The Great American Going Out of Business Sale*

This report from the Center for American Progress (via Tapped) draws some damning conclusions about the state of class mobility and more importantly, American perspectives on class mobility. Their findings:

• Children from low-income families have only a 1 percent chance of reaching the top 5 percent of the income distribution, versus children of the rich who have about a 22 percent chance.
  
  
• African American children who are born in the bottom quartile are nearly twice as likely to remain there as adults than are white children whose parents had identical incomes, and are four times less likely to attain the top quartile.
  
  
• The difference in mobility for blacks and whites persists even after controlling for a host of parental background factors, children’s education and health, as well as whether the household was female-headed or receiving public assistance.
  
  
• Households whose adult members all worked more than 40 hours per week for two years in a row were more upwardly mobile in 1990-91 and 1997-98 than households who worked fewer hours. Yet this was not true in 2003-04, suggesting that people who work long hours on a consistent basis no longer appear to be able to generate much upward mobility for their families.
  
  
• By international standards, the United States has an unusually low level of intergenerational mobility: our parents’ income is highly predictive of our incomes as adults. Intergenerational mobility in the United States is lower than in France, Germany, Sweden, Canada, Finland, Norway and Denmark. Among high-income countries for which comparable estimates are available, only the United Kingdom had a lower rate of mobility than the United States.
  

So what does this mean? The economy's methods of wealth generation are failing for the mass of Americans. The middle class is (by and large) disapearing. It's been noted over and over and over and over that jobs that used to sustain families are gone (and the unions that generated those sustainable incomes are blamed for generating middle-class wealth) and the new jobs that are created don't touch the ones they replaced in terms of wages, benefits, retirement security, and so forth. So what to do?

These folks have an idea.

*D4 fucking rock.

And now presenting...

Ladies and gentlemen, straight from the nation's capital Washtington DC, I bring you--

The Whorehouse of Reprehensibles!

That's right. Actual congressmen getting bribed with actual hookers.

Work has really been a kick in the nuts recently so the lack of posts here can be attributed to this. Not my slack work ethic. Honestly.

We're running past satire

And final-stretch dashing, madly, lungs exploding, straight into surreality.

This is kind of weird, don't you think?

I saw this billboard on Saturday when we went to the Sox destroy the Minnesota Twins. That was my first time at Alltell/US Cellular Field/Comiskey Park/Whatever corporation is shelling out the big $$$ to put their name on the door. Dr. Mrsinallmyyears noticed it, for credit's sake.

I suppose I'm not surprised that Ann Coulter is using the date to shill her crap, either.

The Evolution of a backyard space

This lowly space had been: An above ground pool, then an empty spot of sand and dirt with a ton of gravel, the an empty spot of sand and dirt with no gravel, and finally:
0
This. 1000 lbs of dirt, and 1200 pounds of sod later, this is my backyard. It looks a lot better, don't ya think?

Crikey.

Last week was a rough one, work-wise. It was pretty non-stop, which is why this blog has gone a little dark. 'But Whiskey', you're clearly thinking, 'you had the weekend to deliver us some of your pithy, cynical, and yet hopeful brand of insight.

Alas and alack, I would that it were so. You see faithful reader, this weekend I had sod to contend with. That's right. Sod.

Mrs. Drinallmyyears and I got rid of an above-ground pool late last summer that came with our current dwelling when we bought it. This left a 20' diameter sand hole in my back yard that I finally got the gumption to get my 1000 lbs. of dirt and my 34 rolls fo 2' x 5' preplanted grass to deal with it.

I will put picture up to prove it to you when I get the chance.

Until then...

Here's proof that the Republicans actually spent serious time and resources in the 1990's 'looking for an enemy' because they realized they didn't do as well in the polls when people aren't scared shitless.

I kid you not.

No heroes, no bosses.

One thing that the media traditionally gets wrong about the labor movement is that there's two types of personalities they focus on--one is the hero. Cesar Chavez falls into this category. The second is the union 'boss'. Think Jimmy Hoffa.

But the thing is that for staff representatives who take this very seriously, you know that you're not the one making it happen--your members are. This is crucially important to understand. I help prepare, help organize, help facilitate, help strategize, explain options and other things like that.

But I cannot cause people to care about anything, nor motivate them to fight for something that they're not already willing to fight for. The 'iron rule' of organizing is that you should never, never, never do for others what they should be doing for themselves. I try that out on Mrs. Drinallmyyears, but she doesn't seem to believe it's such an iron rule. More like an iron guideline.

At any rate, in that spirit I bring you this story of Hiram Ruiz, a staff rep with SEIU 11 who has been leading the fight with Unnico, a custodial contractor with the University of Miami. You remember that story, right? Well the Herald piece nails it quite nicely.

