Not news, but funny

Look, I know there is lots of bad shit happening in the world right now, but that is exactly why you should take a few minutes to read the rider (slang for contract that rock stars sign which mandate how many beers they get backstage) that Iggy Pop put together. Typical Iggy. Highlights include the following:

Dressing Room One. Iggy Pop.

"You know what would be nice? If you could make this room look less like a typical rock star dressing room and more sort of interesting...Are you with me? Just let someone loose with a little bit of artistic flair. Er, do you know any homosexuals? And am I allowed so say that? Probably not."

And other such hits as:

Somebody dressed as Bob Hope doing fantastic Bob Hope impersonations and telling all those hilarious Bob hope jokes about golf and Holloywood and Bing Crosby. Oh God, I wish I'd been alive in those days, so Bob Hope could have come and entertained me before I went off and got shot. What joy they must have experienced...

And not to forget:

2 bottles of smooth, full-bodied, Bordeaux type red wine. Probably French. And something we've heard of, but still can't pronounce. Look, there's fucking loads of good red wines. Ask the man in the shop.

But Iggy's not the only one in on the act. the Stooges (his backup band) themselves contribute to the overall madness of this contract. Observe:

A bottle of Vodka. Decent stuff please, not made in bloody England. Some people seem to enjoy that Ketel One vodka from Holland, but our sound man says it's piss, and he could give the Saxophonist a run for his money. Not mention alcolhol. No accounting for taste though, so make it a bottle of Ketel One, or failing that Grey Goose.

Good lord.

You know, we really do kick a lot of ass.

I pay attention to this stuff, and I had no idea how much ass we kick. I mean, we really do have a ton of interesting stuff happening all of the country. It is good to not be terrified (at least, not too terrified) of the Rovinator.

Meet Ercilia Sandoval

Previously touted as one of the top five women in America, Ercilia introduces you to her world. It's a tough world, but it's one filled with hope. Read her story. There are millions more, millions more, like her.

Which is why they strike. Like the song says, your cities tell us what you think of justice.

Mining: bad for your health under George Bush

Another miner died in a coal explosion last week, bringing the death count for the industry up to 42, almost double the number of industrial casualties last year. George Bush took the opportunity of this industry-wide crisis to appoint...a guy who used to lobby for the coal industry to the top safety position at the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

A guy who has spent his professional life as a coal executive furthering the interests of that industry. There was such fierce opposition to him becoming head of this agency that Bush was forced to make him a 'recess' appointment--which means that the Senate never approved him, and he's only in until they meet again. It's sneaky, and a slap in the face of miners and their supporters.

But they're not taking it lying down. They set up a welcome picket for the guy the first day he came on the job.

Welcome aboard, fucker.

The definition of class

Is a grown woman threatening to hit her opponent after a debate-- a man with multiple sclerosis in a wheelchair--because he rightly pointed out that she took money from Filthy Tom Delay.

Barbara Cubin, you win our prize! Your very own circle in hell! Named after you!

Thank you Mr. Rankin, for pointing out the obvious.

Strike!

Houston janitors are about to stick it to the man. I only hope they stick it hard.













More info here.

Let's hope they listen.

According to CNN, 65 active members of the armed services are invoking their Whistleblower rights to call for the war to end. They're directly communicating with their congressmen. Meanwhile, Huckleberry Graham is laying into the generals and Rumsfeld but not Bush, who refuses to discuss changing strategies, only tactics. A real profile in courage, he.

Now for sale on Ebay

Mark Foley, the action figure.

Sweet lord.

An advertisement so racist, one just marvels. One marvels.



You're marvelling just now, aren't you?

The best news I've heard all day

A coalition of Mexican unions and American unions is filing suit against the state of North Carolina for banning collective bargaining for state employees.

The best part is they're using NAFTA rules do so!

Eat that shit, North Carolina!

**update**

I forgot to mention that the United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers (or UE) is behind this suit. They asked for help from the Mexican Authentic Labor Front, who filed the suit in the first place. I have a special place in my heart for the UE. For one thing, they got kicked out of the AFL-CIO because their top officials refused to take loyalty oaths denying they were ever commies. Many of them were, and others just refused to take part in any union that had a political test for membership.

