Who Called It?

You heard it here first. Or maybe somewhere else. But you heard it.

And it's true.

Speaking of That Sinister 'Phase Two'...

Okay, the Starbucks thing was mostly a joke. Mostly.

This however, is quite freaky. The thing about our nation that I understood was better than say, Chile or Burma is civilian control over the military. We don't have a junta, our troops follow policies set forth by politicians, which makes us different than most countries on the face of the Earth.

Apparently, the military brass have been pushing to break down that wall between civilian life and military intelligence, aching to bring the FBI into their intelligence community. That means that the military could spy on American Citizens.

Not just funny-looking immigrants with weird, hard to spell last names, but American citizens.

They can spy on you if you're deemed a threat to national security.

Who makes that determination?

What happens if they think you're a threat and you're not?

What happens when they change the rules from case to case?

What the hell has happened to our country? This goes only to a very dark and strange place. But then, that's the Bush Administration for you, bringing the transparency and efficacy of the FBI, and combining with the forthrightness of the military.

Via Atrios and Demvet.

Update: It looks like 'they' have been keeping an eye on Jesus' General. Who knew?

This Must Be That Sinister Phase Two.

There's not just coffee brewing at Starbucks, but apparently trouble as well.

A while back, the Onion had an article on the ominous start of 'phase two' of Starbucks global plan for whatever it is they plan for globally.

Apparently three Manhattan Starbucks' stores and 15 officials have been found by the National Labor Relations Board to be guilty several counts of illegal anti-union activity.

They told workers they couldn't wear union pins, they dinged workers down on their evaluations for their support of a union. They even fired two workers for joining the International Workers of the World.

A friend and I were talking about this effort by the IWW (really a tiny, tiny, union without much clout) to organize Starbucks Baristas. He concluded that if Starbucks were smart (in addition to being merely sinister) they'd simply co-opt the union and use it for marketing purposes. The IWW probably wouldn't know what to do with itself, finding its logo, culture and history being used to market lattes to soccer moms.

Obscene

That's the only word to describe this stunt by Delphi, a major auto parts manufacturer. Delphi has announced to its unions that to stay afloat, wages will have to be slashed from an average of better than $25 an hour to $12 an hour.

I mean, that must be because the company is beset by problems, broke, and without any other recourse except to raid money from working families. Right? Clearly that can be the only explanation.

Except that as Jonathan Tasini points out, Delphi executives have already bargained their own golden parachutes worth $500 million dollars. The kicker--those parachutes open AFTER Delphi emerges from bankruptcy court. The same bankruptcy court that the union and the company in right now, trying to figure out what to do with worker pensions.

So, to summarize: Company cries poor, demands wage concessions from working class folks, tries to gut pensions in bankruptcy court, and top executives ream workers and company out of more than $500 million on compensation packages for themselves.

Can there be a clearer case of class warfare? I mean, obviously this isn't blood in the streets kind of stuff, but in terms of the interests of the wealthy and the powerful vs. the rest of America's working core, this is a pretty stark example of open warfare.

And the only thing standing in the way of Delphi getting their way?

The United Auto Workers, an organization not without its faults. Thus is the worth of the labor movement.

The debate is over. We will now be withdrawing.

"We will not cut and run! That would be cowardly. In other news, our imperious leader has decided our mission has been accomplished. Ahem."

Move along. Nothing to see here.

Via Josh Marshall.

Today leftovers, tomorrow the world.

As Dr. Mrsinallmyyears and I dine on leftover Tofurky, I encourage you to check out a new labor blog I found through Mydd and Talkingpointsmemo. It's called littlewildbouquet, and it's a young man's labor blog.

Somewhere in Heaven, the heavenly host are learning the fine art of the crane kick.

RIP, Pat Morita.

Tom Delay sleeps with the fishes.

This is a scandal that is complex, so I'll try to break it down in tasty bite-sized morsels. Via Josh Marshall, we learn that some guy named "Big Tony" Moscatiello (and how could you make this up?) has implicated a guy named Adam Kidan in the murder of a casino magnate.

Who the hell is Adam Kidan? He's the long-time business partner of a guy named Jack Abramoff. They were both indicted this summer for fraud in the purchase of the casino of the dead guy.

Who the hell is Jack Abramoff? He's literally the gravy train of corporate bribe money for the Republican controlled House of Reprehensibles. He's also under investigation for bribery, being a fuck, etc.

He's also Tom Delay's right-hand guy in the lobbying world.

So, to run this back again: Business partner of the right hand guy of the right hand guy of the guy who controls congress is implicated in the gangland slaying of a casino founder. It's like you're watching Casino or something, except these people run the country.

I wonder if Pesci will play the part of Fat Tony, or if they'll spring high and go for Tony Soprano.

That Liberal New York Times

I wish I did my own original writing on this kind of stuff, but what happens most often is that I run across someone who says what I would have, but says it much better than I can.

Case in Point: Amanda Marcotte has a great post up at Pandagon about the New York Times' obsession with the downful of upper-middle class feminism. This is nothing new, nor is it confined to gender issues.

There are frequent articles in the Home & Garden, Fashion & Style, or even the National news sections of the Times that focus on--you guessed it--lifestyles of the well to do and merely filthy rich.

This particular article focuses on career women--what Marcotte refers to as the Strawfeminist--who have given up their mannish business ways to care for elderly parents. Marcotte raises the most salient point--that most people don't have 'careers' to give up. They work for a check because it's what they have to do, and when the time to take care of their folks comes, they simply do that, raise their families and work themselves to death.

I guess it's just that those kinds of situations don't make for good feminist backlash stories because they're a: too depressing, and b: about poor and working folks, whom the corporate media generally doesn't have too much use for anyway.