Carry on.

It's Easter (or as TBogg would have you believe Zombie Jesus Day) and I'm celebrating with Mrs. Drinallmyyears and Momma Inallmyyears. The DVD versions of both Sky High and Betwitched await us. I will be sneaking booze into my afternoon diet.

I'd also like you to notice the 'local yokels' section of my blogroll. I do this not because I think the bloggers in question are yokels (although being from North Carolina, carrying such a distinction is NOT an insult) but because it's good to throw up some blog goodness from deep within enemy territory, in this case DuPage Co.

Two good stories from their necks of the woods. The first has to do with Christine's endorsement of Duckworth and what the local activists like us have to say about it Ms. Tammy. The second has to do with an experience Tech Teacher had with the Roskam folks. One spare Roskam bumper sticker + one car obviously owned by liberals = sitcom hilarity.

Or at least one very angry liberal. Hey, I'd be pissed too.

And on my own, I'd like to point out that the Naperville bus drivers face outsourcing. One of my colleagues represents them, and is doing his damndest to see that their wages, pensions, benefits and livelihoods aren't stolen from them. He's a good guy, trying to do a tough job.

This editorial to the contrary, outsourcing this kind of public resource is a really bad idea. Private contractors in this sector can absolutely be fly-by-night operations, and once a school district has made a decision to sell off its bus fleet, they'll likely never have the resources to re-purchase one again. Then there's the fact that these kinds of employees are the most likely to live in the community, which further debases the argument that the school district values its connection to the community.

Viva Viagra--a tagline that's sure to pick up my internet traffic.

Kevin Drum has the goods on lawmakers who wish to ban RU-486 for its supposed (and unproven) risks to women yet defend the wang-improving Viagra despite its incidences of inducing death. One thing I'm not very clear on is whether RU-486 is the same thing as emergency contraception or whether it's something different, but the hullaballoo about the 'morning after pill' should be thrown in the mix as well.

Don't look over here.

The class war continues comrades.

And they are kicking our asses.

Catch them thar greasy ol' job-stealin' whatchamacallits

The Republican Penn State University engages in some racist hijinks.

"The College Republicans at Penn State University wanted to enter the debate about the nation's borders by playing a "Catch an Illegal Immigrant Game."

People would be invited to "catch" group members wearing orange shirts symbolizing illegal aliens."

Sounds good to me. Next we'll be taunting them with water bottles while they pretend to die of thirst in the desert. Just some family fun, if you ask me.

"You have to be creative to get students to listen to you," sophomore Chuck Knight wrote in a letter to the editor published recently in the student newspaper, The Daily Collegian. "For that matter, you have to be creative anytime you are trying to raise concern about something."

I couldn't agree more. Next up--a real cake walk to heal the racial divide!

Apprently the same thing went down in Bloomingdale Township

I can't say I'm surprised, but the similarities are eerie (which is a word that never looks like it's spelled correctly).

Please also notice the new link to the right--6th Dems. Yeehaw.

Wow, now I'm depressed.

Billmon has a sobering look at what might happen if we decide to get all medieval on Iran.

I think he's probably right. Prescient even. I predict the following percentages for American reaction to just such a first-nuclear strike on a minor regional power:

15%--Giddy beyond belief. Hey man, the end times are near! Pull up a lawn chair and Foreman Griller! Throw on an extra burger fo' da Lord!

30% --Mildly relieved to see something happen over there. I mean, Those Iranians Sure Are Pricks, Aren't They?

35%-- Mildly concerned about nuclear conflagration in the Middle East. Angry at the 15% below for being too shrill and anti-American in their outrage at the war that's unfolding.

15%--Can we please please impeach these people already? Is it rude at this point to say I told ya so?

5%--Undecided. What is Iran anyway? Is that that, uh, Flock of Seagull's hit from the 80's? I love that song, man.

My Sushi and My $$$ go the Unification Church (and therefor, to the Bush Family)

The Chicago Tribune has a good investigative report up about how one of the premier suppliers of raw fish for Sushi is:

a.) either a front group for the Unification Church itself

or

b.) Not another front group for the Church, but merely part of its empire.

Hey! And click here to learn more about the politicians living large off its coffers, including the Bush family and Chicago's own Danny Davis: Democrat!

Dig this choice quote about True World Food:

But not all of True World's employees are church members. Tuna buyer Eddie Lin recently left True World for Fortune Fish Co., a local rival. Lin said his former workplace was not overtly religious, but he added that as a non-church member he felt his ability to advance was limited. "You can feel the difference between the way they see members and non-members," Lin said.