But it was their approach to organizing, outlined in the fantastic book "Radical Unionism in the Midwest", that really made me a fan of the UE. They specialized in taking on community issues like racism and poverty and using the momentum from those relationships to build workplace democracy. They were a leader in fighting racism among workers and showing how much power workers can build for themselves when they put aside their differences and get busy takin' on management.

Just switched to blogger beta

I have no idea what this will do for me, but hey, it's an improvement, right? Gotta be good, then.

This can only be good news for Democrats.

Dick "Last Throes" Cheney, the man who just last week proclaimed that the Iraq occupation is going remarkably well had the following to say about the midterm elections:

"I think we'll hold the Senate, and I also think we got a good shot at holding the House."

There you have it folks! Thirty days to daylight!

Somehow I missed this. Why Wal-Mart sux, vol. XCCMMLLII

Apparently 200 Wal-Mart workers developed the spinal fortitude to walk out on a store in Florida--the reason was because the full-timers got cut from 40 to 32 hours, and the part-timers now have no regular set schedules. You could work 8-3 one week and noon to 9 the next. Kinda makes holding down another job hard. Or having a family. And the schedule gets set by a computer in Bentonville, Arkansas not your manager at the store.

On Oct. 16, workers on the morning shift walked out in protest against the new policies and rallied outside the store, shouting "We want justice" and criticizing the company's recent policies as "inhuman." Workers said the number of participants was about 200, or nearly all of the people on the shift.

But wait, there's more!

The employees drafted a protest letter that they have sent to executives at Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., and also to Florida politicians, including Florida Governor Jeb Bush. "In the letter, we state that we want justice and that Wal-Mart should stop harassing us," says Vasquez. At least 400 store employees have signed the letter.

Solidarity beats apathy every time, folks. Now you might have also heard that Wal-Mart had to pay $78 million in back overtime last week:

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Wal-Mart Stores, the world's biggest retailer, must pay at least $78.5 million for violating Pennsylvania labor laws by forcing employees to work through rest breaks and off the clock, a jury found Friday.

Plaintiffs' lawyer Michael Donovan will also seek another $62 million in damages because the jury found that Wal-Mart acted in bad faith. Common Pleas Judge Mark Bernstein is expected to rule on that issue in the next few weeks.

I'll close with this, and it's really all you need to know about the ratfucks that run Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart executives have recently told Wall Street analysts that the company wants to transform its workforce from 20 percent part-time to 40 percent. Recently, it was also reported that older employees in some stores who had back and leg problems were barred from using stools on which they had sat for years.

I once was one of those kids...

It was a birthday gift of a mexican telecaster...



Ahh, the memories. And if Florida takes us , we're takin' everyone down with us...

An hour and a half of my life I'll never get back...

Texas Chainsaw Massacre, fuck you very much. As opposed to the Departed, which was one of the best movies I've seen all year.

Two transport workers give it to Bush.

Enjoy.

I'm feeling much better now...

So, it turns out that the Bush administration has been keeping files on anti-war protesters in violation of a law that commands such information be destroyed after 90 days.

Why do I feel like I've written this post before? I suppose this is why.

I never thought I'd link to Glamour Magazine, but...

They have nominated a union janitor from Houston, TX as one of their women of the year. Why? Despite battling breast cancer (with no health insurance), Ercilia Sandoval knows that standing up for herself and her coworkers is better than facing her disease in isolation. Solidarity beats apathy every day of the week.

And hats off to Glamour for highlighting women who aren't just engaged in philanthropy, but who are engaged in the forefront of fighting for change in their communities. It's too often the Ercilia's of this world are overlooked.

In the name of all that's holy...

Rush Limbaugh is more than a big, fat idiot.

I tell you, folks, you’ve got this page out there; you probably have a bunch of pages laughing and making fun of Foley and the way he comes on to them, and he’s gay and so forth, so they egg him on and so forth….

