monopoly with other people's money. "Yeah, $25 million for pain & suffering and $250 million in punitive damages. Why not?"

There is always that risk and so settlement often makes sense.

First year Residents start at $62,000+ plus benefits. Yes, they work 100 hour weeks on a regular basis but that is not every week. They are also getting world class training that will easily land them a six figure job anyplace in the country.

Now, I can't speak for all of their hospitals but I will say that, when my father was rushed to Mercy, their ER was great. When he went up to Critical Care on the top floor, all of the doctors and nurses were absolutely incredible. The doctors were intelligent, kind and generous with their time, even meeting with our entire family for over an hour on a Saturday. There were five doctors, including the head of the Neurology team.

His nurses were so kind and awesome. I asked one why they were on 12-hour shifts and she said it was because they were short handed. I asked if it was because UPMC treats them badly and she said "No, nursing is what it is. We signed up for this. We are just having a difficult time getting people to work, even with good pay & benefits." I take her at her word.

Cops are supposed to know and enforce the law.

If they break the law, they should receive 100% of the maximum possible punishment. No plea deals or exceptions.

And I say that as someone who is pro-police.

Why doesn't PA require that the schools get a certain base of funding from their districts and that any additional funds have to be part of individual levys? In West Virginia and Ohio, schools have a different funding mechanism. One of these is Levys, which cover certain types of spending and must be voted on for renewal every five years of they expire and cannot be made up out of other revenue.

Set up a Pirate radio station and rebrand the island as The Republic of Brunot.

There was a nice Shop N Save in the Hill District, built at a cost of $8 million. It closed in 2019 due to shoplifting, crime and the general negative effects of locating a nice store in a hostile neighborhood.

Do you know that black people comprise 16% of the population?

According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reports on Crime in the US, in cases in which the perp's race is known, blacks consistently account for:

50% of all murders

34.5% of all reported rapes & sexual assaults.

51% of all armed robberies.

53% of all aggravates assaults.

So, using your logic, if blacks were less numerous, the violent crime rate would be lower, correct?

Shocker.

What is the term for men who feel they are owed sex from men, and don't get it, or for women who feel they are owed sex from women, and don't get it?

There are around 16,000 murders by gunshot each year in the US. Of cases where the perp is known, at lease 80% of those murders are committed by someone who either could not legally possess a firearm and/or was using a stolen/illegally purchased firearm.

Law abiding gun owners (45 million) own at least 320 million legal firearms and untold trillions of rounds of ammunition. If we were as dangerous as people believe, the murder rate would be 100x higher.

What's an incel?