Sounds like another faith-based iniative to me!

Now this is how you organize!

The Washington Post today has two great stories:

One is how the President (yet again) misrepresented the facts to stretch his case. Whatta guy!

The second, and the one I draw your attention to tells the story of how labor, religious and hispanic groups organized the recent demonstrations against the Sensenbrenner bill. It's a good tale of a lot of thankless work gone right.

The other story I point your way is on the same subject and is also about strategic organizing. It follows up on the piece I posted about earlier--namely that Democrats are for once, out-organizing their Republican counter-parts on this issue. It's also a well-done analysis.

This Guy Would Have Been Shouted Down Last Night.

Which is kind of funny, given his background as a retired Marine Lt. General. He says that Eye-Raq was a mistake he saw coming, and blames the military for not speaking up about what a ginormous clusterf*ck it was so clearly going to be.

Read it and weep.

I should change the name of my blog to read it and weep.

How about some democracy here in DuPage?

Irony is a funny thing. As we're now up to 2,361 dead in a war supposedly fought to bring democracy to the poor benighted people of Iraq, I thought I'd share the evening's events with you.

I just returned from the yearly meeting of York Township. Some of us Cegelis peeps had the notion to put a non-binding resolution on the November ballot calling for the withdrawal of troops from Eye-raq.

Except that the Township elders (and by elders I mean greasy Republican politicos) caught wind of our little plan and called in their chits (by which I mean city and township workers--including the janitor for the building who was present). Their chits showed up in force and hilarity ensued.

Allow me to paint the picture. A motley collection of a few youngsters, lots of little old ladies, and some grey-haired Democratic activists surrounded by a sea of retired white people and large men with slick-backed hair.

A bendediction was held. The lord's name was invoked. Whether his grace moved anyone to act, I'll let you decide.

The pledge of allegiance was invoked, referencing the glory of what the old man mc'ing the ceremony referred to as 'the greatest flag on the whole earth.'

Because if it had been a competition between us and the half-earth flags, that might have been a contest. Luckily for us, we're looking only at whole-earth flags here.

The first vote was on who'd moderate the debate. Our candidate (a worthy man) went up, and so did theirs. By voice vote, we lost. We asked for an actual count, because their voice vote was mostly yelling by large township employees. We took another voice vote (I am shitting you negatively) to determine whether we should use voice vote to select the moderator. You won't be surprised to learn that we lost.

At that point, the smarmy fuck of a moderator took over. Motions were made to skip through the entirety of the agenda, including old business, the reports of the treasury of the township and updates on township business.

Another old lady (and a worthy one) stood up to ask why we couldn't talk about y'know, the stuff the township had been doing and all. She was told printed versions were availble after the gig was over.

A motion was held to close questions to the people who were running the show. Someone stood up, and pointed out that if we're going to voice vote that this would hardly be appropriate.

I stood up, and pointed out that if I'd known it was going to be a voice vote I'd have grabbed my megaphone. I seconded the other dude's idea that we do some other way of counting. At which point the moderator just started talking over me.

Did I mention he was a smarmy fuck?

So we finally got to the portion where our non-binding resolution was to be considered. I was ready. Here was going to be some fireworks! I was totally ready to be called a traitorous scummy hippy commie bad person.

Nope. We introduced an item to amend the agenda to include the non-binding resolution on withdrawal of troops. It went down in defeat. No debate. Nothing. It was over. Please reread that first paragraph again with this in mind.

A benediction was held, which we walked out on. I hope the Lord didn't take it personally.

Mrs. Drinallmyyears and I were talking about it afterwards, and you know, I have to ask: what the fuck were these Republicans scared of exactly? This is DuPage County for Christ's sake. They should have been itching to show just how beloved Dear Leader's war really is. This would be the one place where he'd be assured victory--he sure as hell can't seem to get it in the actual war we avoided having a debate over.

Oh well.

Oh, and the troops that we're protecting from this kind of debate? Five more died today.

Irony is a motherfucker.

Now here's a headline I can live with!

Wal-Mart Hearing Joins Banks, Unions.

It's good to see a little cross-class solidarity against the Beast From Bentonville.

Wow, look at that.

A comprehensive timeline of NOFX history. I'll be damned. And I learned something new:

We needed a police escort from the stage to our bus, and then a police escort out of town. The last thing the bikers said to our crew guy was ‘I’m not going to stab you. I’m going to put a screwdriver through your heart and kill you.’ We are never going back to Scotland.”

And with that attitude, who can blame them?

The hills are alive...

...with the sound of music.

What can I say? I've been inspired by the von trapp experience!