Yes, it's the fault of the kids. Really.

Dennis Hastert should be ashamed. And other hilarious impossibilities!

Hastert:

I'll resign, but only if it helps my party. Not because I'm guilty as sin.

The definition of discouraging.

I know a lot is going on right now. But this is not good:

It was brought to my attention recently that Reps. De Fazio and and Hinchey offered an amendment to the 2007 Pentagon appropriations bill that would have specifically barred the administration from launching a military attack on Iran without congressional authorization. 158 members of the House voted for it, but 262 voted against and it failed. In other words, a majority of the House seems to have gone on record in favor of letting the president start wars illegally, a fairly discouraging development.

Yikes. Now, under the War Powers Act, the President has 90 days after commencing war to go to Congress for approval. But now it looks like they've abdicated even that much oversight. I mean, really. Because George Bush has done so much to merit our trust and everything. Then there's this:

President Bush, again defying Congress, says he has the power to edit the Homeland Security Department’s reports about whether it obeys privacy rules while handling background checks, ID cards and watchlists.

In the law Bush signed Wednesday, Congress stated no one but the privacy officer could alter, delay or prohibit the mandatory annual report on Homeland Security department activities that affect privacy, including complaints.

But Bush, in a signing statement attached to the agency’s 2007 spending bill, said he will interpret that section “in a manner consistent with the President’s constitutional authority to supervise the unitary executive branch.”

Egad.

If you read the fine print in this here REPUBLICAN PEDOPHILE COVER-UP WHOO-HA SCANDAL...

It's just fun to type that.

But seriously, reading the fine details of this, via Atrios, I came across the following tidbit about the alleged warning that Congressional pages received about Congressman Foley (R-Whackjob):

A Republican staff member warned congressional pages five years ago to watch out for Congressman Mark Foley, according to a former page.
...
Several Democratic pages tell ABC News they received no such warnings about Foley.

Now, there's several paragraphs separating those two sets of facts. But put them together, and they tell you quite a lot, don't they? Republican leaders valued the children of the Republicans that put them in office. Children of Democrats? Not so much.

A real editor processing that story might have engaged in just the exercise I engaged in and come out with a totally different angle to the story.

Apparently some children are totally fine to be 'left behind.' Just the kids of Democrats.

It's a quarter to five, I have a toothache, and I can't go to sleep.

So maybe that's why I thought this was funny. Matt Taibbi explains 9/11 conspiracy theories for you.

My favorite part:

CHENEY: Well, we need to invade Iraq and Afghanistan. So what we've decided to do is crash a whole bunch of remote-controlled planes into Wall Street and the Pentagon, say they're real hijacked commercial planes, and blame it on the towelheads; then we'll just blow up the buildings ourselves to make sure they actually fall down.

RUMSFELD: Right! And we'll make sure that some of the hijackers are agents of Saddam Hussein! That way we'll have no problem getting the public to buy the invasion.

CHENEY: No, Dick, we won't.

RUMSFELD: We won't?

CHENEY: No, that's too obvious. We'll make the hijackers Al Qaeda and then just imply a connection to Iraq.

RUMSFELD: But if we're just making up the whole thing, why not just put Saddam's fingerprints on the attack?

CHENEY: (sighing) It just has to be this way, Dick. Ups the ante, as it were. This way, we're not insulated if things go wrong in Iraq. Gives us incentive to get the invasion right the first time around.

BUSH: I'm a total idiot who can barely read, so I'll buy that. But I've got a question. Why do we need to crash planes into the Towers at all? Since everyone knows terrorists already tried to blow up that building complex from the ground up once, why don't we just blow it up like we plan to anyway, and blame the bombs on the terrorists?

RUMSFELD: Mr. President, you don't understand. It's much better to sneak into the buildings ourselves in the days before the attacks, plant the bombs and then make it look like it was exploding planes that brought the buildings down. That way, we involve more people in the plot, stand a much greater chance of being exposed and needlessly complicate everything!

It's like James Bond wrote it or something. Or maybe the authors of the Austin Powers triology.