OK, this is why I generally don’t work with the public. It’s just way more stress than I can handle.
I’m doing the “store sitting” duty while my in-laws are out of town, so today I’m out with the general public. Most people think, Illinois, blue state, but that isn’t the case everywhere. We have some areas that are so red they still think George W. Bush was a great president. This is one of those areas.
Generally I get along fine with the customers, we talk animals, gardening, pest control, and other such things. Pretty easy. Today I had a gentleman that made me bite a hole in my tongue.
Once again, it is President Obama’s fault that gas prices are rising. It has nothing to do with what’s going on in Libya (despite the fact Libya isn’t even one of our top 15 import partners of oil), it’s just all Obama’s fault. I managed to keep my mouth shut.
So how it is our president’s fault? Because he won’t consent to drill in Alaska! Now for the best part: The guy realizes and accepts the fact that it would destroy endangered animals and wildlife. He accepts the fact that oil drilling hurts people. His logic? And I quote, “Would you rather die of cancer at 75 or starvation at 40?” HUH?!?!?!?! How’s this sound, I’d rather die of old age at 90 than die of poisoning at 60.
So it doesn’t matter to this old goat if the environment is ruined for our children, if we use oil until we can’t find any more instead of developing new resources, as long as HE’S happy!
I’m happy to report that I did NOT pick up a pricing gun and throw it at him. I did manage to keep my lip zipped until the door shut behind him. My in-laws owe me BIG this time.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
A Uniting Hashtag?
If you're like me, you want to know what's going on in all of the states in regards to the union fights we're facing against state governments. I'd like to suggest that we go with a singular hashtag with a location prefix. For example, if your posting about something happening in Michigan, you might put MI #usunion in your post.
I initially thought #SOLIDARITY would work, but I see that is being used by several other countries for their own fights. We are unions in the United States, #usunions would help us unite in our battles. But I'm open to a shorter unifying hashtag, any suggestions?
I initially thought #SOLIDARITY would work, but I see that is being used by several other countries for their own fights. We are unions in the United States, #usunions would help us unite in our battles. But I'm open to a shorter unifying hashtag, any suggestions?
Monday, March 14, 2011
Hitler and Labor Unions THE FACTS
If you're like me, you're seeing people on both sides of the union debate claiming the other side is acting as Hitler did. So which is true? Well, here is what I found at Wikipedia. It's true, you can't trust everything you find there, but that's when you double check the sources. This one looks good. (source listed: Richard J. Evans, The Third Reich in Power (2005) ch 1) emphasis mine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On 30 January 1933, Adolf Hitler legally became Chancellor of Germany, appointed by President Paul von Hindenburg. Although he initially headed a coalition government, he quickly made Hindenburg a puppet and eliminated his non-Nazi partners.
The Nazi regime restored economic prosperity and ended mass unemployment using heavy military spending while suppressing labor unions and strikes. The return of prosperity gave the regime enormous popularity, and no serious opposition ever emerged to serve as a challenge to its rule. The Gestapo (secret state police) under Heinrich Himmler destroyed the liberal, socialist and Communist opposition and persecuted the Jews, attempting to force them into exile while taking their property.
The Party took control of the courts, local government, and all civic organizations except the Protestant and Catholic churches.[5] All expressions of public opinion were controlled by Hitler's propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, who made effective use of film, mass rallies, and Hitler's hypnotic speaking.[6] The Nazi state idolized Hitler as its Führer, putting all powers in his hands. Nazi propaganda centered on Hitler and was quite effective in creating what historians called the "Hitler Myth"--that Hitler was all-wise and that any mistakes or failures by others would be corrected when brought to his attention.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So let's recap. Yes, Hitler ended unemployment, but what was the trade off?
1) He spent heavily on the military
2) Suppressed labor unions and their strikes
3) He destroyed LIBERAL, Socialist, and Communist opposition. (nobody left to stand against him)
4) Persecuted Jews, blaming them for all ills. (today, that would be the Muslims)
5) He took control of the courts, local government, and all civic organizations. (Michigan, this one's for you!)
Although they never officially declared it, Hitler ran a Fascist nation. I'm not going to make any comparisons, but if you see anything in that list that sounds familiar then you can draw your own conclusions about the direction some may be trying to take our nation.
If you want to get together with your fellow working class Americans on this, search the hashtag #SOLIDARITY on Twitter.
P.S. I use AdSense and have no control over the ads listed on my page. You will notice who is spending the money to attack working Americans thought, huh? Go figure...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On 30 January 1933, Adolf Hitler legally became Chancellor of Germany, appointed by President Paul von Hindenburg. Although he initially headed a coalition government, he quickly made Hindenburg a puppet and eliminated his non-Nazi partners.
The Nazi regime restored economic prosperity and ended mass unemployment using heavy military spending while suppressing labor unions and strikes. The return of prosperity gave the regime enormous popularity, and no serious opposition ever emerged to serve as a challenge to its rule. The Gestapo (secret state police) under Heinrich Himmler destroyed the liberal, socialist and Communist opposition and persecuted the Jews, attempting to force them into exile while taking their property.