Blogging the Tofurkey

Below are some select snapshots of our Thanksgiving Dinner (TM).














And on the 9th or so day, God made Tofurky, and it was goooooood.















And we made macaroni, and we added four or so pounds of cheese, and frankly, it left a lot to be desired. But the gravy was gravy.















And we made strawberry pie (from scratch, biznatches) and we have yet to enjoy it, but it looks good.














And this was our place setting, and our wine, and they too were good. And that so far, has been our thanksgiving. And I am truly, deeply, madly, thankful.

I'm bored so far this morning, so you all are getting bonus posts

Dear liberal:

Do you like John McCain? Do you think that he's fair to a fault? Open to admitting mistakes and bucking the party leadership? A man of principle? Not a tool of the far right?

Think again.

And as Atrios has dug up, McCain is endorsing George Wallace Jr., who has given four speeches to a hate group in Alabama.

Bush to Al-Jazeera: "Nice TV station you have there. Shame if somethin' happened to it."

So apparently, George Bush had a discussion with Tony Blair about the military virtue of bombing a civilian TV station that he didn't like.

We're nothing like Saddam Hussein! That guy used chemical weapons on his own people!

We don't torture!

My head won't explode from obvious lies!

Really!

Sam, RIP. You were as ugly as the day is long.

Too strange to be believed, yet true.
















I especially love the part where the woman brought the dog home and then her boyfriend broke up with her because he was so disturbed by the damn thing's appearance.

I'm thankful, dammit.

Today, we'll be cooking Tofurkey.








This is posibly one of the best things about being a vegetarian. Tofurky has a special place in my food heart, among foods I never would have tried in a million years if I were still omnivorous.

So here it is, my heartfelt, not cynical, too sincere to be believed, giving of thanks list.

• I'm thankful for my job.
• I'm thankful for my health.
• I'm thankful for my family.
• I'm thankful that I'm alive.
• I'm thankful to be living in a situation that allows me to blog my thanks to the Almighty.
• I'm thankful, so thankful, to have a wife that loves me and whom I love very deeply.

And, I'm thankful my name isn't Bob Ney.

Wanker.

Bargaining Yesterday

It was largely a success. We presented our offer, which was not surprisingly dismissed out of hand. We had discussions about the employer's willingness to expend what amounts of money on salary, etc. I didn't get talked in circles about school finance (there, I work for one of the two major teacher's unions, I admit it). Their business manager pretty much kept mum, and we kept it to a discussion about relationships, values, the politics of the bargaining unit, and other union settlements in the district.

There is much discussion among people who do what I do about the value of 'traditional' bargaining versus 'win-win' bargaining or 'interest based bargaining'.

I know the basic precepts behind win-win and interest based bargaining, but they seem more like cults, complete with devotees who Wouldn't Do It Any Other Way (TM).

This is my first time at the table. I'm proud to say that over the course of the negotiations, we've been able to build a scene, where we are bargaining traditionally, but the conversation is professional, concerned for the well-being of the whole district, even warm at times. This has allowed us to be very frank about pressing issues on our side, and I believe that the district has been honest about their pressing issues as well. Most importantly, it has built up the leadership of this particular union to a level that has never been accomplished. The district finally, really, believes they want the best for the whole of the district, and it makes all the difference in the world.

It's something I never thought I'd be doing, but here I am, two sessions away from closing my first union contract. When I was an organizer in another office in the state, I used to watch my colleagues do the same job I'm doing now, and I used to tell myself, 'I could never, never do what they do for a living. No way.'

Now I'm doing it, and at least in these circumstances, I'm doing it well.

Bargaining today

I bargain today, and hopefully, this will be our last time at the table. The bargaining has been very successful so far, and today we talk about money, so we'll see where that goes.

Bonus pic: If you blur your eyes, you can see the shamrock on the head of the beer. The pic is from when Dr. Mrsinallmyyears, myself, and her parents went to Ireland. We had stopped in at the Guiness brewery in Dublin.

More Wal-Mart

The Trib has the latest on the efforts to organize the great unwashed masses of Wal-Mart associates.

Wal-Mart the Movie: Redux

We screened the flick at one of my union's offices on Friday night. About 20 or so mostly older (than me at least) people came.

The film itself was pretty good, but I think that they left out an important part of the picture, which is the way Wal-Mart squeezes its suppliers (the folks who manufacture the shit Wal-Mart sells) to keep their prices down. This in turn insures that the suppliers keep their wage and benefits packages low so they can match Wal-Mart's prices.

It also didn't focus on Wal-Mart's anti-union practices in Texas and in Quebec. When 11 meat cutters voted to join a union, Wal-Mart quit cutting meat in all of its national stores in response. When Quebecois Wal-Mart workers voted to affiliate with a union last year (this time the entire store) Wal-Mart simply shut the store down.

Still, these are minor quibbles. The film effectively focused on telling the individual stories of workers, small business owners, and the communities affected by the Beast from Bentonville.

I think that the folks who came got something out of it, and it was exciting to see lots of people that I didn't know.

25 Greatest Short Men

Maxim's got the list. Angus Young of AC/DC fame tops the list. Also making guest appearances are Spud Webb and Yoda.

I can't believe Muggsy Bogues didn't even get on the list. One of the commenters on Huffington Post suggests former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, and another suggests Danny DeVito.

The Man Who Sold the World--on Iraq

It's sad when Rolling Stone has better investigative journalism than anyone else. This piece lays out the role of the Rendon Group, a high-class PR outfit who helped create the Iraqi National Congress and helped unleash the dogs of war in American souls.

Good folks, all told.

Next up, Razorcake with the exclusive on the Plame Investigation.