The Party took control of the courts, local government, and all civic organizations except the Protestant and Catholic churches.[5] All expressions of public opinion were controlled by Hitler's propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, who made effective use of film, mass rallies, and Hitler's hypnotic speaking.[6] The Nazi state idolized Hitler as its Führer, putting all powers in his hands. Nazi propaganda centered on Hitler and was quite effective in creating what historians called the "Hitler Myth"--that Hitler was all-wise and that any mistakes or failures by others would be corrected when brought to his attention.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So let's recap. Yes, Hitler ended unemployment, but what was the trade off?
1) He spent heavily on the military
2) Suppressed labor unions and their strikes
3) He destroyed LIBERAL, Socialist, and Communist opposition. (nobody left to stand against him)
4) Persecuted Jews, blaming them for all ills. (today, that would be the Muslims)
5) He took control of the courts, local government, and all civic organizations. (Michigan, this one's for you!)
Although they never officially declared it, Hitler ran a Fascist nation. I'm not going to make any comparisons, but if you see anything in that list that sounds familiar then you can draw your own conclusions about the direction some may be trying to take our nation.
If you want to get together with your fellow working class Americans on this, search the hashtag #SOLIDARITY on Twitter.
P.S. I use AdSense and have no control over the ads listed on my page. You will notice who is spending the money to attack working Americans thought, huh? Go figure...
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Scott Walker is Now Your 'Big Brother' Wisconsin
If you turn on your television you will see Japan's trifecta of disasters with the earthquakes, tsunamis, and nuclear meltdowns. But if you go to Twitter and search the hashtags #wiunion, #solidarity, or #wisconsin you'll find out what has been going on right here in our own nation.
 | |
| Michael Sears ~ Milwaukee Journal Sentinal |
Yesterday, Saturday, March 11, massive protests were held in Madison Wisconsin around the capitol building as teachers, firefighters, police officers, farmers, and several other groups surrounded the building on all sides, blocking the streets. Estimates for the number of attendees range from 80,000 for a low number, to 150,000 on the high side. Twitter reports indicate that they already have 150,000 signatures for a petition to recall Governor Scott Walker.
Union supporters have been outside the building for the past few weeks protesting the governor's intent to gut the unions' collective bargaining rights through a supposed budget repair bill. Democratic representatives from Wisconsin, realizing simply voting against the bill would be futile, fled the state in order to buy time for Wisconsin citizens to become aware of what was going on and to act on it. These efforts worked, not only in alerting Wisconsin citizens, but in gaining the attention of the entire world.
Who is Covering News on the Protests?
While major news outlets in the US focused on the horrific news coming from Japan, Al Jazeera managed to spare air time for the news coming out of Wisconsin. Although American conservatives are unlikely to recognize the new revelation, the unequal coverage is a clear indicator that the concept of a “liberal media” is only a myth. More information is coming from bloggers and Twitter than through conventional news outlets.
This lack of coverage was noticed by protesters and Tweeters, but it did nothing to dampen their enthusiasm. Farmers arrived on tractors, holding a “Tractorcade” and speakers included Tony Shalhoub (Monk), Rev Jesse Jackson, and Susan Sarandon.
Tucked away in the bill Walker pushed through were provisions not only stripping teachers of their collective bargaining rights, but also cutting funding to BadgerCare, Wisconsin's public health care program, aid to public schools, and clauses that prohibit the citizens from recalling an elected official until they have served in office for a full year. Clearly Walker thought ahead enough to cover his own posterior.
You may be asking yourself what Gov Walker was doing while his office was surrounded by protesting voters. He was clearly avoiding Madison, posting casual tweets about getting a haircut in Wauwatosa, visiting a mall in Milwaukee, and speaking to a group in Washburn. He even made the claim that “they couldn't fit anymore people in” while in Washburn, but Tweeters noticed he didn't say how small/large the room was. What his tweets made abundantly clear was that he had no interest in the concerns of thousands of his constituents. This was construed by Twitter readers as Walker's modern-day version of “let them eat cake”.
How Does This Happen in America?
We were made aware of this union busting legislation in Wisconsin because of the actions taken by the “Wisconsin 14”, but Wisconsin isn't the only state this is happening in. Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania all have similar legislation on the floor in their state capitals. Republicans are going on a full attack on unions so that government can have sole authority on what middle class workers are allowed to receive, stripping workers of their voice.
In Michigan there are also provisions granting the state the right to strip away a local government if the state deems it necessary. Yes, you should read that again. The state of Michigan can now remove elected officials in towns, cities, and municipalities and replace them with officials of their choosing at their discretion. They are bringing Big Government into full swing in the state of Michigan.
All of the things the conservatives have been accusing the liberals of trying over the past couple of years are the exact things conservatives are doing right now. They are stripping rights from smaller governments, stripping rights from unions, and stripping rights from citizens. They are pitting the middle and lower class against each other, union vs. non-union workers, while the horde the power and money for corporate tax breaks and political power grabbing.
Unions have given the working class a voice, helped pass laws to create more reasonable working conditions, and given us an organized movement for 50 years, and they are still there for us now. Even if you aren't a union member, you can contact any local union to find out what you can do to help ensure we don't move backward into serfdom.
My final thought, why do you think they are focusing on teachers? I think it's because the information nugget that David Frum shared with us is something most Republican politicians hold as a sacred truth:
"
Find out what is going on in...
Indiana (VERY similar to what happened in Wisconsin!)
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